“I know,” I breathed as he gently lowered his head to mine. Then his arms wrapped around me and our mouths met and I felt all the tension of the evening melt away. I opened myself to Hunter, and it was like a river of sapphire light poured into me, like he was washing me in his magick and his love. I felt my own heart open and my power moving, streaming through my body, twining with his. It felt like that spot on the Manhattan sidewalk was the center of the universe and the night and all its stars spun out from us. In that moment, in that place, I had no doubts, no insecurities.
Love, I thought. The ultimate magick.
Hunter and I were the last ones to get back to the apartment. Inside we found Robbie in the kitchen, emptying a bag of popcorn into a bowl, Bree taking sheets and blankets from the linen closet, and Sky and Raven standing at opposite ends of the living room. Mr. Warren was nowhere in sight.
Robbie consulted his watch as I hung up my jacket. “Where have you two been?” he asked, sounding like a disapproving parent.
“We…got a little lost,” Hunter said, flashing me a quick, secret smile that made my cold cheeks turn a shade more pink.
Raven grabbed a handful of popcorn. “So, where’s everyone sleeping?” she asked.
No one answered. Sky stared out the window, Robbie concentrated on the popcorn, and Bree murmured something about pillowcases and returned to the linen closet.
Hunter’s green eyes locked on me, and I found myself looking away, unaccountably shy all over again. Was it possible that we’d actually wind up in the same bed? Even if we did, I was fairly sure no one was going to be doing much fooling around—the apartment was just too cramped. I was secretly relieved. I wasn’t quite ready for that. But my heart was pounding at the thought of sleeping with some part of my body touching Hunter’s. I longed to be with him for a few peaceful hours without the confusion of consciousness. I longed to wake up in his arms.
I wondered what Bree and Robbie wanted to do. They seemed to be getting along now, but I wasn’t about to discount what Bree had said in the market.
Bree, holding an armful of linens, cleared her throat. “Well, the living room couch folds out to a double bed. The bed in the guest room is a trundle bed, so it has another mattress under it, and there’s a couch in the study.” She flashed an overly bright smile that proved she felt every bit as nervous as I did.
Raven made an impatient noise. “Let’s get it over with already. How do you want to split it up?”
Again no one answered. Finally Hunter spoke up. “The way I see it, Mr. Warren’s being kind enough to host us. Whatever we do shouldn’t upset him.”
Bree’s eyes lingered on Robbie with a mix of desire and regret. “I’m not sure my dad would notice if we mixed it up,” she admitted, “but it’s probably a good idea not to find out. Better to keep the girls and guys separate.”
I tried not to look disappointed and told myself that Bree and Hunter were right.
“Robbie and I can take the study,” Hunter volunteered.
Robbie walked over to the pile of luggage in the living room and picked up his pack and a small green stuff sack. “Air mattress,” he explained.
“Morgan and I can take the guest room,” Bree said. “That’s the room I usually sleep in when I come down here, anyway.”
“Sounds good,” I said, surprised and pleased that Bree had chosen me for her roommate.
“That means Sky and I have the living room,” Raven said.
Sky said, “I think I’ll go out for a walk. Don’t wait up for me.”
Raven stared at her in disbelief. “Oh, come on! I can’t believe you’re still upset. I was just flirting with him. It was harmless.”
“That’s not how I saw it,” Sky said, her voice tight.
Raven made a face. “Oh, Jesus.”
“Look, we’ll just rearrange,” Hunter said, sounding weary. “Robbie and I can share the foldout in the living room. Sky can have the study.”
“And where does that leave me?” Raven demanded, one hand on her hip.
Bree took the air mattress from Robbie. “You can sleep in the guest room with me and Morgan,” she said. “Really, it will be totally comfortable.”
“Brilliant,” said Hunter. “Then everybody’s happy.”
I don’t think anyone actually believed that, but we all went off to our agreed-upon quarters.
For the next fifteen minutes Bree and Raven and I worked on inflating the air mattress and getting sheets and blankets on all three beds. I was fighting a sense of crashing disappointment. How did my romantic getaway with Hunter turn into a sleepover with the girls?
Bree grabbed a robe from behind the door and announced she was going to take a shower, leaving me in the guest room with Raven. I pulled my nightgown out of my pack. It was a simple white cotton gown cut straight across the chest with skinny ribbon shoulder straps. Actually, it was Mary K.’s; she had loaned it to me. I didn’t even own a nightgown.
“You want to wear this,” Mary K. had assured me. “Trust me, Hunter will love it.”
Hunter’s not even going to see it, I thought grumpily.
Raven had changed into a loose black T-shirt with the neck and arms cut out. She was sitting on the air mattress, examining the black polish on her toenails. “Sky can be a cold bitch sometimes,” she muttered.
“Maybe,” I agreed. “But I think your flirting with Killian was hard on her.”
Raven snorted. “She knows that didn’t mean anything.”
“Then why was she so freaked?”
“I don’t know,” Raven said irritably.
I wondered how far into this conversation I should go. Though we were in the same coven, Raven and I had never exactly been friends. She was a senior and hung out with a much tougher crowd than I ever had. The idea of me, who’d been kissed by all of two boys, giving Raven Meltzer romantic advice was a joke.
I was brushing out my hair when Raven said, “So tell me—what’s your theory? On Sky, I mean.”
Okay, it was definitely a weird night. I chose my words carefully. “Sky cares about you, and you hurt her. I think her coldness is the way she reacts to being hurt. If I were you, I’d give her another chance,” I said. Then, before things could get any weirder, I grabbed my toothbrush and headed for the bathroom.
Robbie was already standing in line, listening to the sound of the shower. I wondered if that meant Hunter was alone in the living room but didn’t have the nerve to ask.
“Bree’s still in there,” Robbie reported, rolling his eyes at the bathroom door. “I think she’s washing every strand of hair on her head individually.”
“That’s okay—I’ll wait.” A daring idea suddenly occurred to me. “Robbie…how would you feel about switching places with me a little later tonight?”
Robbie’s eyebrows rose. “Morganita, you sly dog!”
“Not for the whole night or anything. Maybe for an hour or so.”
“I dunno,” Robbie said. “That means you get an hour with Hunter, and I’ve got that same hour with Bree and Raven.”
“We’ll wait till one,” I said. “Everyone should be asleep. You can just slip in next to Bree. Raven will never know.”
Robbie eyed me doubtfully. “What if Raven wakes up?”
“Then just explain you were sleepwalking and stumbled into the wrong room.”
“Yeah, that’s believable.”
“Oh, come on, Robbie. Please.”
“Shhh,” he whispered. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
My heart skipped a beat as Hunter walked toward us, toothbrush in hand. He was wearing a long-sleeved black T-shirt over gray sweats that just seemed to emphasize how long and lean he was.
I felt his eyes on me, taking in the white nightgown and my hair brushed out and hanging loose, and I knew that Mary K. had been right. I could feel Hunter’s senses reaching out to me, wanting me, drawing me toward him.