Chapter 15

“Okay, so,” Anton says, idly swinging his feet as he sits on the counter next to the sink while I brush my teeth. “First we go to Laila’s for breakfast, hopefully getting some information about what the hell is going on, and then we…” he hesitates here, not knowing precisely how to fill in that blank.

I spit out the toothpaste and look up at him with a shrug. “We find Orion and…use my wiles, or whatever?”

He shrugs. “Good a plan as any, I guess.”

I nod, laughing. “Honestly, though, we’re going to have to go over those lessons again,” I sigh. “I was tired last night, and half of what you said still sounds crazy to me.”

“You just gotta learn how to trust, kid!” Anton says, laughing as I grab the hairbrush and start to work it through my long hair.

We stayed up for hours last night, moving out to the terrace where the air was cool to talk about all of Anton’s mysterious methods for making Orion fall in love with me. I found a sandwich and a glass of water out there – my rations, I suppose – and ate it while Anton went on and on about the laws of attraction, and patterns of both ignoring Orion and then giving him lots of attention, and looking at him through my eyelashes, whatever the hell that means.

But…I mean, it’s more than I’ve got, so I guess I’m going along with it.

Still – it does make me wonder how many girlfriends Anton had when he was alive, if he’s this experienced in making people fall in love with him. I mean, is that why my grandmother the Goddess picked him for me? Is he some kind of love savant?

I grimace a little, not liking the thought.

“Okay, ready?” Anton asks, hopping off the counter when I put the brush down. “Call your Herald buddy, let’s go.”

“What’s got you all excited?” I ask, putting my hands on my hips and turning towards him. “It’s not like you eat.”

“You are boring, Sinclair,” he says, leaning forward towards me with a grin. “I need new company.”

I burst out laughing. “Oh, you liar,” I sigh, giving him an ineffectual shove on the shoulder. “You like me plenty.”

“Yeah, but I’m not going to say no to hanging out with a hot sea maiden,” he says, grinning and straightening up, pushing a hand through his hair to straighten it as he peers in the mirror. “Do you think she’s a mermaid?”

I scoff. “Mermaids aren’t real.”

“Babe,” he says, turning to me with a grin. “In her world, wolf shifters aren’t real. Anything is possible.”

“Oh, stop trying to make yourself pretty for her, you menace,” I grumble, waving a hand at him as I turn away. “Nic!” I call into the air. “Hey, buddy, I need to –“

He appears half an instant after Anton shifts into a wolf. “My name is enough,” Nic says, dry, looking between us. “I don’t need an explanation.”

“Are you just like, always around?” I ask, peering at Nic. “Invisible, and here, and listening to everything I say to my wolf?”

“Thankfully, no,” Nic says, turning his face towards Anton. “Though I’m sure I’m missing a great deal of vivid conversation between you and your imaginary friend.”

“Good, because we talk about you a lot,” I say, kind of enjoying myself. “And it’s not all good –“

“Where is it that you wanted to go?” Nic sighs, ignoring me and pressing on with his duties.

“Laila’s room?” I say, hoping desperately it’s allowed. “She invited me for breakfast?”

He considers me for a second, looking me up and down, taking in my pajamas. “And you’re wearing…that?”

“Oh, should I go get changed?” I ask, deeply sarcastic, gesturing towards the bedroom where the clothes are. “And would you recommend the black dress that’s cut scandalously low, or the black dress that smells of cheap liquor for breakfast with my friend?”

Nic just laughs, low and rough. “And you’re bringing…that?” He points at Anton, who steps back, managing to look shocked and affronted.

“Yes,” I say, reaching out to stroke a hand over Anton’s head. “I’m bringing this bit of light baggage. Hope it doesn’t weigh you down too much.”

Nic sighs and holds out his hand. “Fine. Let’s go.”

A moment later, we’re in a hallway outside a door that looks a great deal like my own. Nic murmurs to me to call for him when I’m ready to leave and in half a blink he’s gone.

“Abrupt,” Anton says at my side, shifting into his human form, looking at the empty space where Nic stood a second ago. “He’s not really one for formalities, is –“

But suddenly the door swings open, interrupting Anton’s speech.

“Hi!” Laila says, bubbly and excited, standing in the doorway with a wide and bright grin. “I’m so glad that you could –“

But suddenly her words fall away when she turns her head and looks up into Anton’s face, her own the picture of shock.

“Anton!” I gasp, realizing that Laila was expecting a glowing white and blue wolf and standing in front of her is a white and blue boy. “You weren’t supposed to shift!”

“Oh god damn it,” he mutters, looking anxiously down the hall. “Um, can we go inside?”

“And after everything you scolded me on last night,” I huff, shaking my head at him. “About being more careful –“

But he just snarls a little and shifts into his wolf, quickly darting past Laila into the room. She gives a surprised little shriek, probably at the touch of him against her. Or, you know, at the ghost wolf now loose in her room.

“Sorry,” I say with a little shrug. “Um, I’ll explain everything inside.”

“Okay,” she says, giving me a tentative smile and stepping back to wave me into the room. “I mean, I’m still glad that you’re here.”

“Thank you,” I say, smiling at her warmly and stepping into her room. “I’m really glad that we…”

But I lose my words completely as I step into the room and begin to spin around in a circle, completely gob smacked by the lush grandeur of Laila’s suite. Everywhere, every single thing, is bright with yellow and gold. The ceilings are covered in gold leaf and rich golden tapestries hang on every wall. The floor is layered with rugs, all in the same shades of sunshine and cream and daisy.

The bed is piled with lush pillows and her vanity absolutely spills with jewels. Anton, I don’t miss, has made himself quite comfortable in his wolf form on what can only be described as a very large, very plush throne in the corner of the room.

“Laila,” I whisper when I complete my circle and turn back to stare at her. “This is…this is beautiful!”

“Oh, do you like it?” she asks, bursting into a grin, her hands reaching up to twist in her hair, which is worn down and thickly curled today. She laughs anxiously. “I wasn’t sure you did – I thought maybe you hated it when you went quiet like that –“

“It’s fantastic,” I breathe, shaking my head and looking around again. “I mean…I don’t want to be rude or jealous or anything, but Laila, how did you get such a nice room!?”

“What are you talking about?” she asks, frowning at me. “All the rooms are the same.”

I laugh a little, shaking my head at her. “My room looks nothing like this.”

“Actually,” Anton says, and we both turn towards the throne to see him lounging in it in his guy body now, looking very Alpha and kingly himself with one leg crossed over the other, his ankle balanced on his knee. “I think she’s right, June – look at the setup. It’s exactly like yours.”

I take a moment to do as he says, peering around the room and noting that the vanity is in the same place, as is the dresser, and the bed. Laila just has a great deal more stuff.

“Did…did you change it?” I ask, peering at her, still totally confused.

“I added stuff,” she says with a shrug. “Everything that’s yellow.”

“Yellow,” I murmur, looking around, realizing that it’s kind of…everything.

“Yeah, I really missed the sun,” she whispers, I think feeling shy. “This was the closest I could get to replicating my nice sunny room at home.”

I turn to her in surprise, seeing exactly her intent immediately. “Wow, that was really clever,” I say, nodding, impressed.

“Thanks!” she says, straightening her shoulders.

“But…were you seriously allowed to bring all this from home?” I ask.

She laughs, looking at me like I’m crazy. “Juniper, of course not. None of us are allowed to bring anything except the clothes on our back – which is what I was wearing last night.”

I frown, not getting it. “So then where did all of this…”

“I called it up,” she says, shrugging one shoulder like it’s the simplest thing in the world. “What…why…” then she frowns at me and gasps, stepping forward. “Juniper, have you not figured out how to call things up?”

I turn to my friend, slowly shaking my head, utterly confused. “What are you talking about?”

She smiles at me, but turns her eyes to Anton, still sitting in her chair. “I’ll tell you in a moment – but first? I think I need to know how I wasn’t allowed to bring a single thing from home, but you were allowed to bring an entire boy.”

I burst into laughter, turning to Anton, who smiles at Laila, I think quite pleased to be both a mystery and the center of attention.