Page 26 of Stuck with my Frenemy
Inside me, nervous energy swirled around, shaking my internal organs into a stew. Why I was so nervous I had no clue, but there you had it. When we finally reached the top and shimmied out first and smacked my hand over my forehead.
“Why the hell is my door open?” Ash exclaimed, rushing forward through the small entrance separating the elevator from his apartment.
Not feeling the need to rush, I just strolled casually along excited to see the penthouse. I knew why his door was open. Karma had hit him because of those keys of his I accidentally zapped when I slapped my hand on his chest.
Ebony gave me a suspicious side-eye, but I shrugged her off. Her hand snatched my arm and she yanked me back before I could follow the guys inside, her face nose to nose with mine. “Do you understand that what you did was wrong?”
Sticking my chin in the air, I took a few steps away from her and peered into the apartment. Papers were scattered all around, tables were flipped over, and broken glass laid in piles over the wooden floors.
What a mess.
Did the turned over apartment mean I would admit I was wrong?
Nope. We did our job, and that was all there was to it.
Plus, what was the point in regrets? Choices were made in the heat of the moment all the time, and we couldn’t go back and change them anyway. So, what was the point?
It was time to face the music.
“Nothing to say at all, huh?” Ebony shook her head at me, disappointment evident. I didn’t like that one bit, and my heart sunk when I saw it.
“Did you smell the magic at the warehouse?” Changing the subject seemed like the best route in that moment since I wasn’t ready to face the disappointment train she’d booked me on.
“Yeah, two sources of magic.”
“What do you mean by magic,” Ash interjected, appearing out of nowhere and making me shriek.
I pressed a hand over my heart, twisting the dress in my fingers. “Goddess you are good at that, aren’t you? Popping up out of nowhere. How about we don’t sneak up on people and scare the bejeezus out of them. There’s a thought you should take home with you.”
Ash leaned on the door gripping the frame until his knuckles turned white. “I am home, and my home has been ransacked, too. The warehouse had at least half the inventory stolen, and you two are talking about magic. Inside. Now.”
Bernie came up behind him, standing like a statue other than the nod of agreement he tossed our way, just one hard dip up and down with his head that I had no clue what it meant.
Tilting my head at Ebony, I pressed my lips together. “I think we better tell them.”
“No. Not the time,” Ebony growled.
My tilted head almost touched my shoulder as I widened my eyes at her. “It is the time. We have to be honest here.”
Shoving past Ash that left him growling low in his chest, Ebony disappeared inside. “Get inside then, because there’s no way I’m standing in that hallway talking about this shit.”
So angry. Like a bear who’d just come across campers with a tent full of food.
I liked it.
The guys trailed after her, so I followed suit, skipping as much as my heels would allow. If only I would’ve brought my bubblegum. Then everything would be right in the world.
The moment I stood next to Ebony in the messy wide space that had once been a living room with the guys across from us, she spoke. “Right. Here it is since you want the truth. We sensed traces of magic at the warehouse.”
Their mouths parted, and they looked at us as if we’d grown antlers and tails. Since neither of them spoke, I jumped in to help Ebs up. “We can sniff out magic like it’s pizza.” Scrunching my eyebrows, I turned to Ebony. “Pizza is what the humans like, right?” Pausing, I tapped my chin. “Nevermind. You aren’t as good as Google with human knowledge, Ebony. You should work on that, by the way.”
“You keep saying humans like you two are what? Not human?” Ash sounded like he was a second away from calling a mental institution.
“Duh! Of course we—”
Ebony slapped my arm so hard I stumbled backward, tripped over the flipped-over table and landed on my ass on the ground with a thud.
“Oh, dear Cupid. Ebony strikes again. You really are a bit touchy tonight.”
