Either way, we weren’t getting answers tonight, and the tension at work and in this room was suffocating me.
“Look, why don’t we have a night off?” I offered, opening the nightstand drawer and pulling out a handful of takeout menus before sorting through them. “Order some food, finally open the care package Oakley sent us, maybe watch some reruns ofWhich Witch?”
“That show is garbage,” Saros groaned.
I grinned. “Maybe so, but you secretly love it.”
“Fine.” His shoulders dropped, the tension already loosening its coiled grip on the room’s oxygen.
I grabbed the remote, flipping on the reality show about a single witch stranded on a deserted island. They would have their pick of eight witches to survive a week with. If they both did, they left the show with a set of marital vow marks and one hundred thousand dollars.
It was probably all staged, but I was still here for the drama.
Reaching out a hand, Saros took the menus from me, hunting through the pile before picking out two of them and handing the rest back. “Gyros or Chinese?”
“Chinese,” I said, definitively. Then I sidled up beside him and tucked myself into the crook of his arm, feeling him relax against me as I tapped on the UndeadEats app on my phone to place our order.
* * *
“That was so good,”I said, slurping down the last bit of beef lo mein.
Saros nodded in agreement, stuffing the paper container into the trash. His eyes flitted across the room to the desk for the twelfth time since we’d started eating. “Let’s open the package.”
“Someone’s eager.”
He shrugged. “I feel bad it’s been sitting there for days. She’s probably wondering if it arrived.”
Uh-huh. Sure.I didn’t know whether to be annoyed or entertained that he still thought he could keep his feelings hidden from me.
“So it has nothing to do with the fact that you miss her?” I asked with a smirk, making his brows furrow. “You don’t have to pretend you aren’t checking your phone for messages ten times a day. I am too.”
“I just want to make sure she’s okay. I’m sure the neighborhood has been full of talk since the arrest, not to mention Hazel’s return.”
Because you care about her, idiot.
“Plus, Atlas is there now,” he added quietly, green prickles of insecurity rippling around him.
“They aren’t together anymore.” I’d been reminding myself of this daily since he’d returned to Washington and left us here. Sure, they had a history, butwehad a future with Oakley. Hopefully Saros wouldn’t self-sabotage his way out of it.
“Maybe not.” He inhaled deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose before sighing. “But you haven’t touched her the way I have.”
I arched a brow at him. “Oh, really?”
“You know what I mean.” Saros glared, shaking his head at me. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”
I cast a wide grin in his direction. “But you love when it’s there.”
“I’ve seen them together, Lynx. What it was like between them.” His throat bobbed, hands held firmly at his sides. “They were very much in love.”
“Were, Saros,” I reminded him. “Were.”
“Has she even said why they aren’t together now?” he asked, genuine curiosity lacing his words. “I doubt he’s going to just accept us being with the mother of his witchling. He’s our boss, for fuck’s sake.”
In reality, I still hadn’t been able to get a read on their relationship. While I knew I needed to talk to her about it, especially with Atlas in town permanently, I didn’t want to overwhelm her or push her away.
“She says they aren’t together. She sent us this package. Meaning she missesus,” I reiterated. “What her deal is with the Archon is between them.”
“Until it isn’t,” he muttered.
