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“Remember what we used to do to decompress?” I ask, the words falling from my mouth before I even realize it, but my eyes are transfixed by the ghost of a smile that sweeps over his face.
“I don’t think I will ever forget.” His voice is lighter. Only a smidge, but I sense it. His eyes track mine as I softly smile in response, unable to stop my eyes fluttering closed as the memory washes over me.
I can smell the sweetness in the air like I’m right back in that moment, the laughter that echoed around us as we baked batch after batch of chocolate chip cookies.
If it wasn’t at my house, my mom rolling her eyes at the amount of baked goods we made, then we were at Alexi’s, laughing and joking behind the big red door that felt like a second safe haven for me.
“Do you remember when Talon bought the wrong chocolate?” My nose crinkles in disgust at the memory Malik brings to mind, my eyes opening as I stick out my tongue.
“It was milk chocolate and milk chocolate only, how the hell did that guy manage to bring home dark chocolate?” Laughter seeps from the both of us as we settle back into our seats, a tinge of a smile still playing at the corner of my mouth as we pull up to a huge high-rise building.
The chauffeur is opening my car door before I can even unclip my seatbelt as Malik walks around the back of the car to meet me. Everything feels so… normal, so human. Like we haven’t aged and gained our powers. Something tells me they like it that way. From the mundane drives to and from their main workplace, to the way they operate at home, it’s like they’re clinging to the past versions of themselves that didn’t have access to their magic yet. Except when Talon snaps his fingers and makes food appear.
They’re confusing.
“Are you coming?” Malik’s voice shakes me from my thoughts, and it takes me a second to realize he’s waiting by the main doors for me while I remain frozen in place, completely zoned out by the car.
Shaking my head, I rush to his side, managing to keep my balance in my kitten heels as he holds the door open for me. Stepping inside, I don’t know what to expect, but I gape in surprise at the space.
There’s a reception area in the center surrounded by a shimmering black-tiled floor and large chrome chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. I can only see a handful of people around, doors leading off to either side of the room, and a back wall lined with elevators.
“This place is huge,” I murmur, more to myself than anyone else, but Malik must hear me as he tips his head toward the elevators, placing his hand at the small of my back and guides me toward them.
“It is, but we mainly operate off the ninth floor. We rent the rest of the space out so we can blend in,” he explains, but any response I may have been able to give is lost as I relish in the touch of his hand at my back. I can feel the heat warming me through the layers of clothing and it leaves me completely tongue-tied.
Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to be confused by my silence as we near the elevators, and it’s only then that I see they’re not like the ones I was expecting. No, there are glimmering doors, five to be specific, each with a number pad beside them that links to each floor. I watch as someone presses number fifteen before stepping through the portal before them.
Wow.
Color me impressed. A buzz ripples through me, a smile spreading on my face as I let the air of magic around me settle in my soul. It looked and felt so mundane moments ago, but now I can feel the energy literally vibrating in the air.
Malik walks me to the far right elevator, and when we stop in front of the portal I notice it only has the number nine linked to it. My brows knit together slightly as I glance to my left only to find every number except nine available there. As if reading my thoughts, Malik drops his hand from my back and nudges my arm.
“We gave ourselves a private portal,” he states before nodding forward, and I take the step that he’s indicating, finding myself in an entirely different space moments later.
I haven’t felt the power of a portal since I wound up in the gym where these three were waiting, but in comparison to using them multiple times a day at Saints Academy, it feels like an eternity.
Malik appears at my side as I take a small step forward, taking in the entryway before me. The walls are a warm, pale cream color, while the furnishings are a dark wood; from the bench seats, to the floor, all the way to the reception desk up here.
My eyes land on the woman sitting behind the desk as she smiles warmly at Malik, running her hand over her hair, which is pulled back into a slick bun at the base of her neck. She’s dressed in the kind of outfit Alexi had pulled out for me this morning, and I fight back the eye roll desperate to play out across my face. An achievement I immediately question when she turns her green eyes my way with a deathly glare.
What the fuck did I do? Do I know this woman?
Before I can think anything of it, Malik is placing his hand at the small of my back again and leading me toward the first room to the left. I can feel the receptionist glaring into my skull so I focus all of my strength on ignoring her, too intrigued by what could happen today to not want more details.
“So, what is it you do, exactly? You know, apart from unaliving people…” I ask quietly, suddenly feeling tinges of uncertainty now that I’m here.
The solemn look he gives me in response does nothing to calm my worry as he tips his head to the door. “I think we’re better off answering that as a whole because the three of us all have slightly different roles.”
My eyes widen slightly as I nod in response.
Well… that’s not cryptic, is it?
