amount of space between them. I wondered if she’d needed a ruler to do that, or if she’d just eyeballed it.
“I only have one bedroom,” she said as I stood in the middle of the room wondering what I was supposed to do now. “The sofa isn’t great for sleeping, but it’s much more comfortable than the floor.” She grinned at me, suddenly looking much more like Ethan. “I’d offer you my bed, but I’m not that altruistic.”
She seemed to have thawed since we’d entered the apartment. Her shoulders were more relaxed, and her smile looked open and easy. Either she suffered from multiple personality disorder, or Ethan made her uptight. I was betting on the latter.
“How are you holding up?” she asked with sudden sympathy. “I can’t imagine what you must be going through.”
“I’m pretty freaked out,” I admitted. “But other than that, I’m basically okay.”
She nodded in what looked like approval, then disappeared into her bedroom, emerging shortly afterward with the promised pillow and blanket.
I eyed the sofa doubtfully. It looked about as cushy as a park bench—like it was meant to be looked at, not sat on.
“I’m sorry I don’t have anything more comfortable,” Kimber said, seeing the direction of my gaze.
“It’s fine,” I told her, not wanting to sound ungrateful. “It’s better than being locked in a cell, even if that bed was nicer.” I could have done without the Spriggan attack, and it would have been nice if Ethan and Kimber hadn’t made my rescue feel so much like a kidnapping, but I was glad not to be spending the night under Aunt Grace’s thumb.
“Thanks for getting me out of there.”
She frowned and looked away. “That was mostly Ethan’s doing. I was just along for the ride.”
Call me crazy, but I got the feeling she was just a touch bitter about it. “You helped, too,” I told her.
She dismissed my claim with a self-deprecating grunt.
“You did!” I insisted. “Those Spriggans might have killed us if you hadn’t been there.”
Her face brightened. “I did kill one of the Spriggans,” she said, sounding excited by the thought. “And I didn’t even need magic to do it.” Her smile was positively brilliant, and there was a happy twinkle in her eyes.
“If you start jumping up and down and clapping with glee, I’m outta here,” I muttered, and got the laugh I’d been going for. Kimber the Ice Queen had left the building.
“I feel quite the warrior princess,” she said. “And that was quick thinking on your part, too, tangling the Spriggan in your blanket.”
The praise made me blush. “Umm, that was really more luck than anything.”
“Nonsense! We both did quite nicely under fire. We can be warrior princesses together.”
I smiled at the image. “As long as I don’t have to wear a chain-mail bikini, I’m fine with that.”
“It’s a deal,” she said, holding out her hand for me to shake. “Now, I don’t know about you, but it’s time for this princess to get some sleep. Is there anything else you need before I abandon you?”
The list of things I needed would take an hour to recite, but I put on my bravest smile. “Nope, I’m good.”
“All right then. See you in the morning.”
Giving the couch a baleful look, I pried off my shoes and arranged the pillow and blanket as best I could. Then I climbed into my makeshift bed and tried not to think. I fell asleep before I could decide if the couch rated as torturously uncomfortable, or merely miserable.
The next time I woke up, there was no crisis, which made for a nice change. My neck and back were stiff and sore, and my head didn’t feel much clearer than it had when I’d first touched ground in London, but at least no one was kidnapping me and no monsters were attacking me.
Stretching in a vain attempt to work some of the kinks out, I stood up and headed toward the kitchen where various noises indicated Kimber was up.
I rounded the corner in time to see her pour some Cheerios into a bowl, and had to swallow a laugh. Who knew a Fae ice princess would eat something as mundane as Cheerios for breakfast?
I must have made some noise despite my effort to be quiet. Kimber turned and gave me a grumpy, first-thing-in-the-morning look.
“Want some?” she asked, shaking the cereal box.
My stomach growled its approval, and I nodded. I couldn’t help watching her out of the corner of my eye as I poured my