Page 39 of Of Blood So Cold

“Just waiting for Jedediah to open the door for us and invite us in with open arms and flutes of bubbly champagne in hand,” Cigs answers.

Alex and I chuckle, whereas Varsha scowls, and Solo curses out loud, right before apologizing to a woman who gives him a stunned look as she passes by him.

“The door’s locked from the inside, then?” he questions.

“Yup. We tried pushing it open. Gently, of course, but it didn’t work,” Varsha provides.

“Fuck,” he grits out, then clicks his tongue. “Alright, I think you might need a hand in escalating things. From what I’ve been observing from here, the crowd is starting to get bored, so I’m assuming dances and food are in order.” He glances around subtly, making sure no one is nearby. “We’ll need to be done with Jedediah and Selina so we only have Timothy to worry about. I’ll ask Aras to come assist you. Jedediah most certainly won’t deny thehostfrom entering his own study, will he?” He shoots daggers at the door behind which Timothy is in. “It’s way better than being a watchdog and waiting for an opportunity to present itself, if you ask me.”

“You can always sit, though,” I say. “There’s literally a sofa next to you.”

“Go fuck a knob, Dor.”

I smirk. “Athemedinsult?Nice.”

“Just shut up,” Cigs hisses. “Both of you – shut the fuck up.” She takes my phone from me. “Call Aras and ask him to get here,” she tells Solo. “Now, please.”

“Right. On it.”

The call disconnects, and she grabs my hand before all but slapping the phone into my palm.

Silence surrounds us as we wait, but it’s short-lived. Of course it is. With the four of us, that’s always the case.

“This is worse than waiting in line outside Danny’s food truck to get a plate of falafels on a Saturday afternoon,” Alex comments.

“I know,” Varsha agrees. “Have you ever wondered why his falafels are so unnaturally green on the inside, though? I’ve asked him a few times and henevergives me a proper answer.”

“I think he says it’s because of the fresh herbs he uses, but I think that’s a lie.”

“Yeah…” Varsha shrugs. “Well, at least they taste good.”

“Agreed.”

I look at Cigs, who blinks at me.

“You don’t have to say it. I know,” I muse, then mock-pat her shoulder.

She laughs. “I love them, though.”

“Me too,” I say around a smile.

“Hey, guys,” comes Aras’s voice, just as he jogs up the last couple of stairs and makes his way to us. With Magner by his side, of course.

The latter glances at Alex, who averts his gaze and shifts closer to Varsha.

Ah, so hedoesknow that Magner is into him. Interesting.

“I was told I’m needed here,” Aras says, turning my attention to him.

I jerk my head towards the study. “We need to get in without alarming the targets.”

He nods. “An easy fix.But…” He points a finger at me. “I’d like to stay and watch you work. Well, only if you’re okay with it, that is.”

I chuckle. “Of course, no problem. I do like having a rapt audience.”

He grins, fixing his tuxedo’s cuffs. “Great; let’s do this, then.”

15.