Page 59 of Somnium

Her neck.

“You won’t be sleeping.”

Her lips.

“And I’m trying very, very hard to be good.”

Fucking hell, this man. She was beginning to think he really was trying to kill her.

“Fine,” she groaned.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled his mouth back to hers and let him guide her down off the counter. She walked him to the door, where he turned back at the threshold and leaned in to give her one more kiss that left her breathless.

The sound of a throat being cleared over his shoulder pulled their attention to the hall, where Cadi’s neighbor was standing in front of her door, a single eyebrow raised.

Elias muttered a halfhearted apology, then turned back to Cadi with a roguish grin.

“Good night,” he said, pressing his lips to her forehead and stepping into the corridor.

“Night,” she replied as she leaned against the doorway to watch him until he disappeared into the stairwell.

“Like I said, dear,” her neighbor commented, “there are worse things in life.”

The woman winked at her before stepping into her apartment, leaving Cadi alone in the hall, grinning like a damn fool.

17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CADI

Warm metal bit into Cadi’s bare legs as she shifted in her chair, tilting her phone up to check for any new messages. It had been two days since Elias promised to talk to Sera, his last update being to let Cadi know that he had confirmed Sera’s interest in the sigils was purely artistic. Yet, Sera still refused to return any of her texts, despite Cadi’s persistence.

She sighed, turning back to her book and propping her feet on the railing of the balcony, wiggling her toes against the warm wood.

Summer was unwilling to relinquish its grip on the city, which meant the sun was out again and Cadi had decided to spend her Saturday afternoon on the patio reading. Warm light pooled over her arms and legs, her black workout shorts and slouchy, wide-armed band tee offering just enough coverage to keep the neighbors from talking.

The plastic cover of her library book crinkled against her knees, and a half grin tugged at her lips. She was probably one of the only people who still borrowed books from the Fiddler’s Green library system, and she had no plans to stop. Lifting the tome to her nose, she pulled in a deep breath, savoring the hints of old wood and ink. In her opinion, the older the book the better the smell, and library books were top tier.

She skimmed the yellowing pages through the dark lenses of her sunglasses, willing the prose to transport her into the carefully curated fantasy world far from the worries of reality. Her brain, however, had different plans, and continued to stubbornly flood itself with thoughts and theories as to why Sera wouldn’t talk to her.

With a groan, she slammed the book shut. At this point, she had read the same paragraph five times and still had no idea what was going on. Frustrated didn’t even begin to cover it.

She propped an elbow against the woven metal table and twisted a single curl around her finger, genuinely trying to ignore her growing agitation. Tilting her phone up again, she checked her messages for what had to be the millionth time that day, and huffed at the screen when all she found were the five unanswered texts that she had sent to Sera, noting with a hint of bitterness that her friend still hadn’t turned off her read receipts.

The phone dropped onto the table with a metallic clang, and she leaned to let her head hang back. Ignoring her messages at this point was starting to feel like a calculated strategy: avoid contact until Cadi gave up and stopped asking questions.

All she wanted was to know how worried she should be. She didn’t love the idea of her relationship with Elias, or her friendship with Sera, having secrets. The whole situation had her on edge, and it was a constant battle to keep her mind from spiraling into old patterns.

Cadi pulled her head up as an idea began to take shape. One she never would have thought she’d have the guts to even consider, let alone follow through with. Sera’s strategy only worked if Cadi let it, and it would be pretty difficult to leave her on read if she was standing right in front of her.

She chewed the inside of her cheek as she checked the time: 3:15 p.m.

The Crow’s Nest didn’t open until five, but she knew Elias had the staff get there early to prepare everything for the weekend crowd. Sera would definitely be there, and she wouldn’t be able to use helping customers as an excuse to slip away.

Perfect.

Cadi swung her feet down and hopped up, gripping the table when a sudden head rush told her she had stood up just a hair too fast considering how long she had been sitting with her feet elevated. Once the fuzziness in her head receded, she shuffled back inside to quickly throw on an actual shirt and pants before heading out.