Free The Orange Cat & other Cainsville tales by Kelley Armstrong Page B

her, he knew how she felt about him. It was the equivalent of branding Liv Loves Ricky on her skin. It did not, however, mean Liv & Ricky 4ever . Maybe it seemed like it should. Tattoos were permanent, right? But when he decided to get his, it wasn’t about saying he expected them to be together forever. It was like each of the other tattoos on his body, commemorating a thing or a person that was significant in his life. Liv was. Liv always would be.
    That did not mean he had to hold on as tight as he could, spend every day worrying about when or if he’d lose her. He’d learned that lesson at fifteen when he’d gone joyriding on his dad’s motorcycle. He’d had a dirt bike for years. He’d even ridden his dad’s Harley around the property. But until he turned sixteen and got his license, he couldn’t take a motorcycle on the road. So, in a rare burst of rebellion, he’d snuck off one day when his dad had driven the car into Chicago.
    Everything had gone fine until he hit a patch of gravel. Right when a pickup was coming his way. He’d managed to come out of the skid, but in that moment, life flashing before his eyes, he’d realized he was mortal. For the first time in his life, he truly understood that he could—and would—die.
    That had sent him spiraling into weeks of existential panic. He just couldn’t get past it. He’d have full-blown anxiety attacks passing a cemetery.
    He’d finally confessed to his dad. And, yeah, he’d confessed about the bike, too, because while he could have skipped that, it weighed too heavily on him. He told his father what happened and that he’d realized he was going to die one day, and his dad said, “Yes.”
    Yes, Ricky, you will die.
    There was no getting around that one. He did, however, have a choice. He could live in fear, forever looking down the road at that gravestone. Or he could embrace what he had while he had it.
    Ricky chose to embrace what he had. Both in life and with Liv. He knew how she felt about Gabriel. He knew how Gabriel felt about her. And he knew that someday, maybe that would amount to something. But someday wasn’t now. Right now, he had her, and if he had her, he wanted her happy.
    So when she flinched as he suggested she take the fae stuff to Gabriel, he said, “I can ask him if you want, but you guys know this stuff better than I do.”
    “I’ve already talked to him.”
    Now Ricky was the one tensing. Because, yeah, he could say her relationship with Gabriel didn’t bother him at all, but the “at all” part was bullshit.
    “He could tell there was something wrong,” Liv said.
    Of course he could.
    “He kept pushing, so I told him we ran into fae at the swimming hole.”
    “Not the whole story, I hope.”
    That made her laugh and relax, taking a bite of oatcake as she shook her head. “Definitely not that part. He did offer to look into the fae thing. He’s concerned—our run-ins with them haven’t usually been quite so . . . friendly.”
    Ricky chuckled, relaxing a bit himself. “So he’s already on it?”
    “No, because there’s something I didn’t tell you. About my own encounter. I told Gabriel that I needed to speak to you about that part first, and I’ll e-mail him the details later.”
    “What’d he say to that?”
    “He agreed.”
    Ricky exhaled under his breath. “Okay, well, let’s talk then, and you can get that e-mail sent. You said the fae dragged you out of a cavern. Is that not all she did?”
    Catching his look, she laughed and shook her head. “When I said my encounter wasn’t nearly as pleasant as yours, I meant it. I jumped into the water and ended up in an underground cavern. She found me there and dragged me out, and then presumably went to give you a scare, too, got a look at you and changed her mind. Which I can totally understand.”
    He smiled and shook his head. “I have a feeling it was more a case of her thinking that might be another way to get rid of us.”
    “Uh, yeah. She doesn’t