Damn females and their way to twist words until they’re unfathomable.
Still, it silenced me more effectively than any spell could have. She set the flower back down, then smiled.
“All right, grump. I’ll leave you to your masterpieces before you explode from human contact.”
I snorted. “You’re not human.”
“Exactly,” she said, winking as she headed toward the door.
When it clicked closed behind her, the workshop felt different. It was quieter, yes—but so much emptier, too. The way it used to be... before. My fingers flexed of their own accord, and that ache that I’d been ignoring in my chest—the one that disappeared when she was close—was back.
Ribbon let out a low croak, staring at the door then turning to me with a baleful expression.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I muttered. “She’s not staying. She’s just a visitor here, and she shouldn’t be here all the time.”
He blinked. And for some reason, it was a loud blink. As if he was telling me something that I should understand. I glanced away, not wanting to look at him, because I wasn’t accustomed to lying to my toad.
“Fine,” I said, reaching for the next sketch. “Maybeshe can come back tomorrow.”
Chapter 9
Hanna
Sneaking out of your own apartment shouldnotbe some kind of impossible feat that needed an action movie level of planning.But then again, most people didn’t live next to a coven of nosy witches who treated the concept of privacy as if it was theoretical instead of a valid need by most adults.
The hallway outside of my door was pitch-dark except for the faint blue flow of ward-light that had been added ever since I’d been taken. I called it overkill, my coven called it basic necessities.
I moved slowly, clutching a loaf of cinnamon bread in one hand and my shoes in the other. If anyone caught me barefoot in the middle of the night, they’d assume that I was doing something scandalous.
And I mean, Isort ofwas. It just involved lesskissingthe handsome orc and more bothering him than was polite.
I eased my door shut with a soft click.Perfect.As silent as a spell.
Then someone’s familiar voicewhispered from the next apartment, “Where are you sneaking off to, Hanna?”
I startled so hard I nearly dropped the bread. “Nowhere!”
There was a moment of pause, and then Floria’s door creaked open. Just enough for me to see one sleepy eye blinking blearily at me. “You only use that voice when you’re lying. Or baking at three a.m.” Her eyes darted to the cinnamon bread in my hands and then flickered back to me, narrowing with suspicion. “Orboth.”
“It’s… uh… rooftop ventilation inspection night,” I told her, aiming for the easiest lie I could find.
Floria blinked that single eye again before squinting it at me. “That’s not a thing.”
“It is if you care about proper potion airflow,” I sniffed, haughtily.
Another door opened. Zara, the high witch of our coven, peered outside, her hair a mess of sex-tousled curls, but her eyes gleaming. “Is this about a certain orc again?” she demanded, grinning at me with a manic light in her eyes.
This doesn’t bode well for me, I can already tell.
“Youdorealize that he’s my best friend and I have an in with him if you need it, right?”
“Lower your voice,” I hissed, shushing her.
“Stop talking about other orcs,” her mate’s voice called with a yawn from inside her apartment. She rolled her eyes, waving a hand behind her as if that was going to stop him from eavesdropping.
From across the hall, Tabitha’s groggy voice called, “Tell him to fix those loose tiles over my balcony while you’re up there!The repair men never get it right the way he does!”
“Oh my gods,” I whispered, “doesn’t anybody sleep anymore?”
