The others watch her curiously, but I retreat to one of the rooms to try my hand at perfecting the elixir she may need again soon.
7
MAVEN
Of my many problems,two have my full attention as we walk through the blustery, cold December night in downtown Hastings toward the diner Kenzie told me about.
My first problem is that I'm starting to…feel things. For all four of my matches.
Sure, I wanted them before. I decided they were mine and that I would fight for them.
But now?
Every time Silas looks at me or speaks in my head, I feel this rush ofrightnessnow that we're bound together. Whenever Everett comes anywhere near me, I get the urge to reach out and pull him closer—though right now, he's trying to keep his distance, grumbling that it's cold enough without him making it worse for me. Baelfire keeps finding tiny excuses to touch me anywhere he possibly can to warm me up, and damn it, Ilikethat.
Adding the fact that I can feel Crypt watching my every move from where he walks behind us just as obsessively as he does whenever he's in Limbo…
My entire life has been spent carefully locking away my emotions, so I have no fucking idea how to deal with all ofthis. Can't all of these stupid flutters in my stomach wait until I kill off the rest of the Immortal Quintet and have more time to process them?
Catching feelings is so damn inconvenient.
But my second problem is that we're being followed.
I first noticed it two blocks ago and haven't said anything to the others yet. It’s better to play it cool until I have more information on this potential threat, especially since we’re doing an excellent job of blending in with the other humans bustling about this small town, blasting holiday music outside every little shop.
Baelfire opens the door to the busy diner. "After you, Boo."
"One of these days, that nickname has to go."
He winks and tries to kiss me as I pass by, but Everett shoves the dragon shifter back, lowering his voice.
"Remember our cover. Humans are typically monogamous, so we're pretending she's with me. If the rest of you idiots get handsy with her, they'll figure out we're a quintet of legacies."
On top of the camouflage spell that should make their exact features and appearances impossible to remember for others for the next few hours—except for me, since I brewed the potion—I decided to take extra precautions with Everett. To try to dull his modelesque appearance, he's wearing a frumpy coat, oversized scarf, and a fur-lined trapper hat that my fashion-conscious match has made no secret of loathing in the extreme.
Bael flips him off. "Thanks for the reminder, Professor Cockblock."
I slip into a corner booth with my quintet, quickly surveying my surroundings. There are seven potential exits. If a fight finds us, I'll get us out of here in no time to keep these innocent humans from being in too much danger.
The person on our tail hasn't come into the diner.
Curious. If it were a bounty hunter, being in a public place wouldn't have stopped them. Is someone else after us? Are they just waiting outside for us to emerge?
What is it,sangfluir? Silas's voice asks softly in my head.
Nothing yet,I reply telepathically, glancing at my bound match across the circular corner booth. The fae is wearing a dark maroon sweater that somehow suits him perfectly.
Yet?
"If you could stop with the telepathy until the rest of us figure out how to join in," Crypt drawls, glaring at Silas, "that would greatly reduce my desire to crush your skull. Wouldn't want you to lose your head so soon after getting your sanity back."
"Oh, that I could lie so easily," Silas fires back, opening a menu.
Crypt is dressed in a black hoodie smattered in fake blood that reads, "I put the laughter in slaughter." I know for a fact that Bael didn't buy that when he went out to get clothes for us, but I was already aware that my Nightmare Prince has sticky fingers.
Baelfire did, however, buy me a nice oversized black sweatshirt and something called jeggings, which are far tighter than anything I typically wear yet somehow comfortable. I can't prove that he bought the tighter pants just so he can check out my legs and ass, but I keep catching all of them doing just that.
No complaints here.
