In the morning, things felt different.
That always seemed to be the case. You could never get away with the same thoughts that you could in the safety of the night, under the accusing glare of the bright sun and its promise to shed light on the consequences you thought you could avoid.
Unlike yesterday, I was taking my time getting ready. Maybe a little too much. Which was stupid. Kai and I would be sealed in his car together soon enough, and the conversation that we needed to have would be unavoidable. All I was doing was prolonging the inevitable.
Still, I lingered underneath the hot shower, dried my hair until it was in its neat waves, dressed in a knitted maroon sweater and black denim skirt, packed up my bag, until there was utterly nothing left to do but think.
I kissed Kai. No way around it now. Admittedly, I thought about asking Amelia if I could hitch a ride back with her, but shook myself back to sense. Refusing the hour-long car ride with Kai just because I didn't know how to address what happened was cowardly behavior. I wasn't a coward. I could face him, just like I've faced Derek at alliance meetings, despite our sexual history.
But this wasn't like that at all. I'd gone much farther with Derek but somehow, making out with Kai elicited more from me than the Ivy witch ever had. It made the dangerous part of my brain wonder what it would be like if I did go that far with Kai, if I'd guided his fingers past the button of my jeans last night and let it escalate.
I had to stop fueling those imaginative scenarios, or I'd never get myself down the damn stairs to join the other witches.
Lia walked into the room, smiling when she saw me standing with my bag over my shoulder. "Oh, great, you're ready. Caleb sent me up to check on you." Her face turned slightly sheepish. "We kinda finished breakfast, but there's some coffee left."
"We can head down now. Sorry I took a while."
"Don't worry about it." She studied me curiously. "Hey, how'd it go last night?"
"What?" I answered, a bit too quickly.
"Your talk with Kai? Did you smooth things over?" She pondered for a second. "He was making small talk downstairs, so that seemed like an improvement. Caleb totally tried to grill him about his behavior last night though."
"Oh, yeah, that. We're good now," I said, averting my eyes to yank the zipper on my duffel bag.
She beamed. "That's awesome. And hey, it's not like he could ignore the way you scared those vampires into submission. If anything, he owes you one."
I'd say he showed his gratitude pretty well, I thought inadvertently. With his tongue, and his hands, and his mouth–
The witch looked rather concerned, so the sharp turn of my thoughts must've shown on my face. "Are you sure nothing else happened? Did he give you a hard time?"
"We, um, just had a lot to get off our chests." Not a lie, all things considered. "But we came to an understanding eventually."
Lia smiled in approval. I returned it, knowing damn well that she innocently thought that this mutual understanding consisted of verbal compromise and shaking hands, not fused mouths and Kai's tongue on the curve of my breasts.
We went downstairs together, and all the while Lia chatted about Caleb outdoing himself once more with today's breakfast. I did my best to listen, but my current preoccupation was making my face as neutral as possible. Because a certain warlock was in our vicinity now, my magic could practically feel his, pulsing lazily a few feet away.
"...had all kinds of syrup, and he makes them himself! It's the kind of thing that I used to think didn't matter, like whether you bought it from the store or not. But it actually makes a difference. Although it's kind of ironic, because the batter Caleb uses is store-bought."
"What is it with Geminis and cooking," I muttered, more to myself.
Lia gave me a look of confusion. "What was that?"
"Oh, nothing. I'll just miss his cooking."
"God, won't we all."
We came to a sudden stop halfway through the living room, when the witches began filing out of the kitchen. Of course, a tall, lean form was at the forefront of the group, his head turned while he spoke with Caleb and Elaine. He was gesturing with his hands and–God, help me–I was having flashbacks to those same hands on my ass, gripping tightly.
He trailed off when he started to face forward and his eyes locked on mine. He didn't necessarily look surprised, like maybe he'd known I was coming, but shadows were still pooling in his eyes. They flickered down to take in my bare legs and his jaw seemed to be working, in a back-and-forth motion that I wanted to trace with my fingertips.
He had that black coat on, enhancing his allure far more than I wanted to have to handle today, and a casual white button down under it. The fact that I now knew what those muscles felt like was just making it considerably more difficult to tear my gaze away. Well, through the layer of cotton he'd been wearing, anyway. I'd had yet to run my hands over him bare, and now I regretted that thought, because I had encouraged the mental image of the shirtless witch, rippling with physical health.
I looked away, and wanted to kick myself hard for my slip. I'd only just gotten down here and Kai was scrambling my thoughts. And we had an hour left to go. Great.
Caleb was peering at us, but I'd noticed his attention too late to compose my reaction.
"You two still not over it?"
Kai and I simultaneously glanced at him, caught off guard.
"Last night, I mean," he clarified, but there was only one choice event from last night that my brain was willing to focus on right now. "Kai here wouldn't tell me much. But he comes in my house, slamming doors, and I felt like I had a right to know. But then I had more time to think on it, and he didn't need to."
He let out a loud laugh. "Eva, you stole his thunder. Plain and simple. Don't take it personal, sweetheart. He's used to getting the glory on these missions."
My eyebrows shot up at his take on the tense situation between Kai and I. Amusement was definitely painted all over my features now, screwing up my whole be neutral plan, but it didn't matter at the moment. It wasn't like anyone was suspicious of what went on in the guest room upstairs last night.
"Caleb," I said sweetly, purposely throwing Kai a glance. "How'd you read the situation so clearly?"
The coven leader was staring at me with narrowed eyes. I smirked back, getting a bit of a kick out of this. He decided to be angry at me last night, it was only fair I got my fun out of it.
"I have a knack for it," the older Gemini boasted. "And from what I hear, you scared those vampires into oblivion. Literally. Haven't heard anything from my sources around town since last night."
"Yes, so nice that her unnatural explosions worked out for once," Elizabeth deadpanned. Kai shot her a glare and she cleared her throat, looking miffed at the silent warning. So, he was still siding with me. I didn't need anyone's defense against the blonde witch, but seeing it made my chest feel a little lighter.
Kai had explained his reasons last night, in a hurried angry rant that quickly turned into something hotter. But a part of me took his initial reaction as one akin to my mother's, in the times when I would lose my strained grasp on magic. Like I'd let them down, and the worst part was, nobody was ever too surprised about that.
Eva, my mother would've sighed, with a slow shake of her head. Desperation, mingled with resignation, would be clear in her face. You must value your father's lessons more than this. That reckless display of magic was never what he wanted for you. Or what I want for you. Do better.
You didn't mess up the plan, Kai had told me. Hearing that, after I'd screwed up on a rather extreme scale, was so out-of-tune with the script I'd grown familiar with from family. I'd hurt two bystanders, nearly to the point of their deaths, and Kai still perceived it like a victory.
Of course, he was furious over my apparent issue with cooperation–and perhaps still is–but I could easily deal with that.
"Nothing about a witch's magic is unnatural," Zane commented, with an appeasing smile at me. "We are all made the way we are for a reason. Nature does not make mistakes."
I was surprised. We hadn't necessarily interacted this weekend, but the way he was speaking of me now did jive with the philosophies of Willow witches. The smile that formed on my face was genuine and he returned it with a simple nod, like he was only stating the obvious truth.
"I suppose," Elizabeth said grumpily. "I guess I'm just upset because civilians got hurt. You know how much I value their safety."
Oh, please. I had to roll my eyes.
"I healed them," Kai spoke in a flat tone. "No one was hurt for longer than a few minutes."
"Thank God you were there." She patted his arm and he purposely shifted away, adjusting his duffel bag over his shoulder.
Lia's face was pinched at the interaction and it was such a humorous look that I had to swallow down bubbling laughter.
Kai walked over to the couple that had graciously hosted us. "Thank you both for letting us stay here. If there's any other trouble, you have my number. No need to go through the counsel. Give me a call, and I'll come back myself."
Caleb chuckled. "Ah, that kind of attitude must drive your old man crazy. Jumping over levels of authority."
"Good," Kai remarked, making Caleb's chuckles turn into a howl of laughter.
I hugged Caleb and Elaine goodbye, after my intentions of shaking hands were dismissed by the couple. They were an affectionate pair, and you had no choice but to go with their flow. The parting remarks took up the next ten minutes, until finally, we were lingering outside the house. And that unavoidable dread had returned.
For now, I tried to focus on embracing Lia, the Shadow witch who had turned out to be a pretty wonderful member of the alliance that I'd overlooked the past few weeks. I made a note to myself to push Sam into telling me more about this crush that he'd refrained from sharing too much about.
"See you at the next meeting," she said, when we pulled apart seconds later.
My lip twitched upward. "I'll tell Sam you said hey."
I laughed at her embarrassed expression and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. It was only when she left, that I wanted to sigh heavily.
"Ready to go?"
I turned around. Kai was standing in front of me, looking vaguely expectant, but when our eyes locked, the blaring volumes of the way we'd been entwined last night came rushing back. He cleared his throat and casually lifted my duffel from my shoulder to hoist it over his own.
"Oh. Thanks." At least my voice sounded normal.
He nodded. I thought I saw his eyes tracing my mouth, but in the next moment, he was swiftly pacing toward the Mercedes.
He lifted the trunk open and placed both of our bags inside. I went to go wait on the passenger side, when I noticed Elizabeth approaching the coven leader.
She met my eyes briefly, then smirked a bit. Um, okay?
"Kai," she said and he looked at her questioningly, while slamming the trunk shut.
"I can't seem to find my..." She looked around dramatically, as if someone overhearing would be mortifying, then leaned in closer to his ear. "My bra. Did you...happen to notice it this morning? I might've left it there."
I raised my eyebrows. I'd been under the impression that Kai had sent her off fairly quickly after my departure. Was there a possibility that they–
"No, Elizabeth." Kai looked tired and even from this distance, I could see the subtle bags under his eyes. I wondered what had interfered with his sleep. He slowly rubbed his forehead. "Why...why would I have it?"
Then, he glanced in my direction suddenly and his expression went from exhausted to sour. He turned back to the Gemini witch.
"Eva and I have to go. You should get home."
"Okay." She looked puzzled at the change in his composure. Frankly, I was, too. "Well...bye."
When she left, Kai walked over to the driver's side without a word and got in. I took a deep breath for a second, staring up at the house that ended up making my relationship with this man a million times more confusing, then pulled myself together.
Here goes nothing, I thought with a mocking sense of cheer and pulled open the passenger side door.
Kai's POV
Eva shut her door, pulled on her seatbelt, then fell quiet.
As I drove down Caleb's street, leaving his house behind, I felt overtly sensitive to the Luna witch's nearness. Being compacted into this damn car wasn't helping one bit. I was locked in with her, with no other witches as buffers, no conversation to fill the air. My dangerous thoughts were taking shape and I gritted my teeth, trying to force them out.
To think she'd been seating herself on my lap barely twelve hours ago, robbing me of breath with her kisses in the most intoxicating way. Now, she seemed to be pressing herself as close to the window as much as humanly possible, watching the houses go by like it was a fascinating view.
I couldn't blame her. I didn't know what the fuck to say either.
Well, that wasn't true. I knew exactly what I wanted to say, or ask her, rather. So, when are we gonna finish what we started? Tonight? Or now? I could pull over, my car's got the room for it.
I just didn't anticipate her reaction to that being particularly amiable. There was no doubts in my mind that her stubbornness was back in place, after it had gone into hiding last night when I began to siphon her.
Holy hell, she'd liked it. Every minute of it. The moment I'd realized she wasn't in pain, that she seemed suspiciously close to moaning, shock had made me release her. And then, I'd just been hard as all hell, because gratification looked obscenely good on her. It made me wonder if that was only a sneak peek to the way she could lose herself during sex.
It wasn't how it was supposed to go, but in that moment, I didn't care. My anger had been buried by lust and my internal glee when I realized she was mirroring the same emotion in her eyes was indescribable.
If kissing this woman was a mistake, it was the best one I've made in my life to date and I'd do it again, the moment her gaze reflects that same unfiltered want that she'd been expressing yesterday. It felt like a long time coming, being kissed by Eva until I was breathless. It went farther back than our channeling. If I was being totally open here, I'd had lustful eyes on her since the moment I spotted her at the bar in her red dress.
But fuck, it wasn't enough.
I was exercising restraint, with the way I ran my tongue over the exposed part of her breasts without just magically tearing the top entirely, and it seemed like she was about to encourage more. My hands were at her jeans zipper, and I could her sigh of anticipation, and then, it was over.
Elizabeth was someone I tolerated, if only because she was a Gemini with esteemed family that went back generations. But I'd seriously considered throwing all of that out the window and potentially starting a war within my own coven, when she came knocking at my door. With the shittiest fucking timing.
Look, I wasn't a psychic. That just wasn't my specialty in magic. But I had a feeling that if no one had rudely interrupted, my head would've been buried between Eva's thighs in minutes.
"Is this how your punishments usually go, Kai?" Her breathy question rang in my ears, laced with teasing that had made my dick jump. Oh, I would've paid her back in kind for that, if given the chance. The deprivation was all-consuming.
Remembering where the hell I was, my eyes darted to Eva for a split second. She was staring down at her phone, apparently oblivious to the dirty thoughts coursing through my head.
I had to focus on something else, or this would be the car ride from hell.
After a minute, I reached for the radio but my fingers grazed Eva's. We'd had the same idea.
She drew her hand back into her lap, clearing her throat.
Trying to act unruffled, I switched it on and let The Cure occupy the unbearable silence.
Then, the grumbling of her stomach was loud enough to hear over the music I was keeping on medium volume. I frowned slightly. She had missed breakfast, hadn't she? Presumably to avoid me, which struck me as funny but I guess I also felt kind of bad. I was firmly against starting off your day without the proper fuel, and she was doing just that. Indirectly because of me.
"Hey, could you GPS the nearest bakery on your phone?" I asked her. "Or McDonalds. Whichever's closer."
Her head sharply turned and I knew, without glancing directly at her, that she was surprised that I was addressing her now. But what did she expect? That we would sit out this hour-long ride in silence, because neither of us really knew how to bring it up?
"Sure." She sounded puzzled, but started to type on her phone anyway. After a moment, she added, "McDonalds is a little farther. Ten minutes in the opposite direction. But there's a bakery three minutes away, when you take the next right."
I nodded and pursued that route, while we sat in a slightly less awkward silence. As if that brief, meaningless exchange proved that we were, in fact, capable of speaking and there was nothing amiss whatsoever.
I'd parked a few feet away from the bakery entrance and Eva stayed in the car while I went in, since it wasn't a legal parking spot. More convenient for me, anyway. I knew she'd try to fight me over paying.
When I came back to the car with a paper bag of pastries and a tray of two caramel coffees, her eyes lit up instantly. It made my chest clench a bit. The original plan was to celebrate last night with a victory meal, or snacks at the very least, but that obviously didn't pan out. She was probably starving.
"Wait, you got me food? Why didn't you say so? I have some cash in my bag–"
"Good. Keep it." I set the drinks in the cup holders and got rid of the tray with a flash of magic, then neatly tossed her the bag.
"Kai." She sounded exasperated with my dismissal, but there was real gratitude in her eyes. "Thanks. Really."
"Don't think of it as a favor. This is me protecting my assets. As the leader, I'm gonna get a lot of shit if I let an alliance member pass out from hunger on a mission. It's just unprofessional, you know?"
"So, you bought me breakfast for totally selfish reasons?"
I ignored the teasing doubt in her voice. "Exactly. Now, eat. Your growling stomach keeps interrupting Robert Smith's vocals and at a certain point, it's just rude."
The quirk of her lips told me she caught onto the subtle playfulness in my remark. "If you would've saved me some food at Caleb's, we wouldn't be in this dilemma."
"For your information, I was going to save you a plate, but Zane and Caleb were going to town on that spread. I underestimated them. I didn't think many people had my appetite."
"Gluttony's one of the seven sins for a reason."
"I wanted to claim it as my own."
"Don't you have all seven down pat? One for each day of the week. Just pick a different one for today, if you're feeling unoriginal."
Like lust? Because I'm doing pretty spectacularly with that one right now, maybe a little too much.
When I didn't answer, she hummed thoughtfully. "I know. How about wrath? You were amping that one up last night."
Silence froze the car and it felt impossible that the radio was still playing as normal.
I guess we were finally getting into it.
"That's all you remember from last night?" I kept one hand on the steering wheel, using the other to grab my coffee. "Because I think other more interesting things took place. Should I refresh your memory, Luna? We could have a little reenactment."
I never treaded too lightly when it came to flirting with her, and now wasn't any different. If anything, in light of what happened between us, I was wielding the skill like my best weapon. She couldn't be so unaffected this time, when I'd already felt how much she wasn't, in her hips moving against mine and her mouth on my jaw.
"Oh, you mean you and Elizabeth mauling each other right after I left? Didn't realize we were gonna talk about that. Could it wait 'till I finish my breakfast, unless you want to risk me throwing up in your car?"
I laughed once. "Funny."
"What's funny?" She raised an eyebrow at me, then reached into the bag to grab an apple strudel pastry with a napkin in hand.
"That you think any of what she said earlier is true."
"I don't think anything. Nor do I care."
"You sure? Because you sound a little jealous."
Now, she laughed, much heartier than I had, but she didn't dignify me with a response beyond that.
"I haven't been with Elizabeth since before the trials."
"Aw. You two have some catching up to do, then."
I glared at the windshield. "Hardly. She and I are done messing around. I told her that last night. Of course, she chalked up a lot of it to me being pissed about the night, but I think she'll catch on. Eventually."
"Well, aren't you in a predicament." She sounded disinterested and it made me bristle. Could she really be this cool-headed, while I was close to losing my mind just from being near her?
Her bare legs in that denim skirt were pushing against the shreds of sanity that I had only started to tape back together after she vacated my room last night.
"Eva." My voice was tight. "I don't want to talk about Elizabeth."
"Fine. Would you rather lecture me again?"
Yeah, she was going to make this conversation impossible to maneuver.
I exhaled lowly. "You know that wasn't about you."
She scoffed. "Oh, yeah. Wasn't about me. So, you weren't refusing to speak to me for a good portion of the night? Or seething in my face later? Maybe I imagined it. Hey, do vampire bites have hallucinogenic effects?"
I gestured at the bag in her lap and the coffees in the cup holders. "Peace offerings."
She considered momentarily. "I guess this makes sense. I mean, you were a sociopath fairly recently? Maybe you don't know how to do apologies and food is your stand-in."
I scoffed. "Food isn't a stand-in. Some would say it's the most efficient apology."
"For smaller things, maybe. Like spilling coffee on someone's shirt." She took a bite of her pastry. "But you're a little higher up on the scale."
"Excuse me, then," I muttered. "Did you want me to grovel at your feet?"
When I threw her a sarcastic glance to punctuate the question, she was smiling to herself.
"Are you offering? Because that just might do it."
And now I was imagining being on my knees before her, pulling that skirt down her shapely legs so I could slowly spread her thighs-
I nearly squeezed my eyes shut to gain my bearings, but then remembered, wait, fuck, I'm driving, and that would surely get us into a pile-up on the highway.
Damn Eva.
What were we talking about again?
"I just..." Eva's tone had changed and it gave me new focus, as I listened to the slow intake of breath she took. "This is gonna sound stupid. But I guess I thought you were mad about what I'd done in the club, and it felt like maybe you changed your mind about me. I don't know." Her voice became dismissive. "Like I said, it's stupid."
Right, we were revisiting that godforsaken argument.
But then, a beat later, I registered what she'd just confessed.
I blinked a few times, startled. "Wait...what?"
"It doesn't matter. You explained yourself."
"Eva. What are you saying?" I needed to hear her say it. Because there was no way she could honestly think that-
"That you'd wanna stop training. And bringing me on missions, for that matter. Or just leave me to play the role of extra firepower. Not that I wouldn't understand. This is witch business. There's no room for mistakes."
My eyebrows furrowed. "Luna-"
"And honestly," she continued, in a nonchalant manner that I suspected she was using like armor, "you'd probably stain that coven leader rep of yours, if you kept giving me assignments like that. Refraining from doing so in the future is a political move. My mom's a coven leader herself, I know all about that. It's just the smart thing to do."
I stiffened, hearing her interpretation of my anger. I knew that she'd misunderstood the direction of it last night, she'd said so herself, but to discover that she'd thought I was...what? Done helping her?
Yep. I was a world-class asshole. Or, what had Eva called me that one time? The king of assholery? That title deserved to be permanently stamped on my forehead.
The anger started to form last night, when I was healing the humans who had been subjected to Eva's explosion, but it wasn't really because of that. I'd just finally succumbed to the many levels of frustration that the Luna witch in my passenger seat has been adding fire to since the day I met her. I knew it was unprofessional and against everything I've stood for since I merged, to be easing up on her and letting her slippery wit remain untamed by my leadership. I'd been giving her pass after pass, and yesterday was perhaps the height of those consequences, when she tried to turn my own orders back on me.
She was infuriating, but not because of who she was, necessarily. More like the undeniable effect she had on me.
People didn't do that to me. I had policies, mottos, standards that I stuck to both as the Gemini leader and the leader of the newly reformed Five Covens. No one could infringe upon them; but that only held true until over a month ago.
Eva bulldozed her way straight through the warning signs that were usually so adept at scaring off anyone who might've been thinking about testing me past my limits. I didn't know what to make of that rarity, but I knew that it frustrated me in ways I couldn't totally comprehend. I just wanted to rattle myself back to sense, be the guy that kept women at arm's length and kept up with coven duties without many threats of disobedience.
Leave it to her to even enjoy my signature form of punishment.
But despite the way I'd fumed at her last night, I was the fucking problem here. The conflicting factor in the equation. She was twisting up my leadership role between her manicured hands because I was letting her. How many passes had I given her already? Whatever held together the stoicism that I'd often execute as leader just shattered around her. Much as I wanted to pin the blame on her, just to avoid facing what was happening inside me, I couldn't even fabricate such a blatant lie.
Still, I'd given her too much time to misconstrue my reaction last night and this was the result of her perception. She'd nearly thought that I'd been in the verge of canceling our training and shifting my opinion of her. Into what? Wariness? The same bullshit sentiment that her family has seemed to unwittingly infuse themselves with around her magic? She had the wrong guy, if she thought I'd ever succumb to that.
"Why would you think that?" I asked her incredulously.
She reached for her coffee to take a sip. "Well, I don't. Anymore. It was a fleeting assumption."
"Fleeting or not, why?"
"Because I screwed up and you got angry. I did this thing called putting two and two together. I just happened to miscalculate. No big dea–"
"No." I shook my head firmly. "I mean–do you seriously think I'd do that?"
I noticed the confusion flitting over her face now. She was probably trying to figure out why the hell I was having this reaction, but I couldn't help it. I thought I'd made myself clear this past month.
"I feel like I offended you," she remarked. "But I don't really get why. If anything, you should be flattered. I'm insinuating that you're the type of coven leader who sees a problem and takes action before it can grow."
There was a playfulness to her phrasing, but I didn't see what there was to joke about. My hands tightened around the steering wheel.
"The problem being you, in this case?" I clarified. She didn't answer. "That's how you see yourself?"
"Oh, please."
"It's what you said."
"Then forget I said it."
"No." I shot her a look. "I won't. Because it's bullshit."
Her head turned and the partially eaten pastry in her hand froze halfway to her mouth.
Maybe I was coming off a bit strong, but I hadn't meant to. I was just so damn irritated with this woman, specifically the way she's given in to the false notion that she's a problem that is yet to be solved. Would she even have blinked if I did tell her off yesterday for the mishap?
It begged a bigger question. Why the fuck was I so bent out of shape over it? No wonder she was staring at me like I had three heads.
I took a small breath and tried to diffuse the tension. It would definitely make matters worse to get in another argument with her in my car. Especially for me, since I'd soon be daydreaming about an angry bout of car sex with Eva. Hell, I'd argue with her for hours if that was how it was guaranteed to end.
"I'm...I'm sorry. I was frustrated with myself, and I took it out on you," I admitted. "And, okay, maybe I was a little mad at you, too. But I haven't changed my mind about you, Luna. And on Monday, I still expect to see you at my apartment at six sharp. You're not shaking me off that easy."
It was quiet in the car for a moment, accompanied only by the radio. Nervous about how she might've taken it, I glanced at her and...she was smiling down at her lap, like she'd tried to control it but it spread on her lips anyway.
If I weren't driving, I don't think I'd be able to stop staring.
She looked up triumphantly and I hurriedly returned my attention to the windshield.
"Kai Parker, was that an apology?"
I grinned and took a lasting sip of my coffee to hide it.
"On second thought, maybe we should stop training."
She began laughing genuinely and I had to join, because that kind of laugh from her wasn't one that I heard too often.
"Then I'm sorry, too," she said a minute later, staring intently at her pastry. "For stealing your thunder."
"I knew you were going to bring that up. Caleb's such a dick sometimes."
She hummed in amusement. "I'll miss him. For a Gemini, he was pretty cool."
"Does that mean I now have someone to compete with in the standing of your favorite Gemini? Good thing I don't lose."
"Who said you're my favorite Gemini?"
"Some things don't need to be said. Actions, however, are effective." I slowly smirked. "Like yours last night. In the guest room."
Maybe she was fine with putting it off, but I wasn't going to anymore.
I spotted the millisecond in which Eva's eyes promptly widened, but when she composed herself, a saccharine smile painted her lips.
"The actions that I recall were me leaving the room so Elizabeth could make you feel better. You know, you're probably her favorite Gemini."
I glowered at the road. "I don't care what I am to her."
"So you should probably give the poor girl her bra back."
I rolled my eyes. "No clothes came off last night, Eva." Unfortunately, not even yours, but maybe we can rectify that.
"You do look pretty tired."
"Couldn't get to sleep for a while."
"Why?"
I gave her a sidelong glance and decided to be cavalier. "I was dealing with what you left unfinished."
She furrowed her eyebrows slightly, while sipping her coffee.
I guess I needed to be a lot more blunt than that.
"I took a shower. A long shower."
"Oh, well, that's–" She paused, realization hitting her. "Oh."
She took her bottom lip between her teeth, her eyelashes lowering, but said nothing else.
"Yeah." My voice lowered a few octaves. "Gotta say, I'd like to pick up where we left off."
Might as well not beat around the bush.
"Mmm. Didn't get enough satisfaction in the shower?"
I swallowed, hearing the low tone accompanying her teasing.
"I would've. If you'd been in there, too."
Her mouth parted a bit in surprise and I thought of my tongue delving between those full lips just last night.
"In Caleb and Elaine's house? You need to have more respect for your hosts," she retorted and I had to smile. Her wit was intact, even with the subject matter we were discussing. But a part of me wouldn't mind making her speechless, have her gasping for breath to the point where her comebacks were brought to a rare halt.
"Fine. My place or yours works too. Tonight?"
"Someone's eager."
"That, and I know what I want. Can you say the same, or are you about to fabricate an excuse for the way you kissed me last night?"
"Excuses aren't my style."
"Good. So, you admit it. You want me."
She looked at me askance and my mouth quirked up.
"I admit," she began slowly, eyes narrowing, "that I was feeling a lot of things last night. Especially after you...siphoned me." Her expression became slightly bashful. "And those things led to the both of us acting out of sorts. It was a long night."
Seriously? That was how she wanted to play this?
"I thought you said excuses weren't your style," I retorted.
"They aren't. The truth is."
"Clearly not."
"Have I bruised your ego? It'll heal."
I rolled my eyes. "No. I just think it's adorable how you're blaming it all on the siphoning."
"Hate to tell you, Kai, but the night would've gone a lot differently if your so-called punishment didn't feel so good."
Parts of me stirred eagerly at the way she unabashedly said that.
"It wasn't supposed to," I muttered. "Taking away your magic? That's meant to burn. I've been told that it feels like your skin is being peeled off your flesh, chipping at your life force."
"And you wanted to do that to me."
"You provoke me easier than I'd like to admit," I said dryly. "And that good old greed that was a part of me for years is still intact. Because I couldn't deny that I really wanted a taste of your magic."
"You're lucky there's enough of it to go around."
"About that..." I contemplated for a moment. "Maybe that's why. Why you liked it. All that magic in you, you're practically bursting at the seams with it. So, when I swiped some for myself, instead of hurting you, it..."
"Was a relief," she finished, exhaling softly.
I marveled at the total bizarreness of it. My siphoning, bringing some not only pleasure, but relief, like it was an antidote rather than a threat that witches cowered from. Deep underneath my anger last night, I'd felt a semblance of shame, when I caved to Eva and grabbed a hold of her to siphon. But instead of justifying that age-old shame that still lingered in me, where my ability was concerned, she'd taken it in stride.
It made sense that her overflow of magic was the reason for her unique response. I felt it last night, flooding so fast into my fingertips, like I was reaching into an bottomless vat of power. She wasn't losing a bit of her life force to me, no, she was freeing up space for it to thrive.
"You have a thing for siphoning," I said, shaking my head in amazement. "You get freakier by the day, Luna. I dig it."
Which prompted a hand swiftly hitting me in my shoulder. I snickered.
"But that's not why you kissed me," I added, because I refused to let her drop the topic until she admitted what I already knew." .
"No?" She said, amused.
"No. But you're cute when you're delusional."
She rolled her eyes, then dug into the paper bag to hand me a puff pastry wrapped in a napkin. "Here. Eat this."
I accepted the pastry, bewildered. "Why?"
"So you'll be too busy to speak."
My mouth stretched in a grin and I took a large bite.
"Much better," she said. "Now, I'm gonna talk. You and I? We made out. And you're a great kisser. Probably thanks to all the practice you get since you pulled a prison break out of 1994. Kudos for that."
I was smiling so wide now that my face was aching.
"So, yeah. I might've gotten a little carried away with it–"
"You mean, when you pushed me onto the bed so you could sit on my lap?" I reminded her, after swallowing the bite I'd been chewing. "'Cause I thought it was hot."
She pointed a stern finger at me. "What did I say? Less talking, more eating."
I pointedly took another bite and gestured for her to continue.
"Like I was saying," she continued, "it was good. I enjoyed it, obviously. And I'm not one to put too much faith into signs from the universe, but maybe Elizabeth interrupting was one. Before we got too ahead of ourselves, we had to stop."
I really hated where this was going.
"Kai, we're training together. You're the Gemini leader. Meaning that our relationship has every reason in the book to be strictly professional. Last night was a small slip-up. We can get past it, instead of letting it fester."
Fester? She was doing everything in her power to make it sound like the moment we'd had was a mistake, one that needed to be ruthlessly squashed. I was tensing up, hearing the lies she was feeding herself.
"Professional," I intoned. "Who are you kidding?"
"No one. I'm serious. I don't wanna make this complicated."
"Too late. We can't take back last night, Eva."
"And we don't have to. But we're both adults, so we can keep training and leave it behind us."
Fuck being professional. Or, if it was really that important to her, we could play a charade that would put all others to shame whenever we were around the counsel. But when we were alone, I wanted her, wanted more beyond the enticing preview she'd given yesterday.
But this was Eva. She was strong-willed and guarded, making this steel wall she was rebuilding require a hell of a lot of patience to tear down.
Good thing I could be patient. For this, I could. Because one thing was becoming damn obvious, even if it wasn't to her. We wouldn't be able to fight this thing between us for much longer. I'd wait her out, just to be able to tell her I told you so, when I was making her moan.
"Fine." My voice was hard, but I'd resign to her ridiculous suggestion. For now.
"You're agreeing?" She'd definitely been expecting an argument.
"No. I know where I stand. But you need a little time to get there."
Her jaw dropped at my assumption and she let out a laugh. "Okay." She shook her head, bringing her coffee cup to her lips. "Whatever you say, Kai."
With that, she reached over to turn up the music. Several minutes went by before I was able to hum along, somewhat comforted by the knowledge that Eva was going to realize that professionalism wasn't in the books for us. One way or another.
•••
Eva's POV
"What's that song? The one that goes...uh...they did the monster maaash, what a smaaash..."
I took a bite of my candied apple and stared at Sam, in disbelief that this dumbass was literally one of the most adept computer programmers in his field.
"You mean, it was a graveyard smash?" I corrected him, after it became clear that he wasn't going to get it on his own. "And the song is called Monster Mash. You literally just said it."
He snapped his fingers, like I'd just solved one of the more complex equations he'd encountered in his life. "Oh, yeah. Hey, can we ask the DJ to play it? It's one of the most iconic Halloween songs, so they really should have already."
"Keep your glasses on there, Samuel," I chided and he scowled at me halfheartedly. "Go ask him yourself. And hurry up. I wanna go check out the haunted maze."
"Okay, stay here!" He started jogging backward, nearly bumping into a toddler in the process. "I'll be a second."
Luis and I watched him weave through the crowd, in a path toward the sizable DJ booth that was set up in the center of the park.
It had been Sam's idea to have us spend this Sunday, which also happened to be Halloween, at a festival he'd heard about from coworkers. We'd soon discovered that it was more of a family-friendly attraction than a place that we could toss back booze. Yeah, Sam failed to mention that the coworkers he'd gotten the idea from had children.
But as the day went on, I actually started to enjoy myself. Pumpkin decorating ended up being a hilarious competition between the three of us, the hay ride was surprisingly pleasant, and the abundance of food stands didn't hurt the experience either. It was the first time that it really started to feel like fall, with everything I loved about the season in full force.
"He was excited for this all week," Luis said, chuckling, while Sam awkwardly waited behind a woman who was chatting with the DJ.
"Excited to listen to Monster Mash?"
"No. Just all this. Us hanging out, spending Halloween together."
"I always hang out with him."
"Sure, but you know, memories like these are important to him. Makes Portland feel a little more like home."
I softened a little. "Does it feel that way for you yet?"
"Like home? Not yet. But it's getting there. Having you two here to look after makes it easier."
He ruffled my hair and I smiled, lightly patting down the strands he mussed up.
"Luis, much as I love you for looking after us, we need to find you a nice woman to date."
"Don't meddle, Eva. I've talked to you about that."
"Sure, but I never actually agreed not to."
He sighed, feigning exasperation. "Would you agree if I told you I have started seeing someone?"
"What?" My voice hitched up in excitement. "Really? What's her name? And how long have you been seeing her? And why didn't I know about it?"
"Calm down and eat your apple," he scolded me and I reluctantly complied, while continuing to wait expectantly. "Better. Okay, her name is Aisha. I met her about two weeks ago, while I was going for my morning jog. We've been on two dates since and we've got another planned for this Friday." His eyes filled with fondness. "And she's great."
By this point, I was grinning too hard to even focus on finishing the snack clutched in my hand. Luis was dating again. Not only that, but he looked smitten. It was a huger thing than he was making it out to be, considering he hadn't really been with anyone since his wife, Cynthia, died about four years ago. Nobody pushed him at first, letting the man grieve his lost love, but it had gotten to the point where I was concerned enough to pry. And, lo and behold, here he was, smiling with a genuineness that gave me hope for the future ahead of him.
Mindful not to get the stickiness of my apple on his clothing, I attacked him in a one-armed embrace.
"You. Deserve. This," I said firmly, punctuating each word with a tap to his back. He shook with laughter.
"How does you indirectly congratulating me even come off as threatening?"
"I'm threatening you into staying happy. All the time."
"Tall order, but I'll try my best."
I pulled away, then pointed my apple at him accusingly. "Wait. Does Sam know?"
He looked sheepish. "Uh. Well, I told him yesterday."
"Before me?"
"To be fair, you were off in Salem and he was asking if I'd met anyone around here. I didn't want to lie right to his face."
"Fine. You're excused. As long as you acknowledge who your favorite Rodriguez is."
He laughed loudly. "What? I don't have a favorite."
"I know you're just obligated to say that."
Squinting in the distance, I saw Sam had finally began talking to the DJ and the talkative woman had vacated the area. The DJ was nodding profusely, then turning to fiddle with his equipment.
"Eva?"
Upon hearing my name being called in delighted surprise, I turned around.
Lia was pacing toward us, clad in an black sweater with a the image of a smiling pumpkin sewed into the center. Her bright expression matched the festive garments and I instantly grinned back, waving.
"Awesome, you guys are here, too!" She looked to Luis and gave a friendly smile. "I'm Amelia."
"Luis. Nice to meet you. You're from the Five Covens, right?" Then, his eyes lit up with recognition and I tried not to smirk. He knew this was Sam's Amelia. "You're in the Shadow Coven."
She nodded. "Yeah. Not here with the rest of them, though. They like to take Halloween as a day to reconnect with our ancestors and think the witch stereotypes are tacky. Which is fine and all, but personally, I'm a sucker for the holiday."
I mentally whooped. So was Sam.
"Wanna join us?" I offered, throwing a casual glance over my shoulder. Sam was on his way back now and I had to suppress a laugh at the way his eyes became the size of saucers when they landed on Lia.
She looked pleased. "Sure. Thanks. I mean, I don't mind going out solo if the situation calls for it, but the idea of going through the haunted maze alone was kind of sad."
"What a coincidence, we were just about to head there."
Sam noisily cleared his throat and I turned to face him, satisfactorily noting that Lia's eyes seemed to simultaneously light up with glee and nerves. It was adorable.
He gave her a shy smile, adjusting his glasses quickly. "Hey. Hi. Lia, I didn't know you were coming. I would've invited you. To come with all of us. Like, as a group. But now, you're here, so I guess it worked out anyway."
I tried not to palm my forehead, but it was almost impossible. God, what a dork.
Lia, however, seemed to be totally into it, so that was something.
"Oh, I love Halloween, so once I heard about this, I couldn't pass up the chance." She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "It's really great to see you." Her eyes darted to Luis and I. "All of you."
Riiiight.
Sam and Lia proceeded to smile at each other, both unsure what to say, and I gave Luis a look that conveyed, seriously? He shrugged.
"Okay, guys. Come on. Let's get in line for the maze before it gets any longer."
Their heads jerked toward me and the pair gave their fumbled consent, before we promptly headed off to the other side of the festival.
"I'm having second thoughts," Sam sputtered when the four of us entered the maze. I could sort of understand his hesitation. He liked the candy, costumes and Hocus Pocus reruns part of Halloween, not so much the horror and jump scares. Not to mention it was currently dark outside, making the maze appear more eerie.
Before I could make fun of him for the apprehension in his wide eyes, Lia was squeezing his arm in reassurance and he practically melted from the contact.
"We're in this together," she told him, then looped her arm through his. His hesitation had evaporated in the atmosphere and he was struggling to control a smile.
"Who you gonna call?" Sam began singing in a ridiculously deep voice, while we ventured further into the maze. "Sam and Lia."
They started crafting verses on the spot for their spin on the Ghostbusters theme and I was fascinated by how dorky the both of them were.
Of course, their singing quickly cut off when the first monster jumped out at us at the next corner and they both yelped. The monster in question was just a man disguised in adequate clown makeup and baggy, colorful clothes, but it seemed to do the trick in rattling the duo out of their previous merriment.
On the bright side, as we continued out through the maze, they started to hover closer to each other. Luis and I shared a knowing smile several times.
At one point, we thought it'd be a good idea to leave the two alone and, on a whim, diverted down different paths in the maze. Sam and Lia shouting our names in confusion made me clamp a hand over my mouth to silence the laughter.
I had no idea where Luis went, but I ended up soon reaching a dead end, after bumping into a mad scientist.
While making my way back to the familiar path, a dark figure leaped out at me. "Boo!"
I stumbled back a step, nearly calling to my magic in instinctive defense, when I recognized the face howling with laughter before me.
"Derek?" I uttered, frowning. "You're here, too?"
"Yup. Sorry for the scare, Eva." The Ivy witch furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean, too?"
"I just bumped into Lia earlier," I explained, crossing my arms. "Didn't realize this was a huge attraction for the counsel."
He smiled, shrugging a shoulder. "Had nothing else planned for this hour, so thought I'd check it out. And now..." His eyes suggestively ran over my figure. "I'm glad I did."
I held back an eye-roll. "Well, I should probably find Sam now. Before he thinks I got eaten by one of the monsters slash employees here."
I made a move to go around him, but he stepped in my way, holding up his hands. "Hey, what's the rush? I feel like we haven't talked enough lately."
"Are we supposed to?" I countered dryly. "I mean, we aren't really friends. Just former hook-ups."
"Maybe I wanna change that, Eva. The friends part, at least." He playfully nudged my arm. "Come out with me for drinks after this."
"I'm grabbing food with Sam and Luis."
"They see you all the time."
"Because they're family. That's how that works."
He blew out a breath. Something seemed to flash across his face, but before I could look too deep into it, the easygoing smile was back.
"Okay. I can take a hint."
You sure about that? I wanted to retort.
"You look really good, though." He shamelessly craned his head back to get a better look. "If no one's told you today."
"Thanks. Can you move out of the way now?"
He exhaled sharply through his nostrils and I got the sense that he really was annoyed, despite his good-guy facade. Nonetheless, he moved aside.
My relief was short-lived when he started to follow alongside me as I walked back through the maze.
"How was the mission?" He asked. "Was Parker a total hard ass?"
"The mission was fine." I obviously wasn't about to tell him about that one mishap at the club, but it wasn't a lie either. We did accomplish what we set out to do. "And, no he wasn't. What's your issue with him?"
"Nothing personal. He can be a little much, though." He cleared his throat. "Not that that bothers you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"What he said the other week, about you two having fun in his car, or whatever?" He laughed once, humorlessly. "I guess I see why you didn't wanna continue what we had. You found yourself a new contender."
I didn't know who I wanted to kill more in that moment. Kai, for making that asinine comment, or Derek, for shoving his nose in my business.
"I didn't have sex with Kai." I paused, as we walked by a woman with special effects make up forming gashes across her face. She was dramatically hissing at us, and I waited until we left her behind to finish. "But if I did, it wouldn't be any of your business."
"Right. Well, even if you didn't, he obviously has a thing for you."
I bit my bottom lip, recalling our conversation in the car. I'd done what I had to do, trying to maintain the professionalism that our relationship needed, but I knew well enough that the witch not-so-secretly harbored other ideas. Dirty ones.
"Try not to sound so jealous, Derek. It's really embarrassing."
Under the lights sporadically hung throughout the maze, I saw his face flame. "You like it, don't you? The attention he gives you? That should make you run in the opposite direction, Eva. That much attention from Kai Parker only means doom for you."
"Is this an Ivy witch thing, all these dramatics? It can't be healthy."
"I just think you're a great witch and I don't want anyone compromising that for their own selfish gain."
"Aw. So selfless. Totally not a ploy to get in my pants, right?"
He cleared his throat, gearing up to nonsensically debate this, when finally, we'd emerged at the end of the maze.
I started to leave him behind, when I spotted a laughing Luis, Lia, and Sam perched at one of the picnic tables. He grabbed my arm, pulling me back.
"Hold on. I'm sorry!" He sighed. "Sorry. I don't want you to hate me."
"I don't hate you. I just don't care about you. And you can't seem to get that through your head."
"Well, I'd like to think that maybe you just don't know me well enough." He reached for my hand. "I'm a great guy, Eva, honestly. You wouldn't regret giving me a chance to show it."
I yanked my hand away. "Real quality lines, there. But save it for when you go out for drinks later. By yourself. Good night, Derek."
I hurried back to the trio at the picnic table before he could drop another hideous pick-up line in an attempt to reel me back into another hook-up arrangement. What part of temporary did he not get? I was close to hexing him, consequences be damned. At least now I knew Kai's punishments weren't painful.
The irritation dissipated when I saw how closely Lia and Sam were sitting, their arms brushing.
"There you are," Lia said, pulling me down by my hand to sit on her other side. "We thought you got lost. One of us was about to head back in and save you."
"And it wasn't gonna be Sam. Scaredy cat had the worst time in there," Luis added.
I glanced at Sam, but he side-eyed Lia a little bashfully. "I wouldn't say it was the worst time..."
As if picking up on his insinuation, the witch grinned at him and the atmosphere became clogged with their adorableness. It was getting a little suffocating. Or maybe I was just being a Grinch, after my run-in with Derek.
"Is that Derek?" Sam asked, after he spotted the witch walking away toward the parking lot. "Should we say hi?"
"No," I answered and everyone looked at me strangely. "I mean, I already talked to him. In the maze."
"Oh, that's why you took forever."
"Yeah. I was trying to shake him off." I stood up. "And now, I really need cheese fries after all that effort. Let's go. I saw a stand near the entrance earlier and it smelled amazing."
•••
I stretched my legs out across the couch and tossed a few Frosted Flakes into my mouth. As far as Monday evenings go, this one wasn't so bad.
Or it wouldn't have been, if only it were a normal night. But November was here and the moon was full once more, marking a month since my last outburst outside of a dingy Portland bar.
I wasn't looking for a repeat. So, tonight, I was staying inside solo. No people around to hurt, no stimuli for my magic to react erratically too. Just me, my couch and reruns of The Office playing on the television. I would make it through this night without losing it.
My phone buzzed in my lap and I set my bowl down on the coffee table so I could read the new text. Kai's name appeared in a banner across my lock-screen.
Ur 5 minutes late. traffic jam in the hallway?
I cursed under my breath, seeing the time at the top of my phone screen. It was, in fact, five minutes past six, and I'd forgotten that Monday meant another training session with Kai. But unfortunately, that kind of magical engagement was the exact type of stimuli that I needed to avoid at all costs for the night.
I texted back, deciding to omit some of the truth.
Can't train today. I'm not feeling well. Next time.
That being said, I switched out my phone for my bowl of Frosted Flakes and studied the TV to see what I'd missed so far in the Halloween special.
A minute later, there was a round of persistent knocks at my door. I glanced sharply at the door and groaned quietly. He was quick. Couldn't he just let it slide and go about his night the way I was content to go about mine,?
I thought about not answering the door, but Kai would probably just magically unlock it and barge in anyway. So, with great reluctance, I threw the quilt off my legs and set down my cereal to go see to the witch at my doorstep.
When I pulled open the door, Kai wasn't even trying to mask his disapproval.
He scrutinized me. "You look fine to me."
I sighed. "Kai–"
"You're bailing on training now?" He accused. "What happened to oh, let's be professional, Kai? Or maybe you realized that's impossible and figured avoiding me completely was the only way to go."
"Relax. I'm not avoiding you."
"No? Because you lied over text just to get out of coming to my apartment, so what would you call it?"
"I didn't lie." I lowered my voice. "Tonight's the full moon, Kai. If you haven't noticed."
He paused, his eyebrows raising. "Shit. Seriously? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Didn't need to. I have it under control."
I wondered if he heard the way my tone wavered.
He stared at me and I felt too seen under the intensity of it. Like I couldn't hide anything.
"You don't want to train?"
"Not now," I said tiredly. "I know you probably wanna tell me that I should face it, or whatever. But today, I don't want to. Okay? I just wanna stay in my apartment and watch TV and forget that I feel like I'm on the brink of exploding, and I definitely don't trust myself to do magic with you right now, so please spare me the lecture."
He was quiet for a beat too long, but he looked like he was pondering something. I leaned against the door, eyeing him wearily.
"Got any snacks?" He asked all of a sudden.
I blinked. "Uh...not too many."
He shrugged. "That's okay. We'll figure it out." Then, he wedged his body past mine and was inside my apartment before I could process what was happening.
I closed the door and followed him with quickened steps. Kai had kicked off his shoes and was now seating himself on one side of my couch, stretching his arms across the top.
"Never seen this show," he commented with a furrowed brow. "What's it called?"
"What are you doing?"
"Huh. Weird name."
I shook my head, maneuvering around the couch so I could plant myself in front of his vision. He stared up at me with a calm smile.
"No, what are you doing in my apartment? I didn't even invite you in."
"It's all good, Eva. I'm not a vampire, remember? You don't need to."
I rubbed my temples. "Kai, be straight with me for one second. What's your angle?"
"To keep you company."
"But–"
"I'm not leaving you by yourself to deal with the full moon. What kind of neighbor would that make me?"
"A non-intrusive one?"
He laughed. "Please. You know you like hanging out with me."
I exhaled softly. "I can do this alone. I have before."
"I don't doubt that. But you shouldn't have to. Now, unless you were planning on sitting on my lap, could you move over? I can't see the TV."
I scoffed. "Excuse me. This is my place, I can stand where I want."
He sighed, tossing his head back for a second. "The full moon must make you more stubborn than usual."
Then, he leaned forward in a lightening quick movement and grasped my hips. I shrieked in surprise when he hauled me onto the couch, landing me right beside him.
"Thank you," he chirped. "I can see perfectly now."
"You're really not helping the whole not letting my magic erupt situation." I pulled my knees up to my chest and pulled the blanket over my body. "In fact, if you're honestly gonna stay here, we should print up a waiver. I don't want the Five Covens breaking my door down when they find out I murdered their leader and the entire Gemini coven by default because he was annoying me."
"Or you could go off the grid. Live in the woods, become an urban legend." He swiped a hand through the air slowly, as if to envision it. "The Moon Lady."
I snickered, despite my best intentions to remain cross. "The what?"
"Sorry, would you prefer Loony Luna?"
"That just makes me sound like a cartoon character."
Now, he laughed. "True. Hey, come up with one for me. We'll be the crime-fighting cartoon duo."
I thought carefully for a moment. "Krazy Kai, but crazy is spelled with a K."
"Lame."
"Because the Moon Lady was so good?"
"It's ominous. That's how all good urban legends develop."
"I thought we were talking about cartoons now."
"Fine. It'll be a cartoon about an urban legend."
I didn't know when I started smiling, but it actually felt good to have someone here. I could distract myself like my life depended on it, if the alternative was my magic seizing control, but this felt more natural. Easier. To sit on the couch with Kai, engaging in senseless banter that lightened my heart and preoccupied me. The heightened buzz of my magic was possible to brush off, as I instead became increasingly aware of how close we were sitting.
Kai's eyes widened abruptly. "What is that?"
He snatched the bowl of Frosted Flakes off the table and looked at me accusingly. I realized he was waiting for an explanation, but I didn't know what for.
"Cereal?" I answered, raising an eyebrow. I took it from his hands and tossed a couple more into my mouth.
"That's your idea of a snack?"
"No, it's actually my dinner."
He looked horrified. "It's dry."
I shrugged a little. "Yeah. I ran out of milk."
"Fuck's sake, Luna. Do I have to drag you down to the grocery store myself? Don't think I won't."
I laughed at the genuine outrage in his expression. "Can you chill out? I'm going tomorrow after work."
"You're eating dry cereal for dinner, which means a few screws are definitely loose in here–" He tapped my forehead twice with his finger. "And you want me to chill out?"
Before I could answer that, he was reaching for his phone in the pocket of his black sweatpants and grumbling incoherently to himself. I watched him in mild confusion. After scrolling through it for a moment or two, he held it to his ear and waited.
"Who are you–"
"Shhh. They're about to–oh, hi there." His tone changed. "I'd like to place an order for two Portland specials. And two sides of curly fries. With cheese and–" He leaned over to me, whispering, "Do you eat bacon?"
"Yes, what–"
"With cheese and bacon," he resumed his order and listened for a moment. "Two lemonades. Yeah, that'll be all." He proceeded to relay my address then hung up and comfortably settled back into the couch. Then, he turned his head to me. "You like lemonade, right?"
"Yeah," I replied, then frowned. "What place did you just order from? And what's a Portland special?"
"Charlie's Deli. And a Portland special, Luna, will blow your mind. Meatballs, three kinds of cheese, this special sauce that they use. It's life-changing."
My mouth was watering at his description and I began to feel like I was betraying my cereal with the mournful look I was giving it now. I set it down on the table.
"You didn't have to do that," I murmured, although it all sounded extremely appetizing and a far cry from the bowl of dry flakes I was trying to pass off as an evening meal.
"Maybe I did it for self preservation." After noticing my puzzled glance, he continued, "Because I'm betting that, like everyone else, you get cranky when you're hungry. And hanging with a cranky Luna witch on a full moon? I'm practically asking to be launched off the balcony."
I kicked his thigh with my foot. "I'm not cranky."
"Oh, no," he whispered to himself. "She's already doing it."
A laugh bubbled up my throat and his expression brightened.
The episode of The Office soon ended, accompanied by millions of questions that Kai kept lobbing my way. Like, wait, which one was the boss again, and why is the boss if he's such a moron, and is this the type of office that America really runs nowadays because he has been out of the loop, and hey, Eva, you'd totally be the hot secretary that Michael hits on and you stab him with a pencil, wait, does that make me a Jim? Or am I more of a–what was his name–a Ryan? What do you think? We should take a quiz.
I tossed him the remote when the commercials started playing. "Here. Put something else on."
He held the remote up to the light. "I won't dismiss this honor."
Shaking my head in disbelief, I pushed away from him so I could lean back against the armrest on the other side of the couch. My knees were bent, but it wasn't totally comfortable.
"Kai?"
He hummed in acknowledgement, while studying the TV guide intently.
"Could you move over a little? I'm trying to stretch out."
Absent-mindedly, he pulled at my legs until they were draped over his lap instead and continued to surf TV channels with one hand on my knee through the fabric of my blanket.
I stiffened, not anticipating his enactment of this simple solution, and stared at his side profile. He looked relaxed, with one hand pointing the remote at the TV and the other tracing random patterns on my leg.
This wasn't professional. But...it was pretty comfortable. And comfort was essential for a Luna witch on the full moon. So, really, this was a totally tactical position.
Buying that logic, I let the stiffness leave my body and looked away from Kai to watch the channels he was shifting through.
"What's this?" Kai wondered. "Freaky Friday? Sounds kinky."
"Oh, my God, it's not. It's, like, one of the most innocent 2000s films."
"Is it any good?"
"I like it. Maybe more 'cause of the nostalgia, but it's one of Lindsay Lohan's best works. Next to The Parent Trap."
"The what?"
I rubbed my forehead, awestruck. "I can't believe Twilight made it into your post prison world catch-up, but not these classics. Put the movie on. You need enlightening."
He complied, and the mother daughter duo compiled of Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan popped up on the screen.
Unfortunately, the iconic movie fell halfway into the background while I caved to my gnawing curiosity and started quizzing Kai on post-1994 entertainment to see what had made it into his newfound knowledge.
"Harry Potter."
"Saw the first couple of movies. Too lazy to read the books. Super strange depiction of witches, by the way. Or, God, I think they called themselves wizards. And magic wands? Seriously?"
"You're telling me you don't think the idea of picking out the perfect wand in a hidden magical marketplace is appealing to you?"
He thought about it. "When you put it that way..."
"Marvel."
"Duh, Eva, that's been a thing. I used to read the comics."
"But have you seen the movies? Iron Man, with Robert Downey Jr? Captain America?"
"Some of them, but I kinda got fed up when even the smallest thing wasn't comic accurate. I take that stuff seriously. Comic book lovers aren't asking much when they ask movie makers to handle these stories with care, you know."
By his furrowed brows, I could tell he meant it. And the unbidden thought came, that he was really cute. Not in a way that made you smile in a giddy way, though. More like in a way that naturally unsettled you, because cute shouldn't be an apt description of a former killer and it probably said something disturbing about you if you thought it did. I kind of hated how much it fit him, when he talked in that enthusiastic, ceaseless way of his and looked like a boy excitably reliving the nostalgia of his past in his navy blue hoodie and tousled hair.
It was hard to look at him, because I'd made the commitment to be professional but he looked really kissable right now. It wasn't fair.
I was grateful when minutes later, the doorbell rang and I could stop struggling not to ogle the way Kai's face lit up when he laughed at parts of the movie.
"I'll get it." He gently moved my legs off his lap and went to answer the door.
I quickly murmured a spell under my breath and grinned victoriously when I heard Kai curse.
"What the–Eva."
I tossed my blanket away and walked past him with a cheerful smile, snatching my wallet off the counter on the way. He glared, grunting with the effort of trying to pull his feet up. I'd stuck them to the floor.
I greeted the delivery boy and quickly paid for the order with a generous tip, then practically skipped back into the apartment with the bag clutched in my hands.
"Oops, did I forget to mention these floorboards can be tricky?" I waved a hand in the air to free him. He stumbled forward and straightened up to scowl at me.
I sat down on the rug next to the coffee table and started to pull the containers out of the bag. Inhaling deeply, I felt my stomach grumble in approval at the inviting aroma.
"It was my order," he said grumpily, stretching out on the rug beside me. "I could've paid."
"Your days of trying to pay for all our food are over. Next time, it'll be a hex instead of a sticking spell."
I laughed at the way he blanched at the light threat and slid his food over to him.
While I unwrapped my sandwich and took a moment to admire the contents, I noticed Kai was staring at me.
"What?" I pointedly glanced at his untouched food. "Aren't you gonna eat?"
"In a minute. But I need to see this." He leaned back on his palms. "Your first bite of a Portland special."
"Did you wanna take a picture?" I asked sarcastically.
"Don't give me ideas."
I brought the sandwich to my lips and took a measured bite, trying not to spill any sauce on my sweater.
"Wow." I instantly went for another bite. "Just–wow. Woah."
Satisfied, Kai unwrapped his own sandwich and took a large bite. I was alternating between consuming mine, stabbing a fork into the cheese fries on the side, and sipping the lemonade that Kai told me was freshly made.
"This reminds me of the merge," Kai commented, snickering. We were currently watching the scene that takes place the morning after the earthquake, when Anna and Tess realize they switched bodies. "Except, like, no death. Or magical powers. But the concept is there. You think a Gemini wrote this?"
"One of the best movies of this past decade? I'm sorry, but I don't think it was the work of your coven."
"Ouch. FYI, we do more than combine sets of twins."
"Maybe you do, but the rest of them...eh."
Kai paused, then grinned as he sifted through his curly fries. "And you expect me to believe I'm not your favorite."
"I prefer you to the rest." I sipped my drink, ignoring his shit-eating grin. "I told you that. It's like...choosing between being locked in a cage with tigers or fuzzy kittens."
"I'm the fuzzy kitten in this hypothetical?"
"I mean, you could've been upped a few levels if your siphoning hurt." I chewed on a forkful of fries and swallowed. "But it didn't, so here we are."
"There's lots of people that fear me, Luna. You might laugh in the face of the reformed sociopath, but others still don't even like to get too close."
"How embarrassing for them."
He was quiet and I glanced over, wondering if he took offense. But he was smiling, in a soft way that made my chest hurt because why, for the love of God, was he allowed to be so cute on the surface? And he wondered why I didn't fear him, or feel any sense of threat to my own safety around him. If anything, it was my self control that was taking a hit.
Professional, I reminded myself and focused on finishing my meal.
Thirty minutes later, I'd eaten what I could from the sizable sandwich and the paper tray of curly fries, and felt like I was in a food coma. Kai had finished everything to the point where no trace was left behind and the even freakier thing was he looked content, but wasn't slouching back onto the couch the way I was. I could've offered him a huge slice of cake and he probably would take it gladly. His appetite was scary.
"I'm gonna be dreaming of meatballs tonight," I groaned, while gathering the empty trays back into the paper bag to go toss in the trash. Kai laughed.
"I'm jealous."
Deciding that I was warm enough, I folded up the blanket I'd been using and moved across the living room to store it back in the closet. As I closed the small door, my eyes caught sight of the bright moon through the balcony windows.
That gravitational pull surfaced deep in my gut, where it had been buried during the time I was spending with Kai. The full moon hung in the night sky, blazing as a reminder of what I'd been trying to escape by staying in for the night. Unconsciously, I was drifting closer to the balcony doors. My magic was swimming on my skin, close to becoming a tsunami wave.
"Eva?"
I tilted my head up toward the night sky, pushing open the balcony doors. No longer was there a barrier between me and the dangerous outdoors, and I felt that riotous mess of power grip me.
"Eva, stop."
Hands were on my hips and I was firmly pulled back against Kai's chest. His arm extended out and he shut the balcony doors tightly with a wave of his magic. The feel of his power in the air made mine swirl even harder and I squeezed my eyes shut, pressing my hands to my forehead.
"Hey." His voice was low and I felt the vibrations of it through his chest. He tugged me around to face him, but I kept my head planted into my palms.
Fight it, fight it, fight it–
"Are you okay?" He sounded alarmed.
"Just give me a second," I said unsteadily. "Don't get near me. Please move."
Give your sister some room, Sam, my mother would urgently call to him, when I accidentally succumbed to the force.
He was still lingering in front of me and I felt his hands brush my arm. "It's alright. Look at me."
"No," I said harshly. "Move. Kai, I can rein it in, but having you right here is going to make it worse, just–"
"Would it help if I siphoned you?"
I froze and dropped my hands, gaping at him.
"I...I'm not sure."
He stepped closer, licking his lips. "Do you–do you mind if I try?"
God, no, not at all, I thought, while remembering how insanely good it felt three days ago.
"Okay," I whispered.
He nodded and gave me a once-over, with his hands raising slowly, like he was deciding where the optimal place of access would be. Then, his hands slid up my hips and from there, he did his trick.
The magic that I'd been so close to releasing became tamed by the Gemini, in a possessive manner that made the pit of my stomach flutter. His large hands were restlessly running up and down my sides, like he wanted to take from every entry point possible, and he pulled me closer. I let him, resting my hands on his shoulders for leverage.
"Is it working?" He whispered in my ear and I bit my bottom lip at how deep his voice had become.
"Yes," I sighed. Instead of splitting at the seams, I felt like I actually could exist luxuriously, under the influence of the moon. I glanced down to see the red and crimson rushing eagerly to his palms, glowing as bright as the moon itself, and never wanted the sight or the sensation to come to a halt.
Kai moved his head back to look me in the eyes and I nearly crumpled. His gaze was dark, eyes wider than usual, and he looked equally enthralled by it all.
He bent his head down to mine and I couldn't remember why I'd told him any of that in the car, I just knew that he was close, his hands were relieving my magic, and I was fighting for control, but there was too much sensation.
As if someone set off alarms to shake me out of the reverie, I loosened my tight grip on his shirt and backed away. His hands slipped off my body, ending the connection, and I had to quell the urge to pull them right back.
He looked just as disoriented as I felt, mingled with the displeasure burning in his gaze.
I know what I want, he said to me in the car. Can you say the same?
Before the answer to that question could be pulled to the surface, I cleared my throat and tested the barriers of my magic.
It was no longer close to enveloping me whole. I still felt it, but its pull to the power of the moon felt more like a bodily function that I could let linger in the background of my awareness. I didn't have to lose myself to it.
"Thank you," I told him softly, genuinely grateful.
Kai was acting a little funny, in the way he stuttered out a "anytime, Luna" and returned back to the couch.
I raised an eyebrow, watching him. He was pretending to be fascinated by the storyline, as if we hadn't just missed a few good minutes of the movie.
When I went to sit next to him, he reached for the pillow beside him and placed it in his lap to rest his elbows on it. Parts of him looked...strained. Maybe he didn't want me lounging across him again and I was meant to take the hint? I didn't know, but figured I at least wouldn't press him on it. He'd done me a solid, after all.
We watched the movie together in silence, with the occasional laughter from one or both of us cutting in. Kai seemed to be easing up from the strange stupor he'd been in moments after he stopped siphoning me.
"Kai," I said, because there was something on my mind and he had to hear it.
"Hm?"
"I know I already said thank you, but...I appreciate you staying with me tonight." I swallowed, feeling awkward from the way his head turned and he gave me his full attention. "It's not that my family wouldn't. But whenever...that happens–" I gestured toward the balcony, referring to my almost outburst, "I usually have to separate from them. It's too dangerous. I never had someone go through it with me." I sent him a bashful smile. "So, it was kind of nice."
He gazed at me with a kindness that made me want to open up to him more than I'd had with any witch, and I was startled by the urge. He gave me a nod, his lips curving up.
I wrapped my arms around my knees, watching the rest of the movie with the witch. I didn't even scold him for his ongoing commentary this time, too content with the fact that this full moon was going to end on a good note.
"Okay," Kai said, as the credits began to roll. "I'll give you that one. It was a solid eight out of ten. What's next?"
I reached over him for the remote. "That was your dose of feel-good comedy. Now, I've got one that'll give you an existential crisis."
"My favorite genre. How'd you know?"
So, for the next hour and a half, we watched The Day After Tomorrow and as it turned out, Kai was a huge fan of end-of-the-world cinematic experiences. He was in the middle of rambling about how crazy it would be if this was really in our future, when my eyes started to droop. Thirty minutes left, I thought. I could stay awake for that length of time.
I was asleep in seconds, my dreams forming around the blue-eyed witch who was keeping me company.
Author's Note: the fact that I firmly told myself burned would have shorter chapters than consumed makes me laugh now. something about 17 and 18 just required long chapters and I could do nothing to change my own mind. 19 should be shorter, but why make promises I'm not sure I can keep?
also GUYS hereticsz made a beautiful cover for burned of Kai and Eva, and i'm so in love. they're even under the full MOON, which was so appropriate with this chapter that i wanted to tear up. my moon girl and gemini boy look stunning here. she snapped.
I LOVE.
and thank you so much for supporting this story! i'm really fond of where it's headed and it means a lot to see people that are just as excited. hope you liked this chapter!