Page 75 of The Daughters of Nyx

Maybe it was time for some holy water. Or, if Thea had her way, a good fuck.

I snickered to myself as Thea made her grand entrance. Dark circles bruised the usually rosy skin under her eyes. Her hair looked like a tumbleweed and should be passing over an empty street in the old West.

Overall, my best friend looked like shit.

“You okay?” I asked, pouring milk into my coffee. Thea’s eyes dropped to the mug and she grimaced. “Oh no, you aren’t sick, are you?”

Thea’s grimace turned into a scowl. “I better not be. But I don’t think I can handle coffee today.”

I took a step away from her as she walked around the island, heading for the fridge for bottled water the supes had supplied. “Anyway, I might look like shit, but I don’t totallyfeellike it, you know?”

I cocked my head. “Are you pregnant?”

Thea choked on her water and sent me a withering glare. “Don’t you dare insinuate I might bepregnantwith Jase’s spawn.”

I covered my laugh with a cough as her eyes narrowed. “Sorry, but we have to cover all our bases.”

“I amnotpregnant. I have an IUD for a reason.AndI never have unprotected sex.”

Lifting a brow, I took a sip of my coffee. Ah, nectar of the Gods, give me strength for tonight’s late shift.

“Anyway, if anyone is going to get pregnant, it’s you.”

I opened my mouth to respond—and to remind her that she was the only one getting any action—but the door swung open to reveal a grumpy, mean Elias, wearing a grey Henley that stretched over his broad chest and a pair of dark wash jeans. He looked both sinful and totally unavailable with his scowling face.

His narrowed eyes flickered between the two of us and his nostrils flared. “No one is pregnant.”

“How would you know?” Thea asked indignantly, crossing her arms. “Women get pregnant with IUD’s all the time.”

“Weren’t you just stressing that youcouldn’tbe pregnantbecauseof the IUD?” I took another sip of coffee, despite the glare burning the side of my face. Instead, I watched Elias. His eyes darkened for a moment, which I was starting to realise had more to do with his wolf side than being angry or frustrated—even though there was a likely chance of both when it came to me and Thea.

His eyes were steady on mine, and I could tell there was a retort heavy on his tongue by the way his lips twitched, but instead of fighting with my friend, he motioned to the door. “Grey said she wanted to talk to you about something.”

My heart did a little squeeze. “O-okay,” I stuttered. “Did she say what?”

Oh, Goddess, was it about last night? Did she have some sort of intuition about my less than professional dream of her? Somehow, I wanted this meeting to be about Avalon. Anythingbutwhat had happened after that nightmare.

I swallowed another mouthful of coffee, which now tasted like ash on my tongue.

Instead of giving me an answer, Elias stalked out of the apartment.Great.

“Just me or did he seemextramoody this morning?” Thea muttered, popping a couple of Ibuprofen in her mouth. She made a face as she swallowed—she’d never been a huge fan of having to take pills.

Blowing out a heavy breath, I followed the broody shifter. He waited by the door of the other apartment, his shoulders tensed and hands curled into fists. Despite everything that had happened between us, he had come through for me when I’d needed him. Even though he was a total asshole the rest of the time, he’d been almost…perfect the other night.

I ducked my head as my cheeks heated. I felt his eyes on me as I rushed into the darkened apartment ahead of him, the heat of his body a whisper against my chilled skin.

The door closed with aclickbehind me. Elias stepped up beside me and pointed to the door that was a mirror of Thea’s. “Grey’s inside. Just go in,” he grunted. The warmth of his body disappeared a moment later, and the door opened and closed swiftly, leaving me alone inside the apartment.

Well, not completely alone. The vampire in the bedroom across from me mostdefinitelyknew I was here, and based on the rustling from the other bedroom, I’d say one or more mage was inside the other bedroom.

Swallowing thickly, I squared my shoulders and strode towards the door. My heart thumped loudly in my ears. Blood rushed to my cheeks as I knocked carefully on the door.

Jeez, Ivy, chill out, I thought, shaking my head. There was a small amount of guilt for last night, too. Not opening up,

not trusting her with the nightmares, made me feel worse, especially about the dreams that had followed.

On silent hinges, the door swung open to reveal Maeve, her hair pulled up into a slick pony-tail, face clear of makeup. The scar that cut through her left eye seemed more pronounced, and I had the weird urge to run my fingers over it.

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