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“How long has it been?” Corv asked.
“I don’t know, but it’s been quiet for at least sixteen hours.”
“Then she can wake up now,” Corvus decided for all of us, lifting a fist to the door. He pounded the wood and it rattled in the doorframe.
No sound came from inside as we waited and Corvus’ lips pressed into a taut line as he knocked again. “Ava Jade,” he called through the wood. “It’s us.”
When no sound came still, ice crept up my arms. What if…
“Grey, open it before I kick it down,” Corvus growled, and I stepped forward, digging my pick kit from my wallet and kneeling down.
“Chill the fuck out,” came AJ’s tired voice from somewhere deep in the apartment, and I stopped, slipping the metal pieces back where they came from.
The ear-cringe sound of something heavy being dragged across the hardwood came before the sound of her bedroom door opening. She’d obviously pushed her desk in front of it while she slept. At least she wasn’t too out of it to realize she might not be safe alone in the apartment.
Her stomping footfalls approached the door before they paused and I squinted through the wrong side of the peephole, catching a flicker of movement before she opened the door.
She stood there in an oversized gray t-shirt that looked distinctly like a man’s, with nothing else but black panties poking out from beneath the hem. Her hair, usually pulled back into a messy bun or ponytail, was in messy waves of darkest brown. Like she’d showered and passed out before she had the chance to brush it.
The natural texture of it suited her. Gave her the lion’s mane she deserved.
AJ took us all in in turn, saying nothing.
She pushed the door the rest of the way open and spun on her heel, heading to the kitchen. Letting us in.
It was a better start than I thought.
“Ava Jade,” Corvus hedged as we closed the door behind us, wading into the apartment.
She held up a hand from where she stood in front of the espresso machine. “Shhh,” she hissed. “No one speaks until I have a cup of coffee in my hand.”
“We really should—”
She fingered a small paring knife from the block next to the espresso machine and tossed it. It landed three inches from my foot in the hardwood with a thunk.
“I throw the big one next,” she warned, searching the back of the stainless steel beast for a switch.
Corvus walked into the kitchen, nudging her out of his way despite her glaring at him. “Let me do it,” he grumbled, tugging four cups down from the warmer on top. “Move.”
Her jaw tightened, but she didn’t argue, crossing her arms to lean on the counter next to him as he filled ground beans and filled the thingy that let the creamy espresso drip out, frothing milk while it finished filling the bottoms of two mugs.
He passed one latte to AJ first, indicating Rook for the other, while he started the process over again, making two more for himself and for me.
I took the warm mug he offered, and no one said a damn word until he was finished cleaning up the machine and all its parts. Until Ava Jade had drunk at least half of her latte, trying to conceal how much she was enjoying each sip.
“Can we speak now?” he asked her, grabbing his latte and her elbow to tug her toward the living room.
She jerked away from his touch, making the latte almost slosh out of her mug, little lines of caramel liquid dripping down its side. “Look what you almost made me do,” she sneered, flicking her tongue out to lick up the lost droplets before they could fall.
And fuck if that tiny thing didn’t make me a bit hard in my jeans.
She continued into the sunken living room on her own. “Speaking of things you made me do…”
“Don’t pretend for even a second that you talking to Colin was our fault,” Corv argued.
AJ whirled on him, stopping him from following her with two fingers jabbed into his chest. He stiffened but remained in control. “It was your fault. All of you.”
Rook and I shared a look.
