Chapter 15
Fifteen
BECKS
She was totally smelling me, and I don’t hate that. I probably shouldn’t have called her out though. It was a jerk move, but the way she felt cuddled against my chest caught me off guard.
It felt good. Right.
And that’s messed up for so many reasons.
One of which being that she’s Locklyn’s twin, and another that I’m trying to protect her from a demon, not seduce her.
I try to wipe the smile off my face as I grab our stuff from the back of the Bronco, but I can’t seem to do it. The look on her face when she pulled away from me will be seared into my mind forever. Part horror, part interest, one hundred percent humiliation.
I could spend a lifetime making her blush that pretty rosy hue.
Whoa, where did that come from?
The smile slips from my face.
What am I thinking? This is Locklyn’s sister. Locklyn’s twin sister.
The only girl more off-limits than Haven is Locklyn herself.
It must be exhaustion, or the repeated adrenaline surges making me think this way. Whatever the reason, I need to cut it out and concentrate on my mission: keeping her alive, not getting close to her.
I busy myself hauling the groceries in and setting them on the kitchen counter. Hearing Haven come down the steps, I leave them there and go back outside to collect some wood for the fire.
By the time I get back, Haven’s putting away the last of the food. She doesn’t make eye contact when I enter with an armful of wood. That’s probably for the best, because I’m starting to realize how drawn to her I am, and that’s dangerous for so many reasons.
My hands move through the motions of deftly arranging the wood in the hearth before I send a stream of my fire magic at the logs.
When the task is done, I stand, wiping my hands off on my jeans.
Haven has finished in the kitchen and is kneeling on the ground, looking through a cabinet that’s pushed up against one wall.
“Did you find a room?” I ask.
She worries her bottom lip between her teeth, her cheeks still pink—whether from the chill or something else entirely, I can’t be sure. When her gaze lifts to mine, it’s almost a touch, a coaxing awake of things I’ve worked hard to keep buried.
It hits me then how alone we are. Just the two of us in this space for who knows how long. Thank the Creator there are multiple bedrooms here, because at least I’ll be able to get some space at night.
She releases her lip and it draws my gaze. As I’m staring, she runs her tongue over it and my throat goes dry.
She’s going to be the death of me.
“I picked the room at the end of the hall. I hope that’s okay. The two others are nice too.”
It takes a second for me to remember what she’s even talking about, and when I do, I nod. “I’m sure it’s fine. As long as I have a bed, I’m good.”
“I picked the room with the smaller bed, actually. You’re bigger than me, so I figured you needed the space more than I do.”
“That was thoughtful.”
She smiles at my mild praise and we lock gazes. The air suddenly feels too warm, and her eyes start to take on a hazy and unfocused shine, like her thoughts have drifted elsewhere. It makes me wonder if they’re wandering in the same direction mine have been lately.
That would be bad. Very bad.
Clearing my throat, I grasp for something, anything, to break the moment, and catch a glimpse of what’s in the cabinet she’s looking through.
“Are those board games?” I ask, changing the subject.
Haven blinks, her gaze clearing as she nods. “There are a whole bunch of them here. Good thing too, because there are no TVs.” She ducks her head, scanning over the boxes. “Mostly strategy games.”
I snort. “That sounds like Talon.”
Joining her in front of the cabinet, I lean down and reach around her, careful not to make any physical contact.
“Do you know how to play this one?” I ask, pulling out a thick orange and green box.
She cocks her head to read the title. “Catan. Hmm. Sounds familiar, but I’ve never played it before.”
I smile. It’s a strategy game that’s oddly addictive. Kade and some of the guys over in the Order showed me how to play this one a while back. They get really into it. One time a fistfight almost broke out over a trade deal gone bad.
“Looks like we have nothing but time right now, so how about I teach you?”
She stands, a glint of challenge in her eyes. “All right, show me what you’ve got.”
“Careful,” I warn with a grin. “This game ruins friendships.”
She grins back. “I’m willing to take my chances.”
I take the time to clean up before we start the board game. A cold shower is exactly what I need to clear my head. By the time I sit down across the table from Haven, the tension between us has vanished.
Haven is quick to pick up the game’s rules, but I still beat her fairly easily, which clearly annoys her. She demands a rematch, and I beat her again, although this time with difficulty.
We break for lunch and then I do a perimeter check. I return to find Haven curled up asleep on the couch in front of the dying fire. I drape a blanket over her without waking her then add logs to stoke the flames.
As Haven sleeps, I busy myself with checking my weapons, making sure they are loaded and sharpened, and familiarize myself with the safe house.
Besides my own stash, Talon has weapons stored and hidden all over the cabin.
Upstairs, there’s a hidden surveillance room with screens showing video footage of the exterior of the cabin, as well as areas in the surrounding woods.
There’s even a storage room in the cellar, stocked with rations and water in case anyone needs to take shelter for an extended time.
Including the high-tech locks and bulletproof glass, Talon and Locklyn have built themselves a little fortress here. And I’m glad for it.
Haven wakes just as the sun begins to set. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she wanders into the kitchen, where I’m preparing dinner, her hair mussed and gaze still hazy from sleep.
“I did not mean to take a nap,” she says groggily.
“You needed it.”
“That’s what you said before.”
I flick my gaze to her as she hefts herself onto the counter next to me. “Because it’s still true.”
She scoffs. “Tell me that later when I’m tossing and turning trying to get to sleep at one a.m.”
“You could run some laps around the house later to tire yourself out.”
She scrunches her nose. “Hard pass.” She glances at the cutting board as I slice raw chicken breast into strips. “What are you making?”
“Stir fry,” I answer, motioning toward the bowl of cut veggies I’ve already prepared. “It won’t take long to cook all this up, and the rice is almost done.”
Her eyes widen. “You know how to cook that? That’s like, real food.”
The disbelief written on her face makes me chuckle. “I do.”
Her brow rises. “I’m impressed.”
“I suppose this is a step up from boxed mac n’ cheese and ramen,” I tease.
“Hey! I’ll have you know those are both college staples.”
Glancing at her out of the corner of my eye, I raise a brow. “Don’t you still live with your parents?”
She shoves me playfully. “Sorry we can’t all be master chefs, Gordon Ramsay.”
“Who’s that?” I ask as I add the chicken to the skillet.
“Are you kidding me? Only one of the most famous chefs on the planet.”
“Ah, so he’s the Francis Detritic of the human world.”
“Right. I keep forgetting you’re not from here.”
Haven falls silent as I work over the stove, cooking up our dinner. When I catch her out of the corner of my eye, she appears deep in thought, so I keep quiet and let her sort through whatever’s on her mind.
When I finish, I ask her to grab a couple of plates so I can serve us. She hops off the counter and starts opening cabinets until she finds what she’s looking for.
“Is it hard being here? In the human world, I mean?” she asks as I load her plate with rice and cover it with a generous portion of chicken and veggies.
“That feels like a loaded question,” I say, struggling to know how to answer.
She waits as I make my own plate.
When we sit down at the table, she says, “It has to be hard. Everything must be so different than what you’re used to.”
I shrug. “Not as different as you might think. Our worlds affect each other somehow, so we have similar technology and geographic boundaries. The things we use magic for, the human world compensates in other ways.”
“Like what?” She takes a bite of her food, and her eyes go wide as she chews. “This is good. Like, really good,” she says around a mouthful.
It makes me happy that she likes it. I don’t think too deeply about why.
“Thanks. Well, for one thing, your weapons are more advanced than ours. Creatures have always relied heavily on their magic during battles and combat. I think humans have compensated for that by developing more complex and deadly weapons.”
“What an accomplishment,” she says sarcastically. “We’ve found more creative ways to kill each other.”
“Generally speaking, though, being here isn’t as shocking as you might think, considering it’s a different world altogether. It’s a little like going to a foreign country where you don’t know the customs and pop culture.”
“Hmm,” she says as she chews. “That’s a good way of explaining it. But besides the differences, just being away from your regular life has to be hard.”
She stares at me, wide-eyed, pity heavy in her gaze.
I take a bite, buying myself a few moments to figure out how to respond to that.
The truth is, being in the human world has been somewhat of a relief. Sure, I miss my parents and Ensley, but ever since Chaos, I’ve felt adrift.
I’m glad I’m no longer the dragon heir. Being under the thumb of the dragon council isn’t something I’ll ever allow again, but if I’m being honest, being the dragon heir did give me a sense of purpose that I don’t have anymore.
When I returned from the human world after the battle in Central Park, I tried to go back to who I was before. In hindsight, the idea of getting together with Locklyn had less to do with her and more to do with holding on to myself.