by A and E Kirk
“Okay, fine,” I grumbled back. So much for being part of the team. I tossed my hands in the air, accidentally slapping myself in the face with the dishtowel. Ow. Stupid towel. “Forget I asked.”
“Don’t be mad. It’s just that we have a strict rule about—” He let out a long, gloomy breath and looked miserable.
Crap.
“You each get to tell your own story.” I put an arm around Logan and laid my head on his shoulder. “Ayden told me. I shouldn’t have put you on the spot. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “You’re such a pain, but I know something that’d make me feel better.” He pulled a cup full of soapy water from the sink and dumped the whole thing over my head.
“Ack!” I jumped away, slipping on the puddle on the floor. “I can’t believe you just did that!”
“Oh, really?” he grinned, scooping up more water. “Then maybe I should do it again to convince yo—ahhhyowch!” He unsuccessfully tried to spin away from the brutal towel flick I landed on his thigh.
“Ha!” I twirled the towel with a saucy attitude. “Take that!”
“Oh, now you’re in for it.”
This time he scooped an entire cooking pot into the sink and flung all the water at me. I ducked just as Ayden and Jayden walked in from the dining room. The water drenched them both.
Logan and I doubled over with laughter.
“Really?” Ayden deadpanned, sudsy drops streaming off his chin. “I just got this shirt dry.”
“I can take care of this.” Jayden’s eyes started to swirl a murky blue-green, ready to eliminate the water.
“Don’t you dare!” I said. “No powers. My parents are right outsi—ahhh!”
Cold water splashed on my back. I turned to Logan who held up his hands, one holding an empty pot. His grin was devilish. “No powers. I swear.”
I went after him with my mad towel-flicking skills. There was lots of screaming. Mom and Dad shouted for us to quit messing up the kitchen when we were supposed to be cleaning it and bring our ridiculous selves into the backyard.
We ran out the back door and made it to the middle of the lawn when Dad jumped out from a hedge and pulled the trigger on the hose nozzle, spraying us all down.
I wasn’t the only one screaming like a girl.
Alerted to the melee, Luna and Lucian brought out Oron and Selena. They tried to remain hysterically laughing bystanders, but that didn’t last long. We all transformed into a wet, muddy, laughing mess. It felt slimy and grimy, yucky and mucky, but oh so good, because it was the family fun of my old normal, before demons slashed it away and took over my life. I’d forgotten how much I missed it.
Oodles of squeals and screams cut into the night as Matthias raced into the yard, looking white as a sheet and holding his arms and hands in a way that I knew meant he was about to bring out his shadow whips.
As he took in the scene of the water fight/mud war, he slowed, then stopped dead.
“Bloody hell!” He leaned over, resting his hands on his knees, taking deep breaths. “I thought there was a de—dangerous situation.” He shook his head. “Bloody hell.”
I figured he too could use a hefty dose of old normal, so I decided to do him a huge favor.
“The only thing dangerous about this situation,” I said, “is that you are dangerously dry.” I put the hose in Selena’s hands.
“No.” Matthias raised his palms. “No, Selena, love. You don’t want to do this. Not to your best mate.”
Blake gave Selena a nudge. “Remember what I taught you, itsy-bitsy babe-ette.”
She flashed him a mischievous grin and raised the hose. “Boom goes the dynamite!”
Then she pulled the trigger.
CHAPTER 25
“She’s done,” Luna said from inside our bathroom shower.
I finished brushing my teeth to minty freshness, and as Luna handed her out, wrapped Selena in a plush pink towel decorated with a giant princess crown.
While I helped her into pajamas, she grinned proudly, “I got Matty good, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did. It was awesome!” I gave her a high-five.
He’d been drenched but took it like a good sport. Of course he would. It was Selena. The shenanigans had ended quickly after that, mostly because we were all freezing. The Boys had insisted on cleaning the kitchen while the rest of us went upstairs to get ready for bed. It wasn’t so much a magnanimous an offer as it was efficient, since it gave them a chance to use their powers. Probably took them no time at all.
I tucked Selena in bed, promising to return for a bedtime story after I took our wet, muddy clothes to the laundry room. I dumped them in the plastic garbage bag mom had left in our bathroom and lugged the heavy load down the hall.
Passing the guestroom, I noticed light coming from underneath the closed door. I’d just heard Lucian singing way off-key in his shower so knew he wasn’t in there, but he’d probably left the light on earlier. He sometimes used the room’s TV to play video games on the sly since my parents didn’t allow them in our bedrooms. Idiot. He’d probably left the TV on too.
I dropped the bag of clothes, opened the door, took two steps in, and saw a dark evil.
CHAPTER 26
Desperate for escape, I threw my arms over my eyes to shut out the sight, screamed, and raced out of the room. But the wet bag of clothes had a different plan, tripping my feet out from under me. My body tumbled forward. I landed with a loud thwump.
I laid there. Assessing injuries. None. Except my pride, of course.
“Nice moves,” came a dry voice from inside the guestroom. “I see all that training is really paying off.”
Grrrr. I pushed myself to my feet and re-entered the room.
The Aussie sat up in the bed, knees raised, a book against his thighs, a pen in hand. His hair was still damp from a recent shower, wavy strands dipping over his forehead and into his eyes. He wore sweatpants but no shirt. Wow, this was really my night for half-naked guys.
Slightly shorter than Ayden, Matthias had always been stockier, but now he seemed to have developed even more muscles, building up his shoulders, biceps, and torso with fresh—and impressive—contours of beefcake. I moved my eyes up to his face, always handsome with that dark, brooding mystique, and worked hard to keep them there.
“What in the world are you doing here?” I said. “And put some clothes on.”
“Oh, my mistake. I thought I’d get some privacy instead of you barging in here and gawking.”
“I’m not gawking.”
Okay, I kind of was.
Don’t get the wrong idea. I’d seen him without his shirt before. Swimming in the lake, and then at his dad’s pretend birthday luau. He didn’t turn me on, but I could appreciate a good physique, even when it’s wrapped around a jerk. It was distracting. Plus, walking in on him had totally surprised me. Not in a pleasant way.
“You look good,” I said.
His head jerked as he glared at me. “Why would you say that?”
“Because it’s true.” And not saying it was like I was hiding some crush of my own. “You been working out more? It’s paid off. Although, you still need a haircut.”
“I don’t need this,” he growled, flipping his hair back off his face.
“What are you doing here?” I asked again.
“I take your family’s safety seriously.” He slapped the book closed and dumped it on the bed. “Figured it would be best for one of us to stay inside the house for extra protection.”
From downstairs, Dad yelled, “What’s wrong?”
I eyed the Aussie and yelled back, “Did you know the Royal Payne was here?”
“You needn’t be rude,” Dad said. “But yes. Matthias said he’d rather stay here than at Tristan’s. Is there a problem?”
Matthias smiled sweetly. “Is there?”
I sneered but kept it out of my voice. “No, Dad. Everything’s fine.”
“Okay then. Goodnight.”
“Great,” Ma
tthias said. “Glad that’s settled.”
“No, it’s not settled. Or fine. Or great,” I said. “While I appreciate the protection, why did it have to be you?”
“Ayden volunteered, but I hardly think your parents would go for it. Besides, I’m Selena’s favorite. Which reminds me.” He got off the bed, pulled on a T-shirt, and yanked it down over his hunky form. “I promised I’d do storytime tonight.” He came to the door and gestured toward the hallway. “After you.”
I glanced at the book on the bed. “What’s the book?”
His crystal grey-blue eyes glittered with irritation. “None of your business.”
Maybe. But I knew what it was. I recognized it from when I’d been snooping in—I mean innocently perusing through—his bedroom. It was one of his many journals. He’d kept them for the last eight or nine years, ever since his mom died. Each entry addressed to “Dear Mum” and signed “Love Matty,” they chronicled his daily life events.
He was watching me closely. “Something on your mind?”
Nothing you want to hear. “Any word from your Dad?”
“He’s fine.”
“I’m glad your friends are all okay.”
“Thanks.”
“How about Tristan?”
“At Novo. Fine. Anything else?”
I shook my head.
“Then I’ve got a fairytale to read, and you’d better get some sleep. We’ve got a big day tomorrow infiltrating M-Terprises.” He glanced at the bag of clothes on the floor, my body’s indentation still evident. “Although, with your stellar skills, what could possibly go wrong?”
CHAPTER 27
“Not this again,” said a tired voice.
I blinked, sleep fogging my brain. Slightly blurred, something stood in front of my bed. It wore all-black and sported a death mask. Face like a white skull, dark holes for eyes, black splashed on the cheekbones, ebony lips. Arms folded, it tapped its foot.
Grim Reaper? Man, I had the worst dreams.
I felt a body at my back, an arm around my waist. The henchman was back? And he was cuddling me? I squealed, and dream or no dream, started swacking.
“Ow!” the corpse complained, fending off the blows. “Aurora, stop!”
I did, because… “Ayden?”
“Yes.” He dropped the arm he’d been using to defend himself. “What was that for?”
“Wow, big boy,” the Grim Reaper said. “Your skills in the bedroom must be lousy.”
I blinked away the blur. No Grim Reaper. Just Luna in her full Goth ensemble.
The door burst open. Matthias rushed in, brandishing a baseball bat. “What the—” He rolled his eyes and turned around, muttering, “Bugger all.”
A streak of brown ran in and leapt on the bed. Slobber ensued. Sadie, Matthias’s big ex-police dog wagged her tail and barked and licked good morning with gusto.
“What’s happening?” Dad said, coming down the hall.
I shoved Ayden off the other side of the bed. He thumped heavily as Dad poked his head in.
“Sorry, sir,” Matthias said. “Sadie gets a bit rambunctious.”
“No problem,” Dad said. “She’s a morning person like me! Time to get up anyway, Aurora. You’ll need extra time for that hair.”
No kidding. It smelled of doggy breath, was stringy with slobber, and the frizz-factor? Beyond the pale. Yuck.
I glared at Sadie. “I hate you.”
Still on the bed, she was eye-level, breathing a gawd-awful stench directly into my face, tail wagging hard enough to shake the bed.
“Woof!” she said with a big tongue-hanging-out doggie smile, bits of slobber splattering onto my face.
“Maybe we should get a dog?” Dad remarked as he left.
Wouldn’t that just make my day.
Matthias disappeared down the hall. A sharp whistle and Sadie followed.
Ayden’s head popped up, his hair skewed in all directions. “Is he gone?”
“Yeah, Romeo,” Luna smirked. “You two have fun last night?”
“Shut up,” I said. “Nothing happened. I didn’t even know he was here. Why are you here?”
Ayden climbed onto the bed looking beat, dark circles hanging under his eyes. “The guys and I were up late making sure the shields were working at full strength before we went on today’s mission. You were asleep when I came to check on you. I laid down for just a minute and…” He gave a sheepish shrug.
“Ugh!” Luna’s head fell back. “You two are pathetic. Aurora, you just got more tongue from a dog than from your boyfriend.” She stomped away. “It’s not even worth the trouble to blackmail—” She paused. “Wait a minute. What shields? What mission? Lucian was right. You guys are up to something.”
“No, we’re not,” I said. “Besides, I’m still keeping your secret about working at the library, so leave it alone.”
After she huffed out, Ayden asked, “Since when do you wear the umbra stone to bed?”
“Thought I took it off last night. Must have been too tired.” I fell back on my pillows. “What a nightmare of a morning.”
“I’ll try not to take that personally.” Ayden took my hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss. “Look at it this way, it can only get better.” When his phone signaled he had a message, he read it and tensed. “It’s from Tristan, and you can scratch that part about the morning getting better.”
“What now?”
“Cristiano Cacciatori,” Ayden said. “He’s here.”
CHAPTER 28
We stood outside the high-rise building that seemed to be a perfectly normal, upscale corporate business headquarters in Los Angeles, although there was no company name or any identification.
“I said I was sorry,” Ayden told me.
“When you said ‘here,’ I thought you meant Cacciatori was here in Gossamer Falls, not here in the United States.”
“I should’ve clarified the ‘here.’ ”
Logan caught his reflection in the building and straightened his tie. “Tristan’s facial recognition program caught a glimpse of Cacciatori in Tennessee, but it was from days ago, and we've had no sightings since.”
Ayden smiled at me. “Did I mention you look really nice?”
Several times. I wore another dress and heels. Wow, twice in a few days. A new record. I even had a proper purse. Mom insisted I look presentable.
“You make a hot corporate executive, babe. I could be your gopher, cuz I’d totally ‘go-for’ you.”
I smiled in spite of myself.
“Let’s focus on the business at hand.” Matthias fiddled uncomfortably with his tie.
Mom had loaned the rest of them their pick from Dad’s collection. Yes, we all looked quite presentable.
We went over the plan. Once inside M’s building, Jayden would use some gadget that connected between their Wi-Fi and Tristan’s burner phone, which would allow him to hack in and get the information on what the demon had been doing. Seemed simple enough.
After being buzzed in the door, we approached the security desk. One of the two guards took my name and made a call. Another security guard stood with a couple of workers from the Gas Company. They wore coveralls and caps with logos. Their nametags read Bill and Ted. I smiled. What were the odds? Maybe somebody had a sense of humor.
I tried to get a look at their faces, to see if they looked like Keanu Reeves and that other actor, but they kept their heads down and turned away. Seemed normal enough, so why did something nag at me? Didn’t know. One of the elevators dinged open, and a woman stepped out as the men disappeared into it.
Ms. Lambert, heels clicking on the polished marble, was a sterile, corporate looking woman in an expensive suit, hair slicked back in a ponytail, wearing minimal but expertly applied makeup.
“I’m so happy you’re here, Ms. Lahey.” She smiled warmly at me but eyed the Boys. “I didn’t expect such an entourage.”
“They’re my bodyguards. You know how my family is about security.” I gave her a serious look, t
hen laughed. “Just kidding. They're friends. My aunt loves them so I brought them along. My mom set it all up.”
After getting over that awkward moment, Ms. Lambert braved a smile for the boss’s niece, then up the elevators and through the halls, to Aunt M’s house we went.
“So my aunt and uncle aren’t here?” Mom had told me as much, but I figured it was worth checking.
Ms. Lambert’s smile widened. “Actually, we’ve only ever seen your uncle. Mr. Lahey says his wife isn’t much into business. He built and runs the empire, traveling often while his ‘little woman,’ as he calls her, stays home and tends the nest. I hear she loves to cook.”
I nearly choked. I knew Aunt M liked to keep her involvement low-key, but I hadn’t realized just how much.
Blake snorted a laugh.
I said loudly, “Yes, she does cook.” Completely inedible food, that is.
We toured through offices and cubicles, very modern, sleek and elegant with the regular buzz and hum of a well-run company doing proper business. It looked boring. The only interesting thing was that Ms. Lambert had a keycard identical to the one I’d taken off Razor Rick—the one I had in my purse—and she used it to gain access to the elevators and open doors.
A lot of cubicles were empty, and several employees played games on their screens. They didn’t seem worried about being caught when we walked by with Ms. Lambert who was management.
“Here’s the breakroom.” Ms. Lambert led us through a room with a mini-kitchen and several tables. “We have one on every floor with a locker for each employee.”
Jayden interrupted the tour guide’s blah-blah with, “I can’t get cellphone service.”
“Because there’s no Wi-Fi,” Ms. Lambert said with pride. “The building is completely cut off from the outside world, electronically speaking. We have our own internal system. It makes it impossible for anyone to hack into. Isn’t that genius?”
Yeah, genius.
Jayden’s thumbs started popping in and out of joint. Great. I knew what was coming even before he shook his head. His gadget couldn’t get Tristan into the system.