“No. Compared to this, it was nothing.”
I twist in his arms, hooking my leg over his. “I’ll find a way to undo what happened because of her.”
“I know.” He brushes my hair back. “Though if it wasn’t for what happened, I never would have met you. Maybe…maybe this was how it was meant to be all along.”
“What about the others?”
“They got mixed up in it when they shouldn’t have. They had nothing to do with her.”
I close my eyes and wiggle closer to him, not sure if he’s trying to say he wishes it was just me and him. I care about them all the same, and the others don’t have an issue with our arrangement.
Jacques is the only one who’s ever seemed jealous. Now that we’ve finally slept together, I hope it doesn’t create problems.
18
“You’re bleeding, but it’s not bad,” I say, smoothing the gauze back over Jacques’s wound.
He slits his eyes open, looking down at his chest, and nods. Not too concerned, he relaxes again, reaching for me. Still naked, we cuddle up together, and he runs his fingers up and down my back. I put my leg over his and comb my fingers through his hair.
Being able to heal while sleeping is amazing. Lifesaving. I can’t rush the guys to a hospital if they get injured, and my medical know-how is limited to first aid performed in the house. I know the guys want to be human again, but if I start chipping away at the curse, am I putting them in danger?
Jacques’s hand drops to the mattress, and I push up on my elbow, watching him sleep for a moment. Curling back up against him and hiding under the covers would be nice. It’s too early for me to actually sleep, but getting something to eat and turning the TV back on sounds so tempting right now.
But I can’t give in to temptation, no matter how innocent it is. I have work to do. Carefully, I move away from Jacques and tuck him back in. Turning on the ceiling fan, I get dressed and gather up the dishes, taking them down into the kitchen. Stomach grumbling, I go to the pantry, too lazy to make anything, and grab a granola bar.
“How is he?” Hasan asks, striding in from the living room.
“He’ll be fine. Sleep speeds up the healing process or something.” A glimmer comes to Hasan’s eyes as he considers my words. “That does not mean you get to be reckless,” I add.
“I’ll do my best.” He gets something from the fridge and goes outside to keep watch around the house. I tear open my granola bar and sit at the table, looking over everything I have laid out for the spell. The floor creaks behind me, and I see Thomas’s reflection in the window next to me.
“Want to be my guinea pig again?” I pick up one of the quartz amulets and run my fingers over the smooth stone.
“What is that?”
“A guinea pig is a rodent, but the phrase means to be a test subject or the first person to try something new.”
“Oh, and sure. What am I trying?”
“The concealment spell.” I turn around, expecting to see Thomas’s face light up with excitement. Frowning, he strides forward and lays his hands on my shoulders.
“Why don’t you take a night off?”
“I don’t do nights off.”
“I’ve noticed.” He massages my muscles and my eyes fall shut for a few seconds. “It’s going to catch up to you.”
“It hasn’t yet.”
“Not recently.”
I turn around, eyeing him. “What do you mean?”
“You get tired and behind and I know you can’t be happy.”
“Fine. That might be a little true, but we have some very pressing issues right now.”
Thomas sits in the chair next to me and takes my hands in his. “You deserve to have fun, Ace. Taking time off for yourself isn’t a bad thing.”
