Page 22 of Cherish

He looks so put-upon that I’m tempted to shift and toss him over the balcony and down to the field below, especially since he’s making it sound like we come to him for favors every other day. Which we do not. This is the first time I’ve spoken to him since the battle with Cyrus, and it’s not like I asked him to show up there. He’s the one who’s usually sticking his nose in where nobody needs or wants it.

But since I do need him this one time, I grit my teeth and try not to think about how satisfying it would be to smother him with a giant foam finger. Instead, I say, “We had a few questions to ask you about the Shadow Realm.”

“Noromar?” he asks, sounding surprised. “I would have thought that’s the last place you’d want to think about ever again.”

I swallow the anger rising in my throat. JikanknewI’d been there—knew what I’d forgotten—and didn’t say a word. What an ass.

He squeezes past us, then sets off at a quick pace, leaving me to scramble after him. The others have no problem keeping up with him, but my short legs don’t cover the same ground theirs do, and I end up feeling like a little kid trailing after her teacher.

Despite his long legs, Hudson keeps stride with me, but when we’re halfway back to the keep, he turns to Jikan and says, “We know you created the Shadow Realm—and all the shite rules that trapped Grace thereandstole her memories.”

Hudson has obviously hit a nerve, because Jikan stops walking long enough to lock eyes with him. “You don’t know shit, vampire.”

Hudson just lifts a brow. “Want to try me?”

Several tense seconds pass as the two of them stare each other down.

But no matter how right Hudson apparently is, given Jikan’s reaction, I need to break this up. Fast. Especially since Jikan looks like he’s two seconds away from smiting Hudson. No matter how tough Hudson is, nobody wants to be smote by a full god. Certainly not a god capable of creating the Shadow Realm like it’s nothing.

My mind is racing, trying to come up with a way to alleviate the tension,when Flint rushes in to say, “I’ve been meaning to ask. What kind of hair products do you use, Jikan? Because your ponytail always looks spot-on.”

For a second, we all stare at Flint in shock. And then we’re laughing again. Even Jaxon cracks a smile. Jikan, on the other hand, looks at Flint like he has no idea where he came from or what he’s thinking.

But then he chuckles, too, before he turns back around and continues walking, this time at a more reasonable pace.

“Jikan,” I begin, though I’m not sure what I’m going to say next—only that I need to say something. “I’m sorry if our coming here for help upsets you.”

“It doesn’t upset me, Grace,” he answers softly, sounding resigned. “But nobody likes having their mistakes thrown back in their face.”

“Is that what the Shadow Realm was?” Eden asks, her purple eyes watchful. “A mistake?”

“No, it was more than that,” he answers. “It was vengeance.”

13

Your Mosa Is

Actually Mi-mosa

When we reach the castle, Jikan pulls open the heavy wooden doors with a sigh.

“Mimosas, anyone?” the Bloodletter asks as she greets us at the door. “I’ve already set Alistair up with one in the parlor.”

Mimosas at midnight?Heather mouths to me. I shrug back, even as I try desperately not to grin. I can definitely imagine what Heather was expecting someone called “the Bloodletter” to be like. In her mind, she should probably be handing out goblets filled with blood from people hanging over buckets in the corner,nothanding out champagne cocktails.

I don’t bother telling her that my grandmother has been there and done that, even before Jikan answers, “I’ll take one, Cassia.” Then seems to reconsider as he says, “Actually, make that two.”

“Double fisting the champagne, are we?” Hudson comments dryly.

“After the dragon urine that just went down on that field, I’d be triple fisting if I could,” Jikan answers with an edge to his voice.

“Dragon urine?” Flint makes a face.

“I think he means dragon shit,” Eden tells him, looking no less disgusted.

“He means bullshit,” the Bloodletter says wearily. “He speaks every language on Earth—and understands half of them.”

Heather snort-laughs, and I think Jikan’s going to swing his head around and freeze her, but instead he replies, “Hey, I resemble that.”

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