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“Are we staying in your old room?” Jackson asked, cutting me off.
“My old bed is the most comfortable. I figured I’d give it to you and take one of the guest rooms down the hall.”
“Hell no,” he said. “If we’re staying here. I want us in the same room.”
“Jack—” I started to protest but fighting with him would only exhaust us both. “Fine. If that’s what you want.”
He turned to Tate. “Can you take them upstairs to the last room on the right?”
“Sure,” Tate said, bounding up the stairs.
His boots hit the creaky step halfway to the top and I froze, remembering one of the many times Viktor had yelled at me for sliding down the banister. I broke my arm that day, and after he set the bone, he locked me in the basement for the night as punishment.Spare the rod, spoil the childindeed.
Jackson squeezed my shoulder. “Hey, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said. “Let’s get you upstairs. You should rest.”
“Would you please stop worrying about me? I’m fine. Even Isaac said it’s good for me to get up and move around. Let’s go see what Myra thinks of the kitchen.”
I sighed. “Fine. Just go slow, please. I don’t want you to trip on something and end up ripping one of your wounds open.”
“My wounds are healed. They won’t rip. The worst I can do to myself right now is strain a muscle.” He grabbed the lapels of my coat and pulled my body flush with his. His gaze fell on my lips. Lingering in a silent request for permission.
I pressed up on my toes and met his mouth halfway. It was a chaste kiss. Small, sweet and far too short. Magic tingled across our skin and he pulled away, leaving me breathless.
“Let’s go find something to eat,” he said. “I’m starving.”
“Just a second.” I laced my arms around his waist. “I wanted to ask you something.”
“What?”
I turned my gaze down the hall where Shado and Myra had disappeared. “Why is this the first time I’m meeting the woman that raised you?”
Jackson’s face fell. “I’ve told you about her.”
“Yeah, you told me about having an aunt named Myra, but we’ve never met, and you never told me she raised you.” I frowned. “Is it because I’m a witch?”
“No!” He shook his head. “Myra couldn’t care less that you’re a witch. I never introduced you because she doesn’t leave the bayou and we’ve been a little busy. We were in school, and then I had the police academy.”
“How long has it been since you two were under the same roof?”
“After you kicked me out, I took a week off work and crashed in my old bedroom. So, about a year. Before that I hadn’t seen her since college graduation.” He frowned.
“Then let’s go see what they’re doing in the kitchen,” I said. He’d given up more for me than I realized. He deserved to spend time with his family. “Maybe I can get her to tell me some embarrassing stories about you.”
Jackson’s chest rumbled in a deep, full belly laugh. “You wish.”
23
Dust Bunnies
Jacksonlasted just long enough for Myra to make him some eggs and chide him for yawning at the table. Once he finished eating, I walked him up the stairs and he immediately sprawled out across the top of my old queen-sized bed. I grabbed the yellow knit blanket from the red leather chair in the corner and draped it over him.
It was days like this that I couldn’t have been more grateful for the spells in the foundation that kept the dust from settling on everything. It was like I’d never left.
Like the rest of the house, my room was exactly the same. The comforter was still puffy and purple, the chair was still in the corner. The emptiness of my bookshelves was the only sign I’d moved out. That and the empty drawers. Tate had placed our bags on the dresser by the door.
“Hey.” Jackson lifted his head. “Lay down with me.”
