“Hey, Cal. Yeah, it’s me.” Yoshi curved a nasty grin at me while my voice poured out of his mouth. “He’s doing good! I should be done here in a couple of days, and Yoshi is retiring to Costa Rica.” He paused while Caleb spoke for a bit, and I mouthed obscenities at him. “Yeah, I know he’s been saying that for years, but this time he means it. Hey, can you send me Kit’s new mobile number? I need to ask her a question.”
A shock of relief washed over me, and I fought not to smile. I’d never called Christina by her nickname before, and Caleb knew it. He’d for sure know something was fishy about this.
“You’ll text it to me?” Yoshi continued, curving a triumphant smile at me, and my stomach sank. “Great, thanks bro. Hey, maybe let her know I’ll be texting, in case she thinks someone stole my phone and is setting her up or something.” He chuckled, like it was all a big fucking joke, and I screamed at him soundlessly.
“Yeah, you too. Sweet, see you in a couple of days, then.” Yoshi disconnected the call and raised his eyebrows at me, looking like he’d just won. He hadn’t, though. Not yet.
“Is it just me, or has your brother become far too trusting?” he pondered aloud. “Then again, I imagine he has a lot on his mind at the moment, if he’s just come into his magic. I sorely doubt Jackson has put his hand up to teach him how to control it, either.”
The deceptively young-looking man tapped at my phone, no doubt sending a text to Christina that would set her into enough of a panic that she’d come down here and try to save my sorry ass.
Despite what I’d said, I knew she would too. Damn woman was too fucking soft hearted for her own good, always trying to save the world. Didn’t she realize not everyone needed saving? Or deserved it, for that matter.
“Oh, don’t give me that look; you know he’s handling it just fine. Probably found a local witch or something to help him get some control. Besides, if he had paid a lick of attention to the lessons I tried to give you both growing up, he’d be fine to handle it on his own. Like you will be.” Yoshi sighed heavily and gave me a disappointed look.
For all appearances, he wasn’t a day older than me. Medium height and build with short, spiky black hair and more ink than even I had decorating his skin. The difference was, though, his ink contained magic.
Of course, he assumed I was worrying about my brother in that moment and not about the red-haired temptress who haunted my every waking thought.
“I really wish you weren’t forcing my hand in this, but your Ban Dia came into her powers months ago, and you still haven’t given her reason to restore your magic. Any of you. I give the rest of your little team some allowance as they were unaware of what they are, but you and Caleb...” He shook his head, tsking. “You knew better.”
He turned and headed to the door, clearly intending to leave the mute spell active on my skin. “Shouldn’t be too much longer. I’ll check on you again later, but for now I have clients waiting.”
As he left through the door, the distinctive buzzing of tattoo needles could be heard, and I screamed silently in frustration.
15
KIT
Lucy and I were tucked up on the couch together watching a movie when my phone vibrated. Wesley had input all of the guys’ numbers before he’d given it to me so I’d know who it was if one of them contacted me.
After our non-eventful combat training today and with still no word from either Jonathan or the girl I’d healed, Lucy and I had decided to have a girls’ night in. We’d ordered pizzas and were watching cheesy rom-coms. Not because we were particularly into them, but because the guys looked like they’d rather pull their own teeth out than watch with us. All except Wesley, that was.
“Oh God,” he groaned. “She’s not seriously falling for that, is she?”
Lucy and I shared a small grin, and I stole some more popcorn from Wesley’s bowl. The girl that this love story followed was a bit of a ditz, but Wesley’s running commentary was just priceless.
“You guys want more drinks?” Lucy asked, standing up with a groan and taking our empty glasses.
“Shhh, Luce!” Wesley hissed, waving her out of the way, and I stifled a giggle into his shirt. Somehow over the course of one and a half movies, we had gone from sitting on opposite ends of the couch to me snuggled into his side with his arm draped over my shoulders.
Feeling my phone buzz in the pocket of my sweatpants again, I fished it out and swiped my thumb across the screen. Two messages flashed at me, one from Vali and one from Caleb.
“Looks like everyone is putting that text blocker to good use then?” Wesley commented quietly, glancing at my phone. He’d been working on a new software that allowed us to text on a different frequency or bandwidth or something—I tuned out on the technical terms—but it meant we could securely message each other without fear of Omega intercepting it. He was still working on the one for voice calls, though.
“Uh-huh,” I murmured, opening Caleb’s message first. He was not home again, and I was starting to get worried he was in some sort of trouble. So far, neither he nor Wesley had shown signs of being anything more, so I was hoping my magic had run out before getting that far.
“Weird,” I muttered, reading it.
“What is?” Wes asked, looking down at my phone again as I showed it to him.
“Why would Austin ask for my number?” I frowned. The message just said that Aus had called and wanted my new number so he could text me.
“Maybe he wants to check how you’re doing after the car crash?” Wesley suggested, and I snorted. One of the things I loved about my dorky new boyfriend was his ability to see the good in everyone. Including Austin the Ass. Ugh, I just called Wesley my “boyfriend” inside my own head. Damn, when did I become so gooey?
“Why are you blushing, sweetheart?” Wes asked suspiciously, running the back of his finger across my cheek. “Are you thinking dirty things about me again?”
“Um, no. I’m going to help Lucy get those drinks.” I awkwardly shot up from my seat and hurried through to the open-plan kitchen where Lucy was taking a very long time pouring sodas.
“Luce,” I hissed, catching her giggling while she sent a rapid fire text to someone. “You’re not text-flirting with Finn are you?”
She looked up at me with a deer-in-headlights expression, and I groaned. “Luce... please be careful with him? I am begging you. Has he said anything about being, you know, other?”
“No... but I also haven’t brought it up.” She shrugged. “It’s not really the sort of thing we talk about, anyway.”
“Uh-huh,” I deadpanned at her. “And what do you talk about?”
Lucy blushed and I groaned.
“Oh my God, you’re fucking him, aren’t you? Lucifer Jones...”
“None of your business, Christina Davenport!” She pursed her lips at me with a shut the fuck up look on her face. “Now, why are you in here and not having a quick makeout with your sexy nerd?”
“Don’t call him a nerd, Luce,” I muttered defensively, and she rolled her eyes.