Page 62 of Never Say Die
Shay arched a brow. “What, you don’t want a reiki massage?”
“Do they come with a happy ending?” Aiden asked. “Sign me up.”
The clerk typed rapidly. “Did you have a time in mind?”
“Ignore him,” Shay said, and hip-checked Aiden away from the counter. “Thanks, though. Our room. . . ?”
“Oh, right. You’re in a two-bedroom suite with a shared bathroom. One king, two queens. Elevators are to your left,” they said, and handed Shay his driver’s license, two room keys, and a receipt. “Check-out is at eleven, but you can request late check-out any time before ten p.m. the night before your departure. If there’s… like,anythingI can do for you just ring the desk. I’m…” They paused, muffling a nervous laugh. “I’m a huge fan.”
“Thank you,” Shay said. He looped his fingers around Aiden’s knuckles and tugged him toward the elevator. “So, a witch assembly, huh? Lucky us.”
“My life is, literally, a practical joke,” Aiden mumbled.
Shay squeezed his hand, and the comfortable weight of their clutched palms did two things: One, caused Aiden’s heart to swell. Two, made him childishly paranoid. He stole a glance at the outdoor staircase, leading to the rooftop bar where Georgia, Pru, and Dylan waited. “We should text everyone, huh?” he asked, an excuse to unlace their hands and retrieve his phone.
Shay rolled his eyes and hit the silver call-button outside the elevator. “How long do you expect me to keep pretending we’re not…” His mouth squirmed. “A thing,” he decided. “They’ll find out sooner or later, Aiden. We can’t keep?—”
“I don’t think you understand the unholy amount of shit they’ll give me,” Aiden said. His face went hot, embarrassment writhing like a trapped animal inside him. He knew how it sounded, butstill. “Like, seriously, ridiculouslyunholy.”
“So, you’re ashamed. That’s it?”
“No. You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to make me the bad guy.”
“Do you hear yourself when you talk? You literallyarethe bad guy, Aiden. I have the scar to prove it.”
Aiden squared his shoulders. “Look. . . Fine. Okay, that’s fair, but I. . . I had rules?—”
“Had,” Shay said, matter-of-factly. He pinched Aiden’s chin, steering his face upward. “Stop being a huge baby about this. We’re together, aren’t we?” Shay touched his lips to Aiden’s mouth. “It’s me and you, right?”
“Yeah, I have the scar to prove it,” Aiden said, not unkindly, and sighed. “If we tell Georgia and Dylan, we’ll have to tell Jacob. Every second we spend alone will be scrutinized. You get that, right? I mean, can you imagine what they’ll say? I can. Idefinitelycan.”
“Since when have you cared about what anyone has to say? Aboutanything?” Shay pecked him on the lips. “Relax, okay? Your pride can take the hit.”
“This isn’t about my pride.”
“This is entirely about your pride.”
The bell dinged. Smooth silver doors floated open.
Aiden smelled her before he saw her. Gardenia and lavender wafted from inside the elevator, pressed to pulse points and spray-tanned skin. A nervous yip sounded, and stilettosclick-clackedthe reflective floor.
Kelly Angelica Crawford held her Pomeranian under one arm, dressed in a beachy, tasseled sarong and awful beige pumps. She ripped her sunglasses away, slender knucklesstacked with faceted amethyst and dazzling quartz. Her lips thinned. “You went to Colorado,” she said, just like that. Her lashes flicked, eyes lingering a little too long on the bandage beneath Aiden’s rosary. “If you’re here, that means. . . Good goddess, youwent.”
Shay stepped into the elevator. “Nice to see you again, Kelly.”
“I doubt that, Shay Bennett.” She peeked over his shoulder. “May I?—”
“No.” Shay smacked the top button. The doors shut, effectively trapping the trio. “Of course, we went to Colorado. Why wouldn’t we?”
Ah, her smile said, sitting half-way between fear and confidence,I see.She slid her gaze to Aiden and clucked her tongue. “Still keeping secrets, Aiden Moore?”
Aiden gritted his teeth. Rage and panic coated his throat like molasses.
Shay went rigid—mouth, shoulders, fists. He shot Aiden a furious glance, but turned his anger on Kelly, snapping his teeth at her. “I askedyou.”
Kelly flinched, sealing her back to the wall. “There’s cameras—don’t be foolish.” She flicked her gaze from Shay to Aiden, hugging her dog to her chest. She inhaled a quick, reluctant breath, and shook her head. “You remember the client who interrupted our session? Young thing. Eighteen, maybe nineteen. Not quite gifted but intriguing regardless. We got to talkin’ about her mentor—power hungry, that woman. Self-proclaimed demonologist, convicted felon, surrounded herself with lost children. I’d seen her kind before. Always rotten to the core. But I saw you, too. Saw her choices, your choices, where they intersected.” She stared at Shay, lips twitching into a frown. “Like I told your boyfriend, death follows you.”
“What, exactly, did you see?” Shay asked.
