She raises an eyebrow in challenge, not that he notices over whatever has him engrossed on the screen. “Bold of you to assume what we do or don’t do in his room,” she retorts just as seriously and he finally looks up at her with a raised eyebrow before catching the teasing glint in her amused stare.
He rolls his eyes as something finally catches my attention that I think she might be interested in. “What about laser tag?” Both her and Atlas’ eyes light up. “It’ll give Cambria something to burn off her chaotic energy and also work as target practice. Chances are high we’re going to be in increasingly shitty situations any day now, so making sure our aim is decent might be a good idea.”
Atlas tucks his phone in his pocket and claps his hands together, rubbing them back and forth before leaning over Cambria, caging her in. “How about another bet, my sweet fae?”
“That anxious to lose?” she purrs, intrigued.
He kisses her quickly, betraying the stern vibe he was going for. “That anxious to play with you.”
She grins. “Terms?”
He contemplates for a moment, cautious of his wording as always once we learned about that side effect of her lineage. Maybe that’s something we can use to our advantage down the road, but I doubt another fae will readily agree to something without being just as hypervigilant of the wording.
“Winner gets a blowjob?” he offers, but she snorts.
“Everyone gets blowjobs around here, that’s nothing new. Up the stakes into something I can’t get already.”
I strum my fingers across my knee. “Loser has to mess up Luce’s office.”
There’s a heavy beat of silence before Atlas shakes his head. “He’d kill us. I doubt even Cambria would be spared his wrath.”
Her pupils dilate and I can guess where her mind is at, namely, in the gutter. “I’m game if you are.”
Atlas looks at her like she’s crazy. “I don’t think my balls could survive it.”
She eats up his fear like it’s her favorite treat. “All the more incentive not to lose.”
He grimaces before straightening and extending his hand. “You have yourself a wager then.” We head out and climb into my car, but it refuses to start.
“Pop the hood, I’ll take a quick look,” Atlas offers and I happily take him up on it, because fuck if I know a thing about cars. He spends a few minutes looking it over before coming back looking confident, so that’s a good sign at least. “Best guess would be a bad starter. Should we call off laser tag to get this handled first or wait until tomorrow?”
Cambria makes a strangled noise as we get out of the car. “We struck a deal, Atlas. You can’t just bail.”
I look her over, scanning for signs that she’s in any pain. “What happens if either party breaks the deal? I know you’re bound by it, but Atlas isn’t.”
“Personally, if I fail to uphold my side of the bargain, it’ll be like getting tasered until I cave and comply,” she admits, looking nervous. Atlas is frowning, wiping his hands on his jeans since he doesn’t have a rag. “Not a hell of a lot of fun, which is what makes betting Atlas so thrilling. I may be a masochist, but I’d like to avoid that if at all possible.”
I frown, wondering just how long that effect would last if the faecouldn’tcomply, when something else nags for attention. “Hey, Atlas?”
He turns to look my way, and I don’t think he’s even noticed he’s still rubbing the back of his hand long after it was clearly clean. I just point, waiting for him to catch sight of the gesture. He inspects his hand and curses, the scarred mark looking red and irritated.
“Fuck, I just thought I brushed against something in the engine.” As if he still isn’t ready to believe it, he snatches a water bottle out of my car door and pours it over the skin to clear it off, but it changes nothing.
Cambria strides over and steals his hand, tracing the twisted scars with a delicate touch. Her face is scrunched up in contemplation, focused on his hand, and misses the way Atlas stares down at her with a small smile. Despite the fact his hand must be stinging like a bitch and the implications of that, he just leans into her touch, enjoying her fussing over him.
She meets his eye, gauging his reaction. “Shall we walk to laser tag then?”
I would have missed the infinitesimal glint in his eyes if I wasn’t searching for it. Just a tiny flash across the dark green irises, enough to confirm our growing theory.
We’re absorbing fae magic through our connection to her.
“Holy fuck.” My heart races, just imagining the implications of that revelation.
Does that mean we’ll eventually get just as run down as she does and need to return to the fae world to recharge? Are we going to continue to become like her or still stay human, just with similar hang-ups? Are we going to develop abilities of our own?
“I think his geeky heart is going to explode,” Atlas whispers mockingly loud behind the back of his hand.
Cambria has a nervous half-smile when she asks, “So, you’re not mad or going to throw up from horror that I infected you?”
