Page 56 of (Mostly) Human Resources

Only the threat of having to reporttwomissing coworkers convinced her to follow after him.

CHAPTER 31

“There are rumors of a beast that lives in the ivy. Thatisthe ivy. I haven’t seen it yet, but it’s on my list of creatures I want to see before I retire. If it exists, I’ll find it.”

Journals of Reaper J. T. Cross

Nic traversed the woods with more confidence than was warranted, and all day he’d felt Alexys’s judgmental gaze on his back like a laser. It came as no surprise she wasn’t particularly grateful for his help, but he was giving it nonetheless.

In fact, to suggest she displayedanyform of appreciation would be a gross exaggeration. The woman found him wholly intolerable. And she made no effort to hide it. He chuckled to himself as he remembered the look on her face when she’d seen him the night before, standing on Opal’s porch. She’d been near feral with rage. In any other circumstance, he too would have been feral with rage (she’dabandoned himafter all).

But how could he get truly angry with her when he knew her secret? And it wasn’t a small secret, it was a life-altering, dangerous one. That, compounded with Elliot’s rogue assignment that he just so happened to have a hand in, changed everything. Suddenly,Alexys made sense to him in a way she never had before. All that attitude, all that bitterness and bite, but underneath, she just needed someone’s help.

And that’s what he was there to do—he was the key to finding Elliot and solving her nightmares. While Alexys might feel she was capable of rescuing her Warden, only Nic could prepare them for an encounter with the Hollow Walker. And as much as he wanted toseethe creature himself, he also wanted to find Elliot almost as much as Alexys did, which meant their goals were aligned. And after that whistling, Nic was certain that the creature, and hopefully Elliot, weren’t far off.

“Would you slow down?” Alexys all but wheezed.

Nic slowed his pace and glanced over his shoulder. Alexys did appear incredibly vexed. Her complete lack of athleticism was concerning. By his approximation, they still had a few more miles to go, at least. “Having trouble keeping up?” He couldn’t resist antagonizing her.

Alexys growled something under her breath, no doubt an expletive.

Her cheeks were flushed pink from exertion, and her brow was furrowed as she glared at the ground beneath her feet. She looked so far out of her element, Nic actually felt some sympathy for the poor woman, having been forced out of her cozy office.

Nic wondered if she packed extra clothing, but after seeing the fierce scowl clouding her expression, he decided not to ask.

The heat of the afternoon hadn’t helped things (her heavy breathing punctuated by muttered complaints and the occasional curse), but now the temperature was dropping rapidly, and he worried she’d be cold. He considered offering her some words of positivity, but the nature of their relationship wasn’t friendly. In short? Motivational speeches weren’t helpful. In fact, the opposite seemed to be true. Perhaps it was their strained relationship or her prickly disposition, but Alexys seemed to respond better to a target than anencouragement. As if venting her anger made her feel better, allowed her to keep pushing forward and gave her something to focus on other than the exhaustion in her muscles and the sweat on her brow.

And, for whatever reason, Nic was exceptionally adept at making himself a target for her frustration.

When Alexys’s foot tangled in the ivy for the hundredth time and—despite his instruction to avoid it—she knelt to free herself, he offered the first volley.

“Pueraria montana, the foot-a-night vine.”

Alexys paused her disentangling to take a fortifying breath.

“Kudzu is easily my least favorite perennial vine,” Nic said, as if everyone had a ranking of highest- to lowest-rated perennial vines. “It’s considered one of the worst plants ever introduced to the eastern United States. The vine that ate the South, as they say.”

“Fascinating.” She gave him her well-practiced,please stop talkingglare, but he ignored it.

When she was unable to wrestle herself free of the bottom-ranking plant, Nic dropped down on his haunches and started to untangle the vine for her. She tried to stop him, but he just batted her hands away. He gripped her ankle to hold her steady and tried not to think about the warmth of her skin against his palm.

Once her foot was free, she stepped away with murmured thanks.

Seeing as he was already squatted down, Nic decided to get a closer look at the kudzu and ensure it wasn’t an even less desirable vine like poison ivy. “It trulyisfascinating. First introduced in 1876, it’s native to Japan, China, and …”

He could tell she was trying not to listen. He didn’t stop talking. The information flowed out of him with little effort, and he watched as irritation colored her face.

Alexys looked off into the trees as he explained the connection between kudzu and the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. She startled, as though remembering something, and he watched her dig through her backpack. Her look of triumph when she pulled aprotein bar from her bag was almost cute. Her bright blue eyes lit up as she held the food up like a prize.

“The vine is technically a legume,” Nic said a little too loudly, successfully drawing her eyes back to him for a moment. He stood and brushed the dirt from his knees, “A member of the bean family.”

While fighting with the wrapper, she asked, “Why was it allowed to spread if it’s such a problematic plant?”

“It was used in the early 1900s for erosion control.” He took the bar from her and unwrapped it with ease. He handed it back to her and said, “They planted more than a million acres of it. By the time they realized how aggressively it could smother the other flora, it was too late.”

“Dreadful,” Alexys said around a mouthful of food. “What a useless plant.”

“Not entirely. Some people use the kudzu blossoms to make jams or jellies.”