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“What friend?”
“The dark-haired one you were with last weekend.”
“That’s my sister,” I answer. “She’s—” I catch myself before revealing that I’m here on my own. “Asleep. I was making a sleep tonic when I saw a woman out my window being followed by that demon and ran out to help.”
“Are you having trouble sleeping?” Fingers lightly wrap around my elbow, tugging me left, down another alley instead of straight. “This way,” he murmurs, though his gaze is stuck on the gold magic clutching my arm where he touches me.
A shiver dances delightfully up my spine, and goosebumps rise like a wave from my fingers to my chest. Maybe I need a potion with a higher concentration of wormwood and peppermint to cool this stifling heat between us.
A loud clattering a short way down the alley has us breaking apart.
Tucking my hair behind an ear, I force my feet to keep moving. “Ahh, yeah. I don’t think I’ll sleep until I figure out these visions, though.”
“Oh.” His brows pinch together as he keeps pace beside me.
“Are you not sleeping? Do demons sleep?”
Nix chuckles. “Yes. Though the beds here are much nicer.” He points right, down the next alley we come to. “I, ah, haven’t been sleeping well since we met and the… you know.”
“Yeah, I think that’s part of my problem too.”
“Have you found anything on what it could be?”
I shake my head. Every place we think to look has been a pointless endeavor that only leaves me feeling more confused. It’s driving me crazy that I can’t figure out our bond and how all the clues from my visions relate to each other.
Nix stops when we reach the end of the alley. Cupid’s Crumb is directly in front of us, and when I look to my left, there’s the sign for Tea Alchemy and the open door to Akonyte Kitchen beyond that.
“Thank you.”
He nods, making no move to leave me just yet. “You say that an awful lot to me.”
I step backward so I can still face him as I walk toward the doors of Akonyte Kitchen. “Well, that time I meant it.” I grin.
He stares at me, hands in his pockets, a slight hook on one side of his mouth and a face etched in curiosity. “Next time you want backup, you should just call me.”
“I didn’t have time to gather sandalwood and my last shred of pride to summon you.” I cross my arms, fighting a smirk. I meant it as an insult, but it came out sounding entirely too flirty. “How did you find me, by the way?”
He frowns. “I sensed you, somehow, I think.”
The smile slips from my face. What is this magic that brews between us?
“Sweet dreams, witch.”
8
“Wake up.” I pull the blankets over my head at the unwelcome light flooding my room, along with Lennox’s voice. “There’s another attack.”
I groan, rolling out of bed, still refusing to open my eyes as I stumble across the room. My chain knocks against my bare chest as I search through the drawers for something to wear.
“Why do we all have to go?” Jett grumbles, his blond hair poking up in every direction as he stands in the hallway just outside my door, hopping on one foot as he tries to shove the other in the leg of his sweats, dick swinging with the motion.
“Fuck’s sake.” I turn away. “Put that thing away before you come into my room.”
“Oh, come on, he won’t bite you.” Jett finally pulls his pants the rest of the way on. “He’s feeling very neglected lately.”
“Then go home for a few hours. Find what’s-her-name. You’re always in a better mood after she spends a night stroking your ego,” I say, pulling on a black sweatshirt.
“Perhaps if you hadn’t gone to bed an hour ago because you can’t stop watching those human shows, you wouldn’t be so grumpy,” Lennox says as he passes my door and disappears toward the kitchen.
