normal together now,” Kimber said, and I couldn’t help smiling.
“Who needs normal?” I responded. “Normal’s boring.”
And, at least for that moment, I actually meant it.
Kimber and I both leapt to our feet when we heard the distinctive sound of the front door opening and closing, then of footsteps coming from the direction of the kitchen.
“It’s just me,” Ethan called before we had a chance to get too worried.
He appeared in the bedroom doorway a moment later, a cocky grin on his face. My heart did a little ka-thump at the sight of him.
“You look terribly proud of yourself,” Kimber said, using the sour tone I’d once thought was the only one she had.
His grin broadened. “I am rather brilliant, if I do say so myself.”
“Which you do on a regular basis.”
He was undaunted by the ribbing. “After I saw Grace this afternoon, I knew someone would be keeping a close eye on the two of us,” he said.
“Wow, brilliant deduction.”
Ethan made a mock pouty-face. “You’re ruining the story.” I could tell by the look on her face how heartbroken Kimber was about that, but she resisted the urge to come out with another quip.
“I figured being constantly watched would rather cramp our style. So I managed to ditch my tail, and then came straight here.” He looked at Kimber expectantly, but she shook her head.
“I’m not in the mood to play your straight man.”
He turned the same expectant look on me, and my heart did another one of those ka-thumps. I couldn’t not give him what he wanted, not when he was looking at me like that.
“How did you ditch your tail?” I asked, and hoped I didn’t sound breathless.
His chest swelled with obvious pride. “I’ve finally got my invisibility spell working.”
“This would be the spell you’ve used to make yourself invisible but that doesn’t work on your clothes?” Kimber asked with a raise of her brows. She grinned at me. “He thought he was so clever, trying to sneak up on me, but the moving shirt, pants, and shoes kind of gave him away.”
Ethan wasn’t daunted. “The same! Only I’ve gotten it to work for the clothes now, too.”
“How would you know? You can see yourself even when you’re invisible.” She glanced at me once more. “That’s why he thought he could sneak up on me even though his clothes weren’t invisible.”
Ethan gave her a haughty look. “The fact that I doubled back and walked right past the bloke who was following me without him even looking up was kind of a dead giveaway.”
“Okay. You managed to ditch the bloke, and the first thing you do is show up here, where you know someone is watching me. How is that helping?”
He gave her an exasperated look. “No one knows I’m here. If you leave the flat, our friends will follow you. Once you’re out of sight, Dana and I will make a run for it.” There was a twinkle in his eye that said this was all great fun to him. I wondered if he was forgetting all about that inconvenient little Spriggan attack last night.
Kimber didn’t like the plan. I don’t think she liked acting as a decoy, and I’m sure she didn’t like leaving me alone with Ethan. But it seemed unlikely we’d find a better way to sneak me out without being seen, so she reluctantly agreed.
She gave me a significant look before she left, and I nodded to let her know I got the message not to let Ethan take advantage of our situation. I figured we’d be too busy running for our lives for him to make a move anyway.
What I hadn’t taken into account was that once we made our great escape and the pressure was off, I would still be alone with him.
chapter twelve
Ethan and I waited in Kimber’s apartment until she’d been gone about five minutes. My every nerve was aware of him, but he paid almost no attention to me, his eyes fixed on the slight gap between the drapes that covered Kimber’s window. I sat on the edge of Kimber’s bed, my hands clasped in my lap, my heart beating just a bit too fast. I wasn’t even sure if my nerves were because of Ethan, or because of our escape attempt.
“Let’s go,” Ethan said briskly when he felt sure Kimber had successfully lured her watcher away.
I followed him through the apartment toward the front door, having to almost run to keep up. “Where are we going?” I finally