“Almost as pretty as ‘snogging,’” he said.
I couldn’t argue.
“Well, that settles that,” Rory said. “I mean, if a guy puts his tongue in you, he’s totally trustworthy. Except, oh no, wait . . . He’s a guy.”
“I didn’t say I trusted him,” I said. “I only said I made out with him, which implies there’s some sort of connection. Hopefully, that grows into trust, but I’m not stupid.”
My instinct told me not to tell them anything about his freelance work with Kejetan. Eventually, I needed all three of them on my side working together, and to coin Caleb’s phrase, I had to take baby steps toward building that foundation. Admitting intimacy between the two of us would get them to accept Caleb more readily while allowing me to use it in trying to figure out where his true loyalties lay. I only hoped I had given my friends enough information to get them not to make stink faces when I mentioned his name.
“Well?” I asked, looking for a reaction.
Marshall shrugged, having already voiced his discomfort over all this girl talk.
“Hope you know what you’re doing,” Rory said, falling back into the book in front of her.
This time I fell back to my own research, my mind freer than before thanks to my confession. It also seemed to do the trick in helping with my back mind counting because I went a half hour more with it without interruption until my phone vibrated on the table.
Caleb.
“Be right back,” I said, standing, as Rory and Marshall looked up at me.
I snatched my phone off the table and ran to the door, throwing it open.
Outside the research room, the transformed church still held the air of authority, and I couldn’t help but lower my voice to a whisper as I answered.
“Yeah?”
“You ready? Time to fly. For real.”
“What?” I asked, looking around to make sure Desmond Locke wasn’t anywhere close enough to hear. “Now?”
“There’s no time like the present. Is that a problem?”
“No,” I said, trying to hide my hesitation. “I just didn’t expect to do this already. Are you ready on your end?”
“Yes,” he said. “I’m broke from buying supplies, and I may have depleted much of your stash of Kimiya in the process, but I’m ready. Have you been practicing your counting?”
“Yes,” I said, neglecting to leave out the part where I kept forgetting to keep it at the back of my mind.
“Then we shouldn’t have an issue,” he said. “Can we meet in, say, an hour?”
“Fine,” I said. “Anything I should bring?”
“Just your Spellmasony little self,” he said, and hung up.
I slid my phone into the back pocket of my jeans and hurried back to the room to gather my belongings into my backpack. Alexander’s stone tome was still in it, and I slid my notebook in as I sorted through the books on top of the table.
“Gotta run,” I said, trying to sound calm, but neither of them looked all too convinced.
“Everything all right?” Rory asked.
“Fine,” I said, struggling with a quick response. “Just an . . . alchemy thing.” I could endure the ridicule of confessing what Caleb and I had done the other night, but I didn’t dare divulge the next part of our plan to them. Honesty was one thing, and sharing my intimate moment harmless in the grand scheme of things, but keeping this next part of the plan from them meant Rory and Marshall would be safe if it blew up in our faces.
I slid two of the more promising books I had pulled across the table to Rory. “Keep at it,” I said. “We need to find Alexander’s book.”
Marshall grabbed one of them but eyed me with skepticism. “Sure this isn’t a booty call?” he asked.
“No, it’s not,” I said, heading for the door leading out of the research room. “And please don’t ever say booty call again. It doesn’t work for you.”
“Let me know how the alchemy of French kissing goes for you,” Marshall called out after me.
I shot him a look that shut him down.
“Don’t you stay out too late, young lady,” Rory chided, as I opened the door leading out of the room.
I was already regretting being honest about that part of the other night. My only hope was that after tonight’s plan, I still got to continue living to regret it.
Seventeen
Alexandra
Nerves were a wonderful thing. They kept you on your toes, made you feel alive, especially when there was always a good chance of dying in the risky world of Spellmasonry. At least tonight there were some good nerves filling my mind, and seeing Caleb reading through one of Alexander’s books while waiting in my family’s art studio filled me with an irresistible urge to kiss him. So I did.
For a second, he hesitated in surprise, but there was a hungry desperation in both of us that took over. All thoughts drifted from my mind for a moment, a welcome relief to everything going on, and I only broke away from Caleb when I realized I was still counting in the back of my head.
His smile was warm as he searched my eyes.
“Let me guess,” he said, drumming a steady waltzlike cadence on his leg. “One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four . . .”
I bowed to him. “However did you guess?”
He gestured from my lips to his. “Does this mean you trust me now? Where are your friends?”
“I have to trust you at this point,” I said, sobering as my momentary frivolity faded away. “Either you’re going to help me release Stanis from Kejetan’s sway or you’re not. Keeping Rory and Marshall out of that for now is for their own safety.”
Caleb stepped to the fully finished wings I had been working on, running his hands over them. The mannequin was already gone, and their expanse was simply held up by supports on either side.
“I’ve given them a final treatment,” he said. “With what little Kimiya is left. You feeling confident about flying after our practice the other night?”
I nodded, hiding my uncertainty. I hadn’t had to worry last night about anything like flying and dealing with several thousand pounds of gargoyle at the same time . . .
“Let me worry about the flying,” I said. “You just better come through on your end. We either turn Stanis, or—”
Caleb was annoyed and already nodding when we were interrupted by the unmistakable sound of movement up on the roof.
I didn’t need to finish my sentence. I was sick of thinking of Stanis as the enemy.
I stepped to the wings, pressing my back and shoulders up into the notch of the carved-out harness. The coolness of the stone came through my coat, a chill spiking down my spine. I shivered.
Caleb looked up at me while he adjusted the placement of the wings on my shoulders. “You okay?” he asked softly.
“I’m fine,” I said, trying to find my center of balance. The wings were heavy, which I knew they would be, but I braced my legs under the weight of my new burden. “Pull the supports away.”
Caleb ducked under the wing on my left as he moved to my back and put his hands along the stone stretching out to either side of me, lifting.
“On your toes,” he said.
I pushed myself up into the air, the balls of both feet straining from the effort. Caleb pulled the supports free on both sides, and I lowered my feet, spreading my legs to take on the full, crushing weight. Despite my efforts, I wasn’t perfectly centered, off-balance, and I stumbled to my left before correcting myself.
Caleb worked as my spotter, ready to grab the wings, but I shooed him away.
“You sure you can do this?” he asked. “I think our mutual frenemy up there might be a bit hostile tonight.”