“We have some things to cover,” I say. “Manners haven’t been high on his list in the past, I’m guessing.”
“Cut him some slack,” Gabe says. “Man’s never had to eat before.”
Somehow, in this bizarre family, Xolotl fits in reasonably well, and with him at my side, I finally feel like I do, too.
20
Whitney
Apparently dying and coming back really wears you out.
Shortly after dinner, I pass out and sleep for almost thirty-six hours. Xolotl sits by my bedside the entire time, and when I finally wake up and see his gorgeous face smiling down at me, I shriek.
I can smell myself, and it’s not good.
Once I’ve showered, I discover he’s still waiting for me.
“Don’t you have anything you need to do?” I ask.
“No.” He shrugs. “I’m unemployed now.”
I laugh, at first. Then I realize he’s not kidding. “Well, that’s fine. You have lots of things to learn about humanity and being mortal, so we can do a little studying.” I wiggle my eyebrows. “You know, Netflix and chill.”
His furrowed brow tells me he has no idea what that means.
“Come with me.” I grab his hand, and it occurs to me belatedly. “Why don’t you smell?” I study his clothes, but it’s impossible to know whether he’s changed at all. He always wears all black. His dark, almost black hair isn’t greasy, though. It falls around his face, almost to his shoulders in the same way it always has.
“I showered—your mom told me I had to.” He scrunches his nose. “The way humans are forced to clean themselves is tedious, but most things about having a mother are pretty nice.”
Great, he’s like a preteen boy with his showering habits. He has to be told to clean himself. That’s okay. There’s bound to be an adjustment period when you move from immortal to mortal, right?
When I plonk down on the sofa, he sits next to me, and then he scootches even closer. “You learn fast,” I say.
He drops an arm over my shoulders. “I was worried something might be wrong, but Alexei has quite a bit of experience with healing humans and he said you were fine, just tired.”
“You threatened to kill him if he was wrong, didn’t you?”
“He definitely did—it was really funny, actually.” Izzy hops over the back of the sofa and sits down. “Speaking of, we’re heading back to Russia soon. I have a wedding to plan and a war to prevent, since your boyfriend’s brother insists on gallivanting around and stirring things up.”
Xolotl laughs. “Understood. Best of luck.”
“You know Leonid’s the Czar of Russia?” I ask.
“We covered some stuff while you were sleeping,” he says.
“I’ll miss you,” I say. “Fly safe.”
“Wow, that’s it?” Izzy’s eyes widen and her head tilts. “Okay.”
I climb over Xolotl and bear-hug her. “I’m going to miss you so much.” I fake cry on her shoulder. “Please, please be safe!”
“Better.” Izzy pats my back. “A little better.”
Apparently while crawling over Xolotl, I hit the remote, but it didn’t go to Netflix. It went to—shudder—the news. But once I realize what they’re saying, I freeze.
“—seem to be forming along the expected party lines as the battle rages over how to handle the California rebellion and the ongoing upheaval on the west side of the United States. The entire western region is bracing for impending war, and the nearby states are implementing checks along the state lines. Things have become even more complicated given the unstable situation with the fault lines in California. Starting with the Green Valley fault, and moving from that system to the Vaca fault system, earthquakes have been almost constant during the past week. By most estimates, nearly half of the residents of California have fled to stay with relatives in other states, leaving in spite of the efforts of Nevada, Oregon, and Arizona to keep refugees from fleeing through their boundaries. The mass evacuations have, of course, caused major problems in the grid, the roadways, and the local infrastructure from top to bottom.”
I whip around. “Why didn’t anyone tell me about this?”
