1 | Gods & Monsters ✓

Chapter 22

Ava took a deep breath and opened the bedroom door. A bowl of soup sat on a tray next to the threshold. She vaguely remembered a knock on the door last night. The broth looked delicious, an earthy yellow, smelling of chicken. I bet it tastes good warm.

Mika suddenly ran by the door from across the hall, carrying a box. He went back and forth with another new box in hand. So the brat moved in across from my room. Of course.

His door creaked when she pushed it wide open. Mika didn't notice. He was too focused on moving boxes off the center of a giant flat star—the transporter.

There were dark clothes piled on his bed, crumbled and twisted from being haphazardly tossed aside. Kitchen utensils and pots and pans on the couch. They've only been here three weeks and he'd already accumulated so much stuff. Unfortunately, Ava didn't spot the Koto scripts anywhere. Then Darious had them. Maybe he didn't trust anyone with those books.

Mika stopped mid-step with a box in his hands and finally noticed Ava standing there. He pressed his lips together, held back his venomous tongue. She could tell he was thinking exactly how she felt—like crap.

"Do you have any headache medicine or pills I can borrow?" Ava asked, her voice scratchy and horrible.

"Yeah, hold on," he said, quick to drop the box, quicker to walk into the bathroom.

A chill ran through Ava's body. Fog let her mouth. She pressed her arms close to keep warm. It really was too cold in this basement. She needed blankets. Lots and lots of blankets.

He came back holding a small glass bottle full of pain relievers. The blue pills jingled when he tossed it over. "Will these work?"

"Yeah." Ava twisted the cap off and popped two pills in her mouth, dry. It was hard to swallow, slightly scraped the back of her throat as they went down. She needed water. Lots and lots of water.

When finished, she tossed the bottle back to him. The jar juggled between his hands before he had a hold of it. She'd laugh but that required energy she didn't have. She couldn't crack a smile. Instead, she went back towards her room before anyone noticed she left.

"Wait!" Mika called. He ran back into his room. Then popped out with a silver metal ball in his hand. "It's your turn to move your stuff."

He shoved the heavy object into Ava's hands. She stumbled. "My bad."

Her eyes narrowed. "Dick."

Mika glared back, and for once he didn't stay quiet. "Maniac."

"Scaredy cat."

"Crybaby," he said, quickly squeezed his mouth shut like all those other times.

This really was getting annoying. "Stop doing that."

Mika searched her eyes. "Stop doing what?"

"Stop holding yourself back. That's the last thing I need right now—another person keeping secrets," Ava snapped. "I prefer you being blunt and honest to whatever this is."

A smug smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he took the ball from her hands. They stood so close it was hard to ignore the heat radiating off him. Tempting. Especially when it was so damn cold in this basement.

"You're the first one who's ever told me that. I hope you don't regret it," he said.

The only thing I regret is letting him get this close.

Mika came inside and set the sphere on the floor between the end of Ava's bed and the couch. The ball rolled out into a star, pulsating blue until it connected with the other ball on Josh's end. The moment it lit, a mound of fresh boxes appeared in the blink of an eye. With this, they've officially moved in.