So that’s why when Gentry finally woke up all the way, a sleeping Kit curled protectively around her, she didn’t move a muscle. It felt too… nice. The few flings she’d had before being cursed had never done this. Held her like she was something precious. It was something she hadn’t known she was missing.
When it came to seduction and sex, Gentry understood the game, the push and pull of who was in charge and who wasn’t. It’d always been one she’d enjoyed. But this? This was something too foreign. Curiosity had her snuggling deeper into that warm chest. She felt delighted when Kit’s arm tightened around her as he moaned into her ear.
This was something a girl could get used to.
Yeah, but are you sure this is smart? His ex-girlfriend died yesterday, and you made a deal with her killer. Should you really be letting him comfort you?her inner self whispered, hateful as usual.
The reminder threw cold water over Gentry’s happiness about just how right Kit’s arms felt around her. She stiffened and immediately wiggled out, feeling guilty as a sleeping Kit moaned at the change in warmth. As she stood over the witch, she waited as he settled down once again, one of his arms thrown awkwardly against his chest. He started to snore.
Satisfied that she hadn’t woken him up, Gentry padded into the bathroom and went about her day. She dressed into the softest clothing she’d thrown in her backpack, black slack pajamas that felt more like a blanket than anything. Then she combed her hair, brushed her teeth, and put lip gloss on, telling herself it was only because she had chapped lips,notbecause of the sexy witch assassin sleeping on her bed.
After all, being comfortable was paramount for meditation. At least, that's what she assumed.
Gentry immediately sat down at her laptop and proceeded to look up everything about meditation. Frustration soon came as she realized everyone had different methods and definitions. Some far more hokey-sounding than the others. She settled on the most medical, scientific-looking website, the one that specified easily understood breathing techniques.
Each minute detail written down and analyzed, Gentry sat on the floor, cleared her mind and set a timer. Out one breath. In two. On repeat.
She went for as long as she could, trying to not let Kit’s snores distract her.Orthe fact that she wasn’t sure how clearing her mind would get her closer to Drayer’s soul. All that tonic had done was give her a freaky, nonsensical dream.
But she persisted until those dratted snores ended and then slow footsteps indicated that her nighttime hero was out of bed.
“What’re you up to?” Kit sounded amused.
His voice sounded sexier and thicker with sleep. Gentry frowned at that observation and squeezed her eyes shut harder. “Meditating. Be quiet, you oaf.”
“You never struck me as the spiritual sort,” was all Kit said before he wandered off again.
The sounds of a shower running destroyed her focus. The witch who’d held her was getting naked, and Gentry fought off images of the water running down his muscular body. Blowing a frustrated sigh out, she opened her eyes and checked the timer. A lousy fifteen minutes. She’d do better next time. Gentry sat back at her computer, determined to see if there were any shortcuts she could take into becoming enlightened.
Sometime later, Kit returned dressed with his brown locks wet against his forehead. From his closed-off expression and the way he was looking at his phone, Gentry could already guess what he was about to say.
“You’re going out, aren’t you?” She didn’t mean to sound pouty, but the idea of an entire day of clearing her mind with no distractions didn’t exactly thrill her.
Kit looked up from his phone and smiled at her. “Yeah, I need to get this thing settled. You just focus on breaking that curse. I can already tell that your gears are turning.”
“When will you be back?” Gentry asked, suddenly uncertain on how she’d explain Adrienne and Wren’s impending visit. If she had more time to work up her courage, perhaps she could tell him about Clea. Now, whether that included the news about Visha… she wasn’t sure. He deserved to know. He did. But who was she to tell him something so terrible? Particularly when she hadn’t even liked Visha.
“Probably the morning again,” was all he said, and then he was out the door.
Gentry let out a sigh of relief to have at least been given one day’s reprieve fromthatconversation. She went back to researching.
thirty-five
Gentry
Excerpt from Gentry’s research notes:
5th notebook — page 1
The Nethertons
I have a name. Fucking at last.
Thankfully, unlike the covens of Skadra, the Nethertons are anything but private. I don’t have to scour the internet forfacts about them, because they are as addicted to social media as any other magic-less, blue-blooded families are.
The Nethertons have used their wealth to mass manufacture the charms their witch ancestor invented. They jealously guard the recipes, only having their witch employees create small portions of each charm. Some steps are obfuscations. All employees are sworn to secrecy. Each Netherton studies magic as if they were born magical themselves.
That is why Drayer Netherton is such a big deal. He is a Netherton and the first witch born in generations. He is the one person in the city who both knows the secret charms and has the ability to create them himself. For those reasons, the city has always been fascinated with him.
