Page 14

Chapter Fourteen

I stirred out of a daze when the car door slammed. Blearily, I realized we were parked at the curb of a familiar street. Aaron’s house. Right. That was the address I’d given Justin after he’d loaded Sin and me into the back of his cruiser.

Justin circled the car and opened my door. I dragged my exhausted limbs out, relieved to see lights glowing inside the house. As I wobbled upright, Sin skooched across the seat toward the open door.

“Justin, will you take Sin home?” I asked before she could get out.

“I thought this was Sin’s place?”

“No, this is Aaron’s house.” I shrugged. “I’m sure Sin would rather go home than…”

“Than hang out at your boyfriend’s?” he finished for me, missing my flinch at the word “boyfriend.” He ducked to look into the car. “Want a ride, Sin? Where do you live? ”

Her face reddened at his smile and she mumbled a weak protest. I nudged Justin with my elbow and winked. Pulling a face, he closed the door on Sin, trapping her in the cruiser. She glared at me through the glass.

“You okay, Tori?” he asked as I stepped toward Aaron’s front walk.

I shrugged. Honestly not the scariest thing I’d faced these last few months.

His brow furrowed, and I remembered I was supposed to be ignorant of the existence of magic. I hadn’t brought up the attack or the fantastical occurrences beyond vaguely describing the encounter in my statement, so I didn’t know what he thought of it all.

“Uh,” I blurted, backtracking. “I mean, that was all… really terrifying. And I thought I saw some, uh… some really weird shit.”

Frown deepening, he squinted at my face. I tried to hold my expression of bewildered anxiety, but he wasn’t falling for it. Why did my brother have to be intelligent?

“We can talk about it later,” he muttered. “I need to get back and finish my report. Will you be okay? Would you rather stay at my place?”

“I’ll be safe here. Aaron and his roommates are big tough guys.”

Justin glanced at the house. “Call me if you need anything.”

“Yep. And thanks for chauffeuring Sin.” I arched an eyebrow. “By the way, she thinks you’re hot.”

He choked, a faint blush creeping above his neatly trimmed beard. Muttering something under his breath—all I caught was “inappropriate” and “timing”—he got into his cruiser. Starting the engine, he waited for me to go into the house .

Purse over my shoulder and umbrella in hand, I trudged to the front stoop. The door was unlocked, so I threw it open and stepped inside, waving at Justin. The car rolled away. At least I didn’t have to worry about Justin freaking out about Sin being a mythic. When the officers were completing our statements, she’d produced a normal driver’s license, sans MID number. Handy trick, that.

“Tori?”

I turned.

Ezra stood in the hallway that led past the living room, his brow furrowed over mismatched eyes. “What happened? Are you okay?”

His meltingly smooth voice washed over me like sinking into a hot bath after a bad day. I took three long steps, arms already reaching. He swept me into his embrace and I pressed my cheek against his soft blue t-shirt. Our first hug, shared in an apartment building hallway, had been phenomenally awkward, but it had somehow evolved into something special between us.

“I’m okay,” I said into his chest. “Sin and I went to get sushi and we were attacked by mythics. Red Rum rogues, I think.”

“What? Shit.” Hands shifting to my upper arms, he stepped back to scrutinize me for injuries. Seeing none, he pulled me into the living room and urged me onto the sofa. “Aaron and Kai won’t be back for a few more hours. They made a last-minute trip to Victoria to investigate a grimoire that might include the fae-binding ritual.”

Noticing how quiet it was, I glanced around the cluttered room. The TV was off and no music played on the speakers, but the acoustic guitar from Ezra’s bedroom was leaning against the sofa. Shrugging my purse off, I set it and my umbrella on the coffee table, knocking a stack of vintage car magazines onto the floor.

Ezra perched on a cushion beside me. “What happened?”

I described the encounter. Halfway through, I remembered my sushi and fished it out of my oversized purse. Skipping over the silvery fae creature—I wanted to run that particular weirdness past Zak first—I told him the rest as I cracked open the container and offered it to him. He picked out a California roll and stuffed it in his mouth.

“Do you think they were searching for you?” he asked after I’d finished. “Your brother mentioned suspicious activity in the area. I wonder if Red Rum had a way of detecting the fae lord’s visit last night.”

“The timing fits. Do you think they can track me because of the fae magic?”

“It’s possible. I don’t know much about Spiritalis.” He patted the pockets of his loose black sweats, then rooted around the coffee table until he uncovered his phone. “I’ll fill Kai and Aaron in on what happened.”

Munching sushi, I watched him bring the phone to his ear. His dark curls were messier than usual, the sexy scruff on his jaw thicker than his normal barely-more-than-a-five-o’clock-shadow. His t-shirt was the kind of old, worn, ultra-soft cotton I saved for PJs, and he was barefoot. Lounge-Ezra. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him this casual before.

Remembering what Sin had said, I thought back and realized this might be the first time I’d been alone in the house with him.

He finished the call, his forehead creased. “They’re coming back as soon as they can, but the ferry ride is an hour and a half. ”

“It’s fine.” I stifled a yawn. “No one followed us, and as long as I stay indoors—” Another yawn interrupted me.

Ezra caught the empty sushi container as it tipped out of my limp hand.

“Sorry,” I mumbled. “I’m so tired. The fae’s magic completely wipes me out.”

“I can imagine.” Still radiating worry, he collected the garbage and carried it into the kitchen. Returning, he tugged a throw blanket free from between two cushions and draped it over me. “Your clothes are damp. Do you want something dry?”

“I’m good.” I snuggled into the blanket, thinking longingly of his bed upstairs. My first time sleeping over, he’d offered me his room—mainly to prevent an argument between Aaron and Kai—and since then it had become my standard bed-away-from-home.

Realizing Ezra was still standing, I tugged a pinch of his pants. “Sit down. Don’t just hover like an anxious mother hen.”

He sheepishly dropped onto the sofa. “Do you want to watch a movie?”

“Too tired.” I yawned again, then slid the tie out of my hair, loosing my curls to let them dry. “Did I interrupt you? What were you doing before I barged in?”

He glanced at the guitar. “Nothing.”

“Do you play?”

A shrug.

I flopped more comfortably into the cushions. “That’s fine. Collecting instruments you don’t play just to carry them around the house is perfectly normal.”

He gazed at me seriously. “I thought about collecting pianos instead. ”

My mouth twitched. I frowned to keep from smiling.

“That seemed too challenging,” he added somberly. “Even a piano with wheels is awkward to move around.”

“Why not harmonicas?” I suggested, my voice cracking from the effort not to laugh. “Easy to carry.”

“They don’t look as cool.”

“Of course not.”

“Maybe I should collect tubas. Tubas are cool, right?”

The mental image of him waltzing around the house with a tuba was too much. A snort escaped me and I tried to suck it back in—and burst into snickers instead. His grave expression cracked into a grin, and I vowed that someday I would make him laugh first.

I nudged his ankle with my toes. “Play something.”

Hesitatingly, he picked up the guitar and settled it on his lap. Plucking a few strings, he tilted his head shyly. “I don’t usually play for people.”

A flutter danced through my middle. “Will you play for me?”

He looked down at the instrument. The frets squeaked under his left hand, and he plucked a few strings with his right. A melody emerged, then stuttered. Beginning again, he skimmed through a few tunes—playing a familiar chorus, then the solo from a popular song, then a snippet of a recent radio hit.

Not bad, but having an audience was making him uncomfortable. Pulling the blanket closer, I closed my eyes so he might feel less like he was performing.

He paused, and I could feel his gaze on me. The strings squeaked again as he repositioned his hand. A moment of silence .

A soft waterfall of notes poured from the strings in a delicate melody. As more notes joined the measured rhythm, I cracked my eyes open, unable to believe he could coax that much music from a single instrument.

One hand slid up and down the guitar’s neck, his strong fingers flexing as he pressed into the frets, sharp tendons running from his knuckles to wrist. His right hand hovered in front of the wooden body, his fingers dancing over the strings. As the haunting melody built, he thumped the heel of his hand against the guitar body, adding a hollow drumbeat to the strumming cascades of notes both sharp and soft.

“Beautiful,” I breathed, utterly mesmerized.

He ducked his head, embarrassed, and the notes trailed into silence.

“How long have you been playing?”

“A long time.” Cradling the instrument on his lap, he plucked through a swift scale. “I enjoy it. It’s calming. Like meditation.”

“Thank you for playing for me,” I whispered.

He moved his head in a slow nod. Now I understood why his first attempt had been so stilted; he’d played popular music, something impersonal. I didn’t know why he’d chosen to share a piece he truly enjoyed, but I was touched he had.

“Ezra…” His name came out in a strange croak.

He shifted on the sofa to look at me. “What’s wrong?”

I coughed, not sure what I’d intended to say, and asked a different question instead. “Do you really think everything will go back to normal?”

“What do you mean?”

“The MPD investigation… my job…” I bit my lip. “I don’t see how it could work. ”

“Even if you can’t work at the guild, it won’t change anything with us. You’re our friend, Tori.”

“Right.” I smiled wanly. “Of course.”

He twisted further to see my face. His mismatched eyes, one warm brown like melted chocolate, the other pale as ice and ringed in black, swept over me. “You can’t believe it, can you?”

My hands tightened around fistfuls of the blanket.

Facing forward, he strummed a few chords. “I didn’t believe it, either. Not at first. It took a long time for me to trust Aaron and Kai… to trust they wouldn’t give up on me.”

I fought the urge to tense. Ezra, more so than the other two, never spoke of the past.

“I didn’t get it until a year after I first met them.” His voice dropped to a murmur. “I’d assumed our friendship was temporary, that sooner or later they’d come to their senses, wonder what they’d seen in me, and that’d be it.”

My chest constricted. That was exactly how I felt now.

“Then…” His hand clenched around the guitar neck. “I hurt Aaron.”

I’d never heard such a rough rasp come from his butter-smooth voice before.

“I lost control… really lost it… and I hurt him badly.” He paused, the silence throbbing with pain and regret. “I knew that was it, that I should’ve left a long time ago. While Kai rushed Aaron to a healer, I packed my things.”

My eyes widened. When he’d said “hurt,” I thought he’d meant feelings, not that he’d wounded Aaron. What had Ezra done that would require an emergency magical healing?

Kai’s voice, words he’d gasped weeks ago, echoed in my ears. Stop them before Ezra kills Aaron .

Ezra stared at nothing for a long minute. “Kai caught up to me at the bus station. He dragged me back, shoved me into a chair at the healer’s house, and sat beside me. He said there was no way in hell he was letting me ditch them. He said…”

When he didn’t continue, I dared to whisper, “What did he say?”

“He…” Ezra drew in a slow breath, then shook his head. “We sat there all night. After the healer discharged him, Aaron never said a word about what I’d done. He’s never mentioned it, not once.”

His gaze flicked to mine, too quick for me to hide my horrified disbelief. Just how badly had he injured Aaron? The guys had warned me about Ezra’s temper, but I couldn’t imagine him lashing out at his friends with that degree of violence.

Weariness and bleak humor blended in his expression. “Second worst night of my life.”

“You’ve had a worse night?” I asked incredulously.

He nodded and touched the bottom of the scar that cut down his face.

“Oh. Right.”

“So, you see, Tori? An MPD investigation is nothing to them. Aaron and Kai will stick by you through everything—through the worst of anything. They’ll never let you down.”

I nodded, comforted if not convinced. Aaron and Kai’s loyalty to Ezra didn’t necessarily extend to me, but a girl could hope.

Ezra’s eyes slid away from mine. “Tori, nobody knows I’m the one who hurt Aaron.”

My breath hitched. I swallowed soundlessly, understanding what he was asking. “I’ll never tell a soul. ”

He started to play again, a soft, soothing melody that verged on a lullaby. My eyes drifted closed. For the first time, Ezra had revealed one of his secrets—a frightening one, but I suspected all his secrets were scary. I wished I could ask more about those early days of his friendship with Aaron and Kai.

My fatigue had grown unbearable. The world grew fuzzy, and dark dreams, woven through with sweet notes, overtook my mind.

I didn’t stir until the music stopped. Rustling movements, footsteps retreating, then returning. Careful hands slid under me, then Ezra lifted me off the sofa and into his arms. I tucked my face against his warm neck, sleepily inhaling.

His swaying steps moved across the room, heading for the stairs, but the clatter of the back door opening brought him to a halt. More footsteps approached, but caught on the edge of sleep, I was too weary to open my eyes.

“How is she?” Aaron whispered.

“Tired. She fell asleep on the sofa.”

“We got the grimoire,” Kai said in a low voice. “I’m almost positive it has the ritual. Now we need someone who can figure out a counter spell.”

“One step closer,” Aaron murmured. “We’ll get her through this.”

Ezra adjusted his hold on me. “I’ll put her to bed.”

My senses whirled as he climbed the stairs. A door creaked open. He shifted me into one arm, bearing my weight like I was no more cumbersome than a doll. He leaned over the bed, blankets rustling, then laid me down.

I sank into the mattress, my head on the pillow and my nose clouded with his delicious scent. He pulled the blankets over me and tucked them up to my chin .

Silence fell over the room, and I sleepily wondered if I’d missed the sound of him leaving.

The slight creak of a floorboard beside the bed. A whisper-soft touch on my hair, his thumb brushing my cheek. Then quick, quiet footsteps, followed by the snick of the door latch.

I opened my eyes and stared at the closed door, my skin tingling in the wake of Ezra’s gentle touch.