"I've never sent thirst traps to the group chat!" I protest, my ears burning.
"Exactly my point," Sean says. "Think of all the wasted potential."
I roll my eyes, but there's a smile tugging at my lips. Their enthusiasm is infectious even if they embarrass the fuck out of me.
Even if I still haven't gotten to the bottom of it yet.
"I should probably get back to work," I say, tucking the new phone into my pocket. "The ritual preparations won't finish themselves, and we're running out of time."
"Need any help?" Micah offers. "I'm pretty decent at Latin. Anatomy and all that."
"Actually, that would be great. I'm working on the incantation right now, and a second set of eyes would be helpful."
"I'll come too," Killian starts, but Rowan grabs his arm.
"You promised to help me with that thing, remember?" Rowan says pointedly.
Killian frowns. "What thing?"
"Thatvery important thingwe need to do. Right now.Elsewhere." Rowan's stare could not be more obvious if he tattooed "GIVE THEM SOME ALONE TIME" across his forehead in neon letters.
"Oh. Right. That thing." Killian nods, catching on with all the subtlety of a freight train, even though he clearly isn't happy about it. The fact that he's willing to leave in spite of that is a surprise. "Very important. Can't wait. Let's go."
Sean snickers as Rowan drags Killian toward the kitchen. "I've got a thing too. Definitely not jerking off in the shower to the memory of fucking our sexy witch."
"Dude," Micah groans. "We would've just assumed you were in the gym if you hadn't said that."
"Oh, yeah. I'm doing that," Sean calls with a salute.
And just like that, Micah and I are alone in the living room.
"They're about as subtle as a sledgehammer, aren't they?" I ask, smiling despite myself.
"Subtlety isn't exactly a wolf trait," Micah agrees, fixing his glasses with a low chuckle. "We're more of a 'charge directly at what we want' species."
We head back toward the attic in comfortable silence. Like Rowan, Micah doesn't usually feel the need to fill every pause with chatter, but I'm starting to find Killian's verbosity charming.
Even Sean's obscene motormouth.
Gods help me.
As we reach the base of the attic stairs, Micah catches me with a gentle hand on my wrist. "Before we go up, I wanted to give you something."
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small velvet pouch, deep purple and clearly old. His lips quirk into a shy smile that's so unlike his usual confident demeanor, it catches me off guard.
"What's this?" I ask, tilting my head.
"Just... something I saw and thought of you." He holds out the pouch. "If you don't like it, no pressure. But I wanted you to have it."
Anothergift?
I take the little bag, which is heavier than I expected. When I loosen the drawstring and tip the contents into my palm, I stare at it in surprise.
It's a… pendant?
A delicate silver disc suspended from a chain so fine it looks like it was spun from moonlight. The disc itself is set within whatappears to be a droplet of liquid glass, and inside, tiny points of light shift and move like actual stars.
"It's called a starlight compass," Micah explains, watching my reaction closely. "It's supposed to help guide you when you're lost. Or give reassurance you're on the right path."
