“So what does all this mean?” Riley asked.
“It means you’re average.” He gathered up the things on the table.
Riley helped him, disgruntled. She didn’t want to be a freak, but now that she knew she wasn’t, she didn’t want to be average, either. It was kind of a letdown after all the raving about her uniqueness.
“Average how?” she asked.
“Very few goddesses are like Quinn, able to heal and move stuff and sense things and alter perception and set fires. Most are concentrated in a couple of areas. Like her mother, Tess. She can grow the most gorgeous plants you ever saw, and she can make changes to living tissue. Remove scars, fix teeth, stuff like that.”
Marley had told her a little about this already. “But she can’t throw a person ten feet.”
He chuckled. “No, I don’t think she can.” He hefted the table and moved it back to one side of the room. Riley got up and followed with the two chairs.
“So what would you call my thing?”
He shrugged. “No need to label it. Consider it a starting point. We can do other tests. Be careful what you try on your own, though, so you don’t hurt anyone.” He cocked his head as he looked at her, and she could almost see the thoughts spinning through his brain. “If you wanted, you could turn this into a lucrative bodyguard career, something like that. Or join the Protectorate. We haven’t had a protector goddess in a long time. Not since I can remember.”
Riley sighed. She’d barely adjusted to the idea that the Society wasn’t a gang of con artists or something, and he wanted her to be a champion for them? “It’s a lot to think about. But thanks.”
“No problem.”
They paused next to Sam, who didn’t seem to realize they were there for a few seconds. But when he looked up, his gaze landed squarely on Riley, and he smiled enough to expose the dimples and make her insides swoop.
“All done?” he asked.
“For now,” John said. “Marley set some time aside to dig with her through the archives, and I have meetings. You ready for lunch?”
Sam frowned at the computer. “I need a few more minutes. I’ll lock up here.”
John tossed him a set of keys and turned to Riley. “There’s a shower upstairs if you want to use it before you cram yourself into Marley’s office.”
“Thanks,” she said. “I will.”
He left, and Riley hesitated. She didn’t want to interrupt if Sam was deep into something, but he caught her hand when she started to move away. The contact somehow eliminated all her uncertainty, even when he closed the laptop and faced her with a very unhappy expression.
“You know what I told you yesterday about Quinn and the leeched power?”
She nodded, distracted by the way his fingers wrapped around her hand. His was so big, she wondered if he even noticed he was still holding hers, or that his thumb was stroking her palm. The sensation shivered its way up her arm and into her chest.
He sighed. “I have to go to Mississippi.”
“What?” That wasn’t what she’d expected him to say, especially after he told her last night that he was staying. “Now?”
He nodded, his mouth turning down and his eyes murky with worry. “Nick said Quinn’s getting worse. She can’t put off making the transfers, especially now that they apparently know what to do.”
Riley frowned. “I can understand that, but why does it have to be you?”
He stood and released her to pack his laptop into its case. “Something about needing a filter to help separate the power. He didn’t go into a lot of detail, just insisted it had to be me. Look.” He set the case on the floor and faced her, his hands on her shoulders. “I don’t want to leave here with the Millinger issue unfinished, but I’ve spent the last few hours researching and making calls, and I’m not getting anywhere. No one has any information. I can’t reach anyone associated with Millinger at any of their claimed locations.
“On the plus side,” he continued, not sounding all that positive, “no one has seen Anson anywhere near here. If you stick with John and stay around other people, you’ll be safe until I get back.”
Riley wasn’t worried about her safety at the moment. She’d held her own against both John and Sam today, and she doubted anyone would approach her while she was around the Society. But she hated that Sam had to leave right now, when they were just getting started.
“How long do you think you’ll be gone?”
He hefted the laptop case over his shoulder and walked out with her, flipping off the lights and locking the door with John’s keys. “A couple of days at the most. I’ll fly down tonight, meet up with them to do the transfer tomorrow, and fly back as soon as I can.” They went into the stairwell and climbed toward the floor above. “I don’t know yet how this all works, but I’ll keep you posted.”
“I hope it all goes well, and that Quinn’s okay.” Riley reached for the door at the landing, but again Sam’s hand on hers stopped her.
“I’m sorry to do this now, when we haven’t even had a chance to talk about last night.”
Her heart fluttered, and she was sure it showed in her eyes when she looked up at him. “What is there to say?”
One side of his mouth twitched up. “It was that bad?”
She laughed. “Hardly. We just met, that’s all.” God, had it been barely two days ago? They’d packed what felt like a month’s worth of living into such a short time. “I can’t expect anything from you.”
“Oh, yes, you can.” He tugged her against him and cupped her face, his other hand hot on her back. Riley had time for a fleeting thought that she was a sweaty mess, but it vanished as soon as their mouths met. His lips were soft and smooth, but firm and talented as they swept across hers. He nipped at her bottom lip and she opened to him, accepting his tongue in a hungry dance.
Too soon, Sam cradled her head between his hands and released her mouth. His breath panted into hers, and he kept his eyes closed for several moments before he spoke.
“I really don’t want to leave you.”
Riley couldn’t tell him not to, and she couldn’t make herself say it was okay, so she stayed silent. The pads of Sam’s fingers dragged across her scalp, igniting a cascade of shivers that forced her eyes closed. As soon as she did, he kissed her again, this one gentler.
“I’ll call you,” Sam said. “John will watch out for you, but please be careful.”
“I will.” The words came out rough. She cleared her throat. “Don’t worry about me.”
He chuckled. “I will.”
Then, so quickly it felt gratifyingly like he was tearing himself away, he was gone.
Chapter Seven
The greatest of power is built not accompanied by fanfare and spotlights, but quietly, with a constant eye on long-term growth. Power and influence, invested properly, is its own return.
Riley felt better after she’d showered, but only physically. Knowing Sam was gone created a hole that was completely illogical, given how short a time he’d been in her life. But that life had irrevocably changed in the last few days, and he was an intrinsic part of the change. She missed him, and he’d been gone about half an hour.
She was about to leave the shower room when she heard raised voices and hesitated. John was in the hall talking to a woman Riley had briefly met this morning—Jeannine, the president of the board.
“This is the absolute worst time for us to lose you,” she said.
“It’s not like I’d be disappearing into the jungle. I’ll be around. But you knew when I first came in here it was temporary. This isn’t my thing, riding a desk.”