“What did Denver say to her?” April asked.
Lexi turned a playing card in a circle on the table. “I couldn’t hear everything through the window. He just kissed the top of her head and let her do all the talking. Maybe that’s my problem—I talk too much, and Maizy doesn’t want me to put a Band-Aid on everything. I’m just glad there’s someone she can go to when she needs to get stuff like that off her chest. I tell her stories about Wes all the time, and what our family was like when Wes was alive. But I don’t glam it up; I guess I don’t want to make it sound so great that she doesn’t appreciate how wonderful things are now, you know? We just went through life thinking she’d forget all that, but kids don’t forget. It just takes them a few years before all that trauma catches up and they start thinking about it on a different level, trying to figure out what kind of person they are because of it—or what’s wrong with them.”
“Princess?” a husky voice said.
April peered around me. “Yes?”
“Are you coming up?”
I glanced at Reno. He was an impressive man who resembled Austin in some ways, but tougher, if that was possible. Reno had the hard edges of a man who had experienced a lot of pain in his life.
He was also wearing a pair of silk pajama bottoms with no shirt.
April smiled approvingly as she stood up, and I had a feeling that ensemble was all her doing. “I think I’m in the mood to listen to some blues music in bed. Good night, everyone. I’ll see you tomorrow at the party, Naya?”
“You can count on it.”
Reno curved his arm around his mate and kissed the top of her head as they walked off. Somewhere down the hall, I heard her squeal followed by the sound of kissing and whispering.
Out of nowhere, a pang of jealousy struck me. Where on earth did that come from?
Being here at this intimate hour gave me a glimpse of what it must be like to live in this house. I adored the way they all treated one another. Sometimes in my quiet apartment, I would sit on the balcony and listen to the neighbors below. It was why I liked having parties. Panthers didn’t live in groups and rarely had more than one child, but I still longed for companionship. I missed Lexi; we used to play gin rummy and go shopping on a whim.
“So why are you really here?” Lexi asked, dipping her pretzel into a can of processed cheese dip. “Hiding from another boyfriend who’s sitting on your doorstep with a bouquet of roses?”
Izzy spread the cards out before her, turning them in circles and mixing them up.
I rubbed my finger over a small indentation on the table. “I felt a Mage following me tonight. It happened on the human side of town, and I was alone. It could have been one of the customers from the club, but I didn’t want to chance leading anyone to my home.”
She laughed. “Oh, so you brought a lunatic here?”
“Girly, I’m sure your big strong men can take care of themselves if someone’s brave enough to drive up that creepy dark road full of potholes. I needed to get out on an open stretch of highway to make sure I wasn’t just imagining things. I didn’t see anyone follow me here, so I decided it wouldn’t hurt to swing by and see what goes on in the Cole house at this ungodly hour. It’s nothing to worry your head about, but a girl can’t be too careful.”
“Do you have any alarms in your apartment?” Izzy asked in a serious voice. “When I was a rogue, I had a few crazies follow me home. It helps to have alarms—especially if you live alone. Maybe you should ask Reno to install something. He’s good with security systems.”
“Not a bad idea,” Lexi said. “Something is better than nothing.”
I decided I’d give it a little thought. But in the back of my mind, I knew if someone really wanted to get at me, a noisy alarm wasn’t going to deter them.
Chapter 3
Driving in a car full of balloons wasn’t something I’d ever done before, and I added it to my short list of things I’d never do again. Once I managed to get them out of the car, I made my way inside Pizza Zone, wrinkling my nose at the heavy smell of pepperoni. Since this was a casual event, I’d dressed in a pair of black shorts and a turquoise button-up blouse.
Two little boys hurtled by and almost knocked me down. “Oh!” I clutched the box in my arms and kept moving forward, desperately looking for a familiar face in the sea of humans.
“Aunt Naya’s here!” Maizy rushed over from a long table on the left side of the room. The lights were low, drawing all the attention to the colorful machines.
“Oh, my. You look astoundingly beautiful today, Maizy.”
She twirled in a sleeveless white dress that made her appear older than eleven. Her hair was in loose waves, and the shimmering lip balm she wore was a pale pink.
“Is that for me?” Her blue eyes widened at the size of the box wrapped in shiny red paper and garnished with a white ribbon.