Page 49

Upstairs, Nova taps on Rev’s door and grins when Rev yelps and grabs her for a fierce hug. Pulling her inside, she strokes Nova’s arms and her hair, unable to stop staring at her. I wonder if we looked like that when she appeared on the beach, Tanner carrying her out of the water like a mage lifeguard in a smutty movie.

I wonder if we looked as in awe of her as Rev does or if our lust took over and we just looked like a bunch of super-aroused men whose girlfriend rose naked from the beyond.

Awe is the word.

I am in awe of her.

She is so beautiful; I swear she’s making the air around her shiver.

“Where did you come from?” Rev asks, sitting down hard in a chair at the kitchen table. Sarah is nowhere to be seen. Catching me scanning the room, Rev says quickly, “Sarah’s sleeping. I gave her a tincture. She’s been having nightmares.”

I nod in response, then move to the stove and put the kettle on to boil. I’m functioning on autopilot. Nothing seems like the appropriate thing to be doing because the only thing I want to be doing is taking Nova to the bedroom and peeling her clothes off.

Despite everything that happened on the beach, I’m not satiated. I need her to know how broken I was when she was gone. I need to show her the dark places I went to when I thought I’d lost her forever. Because if it happens again, I can’t be left with regrets. I can’t be left wondering why I didn’t tell her, every second I was with her, how much she meant to me.

Nova doesn’t sit down. She stands in the middle of the room and holds court with us gathered around her.

When Sam came back from The Shadow King’s dimension, he was wide-eyed and traumatized. Nico, too, has been a quivering wreck. But Nova looks like she’s been on vacation to paradise island; she’s practically glowing. In fact, as Rev closes the curtains on the outside world and dims the lights, I realize Nova is glowing. Her skin glimmers and glistens when she moves.

The five of us watch her, transfixed.

“We have a lot to do, and not much time to do it in,” she says, her smile stiffening into a more serious line.

The kettle boils, and Tanner removes it to stop the persistent whistle.

“Doesn’t sound normal for us at all,” Luther grumbles sarcastically.

Nova smiles at him, wrapping her arms around her middle. She rocks on the balls of her feet. “I know you have a lot of questions, and I’ll answer them, but first there are things that must be set in motion.”

Sam opens his mouth to speak but Nova gives him a small shake of the head and he stops, waiting for her to continue.

“The King is planning to break free from the S.D.B.’s shield. You probably guessed that already; if he wanted to leave Phoenix Falls, he would have.”

Instead of asking how she knows this, I ask, “Why wait?”

“The demons…” Rev is still by the window, twitching the curtain to look down at the street below. “They’re getting hungrier.”

Nova nods slowly. “My guess is they ran out of humans a week ago, maybe longer. They’ll start turning on supers, but it’s not enough. They need human blood. Feeding on their own kind doesn’t satisfy them.” She glances at Kole. A shadow of guilt falls over his face. He has often referred to The Hunger as a demon living inside him. Perhaps that was a more accurate description that he realized.

“So, The King’s waiting until they’re good and hungry, then he’s going to set them free,” Luther says, sitting down hard in a chair at the kitchen table.

Nova slides into his lap and presses her palm to his chest, as if she’s trying to feel his heart beating. His eyes soften, and he sweeps her hair from her neck to kiss her just below her ear.

“We need to warn the S.D.B.” Nova meets my eyes. “They need to be prepared in case we fail. Can you reach Annalise?”

“I can try, but—”

“They won’t send help,” she says quickly. “They’re too afraid. They’ll try to reinforce the barrier, maybe gather some more soldiers with bigger weapons and darker spells. But at least we’ll have warned them.”

“What’s the point if they’re not going to help us?” Tanner is making coffee. Like the rest of us, he can hardly keep his eyes off Nova and curses as he spills boiling water on his hand.

Leaving Luther’s lap, Nova walks over to him and kisses his scalded flesh. Then she blows on it; a cool mist settles on his skin and the pinkness disappears. Tanner rubs his hand, staring at it with total confusion on his face.

“First thing tomorrow, Mack, reach out to Annalise.” I accept a cup of coffee from Tanner and nod in agreement; Annalise leaked Nova’s blood tests for us, she’ll at least listen to what I have to say.

“While Mack’s doing that, the rest of us need to gather the town.” Nova looks around the room. “Who has a phone?”

Luther takes his from his pocket, and she nods.