Sin & Spirit (Demigod of San Francisco #4)(82)

Just like that, the tension and emotion popped.

Boman chuckled with glassy eyes. “Why’d you need to ruin that moment, you dick?”

“Why’d you ruin those stitches?” Donovan pointed at Kieran’s neck. “Are zigzags all the rage now?”

Kieran stood and brought Alexis with him. They needed to tie everything up, then hit the books and figure out who was who, what was what, and some future plans to deal with them. Two people had declared war, and Kieran would need to answer. But he’d do it the modern way, the way his father had taught him—in stealth. In secret. Behind the scenes. He’d lay all the plans, map everything out, and slowly back his prey into a corner. Then, at the last moment, he’d pull the pin. Together, he and Alexis and the rest of their crew would watch their enemies blow sky high.

Someone had challenged him to a game of chess, and he would answer that challenge in a way that made them regret ever having brought out the game board.





33





Alexis





“Wait…” Aubri stepped in front of me, her face as serious as a heart attack. “Do you want a selfie to post to social media?”

I tried not to roll my eyes. And failed.

“No, I’m good,” I said, checking my newly finished face and hair in a handheld mirror while sitting off to the side in the kitchen. Normal people had their hair and makeup done in a bedroom or bathroom, or somewhere out of the way. But I hated being isolated from the others. I’d commit to looking good for the paparazzi as much as possible, but I drew the line at missing out on the fun—or pandemonium—while I did it.

Daisy and Mordecai slouched at the kitchen table. Daisy’s arm had been in a cast for the last four weeks, with two to go, and Mordecai was right as rain. With Harding’s help to show me how, I’d re-created and attached Mordecai’s crumbled soul prongs. They weren’t as good as the originals, but they would last a lifetime if he stayed away from more close calls of the head-crushing variety. They were like prosthetic limbs for the soul.

“Okay, but are you sure?” She stepped back, surveying me. “Because you. Look. Fabulous.”

Red, staring out the window, turned to look. Unimpressed, she turned back, watching the street. She would remain with me for the foreseeable future. No one could tell if she was particularly grumpy about that fact, or just the normal amount of grumpy. Donovan suspected driving a pink car was the cause of her habitually bad mood. It would be enough to drag anyone down, he reckoned.

Bria entered the kitchen with an apple in one hand and a phone in the other. She paused between me and the table before jutting out a hip. “Yeah, good. Well done. No one will be able to talk shit about that look.”

Aubri beamed.

“What am I getting all dressed up for?” I asked, carefully sliding off the stool in my swirly black dress. It was a Saturday and we didn’t have any plans; usually I’d just hang around in self-chosen attire, my hair in a pony and no makeup. It wasn’t until Kieran left with all the guys, including Jack, that Bria had told me to get ready. Aubri arrived shortly thereafter.

We’d had a memorial for Jack and paid our respects the traditional way, but he’d chosen to stick around. Given he could be seen and heard by a couple of us, and help guard the spirit realm, he figured there was plenty to do. I also had a sneaking suspicion that he was afraid of what awaited in the Beyond.

“You are a kept woman. You do what you are told without asking questions,” Bria responded before taking a bite of her apple.

Daisy huffed. “I’d like to see someone try to treat my girl like that. I would slit them from neck to navel.”

“Oh my God, wow.” Aubri dramatically looked at Daisy. “That’s psycho.”

“Yeah, she’s right,” I said, my tone brooking no argument.

Daisy had dealt with trauma a little differently than most fourteen-year-old girls. Her confidence had flowered. Her hunger for learning to protect herself and her family had intensified. And the amount she was stealing from Kieran to secretly put away had grown. Zorn still couldn’t figure out what she was doing with the money or where she was stashing it. It was her nest egg. Her escape hatch.

She was even teaching Mordecai to be better about stealing. It had turned into a game, and even though it didn’t seem right, Kieran wasn’t beat up about it. I’d decided to turn a blind eye.

“You need to chill out,” I said. “No swearing, and no overt and gruesome threats.”

Daisy shrugged, and Mordecai leaned toward her and whispered, “I could just maul them. If we dragged them out to the forest in the non-mag zone, no one would even question it.”

Daisy nodded. “You’re onto something.”

“You guys, stop. Please.” I nearly ran my hands through my newly styled hair. Aubri would’ve then threatened to slice me from neck to navel. “That’s too violent, even for magical people. You need to pull way back.”

They both shrugged. Mordecai wasn’t so sweet and levelheaded since his near-death experience. He’d gotten more ruthless in training, more vicious. He clearly didn’t want to end up in that situation again, and as a powerful shifter, he’d be challenged often.

Bria’s phone chimed. She glanced at the screen. “Okey-dokey, here we go. Load up, kids and dolls. Time to go. Except for you, Aubri—we’re good.”