Page 46 of Livewire Witch

“Ember, you should head home and get some sleep. You look like you need it,” I tell him.

“Sure, my commute is a real nightmare.” He grins at me, then turns to Zeph. “Thanks for that, by the way.”

Turning to Z, confused about what Ember means, I see all the telltale signs of embarrassment in his body language. He rubs the back of his neck and it starts to drizzle, like he’s trying to tamp down his emotions, but they can’t help breaking through.

“What does he mean?” I ask.

“There was an empty apartment above the cafe.” Zeph shrugs like it’s no big deal. “Figured it would be good to get them out of that deathtrap and—” He winces at his own judgmental words, clearly remembering all the shit he said to me before. When he described me as trash that got tossed to the side.

“Well, uh—” Z continues, eyes widening like he’s aware he’s close to digging his own grave. “I thought it would be good.”

“You moved out of the warehouse?” I ask Ember. “Huh, I go underground for a week and suddenly everyone’s lives are moving on without me. What happened to the world stopping spinning when I’m not watching it?”

“It’s not a huge place. The twins have their own room, and my bedroom looks like a cupboard, but I’ve been making some improvements to the walls.”

“You’ve what?” Zeph barks.

Ah, guess I didn’t warn him about our resident artist putting his stamp on every bare surface he can find. I’m surprised Ember hasn’t decorated the cafe inside and out yet.

Another sign that he’s even more exhausted than he looks.

“Hanna and Luna are bunking together too, so there’s plenty of bickering going on. But we all fit and it has a working boiler. Heat. No rotting floorboards.”

“But—”

“It’s still better than walking a mile from the city every time you want to get home. There’s no Rapture den right next door either.”

“That we know of,” I mutter.

“Plus, we’re all nearby,” Roscoe says.

I don’t really know what to say. I know that part of the deal we made for me curing Fabian was to improve my family’s lives, but these mages living up to their end of the bargain has me feeling strangely emotional.

I pull Ember into a fierce hug. “Let me know if you need anything, day or night.”

When I first moved in with the Nexus mages, it was supposed to be a temporary thing. A few weeks at most. That seems to be stretching out indefinitely and I have no idea when I’ll move back with my family.

Or there will be room for me when I do.

“So, there are four bedrooms?”

Ember shifts slightly. “Yeah.”

“We’re keeping an eye out for a bigger place,” Roscoe says cheerfully. He then leans closer and speaks directly into my ear. “Although, I don’t think I’ll be letting you go anytime soon, sweetheart.”

“All right, gross. I’m heading up,” Ember says with an exaggerated shudder. “Take care of her, okay?” He says to themages before smacking a kiss onto my cheek. “And try to keep a lid on the ol’ mindspeak when you’re bumping uglies, m’kay?”

With a jaunty wave, he disappears inside, leaving me gaping after him.

ZEPH STARES DOWN ATthe bodies with a grimace. “You don’t have any powers of levitation, do you, Little Witch?”

I shake my head and he lets out a bone-weary sigh.

It’s not until about half an hour later, once he and Fabian have found some industrial strength bags from somewhere and Z has two of the bodies hefted over his shoulders—like a nightmarish Santa—I realize I probablycouldhave used my magic to help.

“Maybe I should have tried to resurrect them. I might have been able to get them to walk down the street like creepy puppets or something.”

“Can you do that?” Roscoe looks impressed. The two of us are settled on the floor of the dark cafe with the alley door wide open. It’s cold and uncomfortable, but that’s helping me to stay awake. By now, it’s three in the morning and my buzz from Dante’s blood has faded into a faint hum.

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