Page 72 of Infernal Secrets

“I guess it makes sense after today.” The huffed laugh that followed her words made me frown. “Thanks,” she whispered.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“Honestly? I don’t know. My nerves are so on edge.” She pulled her necklace from beneath her shirt and squeezed it in her hand. Her white-knuckled grip hid the pendant attached to the long black cord around her neck.

I tucked my hands into the pockets of my lounge pants, shifting from one foot to the other. “Would you like to come sleep downstairs so you’re not alone?”

She looked up at me. “Where would I sleep?”

“I’d let you take the chaise. I’ll take the floor if you have extra blankets.”

“Ezra would kill me if he woke up with me next to him.”

I doubted that.

While he seemed to resent her role in bringing us here, he never would’ve lent his power to mine if he truly despised her. He’d never defy his father for just anyone.

“I could sleep up here, so you’re not alone.” I glanced at her bed when her brows hitched and added, “On the floor, I mean.” I ran a hand over my braids.

“That’s not really a good idea. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

“Trust me. I need something different.”

A small knot formed between her brows. “If you say so.” She stood. “I have extra blankets in the closet in the hall. Grab whatever you want to make a pallet.”

“A pallet?” Why would I want to build a pallet?

“Yeah. You can put it beside the bed,” she said, tucking her necklace beneath her shirt again and standing to grab her glass off the nightstand.

I glanced at the hall. She kept lumber in her closet?

She turned. My confusion must have shown on my face because she asked, “Are you okay?”

“I don’t think a pallet’s going to work.”

“Why not? Not thick enough?” She sighed, heading for the bathroom with her glass. “I told you the floor wasn’t a good idea.”

“No. I just don’t think the guys are going to appreciate me building pallets in the middle of the night.”

She paused, looking over her shoulder at me. “What are you talking about? Why would they care?”

“You think Cyn was bad a few minutes ago? How do you think he’d react if I started hammering in the middle of the night?”

She blinked. Once. Twice. Then her sweet laughter spilled out unfiltered.

“What?”

Her hand went up as she bent forward. “Hang on,” she said, still caught in a fit of laughter, the sound light and unguarded.

I didn’t know what to make of it. She’d been scared and a wreck, and now laughter? Had she finally snapped? I sensed nothing wrong—and I suspected I’d know given my recent ability to understand her mood shifts.

When she calmed, she stood upright and put her hand on her hip. “Are you talking about making a wooden pallet like workers pick up with a forklift?”

“Aren’t you?”

She rolled her lips over her teeth, her face reddening as she fought another laugh. Taking a deep inhale through her nose, she exhaled slowly. “Okay. No. A pallet is a bunch of blankets on the floor to make a floor bed.”

Now it was my turn to look at her like she’d lost her mind. “Uh-what?”