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Chapter 18
“Gingernuts,” I called out, eyeing a lizard dashing under the pantry. “I found it!”
He meowed behind me as Iripped open the door and spotted the critter scurrying under a shelf. I dove after it, my foot slipping on my hair at my feet. I fell to my knees but grasped the critter. “Come here, you.”
The little thing wriggled in my palm. “You don’t want to be in here—trust me. You’re better off outside.” Plus, I didn’t need Gingernuts leaping over me to chase the lizard as he had the previous night, startling me awake.
At first, the commotion made me think had returned from his trip, only to discover a goddamn lizard dashing over my chest and Gingernuts using my ribcage as a springboard.
For the past day I’d been sitting by the window, waiting, studying the woods for any sign. Still no men, or witch either. Had her threat been empty?
I figured Gage had gone with Reed. Besides, it wasn’t like him to not visit after everything I’d told him, our acrobatic sex act, and his promise to assist me. I didn’t doubt his sincerity, yet with each passing moment, dread crept through me that something bad had happened to the three shifters.
Two more lizards ran from under the kitchen counter and sprinted across the darkened living room. “Gingernuts! How many have you brought inside?” Or did they climb the walls? Though with the number I keep catching in the tower and now knowing Gingernuts goes outside, I would not be surprised if he was responsible.Heavens, they better not be breeding.
I sprinted after them, trampling on my hair strewn all over the room when a shadow fell over the window. I shuddered on the spot and pivoted on my heels to face the stranger. My thoughts flew to the gargoyle coming to punish me. Except I hadn’t left the prison in days. The lizard jumped out of my grasp, and my breaths ran ragged.
The figure climbed inside, except it wasn’t Gage because there were no wings.
“Reed?”
His exhales were loud and quick, as if he’d been running. When he stepped closer, the kitchen light illuminating the stranger, I realized how wrong I’d been.
“Kahlo!”
He wore a loose shirt with black trousers and boots. I was drawn to his dark-brown hair, his liquid-green eyes that glimmered with golden flecks. With his gaze on me, his pupils grew vivid and wide. His distinct cheekbones and angular jaw had me tingling to reach out and cup the side of his face, caress his shadowy stubble.
I darted toward him and embraced him, beaming with joy to see someone. “Thank the moon you’re alive.”
His muscular arms were cords around my body, lifting me off the ground, his fingers pressing into my back with an urgency that made me believe he’d missed me. He whispered, “Where can we talk without the gargoyle hearing?”
When the gargoyle had ripped Reed out of the tower, it had happened after he’d raised his voice, so if we kept extra quiet, Kahlo should be safe. I dropped out of his hug and closed the window shutters. When I turned, he picked up a fistful of my blonde hair, staring at the length from my head to all around the room.
“Welcome to my curse.” I took his large hand in mine and guided him to the farthest corner of my bedroom. I’d spent endless nights crying there after each of my beatings, and ironically, I’d transformed the spot into the most comfortable location in the tower.
A couch made up of oversized stacked cushions I’d tied together with ribbons sat in the corner. I’d covered the piece in a silk fabric the color of the sun to brighten the room.
“I keep having this stupid repetitive dream about the three of you as gargoyles.” Heavens, I’d woken up the last two nights screaming and in a sweat.
Kahlo sat on one end of my cushion stack, the pillows compressing under him to half their size, his bent knees now reaching his chest. His eyebrows pinched together as he checked behind me. I jumped on the opposite end to act as a counterweight. But my load did zilch. Instead, the fabric under me gave way, and I slid toward him. I yelped as my stomach lurched. I crashed into his side, and we both rolled out of the couch, arms, legs, and hair tangled. We landed on our sides, his arms clasped around me, one across my rear. Bodies pressed together, side by side, facing each other. My hair had coiled around us, keeping us plastered.
Heat crawled over my cheeks. “Oh shit, I’m so sorry. And that’s my ass you’re groping.”
His eyes smirked devilishly. “I know. And it’s incredibly sexy. Anyway, sitting down is so overrated.”
I couldn’t help but laugh and wriggled to unknot us, which failed miserably. “This has never happened before.”
He chuckled again and lifted his side, releasing a bundle of my trapped hair, and his grip on me slackened. We fell apart, both of us onto our backs, staring up at the billows of fabric I’d hung from the ceiling. I lifted my hip, and he removed his trapped hand.
“Think there’s a flaw in my couch creation.” I didn’t move as we remained on the floor, and it was nice to lay alongside a sexy tiger shifter. “I need a frame to keep it sturdy. Anyway, how’d you get past the gargoyle?”
Darkness concealed his expression, but his eyes gleamed.
“I snuck in here super slowly, using the shadows. It helped that you made a racket in the tower, calling after someone named Gingernuts and something about lizards.”
“You heard that?” Fire crawled up my neck. What else had I said? “My pet cat keeps bringing bugs and reptiles into the tower. And for some reason when I sleep, all the critters insist on jumping into bed with me.”
Kahlo arched a brow, and I expected a smartass comment, but he said nothing. Yep, someone had more restraint than me, so I changed topics. “Have you heard from Reed?”
