“Chay!” his dad yelled down a hallway. When there wasn’t an answer, he looked at me and rolled his eyes. “Last door on the left.”
“Thanks.” I walked slowly down the hall. The walls were filled with family photos. I saw Chay as a baby and toddler, as a boy with his dad on fishing trips, his school portraits—the kind that always turn out horrible but parents displayed them anyway as their little way of torturing us. I stopped to look at a photo of him and his uncle at the ice cream shop when I saw a photo of our dads together. There was also a picture of them with Uncle Rory. I was looking at them when I heard a door open behind me.
“Like what you see?” he drawled. He leaned against the doorjamb, one arm stretched above his head.
“I’m amazed is all.”
“Amazed?” His eyes twinkled. They looked more blue than green just then.
“Yeah, I wasn’t sure you were capable of smiling until I saw the photographic evidence.”
“Ah.” He pursed his lips to hide a grin. “C’mon. Everyone’s in here.”
I followed Chay into his bedroom, which was actually two rooms. The wall had been knocked out and a wicked cool archway with built-in bookcases on either side was put in its place, combining the two bedrooms into one large room. On one side of the archway was his bed—somewhere deep inside my stomach a huge butterfly staged a rebellion at the sight—and dresser. On the other side was a couch, some waffle chairs, and an entertainment center with a huge television where the guys were already engrossed in a video game. Their little avatars ran around the screen, battling aliens.
I expected posters of sleek cars or rock bands. But his walls were mostly bare. Painted a silvery gray to complement his maroon bedspread and curtains, it was sophisticated. And it fit Chay perfectly.
“Nice room.”
“Thanks.” He turned and led me to the couch. “Move,” he said and knocked Steven’s foot off his knee. “Get up and let her sit there.” Steven rolled his eyes but moved to a beanbag.
I sat where Steven had been, and Chay eased himself down next to me. Leaning over me, he flicked open a door on the table next to the couch. “You want a Coke?”
“Sure.” He pulled a pop out of the little table. Sitting up, he handed it to me. “Thanks.” I bent forward and studied the table, which was actually a small refrigerator. “I so want a room like yours.” I laughed.
He smiled, slow and sexy, and my heart melted little by little. “Or you can just come visit me.” And there it went. My heart officially melted into a puddle of goo. While I was trying to recover from his comment, Chay turned toward the room.
He put his palms on his thighs and yelled to be heard over the commotion in the room. “Okay, everyone! I want to get right to the point of why we’re all here so we can get on with the pizza and fun stuff. So, who has Lily talked to?” Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at him. Most had odd expressions on their faces. No one said anything. That was when I noticed Muriel wasn’t there.
“Come on, I know she’s talked to some of you,” Chay said with an exasperated sigh. “She’s talked to me.”
I looked at him. I wasn’t sure why, but I was angry that he didn’t tell me.
Slowly, everyone in the room raised their hand. Lily had talked with everyone there. Except me. Lily didn’t make a secret out of the fact she didn’t like me much. But her job as an Evil was to recruit demis for Azazel and from what I understood, I was at the top of his Christmas list. So I couldn’t get my mind around why she wouldn’t approach me. Unless… she planned to use the team members against me.
“Milayna?” Drew asked.
“No. She hasn’t said anything to me. I wonder why?”
“Who knows? Maybe Azazel wants to turn everyone against you and force you to choose sides,” Chay answered. “Is anyone having any trouble with her other than her talking to you?”
Everyone answered in the negative.
“What about Azazel’s team? Has anyone had any contact with them?”
Everyone raised their hand except Jen and Shayla.
“You?” I asked Chay.
“Yes.” He didn’t elaborate, but I didn’t expect him to. He was stingy with his information.
“Did anyone have any problems with the goblins? Since you’re here, I’m going to assume you didn’t take them up on their offer.”
The room erupted in a flurry of “no,” “no ways,” and a few curses.
Chay smiled. “Good. Let’s have some pizza.”
“You have pizza in here, too?” I opened the door to his private refrigerator and peeked inside.
He laughed. “No, it’s in the kitchen.”
Everyone got up and raced down the hall to the kitchen. I grabbed Chay by the arm and waited until the last person left the room. “Why didn’t you tell me you talked with Lily and had a visit from the little red imps?”
“Imps?” He arched a brow and pursed his lips.
“It’s faster than hobgoblins. Just answer my questions. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I warned you, Milayna. You don’t know who you can trust.”
Ugh, you keep saying that. I got it. I got it. I wonder where Muriel is?