PART III
RAYA & PHOENIX
28
Raya put on the leather jacket and tugged the collar into position. She rummaged in the open suitcase before zipping it all the way around. Only the smaller overnight bag remained open.
Tomorrow, she would fly home.
Phoenix watched the process from his seat at the hotel room table. “All packed?”
Raya set the suitcase upright. “All packed. Just a few things left out for tonight and tomorrow.”
Phoenix stood and smoothed his hands over the shoulders of her jacket. “And this? Is this your armor for tonight?”
Raya met his gaze. “I like my armor.”
“Your armor is impenetrable.”
“Just like yours.” She flipped one lapel of his leather jacket up in a teasing manner and let it fall back into place.
“We’re not talking about jackets anymore, are we?”
“Such a clever little dark prince.” She turned away and set about fixing her wand into her hair.
“Don’t call me—”
“Why should I stop when I know you’re enjoying yourself?” Raya smirked.
“Two can play at that game, Witchiepoo.”
She laughed. “Who said I enjoyed being called that?”
Phoenix delivered his response with quiet precision. “You didn’t have to.”
Her mouth opened and shut. “We’d better go. We don’t want to be late.”
Cosmo’s bar echoed with their footsteps as they crossed the empty room. The candles in the wall sconces cast flickering shadows like ghosts across the floor.
Raya looked around. “Anybody home?”
Cosmo popped up from behind the bar. “About time you two showed up.”
“You think everyone got the message?” Phoenix slid onto a stool.
“We’re ready to rock.” Cosmo flipped a bottle, then pointed it at Raya. “How are you going to keep the wicked witch from seeing the good witch?”
Phoenix reached over the bar and grabbed a cherry. “Courtesy of our angel-in-residence.” He bit into the unnaturally red fruit.
Justine and Justinian rocketed through the window as if it weren’t there. Justinian landed and folded away his parchment-colored wings. Justine skidded to a stop, brushed nonexistent dust from her shoulder, and folded away her brilliantly white wings. “My ears are burning,” she said.
“Justine!” Cosmo vaulted over the bar like a gymnast and ran to Justine, throwing her arms around the angel.
“Oof! Help, I’m being attacked!” Justine threw her head back and laughed, clasping her arms around Cosmo. They staggered across the room still holding each other and collapsed into a corner booth, laughing and talking with animated gestures.
Phoenix swallowed the cherry. “Make that two angels-in-residence.”
Justinian eased himself onto a stool next to Raya. “She said if I was going, she was going.”
