He shrugged. “Maybe. I . . . I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Too late for that.” I took a bite of bacon and chewed it. “Nowhere to go from here but up.”

“Or under a gravestone,” Corb pointed out.

We ate in quiet for all of thirty seconds. “What is it about Crash that is so bad? I mean, he was kind to me, far kinder than Feish, who tried to give me a teacup poisoned with a ramped-up version of Ex-Lax.”

Corb scooped up the last of the food in the frying pan. “He’s strong in his . . . abilities, let’s call them, and has very little to do with the community other than to make weapons. And he’s old, so he’s got a lot of knowledge and could do plenty of good, but he doesn’t. He just shuts everyone out. That you even saw him is shocking, to be honest. I’ve never met him, and I’ve been here for almost fifteen years.”

“He knew my gran,” I said, thinking about what Crash had told me. “He talked about her like they were old friends.”

Corb put the pan into the sink of soapy water and I cringed. Damn it, I’d been seasoning that pan all week. “Look, if Crash likes you, that’s not a bad thing. It’s only a bad thing if you get on his bad side. I’m guessing he doesn’t know you’re working with Eammon?”

I shook my head. “Not working with him directly. He knows I’m with the Hollows Group.”

Corb went on. “Then you’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“Thanks,” I said. “This is the nicest you’ve been to me since I got here.”

“I was trying to make you leave, but you seem to have taken root. And I won’t turn down a few good meals here and there.” He grinned, and there he was, the Corb I’d first thought was pretty nice despite the reputation Himself had told me about. Then again, Himself didn’t like my gran and she was amazing. Maybe Corb would turn out okay too.

Corb left me in the kitchen, and a moment later, the shower came on in his bathroom. Which left me sitting there alone, stewing in my thoughts. In the time I’d been here, I hadn’t even gone by to check on Gran’s old place. Mostly because it would be torturous to stand outside a place that had been my home and not be able to go in, to know a stranger owned it.

But the time had come to put on my big girl panties and check the place out. Maybe I could do that before training started. Yes, that was what I’d do. Catch one of the trolleys and head to West Harris Lane. Check on the house, see if the For-Sale sign was up.

Himself had said he’d sell it fast, and I had no doubt he meant it. He’d sell it for nothing just to spite me.