Page 27
“And?”
“And your friends call you Rae.”
She looked over at Zeke and then at me. “Is he always like this?”
I chuckled. “Always.”
Cyn lifted his head from the book, glancing over his shoulder at Raelynn. “Don’t make fun of him. There’s nothing wrong with him.”
“What? I’m not.” She crossed her arms. “I never said anything was wrong with him.” At his glare, she snapped, “What the hell?” She looked at Zeke. “Did I say anything bad about you?”
“Nope. Cyn is protective, that’s all.” He shrugged and took another bite of pizza.
“Well, I’m sorry if I said something that upset you, but I don’t think anything is wrong with him.” She turned toward the refrigerator again. “He’s funny.”
Zeke preened. “Hear that? I’m funny. These jerks think I’m annoying.”
Cyn looked up at him, eye twitching. “I’ve never said you’re annoying.”
“You’re excluded from the jerk category. Your pizza’s getting cold.”
I wondered what Raelynn thought of the dynamic between Cyn and Zeke. If she thought them related or something more. If it weren’t for the council, I wondered if they’d ever admit what both Ezra and I already knew.
Raelynn sighed. “Did you want something to drink with that?”
I tilted my head, studying her as she pulled a couple of cans of soda from the refrigerator.
From her speech, I gathered we were somewhere in the southeastern United States. I wasn’t sure. I’d need to ask Ezra. Of my brothers, I was the only one who hadn’t visited the human plane before.
From my studies of Earth’s cultures, the people in this region were hospitable—would give the shirt off their back even to an enemy in genuine need. It made sense she’d offer sustenance, even to an infernal.
Quite a different reaction than I expected after Cyn revealed himself. I anticipated screams, fear, fleeing… not what she gave us. Not her feeding us in her kitchen as if we were neighbors.
Even if I understood nothing else about our predicament, something was different about Raelynn. Something more than what sparked between us.
I pressed my lips together as the faint perfume of her blood reached me, mingling with black raspberry, rose, and mirabelle plum in the air. “You should sit down before your foot bleeds again without a bandage.”
“I’ll be fine.”
Cyn’s hand curled into a fist next to the book.
We spent the next hour in the living room after Cyn and Zeke finished eating. Well, everyone except Ezra. He took Cyn’s place, studying the book.
Both Cyn and Ezra combed through the book page by page, but nothing useful surfaced.
As we sat around the living room, Zeke asked where we were, what Raelynn did for a living, and if she liked grilled or fried fish—grilled. Anytime he asked something too personal, I redirected the conversation. Zeke wasn’t always good with boundaries.
Aside from details about the area—and learning that her only relatives were a grandmother, aunt, and uncle hours away—we learned nothing about her.
I struggled with the desire to know more about her while realizing I needed to squash that desire to focus on my duties. I swore to protect my brothers. All I wanted was to figure out a way to get them home before time ran out and Ezra’s father summoned us himself.
Raelynn yawned, lifted her leg, and set her ankle on her knee to inspect the bottom of her foot, grimacing.
“Something wrong?”
She peered up at me. “Hurts. How did you get the small ones out without tweezers? I hope there aren’t any bits left.” She leaned down to get a closer look. “I don’t think I need stitches, but I need to wrap it.”
“I doubt it. I used the tips of my claws to pull them out when you were focused on Cyn coming downstairs.”
