Page 10 of Sigils & Spells

“Angel, please escort Ms. Balfour to the testing room.” His words are curt, dry. It’s a command, not a request. I know I technically don’t work forhim,but Ivan holds this man in the highest regard. I’ve escorted his supplies, his equipment, and him back and forth to his condo.

So when Dr. Frankenstein asks me to do something, I know it’s best to say yes if only to keep the powers that be happy for another day. I don’t want to be on anyone’s bad side here.

I nod in approval, even though I have the strangest feeling in the pit of my stomach. But one look at Evie and it lessens just a bit. Not entirely, but enough that I don’t feel all that opposed to being wherever she is.

It’s not like we’ve had a lot of interaction, but … the little moments we do get to talk or interact … they leave me feeling like a weight has been lifted.

Like the little minx she is, Evie opens her mouth to protest, but Dr. Fitton only says in that creepy monotone tone of his, “This is not negotiable, Evie. You will wait in the testing area, and once Mr. Hernández is ready, he will be escorted to his module, and you may begin your charting.

I set my hand beneath her elbow as she clutches her binders, books, and various supplies to her chest. She doesn’t flinch at my touch like most people immediately do.

“Come on,” I coax her, my voice darker than I mean it to be. She doesn’t protest, instead just huffs out a breathy sigh that goes directly to my fucking cock like a bolt of electricity.

Fuck me, how am I going to manage to keep this a secret?

I do my best to stuff down my inappropriately timed desire, leading her by the arm out of the lab and down the hall. The further we get away from Dr. Fitton and Q, the better I feel. But that might also have something to do with the beautiful woman by my side.

“Is everything okay, Evie?” I ask, desperate to focus on something other than the wildly inappropriate boner I’ve sprung at this moment.

“I’m just… I’m not sure I’m ready for this,” she says, with a bright doe-eyed look staring back at me with worry. It makes my heart ache to see those precious blue eyes so full of concern.

I’m also not sure if she’s talking about the project, or…

“Mymamialways saidno hay mejor momento que el presente.Which means…”

“There is no better time than the present,” Evie says as we stop just outside the door. My fingertips brush along the taut skin of her elbow, drawing lazy lines. Her skin is soft, warm beneath my fingertips. She stares back at me.

“No me dijiste que hablabas Español, bruja,”I say with a smirk. Evie’s eyes light up like the stars in a dark, summer sky.

Full of wonder, and hope.

“Nunca preguntaste, Ángel.”

My gods, this woman is going to be the death of me. I can feel it.

I drop my hand to open the door for her. I may be working for a mad scientist, but my mother did not raise a mannerless fool.

I hold it open for her, the lights kicking on from the motion. Evie sighs, nodding in understanding.

“Thank you,” she says as she enters the room, and I follow her like a moth to a magical flame.

CHAPTER7

EVIE

The testing roomcreeps me out even more than the lab with the cage in it does.

The space has been divided into what Ivan calls “modules”—cubicle-like spaces each holding a bed. But they don’t have office-style dividers.

No. Each of these spaces is defined by silver bars, barely concealed by curtains hanging over them.

It’s like an emergency room set up to contain monsters.

Just walking into it makes my stomach hurt.

Behind me, Angel inhales sharply. “¿Que demonios?” he murmurs.

What the hell, indeed.

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