I lay the menu on the dark wood table and the same waitress that told us to have a seat comes over with three glasses of ice water, already covered in a dewy sweat. “You guys ready to order?” she inquires, placing the waters in front of us with practiced efficiency.
“You know what you want Muenster?”
Looking up I meet the girl’s eyes, she a few years older than me, maybe. Her jeansare well worn, and her eyes are tired. This is who I would have been if the guys didn’t find me. “I’ll have the street tacos, no sour cream orguac, please.” I give her a kind smile and hers in return is automatic, but not insincere.
“For you?” She directs her attention to Milo, her eyes traveling over his shoulders and chest. I see a flare of appreciation, but she doesn’t let it show beyond the slight perusal.
“I’ll have the street tacos too, but I want everything and a double order. Thanks,” he adds at the end.
“And for you?” The waitress’s hands go to the pocket of her apron as she cocks out her hip, waiting forOllie’s order.
Some of his hair has escaped the band holding it back. He jerks his head, moving it out of the way as he looks up at her for the first time, a cheeky smile already on his lips. “I’ll be the troublemaker and have the wet burrito with rice and beans, and a cheese quesadilla. Oh, and can we have some hot salsa for the chips too?”
She blinks down at him, not saying anything for a long moment. “Yeah, sure… that’ll be right out.” She spins away, retreating from the table quickly.
Ollie turns his smile in my direction. Yeah, I’ve been there too. Olliehas the ability to render smart girls stupid with just a look. I look away before he realizes what I’m thinking.
Milo pulls out his phone and I sit up, eager to see if it’s a call from Dante or Ares. He opensup agaming app instead. My hopes fall, along with my heart. “I don’t like that we haven’t heard from Ares or Dante. It’s been too long, something feels off.”
Milo makes eye contact with Ollie over the table. He sets his phone down and wraps his arm around the top of my chair. “Let’s wait until we’re home, then we can try tofacetime them.” I know he’s stalling, but I likethe idea offacetiming them from our room, so I let the tactic slide.
“All right, I guess.” I look out the window wondering what they couldbe doing—are they learning anything useful, or will itbe a waste of time?
* * *
Milo and Olliework hard to distract me during dinner and the ride home, but thoughts of Dante and Ares are never far. By the time we pull into the driveway I’m a ball of nervous excitement. Milo placed his palm on my thigh halfway through the ride just to keep me from wiggling around so much.
We enter through the back door, like usual, and the moment I cross the threshold I feel the shift immediately. My breath leaves me in a gasp, Ares and Dante are close. “They’re here.” I freeze, closing my eyes and letting the new awareness wash over me. If I wasn’t so full of nervous energy on the ride home, I’m sure I would have realized it sooner.
“What, who?” Milo sounds incredulous. I raise my arm out behind me, asking him to wait.
My focus hones in on their essence, and I wrap the inky darkness of Ares’s ability around myself and extend my senses. Without thought, I go right to our room. Dante is lying on the bed with his eyes closed, soft gold surrounding him, and he looks like he’s sleeping. Next, I concentrate on Ares.
Merely the thought of him takes me to where he is, in the shower. His head is bent low as the water glides over the back of his neck. I have a scant second to admire him before his head snaps up. He looks over in my direction, his eyes fully black. Even though I’m not physically in the room, he knows I’m here.
The aura I see around Ares is like a living thing. It’s black, but looks like it’s filled with bright sparks of silver. The darkness reaches in my direction, winding its way closerto mewith a hunger that threatens to consume me. “Come,Cara.” His words snap me out of the projection.
Shaken, I look over my shoulder to find Milo and Ollie staring at me, their eyes wide. Before my sighthas a chance to adjust, I see the arc of Ollie’s bright orange aura around him. My eyes follow a shift in color, as green melds into the edges where Milo is standing near him. The edges of the colors are tasting each other and fading together, so I can’t tell where one begins and the other ends.
Ollie reaches out and his hand clasps mine. When I look down at our joined hands, I see a flash of white, before the hazy glow of colors disappears altogether. I shake away all the questions I have about those colors and focus on what’sreallyimportant. “Ares and Dante are home.”
Milo looks over my shoulder, like he’s expecting to see one of themappear. “Dante is asleep, and Ares is in the shower.” I kick off my shoes in a rush to get to them.
“That’s oddly specific.” Ollie chuckles like I’m being silly.
“Well, that’s where they were when I saw them. I’mprettysure Dante was sleeping, his colors were faint.”
Milo grabs my arm, his grip firm but not enough to hurt me. “What colors?” His eyes scan mine, searching.
Impatient, I turn to face him. “I don’t know, the colors.” I shrug, thinking he would know more about this than I do. “I’ve only seen them a few times before. Areswould be able to describe them better. But yours is green, like forest green. It’s a lot brighter than the last time I saw it. And Ollie, yours is orange, it’s like a halo, and I think it’s your aura or something. I don’t know. Can we talk about this later?”
“Was mine bright too?” Ollie questions while kicking off his own shoes.
“Yours has always been bright, it was only Milo’s that was kinda faded, but not anymore,” I call over my shoulder. I’m not jogging, but I might be in contention for a speed walking race.
“Someone’s excited,” I hear Ollie mutter. I don’tbother todeny his words, since it’s obvious they’re true.
I pause before going through the door. Second guessing myself that Dante and Ares really are here. Pushing the doubt away I open the door and peer into the dim light. The lump on the bed confirms what I already knew. No longer hesitant, I hustle over to the bed. Dante’s lips are parted, and one arm is folded behind his head as if he didn’t really expect to fall asleep.
