Zara shrugged. “Mine is more of aconceptualspine.”
“That doesn’t make it better!” Ramona rubbed her temples. This conversation was giving her a headache. “I’m going to go get a water for bed. Do you need one?”
Zara tilted her head. “A water? For… bed?”
Ramona scrubbed a hand down her face. “Just… stay here. I’ll be right back.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Ramona walkeddown the hall toward the kitchen, already planning her route: get water, drink it fast, go back to her room where a demon was currently arranging herself in a chair that looked like it was designed by someone who hates comfort.
She rounded the corner into the kitchen and stopped.
Cammie was sitting at the table, eating the leftover spaghetti straight from the sauce pot, wearing her pajamas with damp hair. She looked up when Ramona entered, fork halfway to her mouth, and grinned.
“So,” Cammie said, waggling her eyebrows. “Zara.”
Ramona moved to the sink, filling a glass with water. “What about her?”
“Oh, come on. Don’t play coy.” Cammie leaned forward conspiratorially. “She’s gorgeous. That suit? The way she talks? Felix said Gerald literallybowedto her.”
“Gerald is just getting soft in his old age,” Ramona tried.
Cammie balked. “Gerald bit the mailman last week.”
Fair point. Ramona drank half the glass in one go, buying time.
“How long have you been seeing her?” Cammie asked.
Ramona paused, blinking. “Oh, we’re not — she’s just a friend.”
“Uh-huh. A friend who’s sleeping in your room.” Cammie giggled —giggled!Ramona clearly needed to get the situation under control, fast.
“Just friends, I swear,” Ramona said. The idea of being Zara’s friend was bizarre. Did demons have friends in Hell? She’d never even asked if Zara had a family. Maybe she had a demon husband or wife or… partner-something.
“Well, I think she’s—” Cammie paused as the front door opened. Voices in the entryway: Felix’s laugh, loud and caffeinated, and Kashvi’s quieter response. “Oh good, backup.”
Felix and Kashvi appeared in the kitchen doorway together, Felix still holding a gigantic bag of dice from his game, Kashvi with her library tote slung over one shoulder. Gerald was nestled inside Felix’s shirt pocket, tiny pigeon eyes closed.
“Ramona!” Felix’s face lit up. “Perfect. We need details.”
Ramona held up her hands like she was being held at wand-point. “There are no details.”
“There arealwaysdetails.” Felix dropped into a chair, gesturing dramatically. Gerald bristled in Felix’s pocket, his eyes opening as he scanned the room. “Zara knew the Latincane name for Gerald. Thescientific classification. She treated him like royalty. I’m obsessed with her and also slightly afraid.”
“She’s very polite,” Ramona said carefully. “And smart.”
“She’sintense,” Cammie corrected. “In a hot way. But also in a ‘might be secretly a vampire’ way.”
Ramona choked. “She’s not a vampire.”
“That’s exactly what someone dating a vampire would say,” Felix pointed out. Gerald gave an annoyed coo in apparent agreement.
“I’m not dating her.”
“But you want to,” Kashvi said quietly, setting her bag down. It wasn’t a question.
Ramona felt her face heat. “I… That’s not?—”
