Chapter 12
Twelve
Dani bounced on her heels while she waited for Kass, processing the fizz of infatuation like soda in her veins. She hadn’t gotten further than identifying the feelings when he popped back into the hall.
“I forgot to ask if you wanted the same thing again,” he said, “so I erred on the side of caution.” He held out a third White Russian.
“It’s all fine,” Dani said as she took it, flushing when she realized she was a little past tipsy now. “I mean, it’s all good. It’s fine.” Kass made a valiant attempt at not laughing at her and ended up with a hearty dimple in his left cheek. “Don’t make fun of me.”
“I’m not. I would never make fun of you,” he said seriously. “You’re just really cute, that’s all. Hey,” he added, stepping closer as some people shuffled past. “Do you want to get out of here?”
“Out of your house? But we just got drinks.”
“I was thinking more of a local move. Like, upstairs. There’s something I want to show you.”
“It’s not your bedroom, is it?” Shit. She was drunker than she’d thought.
Kass laughed, but she could tell her comment had threatened his composure.
“I will have you know that I am a gentleman and a feminist,” he said, “and if I were going to show you my bedroom, I would ask you explicitly. I was going to let it be a surprise, but I can tell you if it would make you more comfortable.”
“I’d settle for a hint.”
He screwed up his face in thought. “It has to do with the Major Arcana.”
“Then by all means, lead the way, sir.” She frowned suddenly. “But does this mean we have to go through the dance floor?”
“I don’t mean to brag,” he said, tapping his nose with an air of conspiracy, “but I know a guy.”
He moved a few paces down the hall and opened a slim door to the right of the greenhouse entrance, revealing a cramped closet filled with cleaning supplies. He gestured to it proudly. Dani raised a brow, unimpressed. With a theatrical sigh, Kass stepped into the closet and vanished.
“Oh shit!” Dani said with delight, hurrying over to the closet. She nearly ran into Kass as he poked his head out from the illusion.
“You coming?” he said before melting back into the image of the supplies.
Dani glanced around to confirm she was alone, hopping from one foot to the other as she worked up the nerve to plunge forward.
As she did, the illusion liquefied around her like a warm bath.
For a second, her vision blurred, and then she emerged unsteadily on the other side, into a stairwell lit by dim sconces on the wall, Kass standing a few steps above her.
“Whoa there,” he said, reaching out to catch her by the forearms as she teetered toward him. A little bit of her drink slopped onto his sleeve.
“Oh my gods, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s my fault for not warning you properly.”
“Are these all over your house?” Dani asked once she regained her balance and they started up the stairs.
“Only a couple. My dad likes to mix up his security measures. He thinks he’s very important.”
“Isn’t he?”
Kass sighed. “I guess. He’s not exactly household name level yet, but that’s the goal.”
The staircase ended in a hallway identical to the one below. Through the archway at their far left, Dani could see the flashing lights of the dance floor and the back of the DJ’s equipment. They had handily bypassed the entire party.
“This way,” Kass said. He showed her to a grand set of French doors, waving his hand briefly over the knobs.
Dani could have sworn she saw the air sparkle, but it only lasted for a second, and then the doors popped open on their own.
She followed him into the dark room beyond.
“One second, sorry—” Kass muttered something under his breath, and then the lamps flared to life, one buzzing and going out immediately.
“Damn. So much for trying to look cool.” The color of a ripe peach spread across Dani’s mind; he was genuinely embarrassed.
“Trust me, you look very cool,” she assured him. She realized suddenly that alcohol put them on a level playing field, as far as speaking without thinking went. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
Fortunately for her, her comment was overshadowed by the revelation of the room.
Of all the areas she had seen in the house so far, this one was by far the most Gatsby, overdesigned to suit someone’s old-fashioned idea of masculinity.
Dark-stained wood, Cubist paintings on the walls, evenly spaced glass display cases, and an intimidating desk came together to paint an austere picture of the person who spent their time here.
That person, Dani guessed, was Kass’s father.
“This is my dad’s study,” Kass confirmed. “Approachable, right?”
“Won’t he care that we’re in here?” Dani moved toward one of the paintings, an odd piece that looked like a cross between a cityscape and a barnyard.
“Maybe if we destroyed something,” Kass said darkly. “My dad only really cares once I’ve fucked something up.”
“At least he cares.”
When she turned away from the painting, she found Kass watching her with sympathetic eyes. “Is it time for that longer story?” he asked.
“I mean, if you really want.”
“I really do. If you do.”
Dani wandered over to the mammoth of a desk and perched against it, cradling her drink to her chest in thought. She wanted to open up to Kass—it surprised her, how much she wanted to—but she wasn’t ready to tell him the whole truth. Not about this.
“I don’t want to make my parents sound like bad people,” she said slowly. “They’re not. But I do think some people aren’t supposed to be parents.”
Kass didn’t say anything.
“Their lifestyle just wasn’t right for raising a kid.
I was an accident, as they loved to remind me.
Funny how two clairvoyants didn’t see me coming.
” She’d hoped to make Kass laugh, but he remained silent.
“They don’t like to stay in one place for long, so I grew up on the road.
We went all over the country and even abroad, sometimes, so they could—” She pulled herself back from saying run their cons.
Her parents hadn’t just brought her to the tables at the casino; they’d used her ability in more creative ways, too.
“Anyway. I almost never went to school, and I sure didn’t have any friends. Gods, I hated it.”
“I bet,” Kass said softly.
“Turns out my personality is totally different from theirs,” Dani went on. “I wanted to be a normal kid with a house and a school and extracurriculars. But no matter how many tantrums I threw, I just couldn’t get through to them.” She paused, studied the ice in her drink.
“You don’t have to talk about it.” Kass joined her in leaning against the desk, keeping a couple of inches between them. Dani inhaled. She wanted to tell him. Wanted him to know her. Even editing out some of the worst bits, it felt good to share it with him.
“Once I got to be a teenager, I was pretty much done with it all. We were living in one place for longer than usual, and I loved it. I enrolled in school and told them I wasn’t going to leave when they did.”
“How did that work out?”
Dani gave a sarcastic laugh. “Oh, it worked out great. They left me there, squatting in an apartment by myself.”
Kass let out an angry breath.
“It’s the best thing they could have done for me,” she said quickly. “I mean, it sucked, but it was kind of what I wanted. It gave me the chance to go to court and get emancipated. It was tough, but better than the alternative. Honestly, I was happy.”
“But still,” Kass said. “What the fuck.”
Dani laughed. “Yeah,” she agreed. “It is very what the fuck. But I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t done all that. I worked my ass off so I could get into college, and, well.” She took a sip of her drink. “I’m still working my ass off.”
“That’s amazing,” he said. “You’re amazing.”
“I don’t feel particularly amazing, but thanks—I mean it.”
“Have you seen them since then?”
“Nope. They’ve never tried to contact me, and I’m honestly okay with that.”
Kass whistled low. “I can’t really imagine it,” he said. “I mean, my dad’s pretty hands-off in some ways—half the time he stays in his condo downtown, and the other half he’s traveling for work—but you better believe he has a vested interest in my future.”
“Wonder what’s worse,” Dani mused, “parents who want to control your future, or parents who don’t care whether or not they see it.” She finished her drink down to the very dregs. “Don’t answer that.”
“Okay,” Kass said, but it didn’t matter. When she looked at him, she saw the answer in his eyes.
For a moment they were quiet together, listening to the swollen waves of music through the walls.
Dani set her empty glass on the desk. They were close enough for their arms to touch, energy leaping like lightning between them, a wild magic that no enchantment could replicate.
She felt vulnerable, more exposed than she had in a long time.
She turned to him, ready to shatter the moment into a thousand pieces with a jokey comment, but the earnest expression on his face stopped her.
She couldn’t remember the last time someone had looked at her so openly, in such a way that let her know they were looking at her, Dani, whoever that really was.
She didn’t have to be a student or a barista or an aspiring whatever or even a responsible adult in that instant; she didn’t have to make something up or fake a smile.
She felt incredibly seen, and for once, it wasn’t a bad thing.
The force field of his understanding was almost magnetic; she found herself drawn in, a fierce, foolhardy desire lighting her up, and she thought that was hope she saw responding in his eyes.
Then the music segued into a dancehall beat, and Dani pulled back, painfully conscious of herself.
“Wasn’t there something you were going to show me?” she said instead.