I needed to think about this, but I couldn’t focus around him. His power, and face, and body—the whole package—distracted me.
“Okay, I’ll have a drink with you. So we can talk about this. But let me shower first.” More than getting clean, I needed a second to myself. “There’s a place a few doors down the street, a bar called The Flying Wizard. Why don’t you meet me there?”
I’d have preferred to go to Potions & Pastilles where I could at least get something to eat, but I didn’t want him around Nix, or my two friends who ran P & P, Connor and Claire.
He nodded. “Fair enough. I’ll see you there.”
His body almost brushed mine as he passed. I held my breath, swearing that the air between us actually sparked, then let myself into my apartment. I leaned against the door and let my head drop back against the wood.
Holy cow, it was a lot to absorb. I sucked in some calming breaths, but the sight of my boring little apartment did nothing to put me at ease.
I pushed off the door and crossed the living room to my bedroom, where I pressed my hand against an empty spot along the back wall. I bounced on my heels as I waited for the spell to ignite. It took only a second, but soon a door appeared. I pushed it open and entered my trove.
Calm immediately enveloped me. My heart slowed and my mind cleared as I looked around at the neat shelves full of weapons, boots, and leather jackets.
Treasure meant different things to different people. Right now, to me, it meant those three things. When I woke in that field with Nix and Del ten years ago, treasure was food and shelter. We followed our senses toward what we wanted most. It was how we survived, though it wasn’t easy.
While a huge part of me didn’t want to believe that I was a FireSoul, I had a hidden lair in my house that was filled with treasure. I lived on the whole top floor of an old factory, easily four thousand square feet. My apartment took up about a tenth of that. My trove took up the rest.
Like Smaug crouching on his piles of gold, I hoarded my valuables. Del and Nix had their own troves. We knew it was kinda weird and very dragon-like, but we couldn’t help ourselves. I was perpetually broke because of my compulsion to fill this place up. I didn’t like to steal anymore, not if I could help it.
Though I’d have loved to hang out there longer, I didn’t have time to spend siphoning calm from this place. I grabbed a leather jacket off a hanger to replace the one I was wearing. I stank like a campfire. A quick glance at my boots showed they were in fine condition, so I returned to my bedroom and sealed the door behind me.
Though I felt a little better, a shower would really put me back on track.
I tossed the jacket on the bed and headed to the bathroom. My bathroom was as tiny and cramped as the stairwell. Every fixture was about sixty years old. Basically, it was a nightmare. I should have renovated it, but like I said—perpetually broke from feeding the beast.
On autopilot, I showered and dressed. My actual closet was pretty small since I preferred to stick to my uniform of jeans and tees. Carefully, I strapped my dagger sheaths to my thighs. They were hidden by an enchantment when I was around humans.
Why did Aidan want my help specifically? I was a good treasure hunter, the best in the city. Was it just because I’d successfully made it past the enchantments in his tomb? I didn’t think he knew what the demon had said about me, but there was no guarantee.
His power set my internal alarms blaring. A huge part of me said that helping him was too dangerous. I needed to stay away from him, avoid allowing him to sense what I was. But the lure of the scroll was too much to resist. It could possess information about what I was. About why I’d awoken in a field at fifteen with no memories.
I really wanted those memories back. And even if it couldn’t help me get my memories back, I owed him. I’d broken in to the ancient temple on his land.
So, my decision to help him had nothing do to with the fact that I couldn’t stop thinking about his lips. No way.
“Idiot,” I muttered as I tugged my jacket on. This one was a slightly darker brown leather than my other, closely fitted to look good but loose enough that I could fight in it. I might have worn any old tees and jeans, but my boots and my jackets were important. I’d been eyeing this one online for months before I had the money for it. I just hoped it lasted longer than the other.
I locked up behind me and headed down the stairs, trying not to think of how it had felt when Aidan had almost brushed up against me. I had real problems to worry about, and that wasn’t going to be one of them.