Page 26 of Leviathan's Song
If I was honest, I was a little unsure how I felt about staying at Sidney’s apartment alone until she came home. It would probably be fine, but knowing what I did about the crime rate in the city put me on edge. Staying with Levi came with its own set of problems, however.
“I don’t have any clothes though,” I said, glancing down at my costume.
Levi broke into a deep, teasing grin. “I’m sure we can think of something.”
While we made our way back to the Void, I sent a spectral to Sidney with a message that she should take her time with her brother and that I’d be staying with Levi for the night.
I dreaded the interrogation this was going to earn me tomorrow, but I’d deal with that when it came to it. My stomach was churning with butterflies, both over Sidney’s potentially aggressive enthusiasm about my time spent with a guy she knew I liked, and because I felt skittish just thinking about staying with him.
Levi startled me out of my inner turmoil after we passed through the Gate into the Void. “There’s going to be a vampire inside my apartment again, just in case you decide you don’t want to choke him out this time.” I cast a guilty glance at Levi as we paced up the sidewalk, only to find him wearing an entertained grin.
“I’m not wearing that gem set tonight. I didn’t want to risk hurting someone by accident in a crowd full of unknown magical traits. I didn’t see him at the party. Was he there?” I asked, more out of politeness than real curiosity. Maybe he was just a roommate and they weren’t truly friends.
“He said he would think about coming when I invited him, but he never actually comes to anything. Jordan doesn’t really leave the house unless he has to. The Vampire Advocacy Committee leaves him a cooler full of blood bags on the doorstep every few nights, and his classes are online, so other than his meetings with his mentor he doesn’t really have any reason to leave. He’s had a rough couple of years from what I can tell, but he won’t talk about it. Not that I’d have much of an idea what to do with him if he did talk to me. That’s probably why we all get along so well. Deep down, we’re all a bunch of touchy Eeyores.”
I pushed through the enticement of his voice to focus on his words. I didn’t entirely know what to make of all that, but the implications made my heart sink. Did he mean they were all depressed in some way? Levi always seemed to have some innate cheerfulness about him, a teasing smile or a playful glint in his eye—but then I remembered his downcast expression when I saw him on the bus last week and his gruffness about the items he’d sold me.
The apartment was quiet when we arrived, though I could feel both Grim’s and Jordan’s magic through their closed doors. I toed off my boots and followed Levi back to his room, where he set to digging through his dresser. He pulled out some clothes, a t-shirt and a pair of soft looking shorts, and set them on the bed.
“These are probably the only things I have that have a chance of fitting you. I hope you don’t mind if they’re baggy.” He opened the door next to his writing desk and showed me to his bathroom, pulling an unopened toothbrush out of his cabinets and setting it next to the sink for me.
He turned on the hot water for the shower and brushed his knuckles down the back of my arm as he passed behind me toward his bedroom. “Towels and washcloths are under the sink. I’ll be in the living room, just call for me if you need anything.” He pulled the door to his bedroom quietly shut as I retrieved his spare clothing from his bed.
The water in the shower was still cold when I returned, so I brushed my teeth and grabbed a washcloth and set about removing my makeup as well as I could without makeup remover. After my face was red with my efforts, I began my nightly ritual of removing all my amulets and charms from my hair, my neck, my wrists, and all the little hidden places tucked about my clothing, setting them on the countertop in neat little rows as I went.
By the time I was finished, the water was warm, so I stepped in and tried to make sense of his washing supplies. The shampoo was obvious, but the little pot of sea salt and a bottle full of floating seaweed raised some questions. I washed quickly, trying to save him some hot water, and was done in record time.
He was right about the clothing being baggy. I had to cinch the soft shorts as tight as I could get them and then fold the waistband over a few times, in hopes they would stay put. His shirt hung loose and smelled like him, fresh ocean breezes and a hint of oak (which I now knew came from his shampoo). I toweled my hair and hovered over my amulets for a moment, ultimately deciding to replace the thick manacle bracelet that provided my ward against enchantments.
I padded quietly out of the bathroom, opened Levi’s bedroom door to let him know I was done, and took a seat on his bed. The clock on the small nightstand beside his bed said it was just before midnight. The party hadn’t even really had a chance to get going, but I was going to be dragging at work tomorrow anyway. I cherished my sleep and needed a lot of it.
As I scooted back toward his pillows, the smell of popcorn drifted in, and Levi came in shaking a steaming bag and carrying bottles of water. He smiled when he saw me perched on his bed and passed me the popcorn and a bottle. “I figured you might be hungry, and we could both probably use some more water. Do you mind if I use the shower? Or I can use the one Grim and Jordan share if you need to sleep right away.” His magic beckoned gently, and I was glad for my foresight to put my ward back on.
I shook my head. “Please go use your own shower. I’m fine. Thank you for everything tonight.”
He shot me a look like I was silly and lifted his arms out to his sides a little. “Yeah, I’m really going out of my way here,” he said sarcastically. “What guy doesn’t want a beautiful girl sitting in his bed wearing his favorite sleep shirt?” He flashed me a grin and winked before he snagged some clothes out of his dresser and walked into his bathroom.
“Elara, what thehell?” He stumbled back out of the doorway immediately and grabbed the door frame. He wasn’t looking at me but, unfortunately, I’d just taken a bite of popcorn, so after a beat of confused silence, he shot me a harried glance before returning his attention to the bathroom.
“What?” I asked, trying to choke down my food and swallow some water.
He looked at me like I was crazy. “What are thesegiant insectsdoing in my bathroom?”
Oh.I laughed. “They’re not real,” I explained. “But don’t touch them. Like I said, they might knock you out.” I took another bite of popcorn.
He hadn’t moved, and his expression was still incredulous.
“I can move them if they bother you,” I said after I swallowed. “I use them for protection.”
He blinked, but otherwise didn’t move. It was like his brain was trying to put together puzzle pieces that just wouldn’t fit, and I bit back a grin.
“How about I just move them out here with me instead?” I grabbed ahold of the wasp heartstones with my mind and called them to me, a simple task to control all of them at once after I’d spent some time practicing with the full group of six. They responded perfectly, levitating quickly and fluttering their wings as they darted past Levi and settled next to me on the bed.
Levi jerked back with wild eyes, and his mouth dropped open. He cursed loudly and reached under his bed to snatch up a bat before jerking back upright against the wall. “You just said they’re not real!” His voice was accusing, his enchantment repelling.
I blinked at him. My wasps were made of metal and gemstones, but I supposed if you didn’t look very closely, they probably looked pretty intimidating. It occurred to me he might not know what a golem was or didn’t recognize them as one. I picked one up carefully.
“Have you never seen a golem?” I asked gently. Their prices were such that, generally, only the very wealthy or the very lucky could afford to own one privately. It was entirely possible for someone from a less affluent area to go their entire life never having laid eyes on one.
