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I feel muscles I hadn’t even realized I’d tensed suddenly relax. “Oh my gosh, that’d be great.”
I start to follow him when all of a sudden, a hand on my shoulder is stopping me. “Where are you going?”
I turn in surprise to see Romulus.
“None of your business,” both Layden and I say at the same time. I smile at him, then glare at Romulus.
I can feel Romulus seething as I follow his brother toward the stairs. He’s only one floor up, and his rooms are nothing like the posh spaces I’ve seen everywhere else. Instead, they’re just stuffed with monitors and computer equipment, along with stacks of dirty dishes.
“Wow, are you a computer genius or something?”
“Oh, nah,” he says, shoving a pile of clothes—I’m not sure if they’re clean or dirty—out of the way so he can pull a bag out of a corner. “I just like to keep a watch on things.”
I nod.
“Okaaaaay,” he says, sitting on the chair in front of what looks like his central monitor and plopping the canvas duffle bag on his lap. He sorts through it, and I hear metallic and glass bottles clanking around inside. His brow furrows as he grabs and then discards things to the other end of the bag. “No, not that. Not that. Where are you?”
He hums to himself under his breath. “Here we are,” he says triumphantly, pulling out a small pink plastic disc. He hands it to me.
I frown at the familiar object, popping it open and looking down at the normal-looking birth control pills. “Um. Am I missing something?”
“Nope. These are—” He winces but then waves a hand and says, “Magic. I hate to use that word, but essentially, yeah. Let’s just say I know some folks who are familiar with beings from other realms. Different realms from the ones my family is from. But you aren’t the first to be concerned about not creating inter-realm offspring.”
Okay, he’s seriously blowing my mind. “How many are there out there? Realms? Beings?” I’ve just been walking around my whole life, not knowing there was a whole other world of creatures out there?
He waves a hand. “Fewer than you’d think, honestly. It’s actually really hard to move between realms. My family makes it look easy, but that’s just because the angels were the most successful at it, and most of them had the good sense to stop fucking around in a place they had no business being.”
I think of the mosaic in the top tower and bite my bottom lip. “So who else is out there besides the,” I gulp, “angels?”
But Layden just shrugs me off. “Don’t worry about it. My brothers are the biggest bad around. And I’ve got plenty of tricks up my sleeve, too. You’re safe here.”
I frown. That was a nice non-answer. I have a feeling Layden’s a tough nut to crack and get any real answers out of. But he is helping me when I ask. I hold up the birth control. “So how does this work? You said it’s magic?”
“Just take them like normal. My friend’s a really talented witch, and she made it look human so it wouldn’t draw any attention. The pills will automatically refill after twenty-eight days and stop any supernatural pregnancy from taking hold. But it won’t work for normal human guys.”
I nod. “That’s not a problem.”
He pauses. “So you and Remus. . .?”
I blush and look down.
“Sorry, none of my business.”
Quickly I pop one of the little pills into my mouth, then slide the compact into my pocket. Layden slings the bag underneath his computer desk before standing.
Before he can leave the room, I ask, “Did you give Remus something so he could stay around longer and keep his brother asleep?”
He pauses but doesn’t turn around.
“Maybe something in that little flask he’s always drinking from?” Still, he doesn’t speak. “I won’t say anything. I just want to know what I’m getting into here.”
He turns around at that. “I did give him a little help. But you should know, you really have no clue what you’re getting into. With either of them.”
He’s talking about Remus and Romulus.
“What do you mean? Are they. . . bad?” I feel silly at the simplification, yet I wait anxiously to hear his answer.
Layden sighs. “Aren’t we all? Bad and good and everything in between? I mean, we like to think in those black-and-white terms. But the things our father forced us to do for so long. . .”
