“It’s … a delicate situation,” Mr. Snyder replied. “At this point, the best thing I can do is trust my friends to see it through on my behalf.”
After another half hour of talking, we called it a day. We were all exhausted and emotionally drained, Kerry especially. As the others went to their individual rooms, I followed Rome into his to get a few more answers.
“Okay, it’s later. What’s an Examiner?”
He ignored my question to ask his own.
“Could I please hold you for a little bit? It’s okay if you need to say no.”
I didn’t hesitate. In his arms was right where I wanted to be. He wrapped me up tight and nuzzled his nose into my neck. His rough stubble scraped my sensitive skin, and I shivered. He knew what he was doing, too, because he chuckled and pressed his lips to my throat.
Then he took a deep breath through his nose like he was smelling me.
“Stop that,” I whined. “I haven’t had a shower yet. I probably smell like div ichor and sweat and Hinge dust.”
“You smellamazing, baby girl.” His lips brushed against my skin with every word, making goosebumps pop up everywhere. “An Examiner is a messenger who can not only tell if you are being truthful, but also see any form of taint on your soul. The Council uses them during trials and investigations.”
“Handy.” I slid my hands up his back and gripped his shoulders. “While we’re talking about probably taboo subjects, tell me what a Purifier is.”
“It’s not a taboo subject, just a scary one.”
My eyebrows flew up. I’d seen Rome take on djinn, stare down nephs, kill rivens, fight divs, square up with sheba, battle giants, and deal with Kerry’s meltdowns all without so much as blinking.
“Purifiers are sent in to clean house. They leave nothing alive,” he explained with his face still tucked into my throat.
“So they’re what? Exterminators? Only instead of roaches and rats, they exterminate nephs?”
“They exterminateeverythingevil or corrupt, baby girl, right down to the roaches and the rats. You’ve heard of Sodom and Gomorrah, right?”
I blinked. What kind of people had I gotten involved with?
Rome finally raised his head and stared into my eyes.
“I didn’t get to ask before, but are you okay? After the peris left, I saw you with the kids and thought everything was all right, which is why I went out to check on Kerry instead of you three. When we came back in and I saw Lilas—”
His body turned to iron against mine and his jaw clenched. After a few seconds, he continued.
“You’d tell me, wouldn’t you, baby girl? You’d tell me if you were hurt?”
“Sure, I would. Just like you told me you had busted ribs from a behemoth attack.” My smile was wide and sparkly.
“Jeez, Mira! Just answer me!Areyou hurt?”
“I’m fine,” I relented with a real smile this time. “Just a bruise on my chin. Well, and one on my heart, too. Poor Hinge.”
“I know. That was one of the most heart-wrenching things I’ve ever seen.”
I laid my head on his chest and tightened my arms around his waist.
“I wanted to say thank you,” I murmured. “You earned a lotta points today. For trusting me. For knowing I can handle myself in a fight. For not getting yourself killed trying to protect me.”
“You’re welcome, baby girl. You were hot, by the way, taking on those divs.” A chuckle rumbled through his chest. “Inever guessed I’d get turned on by a woman swinging a giant hammer in a fight.”
I hid my burning cheeks in his shirt.
“Mira, can I have a kiss—”
The door burst open and Kerry rushed into the room with his phone held in front of him.
