“How?”
“The material is spelled to affect those who aren’t part of the Brotherhood. Non-Arcana.”
“Affect them how? By erasing their memories?”
“No, not at all. Just preventing them from imprinting us in the first place. Think of it like a computer file you forgot to save.”
“But that makes no sense. If I forgot to save a file, I wouldn’t forget the fileexisted. In fact, I’d probably go crazy looking on my hard drive for—”
“Stevie? I think you’re confusing me with someone who gives a fuck about accurate technical analogies, and I hate to rain on your nerd parade, but Kirin isn’t in this closet with us.”
“Hmm.” I step closer, letting my breasts brush against his chest, figuring I owe him one after he teased me with the whole zipper thing. “That’s a shame, Baz. I can only imagine what sort of trouble the three of us could get into together in here.”
“Um.” Baz swallows hard, his heart beating a little harder against my chest. “What did you just say?”
“No idea. I guess I forgot to save the file.” I break contact and push open the closet door, flooding the space with light. “Now take me to your cave before the tea gets cold.”
Fifteen
STEVIE
By the time we reach the cave entrance, our nondescript black fleeces have transformed into the hooded cloaks I remember, only mine is now decorated with white cheddar fingerprints on account of the bag of popcorn I inhaled. Probably should’ve been more careful with that, but it’s too late for wet-wipes now.
We follow the soft glow of torchlight down the path that leads into the cave. Doc and Kirin are already waiting inside. Seconds later, Ani jogs in after us, nearly breathless.
Baz cracks up, pulling Ani in for a side hug and ruffling his hair. “Next time, you’re coming with us, Gingersnap.”
“What’ve you got there?” Doc asks, nodding at my backpack.
“Just a few snacks,” I say. “I wasn’t sure what the protocol was, but in the absence of a sign-up sheet, I brought a little of everything.”
“Snacks.” He shakes his head as if he’s about to scold me, but Doc can’t hide the smile quirking his lips.
“And tea.” I set the backpack on the ground. “Can’t have a meeting without food, Doc. Even if itisa secret society meeting in some sketchy-ass desert hideaway.”
“No,especiallynot then.” Doc winks at me, his dark eyes glittering in the torchlight.
I return his smile, glad we’re all reunited again. But the tension between us lingers, awkward and uncomfortable. I feel like they’re all holding their breath, waiting for me to unleash hell.
Especially Kirin.
It’s the first time I’ve seen him since I kicked everyone out of my suite the other night, and now he stands a little off to the side, glancing at me with a small, uncertain smile.
“I’m glad you made it,” he says as I approach. “Hopefully the trek wasn’t too—”
I cut him off with a fierce hug, refusing to let go until I feel his arms slide around me, his lips pressing a sweet, protective kiss to the top of my head.
There’s so much I want to ask him—about his sister Casey, about how he’s feeling—but now is not the time. We’ve got other business to attend—serious business, or we’d be chatting about it over beers at Hot Shots instead of in our secret cave.
“Shall we begin, then?” Doc asks.
“Snacks first,” I say, kneeling down to unpack the paper plates and goodies from my bag. “No seriousness on empty stomachs.”
“Stevie.” Doc pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. “I appreciate your enthusiasm, but we really should get—wait. Is that brie?”
Grinning, I pass him a small plate loaded up with goodies. I make one for each of us, and we spend just a few more minutes eating, sipping tea, and pretending that this is a normal gathering of friends and not a strategy session on how to stop the end of the world.
But pretending only gets us so far, and it’s not long before the reality of the situation settles in around us.
