Page 35 of Marked by the Demigod

She nods, settling her head back on the pillow. She can't look away until the light finally slips to darkness, her hand still in his.

* * *

They both joltawake with the sound of a key, an actual key, against the front door, and for a second they're frozen, staring at each other with mouths agape.

"My friend Trixie," Aimes whispers, as she recognizes a familiar voice cursing. "She has a key --"

Iakov holds a finger to his lips, smiles a large, heartbreaking smile, then...disappears. Gone. No noise, no flash of light, just not there anymore.

"How ya feeling?" Trixie calls out from the doorway, then, "Wait, what are you doing here?"

Her heart pounding, Aimes clutches the gross bathrobe to herself and totters out to the main room, where Katya sits, doing paperwork.

As soon as Aimes comes into view, Trixie relaxes. "Oh good, you're upright. Um," Trixie gestures with the bags of groceries at Katya.

Katya smiles, all professional and government approved. "I believe we met at Timmy Nolan's? A few months ago?"

"Yeah, uh, what are you doing here?"

Aimes collapses onto the couch with a sigh, still feeling like her heart is beating too hard. "She and I meet up sometimes, she heard I was sick and volunteered to bring food."

Katya raises an eyebrow at her, then looks towards the bedroom, and Aimes tries to discreetly shake her head.

Trixie shrugs, then goes about putting away the groceries. "But you're feeling better?" Both of Aimes's cat's run up to Trixie, begging for pets and twining around her legs while audibly purring.

Aimes takes a moment to check in on herself, closes her eyes. The steady throb behind her rib cage has receded to a faint pulse, but her limbs still feel heavier than normal. "Better, I think. Wouldn't want to run a marathon."

"No shit." Trixie flops onto the couch with her and cuddles in, pulling out her ipad. Both cats immediately pile onto her lap. "Did I wake you?"

Aimes shakes her head, then nods. "Sorta. I was in bed since like noon yesterday, so you're 'kay."

The crumpled dust of Katya's phone catches the light on the table, a stark reminder of yesterday. "Hey Katya, that cute guy you introduced me to a few days ago, do you have his number?"

She quirks an eyebrow. "He didn't give it to you?"

Trixie elbows Aimes, soft. "A new guy?"

Aimes shrugs, feeling a bit stung for no reason. "Who knows."

They settle into a quiet lull, and the next time Katya makes eye contact with Aimes, she silently shakes her head.

* * *

Aimes goes backto work the next day, and between libraries, her phone buzzes from her supervisor, asking to see her in the DTLA offices.

The Downtown LA offices is a bit of a misnomer, as they're tucked away inside a floor of a high rise, where they rent out a single office and share space for a conference room.

The boss, Russ, is the stereotype of a Silicon Valley tech guy, who never wears actual shoes but Birkenstocks with socks and day-old shirts. But he pays way more than they'd expect and seems interested in library science. Aimes has met him all of five times, as he usually just emails instructions and plane tickets.

Russ waves her into his tiny little office that smells too much like feet, and his assistant nods at her without breaking eye contact from his computer.

"Aimelie, do you want the East Coast Convention cycle?" He blurts out, without even saying hello. "I had a guy out there. He quit."

"You had me in New York two weeks ago." Aimes raises an eyebrow at him.

"And they liked you a lot and all the states are gearing up for conventions this season and I don't have any guys out there. You wouldn't have to move, just...go out more."

Aimes stands , as there are no spare chairs, feeling like something's off. "So you want me to travel more?"

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