Revelations (Evie Cortez Book 3)

Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

We didn’t immediately head home. I was starving and Elissa was excited to see something besides the forest of Celestin City. The diner was open twenty-four hours with the perfect variety of breakfast and diner meals. We were shown to a booth and handed some menus by a waitress who looked like she wanted to be anywhere but at work.

“How are you doing?” I asked my sister.

She shrugged. “It’s weird but I don’t really remember much.” Her mind was trying to protect her from a danger she never should’ve been in. “That was the case you told me about this morning?”

“Yeah. They were a piece of work, right?”

“I still think you need a new job.”

I smiled and played into the easygoing moment we shared last night. “I like this one.”

After dinner and dessert it was almost eleven. By then both Elissa and I were dragging our feet. When it was time to go home, I took Caleb’s hand to pull him to the side of the car. The alpha hadn’t left my side once since we drove away from the magic shop.

“Is that offer still open?” I asked. “To crash at your place?” I was nervous asking him. I didn’t want to give him any wrong ideas but at the same time, I couldn’t deny I needed him.

“You thought that wasn’t a good idea.”

“It wasn’t last night but today is different. You have more space and to be honest I could use the backup.” The day was long and complicated. I didn’t see Caleb trying to have that conversation any time soon, hopefully.

“Sure. Elissa can have the spare bedroom and you can sleep in Jamie’s room.”

“Thank you.” We broke eye contact before it got any more awkward, at least on my part. Caleb didn’t look like the type of person to experience awkwardness. He always seemed so sure and confident about everything.

The rest of the night played out just as we agreed. Elissa was dead on his feet, falling asleep just after I showed her to the bedroom. Thankfully she hadn’t shown any lasting ill effects of her nightmarish ordeal.

I wanted to sleep, oh how I wanted to sleep, but with my hate for Alexandra flickering back to the surface it’d have to wait. I closed the guest bedroom door and continued downstairs.

Caleb was sorting through a stack of mail left over from the last few days. He looked up when he heard me coming. He didn’t have to say anything when his eyes did the job.

“I need to talk to Bess.” I said, while reaching for jacket I left tossed on top of the loveseat.

“It can’t wait until tomorrow? You’re starting to look like a raccoon.”

“Funny. I need to know Alexandra is still locked away and I need to know she doesn’t have something else wicked up her sleeve. The way I hear it, catching evil villains is usually harder.” I couldn’t shake the image of Elissa scared at knifepoint.

“She’s a vain woman that let temptation cloud her judgment. She easily agreed to meet you because she foolishly thought she could manipulate you. Her desire for that mask meant everything.” Caleb laid the white envelopes down and took a step closer.

I nodded, finding plausibility in his argument. “I believe all of that and I know for a fact she never expected me to gain the upper hand...” I sighed. “There just feels like a big but hanging in the air. She has demons in her pocket and dangerous connections that she could reach without magic. I’m worried, I’m...”