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A light pink tinted her cheeks as she muttered a thank you. Men and women were usually afraid of the warrior woman, and compliments were more often about her fighting skills than her looks. Which was just crazy because the woman was drop-dead gorgeous.
“I can always rely on you, Joe,” I said with a smile. “Thank you.”
He and I kissed each other’s cheeks, and he headed out the door.
I downed the last of my coffee. “Let’s check on Kit. Her place isn’t far from here.”
Lena gazed into her empty mug with sadness. “Do they offer this to go?”
* * *
Lena and I strolled down the sidewalk toward Kit’s with fresh brews in hand. It wasn’t often we got to just hang out, and we both relished the opportunity while it lasted. Time would tell if we ever had this luxury again.
Death would catch up with me eventually. A true death. My new goal was savoring a few centuries with Thane first, but who knew what games the gods played with our lives.
By the time we reached Kit’s, I felt more relaxed than I had in weeks, not since before the whole dragons-kidnapping-me fiasco. But I was also ready for some action. As much as I enjoyed a relaxing vacation, I was the type that needed to keep moving, keep getting shit done.
I’d texted Kit before leaving the coffee shop, so the door was unlocked when we arrived. We let ourselves in, and I froze mid-step.
Something was terribly wrong.
12
MONDAY MORNING
The entire apartment sparkled. Kit wasn’t a messy person, but I’d still never seen her place so…shiny.
While my best friend faced her three computer screens in the living room’s corner and barely noticed our arrival, Ivan glanced over his shoulder before returning to his game. He sat on the couch facing the TV, playing a fantasy video game featuring elves.
The answer to the mysterious cleanliness scrubbed a pot furiously in the kitchen sink. Angela wore bright yellow rubber gloves up to her elbows, and her cheeks were bright red from the exertion. Strands of her curly brown hair clung to her forehead.
“I don’t mean to state the obvious, but that pot can’t get any cleaner,” I said. Taking Lena’s empty cup, I tossed both in the trash can.
Lena drifted over to the couch and sank onto the cushion beside Ivan. Her mouth dropped open as she watched the screen.
Life’s little luxuries—in the human world.
Angela blew out her breath and paused her scrubbing. “I know, but I need to keep busy. There’s only so much I can do to help you guys. Cleaning is one of them.”
I knew how she felt. Yes, I was physically stronger than her and had magic she didn’t, but I also knew how useless I felt about not doing something when everyone else was busy. That was basically how I got myself into trouble so much.
Thankfully, Angela was channeling her anxiety into something more productive and less destructive than my typical go-to—impulsive decisions.
“My penthouse could always use some love,” I teased.
She snorted, which sent one of her stray curls flying. “Your cleaning service would kill me.”
I grinned. She wasn’t wrong. I paid them way above market price and added hefty bonuses around the holidays. Hoarding cash wasn’t my thing, even if I didn’t flaunt it like other filthy rich people I knew.
Leaving Angela to her therapeutic cleaning, I sat on the fold-up chair next to Kit. Images and text covered her computer monitors, and she switched between them without pause.
“Adam’s reaching out to other agency locations to see if there’s a mage capable of opening a portal to Mirognya,” I said.
She nodded. “He emailed me.”
Of course he did. I wasn’t upset he’d beaten me to the punch—not that it was super exciting news to begin with—but I was already feeling the itch to be productive. Angela’s disease must have been contagious.
Ivan shouted Yazyk curse words as Lena fell into a fit of laughter. A quick glance at the TV showed his character lying on the ground, dead, while an innocent-looking fluffy bunny licked the blood off a paw.
