Zavida slips in behind me quietly, murmuring, “What are we looking for?”
I shrug. “Whatever someone went to all this trouble to hide.”
Jasper moves to the desk, opening a drawer slowly. There is a coil of parchment, tied with a black ribbon lying in it. He holds it up, his nostrils flaring as he scents the paper. “This is the focus,” he says.
Iggy walks over to take it from him. “This was how they combined everything I suppose, but it’s not doing shit after we defeated the damn thing.”
Kaspar steps up, eyes narrowed. “Do any of you want to deal with that big metal safe thing in the corner or are we going to stay here all night?”
Chuckling, Anton walks over to it, studying it briefly before he says, “Give me the scroll, professor.”
I watch as Iggy brings it over and the peacock demon chants again before touching the scroll to the lock on the safe. The wheel spins, unlocking immediately and we all lean in to see the large, glowing book inside.
“This is what we’re after,” I say as I step closer. “It’s got a crazy amount of symbols on it, including the Atlantean ones.”
“Then we go back and put it in the magic dampener in our room,” Anton says matter-of-factly. “X and I have one in ourroom to store take home projects in. We can pull it out in the morning and start working on getting it open, too.”
Oh, that’s going to be very interesting—especially with the entire cadre of supes, demons, and women.
1 Release as I command. Your magic is now expelled from this place.
Thirty-Seven
ROGUE
Telling Morgana that Kat and I look up to her definitely freaked her out, so I made certain to suggest to Damon that we should find some drinks so the top of her head doesn’t blow off. It was easier than approaching the host demons myself, and since Kat is doing pretty well, I don’t want a bossy male telling her she can’t imbibe a wee bit more while she’s having fun. I’m uncertain theywould, but I’d rather err on the side of caution.
After all, we have zero clue what the missing people are going to show up with—it might ruin the whole vibe.
“Pssst,” I whisper to Kat as she plays with the kinkajou on the ground in the middle of the living area. “They’d tell us if they heard from the others, right? Your dudes wouldn’t hide it so you don’t get panicked?”
She wrinkles her nose as she considers my question. “Theymightif I were already struggling. I think that’s why they’ve kept the whole ‘mate’ thing on the DL. But if something was really wrong, they’d also know it’s not possible to keep it quiet, andI’ll find out, eventually. Most of the guys are close enough to me now that they don’t want me to stop trusting them.”
“Who is here that would make a command decision like that?”
“Slash,” Kat answers without pause. “But he definitely won’t mislead me. Come to think of it, hedidsay there was something we should talk about, but he wasn’t certain about it yet. When we were alone at the springs and he was showing me his shifts… he said that. I almost forgot until now. Do you think that was about…. the forever stuff?”
Her eyes get comically wide, and I chuckle softly. “If he’s the one who is most straightforward with you, then yes. That also means he’d tell you if he’d gotten bad news, even if it would frustrate or upset you. The big guy is your beacon—he’s how you read the situation at all times, girl. For me, that’s Archie. He doesn’t have even a drop of guile in him, and he’ll tell me shit the others won’t.”
“Huh. Useful info,” the smaller demon murmurs. “Thanks.”
I grin at her, and then wink playfully. “We have to stick together. There’s way too many of them, and only three of us.”
Before I can ask her about the suspicions Morgana shared with me earlier, the dark-haired crow demon climbs up on the coffee table to whistle loudly. “Hey! Listen up, reprobates!”
Kat chuckles, and I watch as her face heats as the demon winks at her. It’s very much likemywink a moment ago, but her reaction is completely different. Her chin dips, and she fusses with the tiny animal as the color spreads further down her neck.
Ladies and demons, I have a candidate for the ‘Did Something Sexy With Kat on the DL’ award.
My gaze flicks to the gargoyle, and lift my chin just a bit toward the attention-grabbing avian. She blinks, tilting her head as she studies the muscled bad boy easily commanding the room. We smile at the same time when we realize that somehow Kat picked one that wouldn’t be quite so difficult to manage, but also the demon who is smart enough to keep his beak shut until she is ready to share. He’s flirting with her, sure, but he did that before.She’sthe one letting it get to her more than it did prior, so if it comes out, Kat will be the reason.
“Slash got a text from Jasper.” Everyone shuts up, watching the bird for signs of trouble. “It took a lot of hard work fromallthe people, but they got the room open. Zav has the info and is working on locating the supposed owner of the studio, but they found a funky book. It’s also got some magical juju on it, and we’re going to put it in the magic dampening safe in Xerxes and Anton’s room until the morning. They will all be here once they’ve gotten the damn thing buttoned up.”
Lucas lets out a little cheer from the couch, and I laugh. The kid is adorable; Morgana’s right to be so fond of him. “Liam, Kas, and Slade will be tired as fuck, I bet. Lady M, we will probably need to retire for the night as soon as we finish eating.”
I blink. He’s right, but no one’s decided about sleeping arrangements yet. That will be an issue, especially since all seven demons don’t have their own dorm. “Um…”
Kat stands, wrinkling her nose as she looks around. “We’ll have to figure out how that’s going to work as soon as everyone’s here. I don’t think deciding without?—”
