“Okay?” she asked.
I raised my brow, feeling a little guilty for ignoring her rant. “What?”
“I said, let’s move the bed first from this wall to that,” she pointed to the wall adjacent to the window. “Then the dresser to where the bed is. This way, the mirror can reflect the window and give an illusion of more space.”
“Move out of the way,” I warned. I waited until Kylie stood by the door, then moved her bed to the adjacent wall. The books shifted a little but didn’t fall. Next, I put the dresser where the bed had been while Kylie issued orders like a drill sergeant.
“A little to the right…not too much…an inch or two to the left,” she said. “Perfect. Thank you. Look, I found my phone.” It was inside the top drawer of her new dresser. “And it’s dead. I swear if catch him with it again, his DS is mine.” She placed the phone on the dresser, jumped on to her bed, scooted over and patted the area beside her. I moved the pillows behind me then flopped on my back and stared at the ceiling.
“Start talking,” she said.
I frowned. “About what?”
“What the Guardians have been up to…what I’ve missed. Duh. I haven’t seen you in over a week. You promised to keep me in the loop and I look forward to hearing about your escapades.”
“Escapades? We’ve been canceling contracts. Hardly exciting.”
“Not from the way you often tell it, and there was also the meeting with that lightning demon that blocked the light from the Kris Dagger. So start talking and don’t leave anything out,” she warned.
Obviously, I’d shared everything with her. “I’ll start with why Izzy came with me to your place. I was attacked on Saturday and lost months of memories, including those about your new home.”
Kylie sat up, her eyes round. I started with the attack and the more I talked, the more frantic she became—surprise giving way to worry then panic.
“Powerful demons are after you and you waited for nearly a week before telling me?” she screeched.
“Four days,” I corrected her.
“Whatever. And your powers…do you have a headache right now?”
I shrugged. “Just a dull throb. Sleeping this afternoon helped. But, I’ve learned to live with them.”
“Have you taken something for it?”
I cocked my brow. “Something?”
“Headache meds. It doesn’t have to be prescription strength. Just over-the-counter ones.”
I shook my head. “What?”
She rolled her eyes. “You are part human, so maybe, just maybe Ibuprofen or Aleve might take care of your human side of the headache.” She hopped off the bed and disappeared in the hallway. I was still staring after her in disbelief when she returned with a bottle and water in a glass.
“You think over-the-counter meds will cure me?”
“What do you have to lose?” She read the label, opened the bottle, and removed two pills. She pushed them in my hand, then offered me water. “Take them.”
I stared at the oval-shaped gel. “They look like miniature hellgels.”
“These have chemicals that stop headaches and whatnots. Swallow them whole too, no biting or chewing.”
I chuckled, then placed the gels on my tongue and washed them down with water. “Now what?”
“Now let human technology work its wonders. It will be absorbed into your body. Could I, you know, see them?” She indicated my back.
“Why? They look like tattoos. No big deal.”
“Thanks for spoiling the surprise for me. Now turn around.”
For such a tiny girl she could be so bossy sometimes. “I swear to Goddess, if you say anything mean…” I stood, turned and lifted my shirt.
For a moment, Kylie didn’t speak. Then she said, “Uh, Lil, there’s nothing on your skin.”
I frowned. “What do you mean? They cover my spine, from the base of my neck to my lower back.”
“Not anymore. See for yourself.”
My heart pounding, I pulled off my top and studied my back through the mirror. Kylie was right—there was nothing on my back. Not sure what it meant, I pulled my shirt back on. “That’s weird.”
“Weird good or weird bad?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
She sat back on her bed and continued to study me like I was some alien she was trying to figure out. For a brief moment, I was tempted to read her thoughts, but I resisted. I had a rule about not getting inside my friends’ minds.
“Tell me what we did this summer,” I said instead.
She chuckled. “Funny, I’m usually the one with the questions. Okay, don’t give me that look. I’ll answer you, but first, do you really think Gavyn is behind this?”
“It doesn’t matter what I think.” I scowled at the ceiling, remembering the look on Bran’s face when he’d told us about a possible connection between his brother and the Summoners. “What matters is Bran and what this would mean to him if it’s true. Sometimes, I wish I had the power to spare him pain.”
“Having Gavyn for a brother totally sucks. Makes me appreciate mine.”
It didn’t seem like that a few minutes ago. “Makes me happy I’m an only child,” I said.
“Uh, you’re not an only child.”
“Thanks for reminding me.” Solange’s perfect face, gorgeous hair, and body like a swimsuit model flashed in my head. She was only my half-sister and about as evil as Gavyn. “Every time I think Gavyn has changed, wham, he does something stupid. If he deliberately summoned these powerful demons to stop Bran from canceling his contracts, we’ll have to deal with him.”
“Send him to Tartarus?” Kylie asked.
Bran would have to let go of his brother before we could do that. “I haven’t thought that far yet, but yes.”
“What if it’s not Gavyn? Don’t look at me like that,” she added when I scowled. “What if it’s…Solange?” She raised her hands in mock surrender. “There’s that look again. You told me Solange vowed to come after you.”
I scowled, trying to remember. “I did?”
“Yes, the night of your party. You know, after Jarvis Island and the mortal combat. You came back and threw a killer party. The students talked about it the rest of the semester. You’re officially, the party—”
“Yeah, that’s nice,” I said impatiently. “Tell me about Solange.”
“You told me you called the number Valafar had given, but she was the one who answered it. She vowed to make you sorry.”
I sat up and scrunched my face. “Why would I call Valafar?”
“You wanted proof that he was dead or something like that.”
“Tell me everything I told you. Bran tried to fill me in on what we did, but that only covered what he and I did.”
“I helped with his birthday party, so if he said the cake you baked was scrumptious? He lied. It was terrible.”
I threw her a disgusted look. “He told me the same thing. Now back to filling in the blanks.”
She talked about everything I’d told her about Valafar and my doubts about whether he was really in Tartarus or hiding somewhere until he healed, then she moved to the party, our mutual friends, and the things we’d done together since school closed. McKenzie, my other human friend, was visiting relatives in England. Basically, when I wasn’t out with the Guardians or with Bran, I spent time with Kylie watching reruns of her favorite TV programs online or went shopping at the mall, except for the weeks she and her mother visited her aunt in L.A. and went to the Celtic Arts Center. A door slammed shut somewhere in the house, followed by laughter. I looked up and frowned. “Your parents are home.”
Kylie shrugged. “So? They love you. Mom thinks I’m discovering my Celtic roots because of you and your Gypsy background. According to her, you are the perfect friend.”