“Haven’t seen him,” Willow replies, “though Jordan has made her presence felt several times. She gave a presentation in assembly about the dress code for the All Hallows Ball. She actually banned previous season outfits. Vapid bitch.”
“No reply from the apartment,” Cosmo reports. “I left a message telling him to call this number.”
I tuck my arm around Theo and pull her closer to my body. “Wes will be keeping a low profile; he’s no idiot. But if he's not in the apartment, where will he hide out?”
“What about the boathouse?” Theo asks, snuggling into me.
“Oh yeah, good idea, babe.”
“Why there?” Cosmo asks.
I smirk in his direction, remembering several extremely sexy times we had down there. “Wes, Theo, and I havemanyfond memories of the boat house loft. One time we pretended Wes and I were pirates, and Theo had stowed away, dressed as a little cabin boy, and then…oof!”
At the same moment that Theo jabs me in the ribs, the janitor is suddenly looming over me, looking fierce. The professor glares at me. OK, fine, no oversharing.
“I wanna hear the rest of the story,” Max groans.
“Moving on,” Duncan says, clearing his throat. “I messaged Striker, like you told me to,” he says to Cosmo. “She’s super cool. We’reWorld of WitchCraftbuddies now. Anyway, she said she’d take care of your absences.”
Cosmo frowns. “Do you know what excuse Striker gave to the school?”
Old Dunc has an extraordinary expression on his face. “Yeah, she messaged the registrar, saying you’d had to go away suddenly to take care of some business regarding your, er, magnificent engagement and you were traveling to Amsterdam to pick out the perfect stones for Jordan’s ring.”
Theo laughs as that Duncan kid’s words sink into my brain. “You’re engaged? To Jordan Singleton-Smith? What the fuck?”
After a beat, I realize this must be his father’s doing. No wonder Cosmo has been even more of a grouch than usual. “Fuck. Papa Drakeward?”
Cosmo’s left eye starts to twitch. “You know it.”
“We’ll get you out of it, Cos. Don’t know how, but we will—promise.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” he grunts.
Oh shit. Cosmo has been humiliated, tortured, threatened, and beaten by his father, but I’ve never seen him so resigned. “Aren’t you going to fight back?”
“Aurora,” he mumbles.
Oh, yeah. Cosmo’s kid sister is what keeps him in line. Fuck.
“Don’t you think we have more to worry about than Drakeward’s love life?” Max’s cousin snaps.
He’s uptight, but obviously nuts about Theo—and Theo likes him back.
I guess, seeing as I’ve abandoned her for the last year (or four), I can hardly complain if she’s interested in other dudes—as long as she likes me the most.
Also, faking being a teacher so he could hunt for Max was cool and Jason Bourne-ish.
“What else can we do to help?” Willow asks. “I’m supposed to be presenting in potions class, but that is completely irrelevant in the face of things.”
“You should keep to your commitment,” the faux-professor states. “Any deviation draws attention, and that’s the last thing we need.”
“Yeah, I suppose,” she shrugs. “But I can be here at the drop of a text.”
The little dude stands as well. “Me too.”
“Thank you, both of you,” Theo says, hugging one friend then the other. “You go, but we’ll keep in touch, OK?”
As the two defectivum kids zoom up the stairs, Cosmo starts grumbling again. “I’m not staying holed up here forever.”
