Nix gave Ivan a sharp look. “Are you planning otherwise?”
He was met with silence.
It might not be the perfect time, but Nix was starting to realize there might not everbea perfect time with Ivan. Not with those few walls he still stubbornly kept up standing in Nix’s way.
Nix cleared his throat. “If we bonded…”
Ivan cut him off immediately. “You wouldn’t want a bond with me.”
See? Walls.
“Says who?” Nix asked lightly. He was met with silence again. He went another route. “Wouldyouwant a bond withme?”
Ivan’s hand clenched on Nix’s thigh. “I would like for you to stay.” A lightness filled Nix’s chest, until his stomach sank as Ivan finished his sentence. “UntilI’mready for you to go.”
Of all the bullshit repressed-emotion statements.
Nix had to fight not to grit his teeth. “And if you’reneverready for me to go?”
“You wish to stay in the human realm,” Ivan said, neatly avoiding Nix’s question.
“Yes.”
“You’ve always wished to.”
“Yes.” Nix eyed Ivan’s clenched jaw. Oh, his human didn’t like that. “Two things can be true at once, you know. Wanting to stay in the human realm and wanting to stay with you.”
A muscle in Ivan’s jaw ticked, and then he relaxed with visible effort. “It’s a moot point anyway,” he said. “Until we get back the Book you lost.”
“I didn’t lose it,” Nix told him archly. “I gave it away.”
Nix wasn’t anywhere near done with this conversation, butIvan’s phone rang through the car’s Bluetooth before he could respond to that, Cooper’s name flashing.
“Speak of the devil!” Nix crowed.
Ivan side-eyed him as he accepted the call. “Cooper.”
“H-Hey, Ivan. Hey.” Cooper sounded out of breath. And possibly a bit terrified? It was hard for Nix to tell over the phone. Stupid technology got in the way.
“I’ve been trying to reach you.” Ivan made the sentence sound like a threat.
“I know. My phone was—I couldn’t get to my phone. But, um, so—”
Ivan cut through the rambling. “You have something of mine, Cooper.”
“Right. Sure. But I just need to ask—one of the books you gave me, does it—” Cooper laughed, and the sound was tinged with hysteria. “Have you ever summoned a demon with it?”
Nix’s heart soared. Chaos was there, wasn’t he? No wonder Cooper sounded so flustered.
But he tried not to look too delighted, not when Ivan was immediately looking so irritated.
Ivan sighed heavily, his hand tightening again on Nix’s thigh, as if he could sense Nix’s joy anyway. “Where are you?”
Cooper’s laugh cut off. “Me?”
“Cooper.”
“My apartment. But—”
