I missed her so much, it was a constant ache in my gut. I missed playing with her hair and touching her face and watching her laugh. Missed her emerald eyes, her gentle teasing, her slow blushes. Missed daydreaming with her about all the things we would do after high school.
I felt eyes on me and met Josef’s gaze while Rome and Titus locked horns. He looked a little pale and a bead of sweat rolled down his cheek. I frowned. As a muse, he had to use protection charms so he wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the psyches of people around him.
Maybe the current one is worn out. Or it can’t handle all of us at once, especially me.
“Stop.” Power rolled through his voice, and everyone froze. “Step away from each other.”
Rome and Titus did, then Josef told Titus he’d been rude. Titus rolled his eyes, but turned to Mira.
“I apologize. I know it’s coercion taint, and no one asks for that.” Then he looked at Mimi. “And I’m sorry for interrupting, Mimi. You had everything under control. And to make it clear, this isn’t about me thinking you can’t take care of yourself. It’s about that punk and what I’ve seen him do to others even more powerful than you.”
Mimi glared at him for a few seconds, then launched toward him, and he had to move fast to catch her.
“Thank you, Titus!”
It was obvious her smile rocked his world, and my heart squeezed up tight in my chest. I remembered the first time Gemma gave me one of her sunshine smiles. Idiot that I was, I’d scowled at her in return. It had taken me weeks to earn another one.
All at once, no warning, my walls fell, and terror swamped my chest.
Oh, my angel. What are they doing to you?
“Harker!” Josef pressed his palms against his temples. “Pull yourself together before my head explodes!”
“Sorry.”
“In for a count of four,” Jax said, “and out for a count of four. Try five if you can.”
“I guess that’s proof enough you’ve changed.” Titus crossed his arms. “The Harker I knew would’ve tried to rip out Josef’s throat, not apologized. And he certainly didn’t practice yoga to calm down. For that matter, he never calmed down.”
“Ti, you were rude to Harker, too,” Josef said.
“No. That’s asking too much.”
Josef glared at him.
Yeah, good luck with that.
“It’s not important.” I felt more stable now that the rest of the tension in the room was gone. “Let’s move on.”
“Itisimportant,” Josef said.
“Titus.” That was all Mimi said as she looked up at him with big, sweet, innocent eyes.
He made a noise that sounded like he was strangling.
Wow. So not even the mighty Titus Wray can hold out against puppy-dog eyes.
“Harker,” he muttered, “I apologize for treating you like the piece of Hell-rot you were the last time I saw you.”
“Thanks.”
19. Valhalla
Kerry
“Okay,” Gigi chirped, “now that we know we can all play nicely together, Mimi, could you find Astrid Kasparian’s ghost?”
“Of course!”
