I hand off beer bottles on my way back to my end of the cushions. I twist off my top and land it on the coffee table in front of me with a tink, propping my feet up next to it.
Nyx comes back a minute later, no glass. Kai’s arm goes around her, and Avery inches closer to me as the creepy music picks up on the screen. She’s hiding her face in my shirtsleeve, all of me burning hot when I feel eyes on me from down the couch. I bite back another smile and hold Avery to my side.
Lydia clearly pinned her concerns on the wrong Nephilim causing trouble. Because this is setting up to go all kinds of wrong.
“Make her forget you fucked her,” Cass commands. “Tell her the first time you met was at the apartment. And suggest she never see your charge again, too. Don’t screw around with this mortal soap-opera bullshit.”
I laugh into the phone. Leave it to Cass to jump straight to the nuclear option. But he’s not wrong. A little light and a smooth suggestion, and Nyx disappears. Things could go back to normal, and I wouldn’t need to hang back like I have been the past few days. It would also mean the texts from Avery would stop.
Messages have been popping up while I bounce between following her to lectures and watching Kai from across the street as he becomes a piece of furniture in the coffee shop. Avery has dissected every aspect of what she could coax out of her brother about his new obsession, and she likes to share with the class.
Nyx Lamore. A twenty-three-year-old barista, only able to afford her first-floor one-bedroom, thanks to a small inheritance from an aunt she never met. She has a twin sister but doesn’t talk about her, and her parents died years ago too. Kismet, according to Kai. Bullshit, according to Chaz.
I flop back on my bed, turning the palm stone over in my hand. The flat, polished crystal works like a crystal ball, except two-sided with each side tied to a charge’s soul, giving me a quick way of summoning their image. I spend longer on Avery as she’s crossing the street on the way to her car after her last class of the day. Mostly to avoid watching Kai across the hall with Nyx. She’s splattered with paint for some fucking reason.
The phone vibrates against my cheek, and I pull it away to check the screen.
“Why’s your charge texting me?” I ask.
Then I see what Hannah sent and roll my eyes at the morality police.
You will NOT make a woman forget she slept with you.
“Unless it’s life or death,” she adds, shouting from somewhere near Cass. “And being annoyed is neither.”
Fucking Kelley.
But again, point made.
“At least get her away from you and your charge.” Most of the edge has left Cass’s tone. I’m still not used to the effect she has on him. Who knew all it would take to soothe my brother’s forever-tortured soul was a fiery redhead who doesn’t put up with his shit?
I toss the palm stone into the air and catch it. Maybe I shouldn’t do anything. I wouldn’t if this were just some random chick my charge brought home. They’re a fling, and soon enough, the whole Nyx storm will blow over—with or without my suggestive influence.
Kai doesn’t even like coffee.
My phone vibrates again. I turn my head to check the screen, lit up with a message from Cursed One.
Call me. Now.
Our other brother must be feeling left out.
Anytime I start to bitch about any part of my existence, I only need a text from Rosdan to settle me down. The dude hasn’t caught a break in … well, ever. And while twins have been a rarity in my line, Ros deals with them regularly. This last go-round, triplets.
I sigh, letting the stone fall onto my chest. It slides off onto the mattress when I sit up. “Well, you two have been shit for help. Remind Kelley I’m here if she ever wants to—”
“Fuck off,” Cass says. “Deal with your charge before it blows up in your face.”
He hangs up, and I chuckle, calling Rosdan. I’ve made it to the living room by the time he answers—or before he starts making demands.
“Let me in,” he says, followed by a click.
And he’s the polite one.
I redirect to the kitchen and disengage the spell. “It’s open,” I shout, setting my phone on the counter.
Rosdan charges in, flying right past me.
“Great to see you too, dude,” I say, shutting the door behind him.
“Sorry. Mark’s at the gym—new kickboxing class. I waited for his heart rate to get up so I could drop, and I don’t have much time.” When I turn around, he’s holding out his hand with a wild look in his dark eyes. “Amulet.”
Another attempt to get Samy’s amulet working. It’s essentially been nothing but dead weight the past few months, but Ros is determined to find a spell so we can use the power stockpiled inside.
I pull at the chain to bring it out from under my shirt and then drag it over my head while I give him a once-over. “I take back the great part. You look like shit.”
Dark circles under his eyes, hair a mess like he’s been pulling at it—sure signs of a stressed-out Ros.
He practically jerks the amulet out of my hand. “It’d better be this one. I’m running out of scrolls.”
“Maybe Samy cast an original.”
“Fuck, I hope not. I’ll still be trying to figure it out when the triplets go to college.” He holds the amulet to his chest and chants the spell. Nothing happens, so he shakes the crystal—which houses enough divine light to blow up the moon—like it’s a remote with dying batteries and tries again.
Not even a spark.
“Shit.” He shoves the amulet back at me, tugging at the back of his hair. “I really thought I had it.”
“I know, buddy.” I pat him on the back, walking him toward the door. “You’ll get it next time.”
He stops and scowls at me. “You’re such an asshole.”
And then he drops out of my apartment, leaving my hand suspended in the air when he goes. I leave the amulet on the counter by my phone and grab the crystal to reengage the spell when someone knocks.
“Still good,” I call, setting the crystal down again.
The knocking continues, and I shake my head. Rosdan’s erratic episodes always put me in a good mood.
I head for the door, grinning as I let him back in. “You couldn’t possibly have another spell—”
I cut off, my decent mood crumbling. My grip on the wood tightens while Nyx blinks up at me.
“Hey.” Her wet hair drips on the carpet, nothing but a white towel covering her. The corner tucked in the front dips the terry cloth down to show her cleavage.
Fucking hell. I assumed the whining pipes meant Kai was in the shower.
She holds the top of the towel with both hands. “The hot water cut out on me, and Kai said I could finish my shower over here?”
I should say no and send her back across, but then the elevator dings down the hall, and she gives me a pleading look.
Shit.