That startled a laugh out of Gentry. Now that Wren was pulling at Drayer and not her, the experience of holding Wren’s cold little hand didn’t bother her as much as it used to.
But that didn’t mean the session went seamlessly. She tried talking to Adrienne again about retrieving some files on the Cobalts, only to be met by a cold silence as the other woman read her book.
“Don’t mind her,” Wren said, “that means she’s thinking about it. She did that to me a lot before we started dating.”
“Stop trying to demystify me to Clea’s little pet project,” was Adrienne’s response.
The pair left far more quickly this time, with Wren promising that the excision could happen in a few more days if Gentry kept making progress. “There are just a few more pieces I’m missing,” Wren said with a frown, “and it’d really suck if I killed you on accident.”
Personally, Gentry was fine with the slower approach. They still had ten days until her mother and sister’s cruise ship docked, and she didn’t particularly want to die from a soul excision gone wrong. It sounded unpleasant.
Now alone in the apartment again, Gentry looked longingly at the door. She wanted Kit home before she took the tonic. There’d been no time when she’d been searching for leads on the kids’ whereabouts, but this time she didn’t want to be alone. Being in Drayer’s memories were their own kind of hell.
She passed the time by doing her daily check on Beckett and her mom from the cruise ship security cameras. Her sister had swum in the pool and flirted with boys all day, while her mom never stopped reading from her chair. They both looked peaceful, if a little annoyed with each other’s habits.
Gentry sorely missed both of them. Her mother for her no-nonsense attitude and Beckett for her wild stories. She could only imagine how Beckett would’ve exaggerated her interactions with those boys today.
Before she could get too misty-eyed, Kit’s familiar knock rang through the apartment. Gentry leapt to her feet, ecstatic if a little bit apprehensive. The apprehension proved to be well-founded when she saw the gloominess on Kit’s face.
“You didn’t find them,” she guessed, and he nodded.
“The enforcers are tearing through the Underground trying to find them, but all the prominent vamps swear they’re not there. It’s a mess. My sister Mary is certain they’re hiding something, but personally I’m not so sure.” He ran a hand down over his face as he stepped into the apartment, his tall, lanky form making the space seem smaller. “Have you had any luck with your stuff?”
Far more sober than she had been, Gentry filled Kit in on her day. He listened intently, his eyes growing sharp at her theory of Drayer not really being Drayer.
“You’re saying that there’s someone else?” he asked. “Like you’re not connected to Drayer Netherton at all?”
“No, I’m definitely connected to him. I was shot at the exact same time as him. What I’m saying is that Drayer isn’t who he seems,” Gentry tried to explain.
Kit shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter who he or she is as long as Wren performs the excision properly.”
“Yes,” she confirmed, and then she shifted from foot to foot, a bit nervous about what she was about to ask next.
Not missing a beat, the tall witch instantly cocked his head and smiled at her. “Is there something you need from me?”
Gentry blushed. The question was decidedly flirtatious and not at all the polite sweetness she’d come to expect from him. “Could you, uh, sleep with me tonight? The tonic makes me see crazy shit, and the first night, when you helped, you really helped. Took me out of it, I mean. Today really sucked.” Her ears burned by the time she finished speaking. If the Underground could split open and swallow her at that moment, she would’ve welcomed it.
Even worse, Kit was all man about it. He grinned at her, waggling his eyebrows. “What happened to the girl who taught me a thing or two at the hotel, huh? You’d think you just askedme to declare my undying love for you or something. I’m more than up to cuddling.”
Gentry smiled at him, relieved that he’d said yes, but also secretly disappointed that he didn’t seem to take cuddling seriously. To her, sex was whatever; the way he’d held her the other morning had been the true intimacy, the one thing she could get addicted to.Play it cool, Greenbriar, he’s just being nice.If there was a mantra to be had tonight, it’d be that one.
A little dazed, she followed him through a bedroom routine. They brushed their teeth, turned their backs so the other could get in their night clothes. It all felt so mundane, like they hadn’t been running for their lives for days on end.
Then they reached the bed, which now had new sheets after she’d sweated in the last ones.
“Drink up.” Kit nudged her towards the tonic, and suddenly she no longer felt butterflies in her stomach. Instead, all she felt was fear. “You’ll be okay,” he whispered, touching her hip lightly, “I’ll be right here with you.”
Then suddenly she felt hot again. Before she could overthink it, Gentry undid the tonic and downed the capful required. That nasty smokey taste burned on the back of her tongue, and she grimaced.So unsexy.So far, that had been the theme tonight. Hot and cold.
It only took Kit guiding her into the bed for her skin to heat back up. He lay down and dragged her towards his body. “Hope you don’t mind a pre-cuddle,” he murmured in her ear, and she melted.
“You’re trying to distract me,” she murmured, “from being scared.”
His hand wandered down her stomach and teased the band of her pajama pants. “Don’t think I’m being too altruistic,” he answered, his voice thick, “you’re very pretty, Gentry, and I’ve been stressed.” He pressed his dick against her backside, leavingno doubt that she’d feel every inch of him. He then ran his fingers through her hair.
Gentry’s eyes fluttered shut, her mind warring between sleep and lust. “You’re something else,” she told him, “and way too nice.” He might’ve wanted to fuck her, but Kit had been through a lot over the last few days. He shouldn’t have to usehisbody to makeherfeel better.
Whatever he said next, Gentry didn’t hear. The tonic won as she drifted off to sleep.
