“With your wards it’s safer for you to stay here,” he pointed out.

“I’m not going to lock myself in my room and hide under the covers and hope the monsters go away. I need answers, so I’m going with you. There, all done.” Stepping away, I let him inspect my first-aid handiwork.

“Thanks, sugar.”

I flinched at the nickname, the scene a little too familiar for my taste. Lex’d spent a lot of time in my apartment while we were dating, because my place was closer to most of his work than his house was. Walking around him, I crossed to the sink, nudging Tybalt aside so I could wash up. As I dried my hands off, I fought the urge to yawn. I was exhausted. I hadn’t been this tired in years, possibly never. Throwing around so much big magic put a drain on my magical batteries and I hadn’t really given them an opportunity to recharge. If we got into another fight, I’d start to worry about the strength of my shields. Then again, it wasn’t a question of if we’d get into another fight, but of when.

“You look like you could sleep for a week,” Tybalt said.

“Wouldn’t that be nice.”

“You should come home with me, stay with the family.”

“It’s not a bad idea,” Lex agreed. “You’d be safe from the vamps in Faerie.”

“Yeah, but I’m safe from the vamps here as long as they don’t drop a house on my building.” I didn’t want to run and hide behind my faerie cousins-it seemed like cheating somehow.

“Fair enough. So you’ll be leaving now?” Tybalt asked Lex. The faerie folded his thin arms across his chest and watched the guardian carefully. It made me want to give Tybalt a big hug.

“I’ve been ordered to look after Cat. It’s best if I stick close. She does have a nice, comfy couch.” He nodded toward my living room.

“And you’d best make sure you stay on that couch, Duquesne.”

“Of course.” Amusement danced in those beautiful light blue eyes, but Tybalt and I weren’t laughing.

“I don’t know what idiot assigned you here, but I don’t like it, and you’d better be on your best behavior.” The faerie glared up at Lex, and then he turned to me and gave a slight bow. “Blessed be, Kitty. Rest well.” With a soft pop the faerie blinked out of the room, leaving only me and the half-naked guardian. Well, me, the half-naked guardian and my two cats who had been staring at him since he entered the apartment, watching Lex as though he were the King of all cat-kind and they were awaiting his orders. It made me want to yell “boo!” just to see if they’d jump.

“We ought to get you into bed soon,” Lex advised.

I blinked, certain I’d heard that wrong, and struggled to maintain my composure. Certain death was almost easier to face than the idea of Lex spending the night in my apartment.

Placing my hands on my hips, I glared up at him. “Why are you here?”

“Orders, actually.”

“From who? Obviously they didn’t come from the witches’ council. They’d be more than happy to see me dead.”

“Now that’s just not true. And you know I can’t tell you.”

“Great, classified information, got it.” Deciding I wasn’t going to get anywhere, I walked away into the living room. “I’ll get you a pillow, and I have extra sheets in the linen closet.”

“Cat-”

Ducking into the bathroom, I yanked open the door to the linen closet and began rummaging through it. I didn’t think he would need a blanket-it was warm up here on the second floor and my bedroom was the only one with an air-conditioning unit. It was a little comforting to know he’d suffer while trying to sleep in the sauna that was my living room.

“You don’t need to go to any trouble,” he said from behind me. Startled, I jumped and rapped my head hard on the underside of a shelf. It took a great deal of willpower to swallow the string of curses that came to mind, and I rubbed the bump on my head with one hand as I thrust an old set of gray cotton sheets I’d used in college at him.

“Here. Just…just go.”

“Thanks, Cat.”

“Don’t mention it,” I muttered as I retreated hastily to my bedroom. Shutting the door behind me, I crawled directly into bed and hid my head under my pillows. Tomorrow had to be better. I couldn’t see how it could get any worse.

Chapter Six

Though I needed to sleep for a week, I woke up at sunrise. I dragged myself out of bed and stood staring at my closed bedroom door. All I could think of was how to best tiptoe around Lex to avoid waking him. Depressing. Pathetic.

After a record-fast shower I retreated back into my room and got dressed. Considering I had no idea what my schedule was for the day, other than the fact that I would not be going to work, I settled on jeans and a T-shirt that proudly proclaimed that I was an alumni of Three Oaks University in bright green block letters. I tamed my wet hair into a long French braid, guaranteeing it would stay in place for the foreseeable future, and then next on my to-do list was imbibing copious amounts of coffee. I crept into the kitchen and set about making breakfast. Thanks to last night’s fight I needed pancakes to recharge, and lots of ’em.

I’d used up half the batter and finished my first cup of coffee when I noticed my uninvited guest watching me from the doorway, a cat standing guard on either side of him. Whatever had gotten into my cats was beginning to creep me out-they were disobeying the feline rules of conduct by showing extreme interest in a human who didn’t appear to be allergic to them. They’d never paid any attention to Lex before. I had no idea what they found so fascinating about him now.

“Good morning. Hungry?” I asked as casually as I could manage.

“Starved.”

“Help yourself.” I nodded in the direction of the empty plate I’d left on the counter. “Extra mugs are in the cabinets up and to the right.”

“I know.”

Staring at the skillet, I choked down a sarcastic reply. Of course he knew where they were. This wasn’t the first morning we’d spent in my kitchen. “Gonna need a hearty breakfast if we have a full day fighting evil,” I quipped, steering my thoughts to a new subject.

“It does help.” He proceeded to stack his plate full of pancakes and pour himself a cup of coffee. There was something absurd about the rugged, long-haired man drinking out of my bright yellow Tigger mug. Really, there was just something absurd about having him in my kitchen in general. It was a sight I thought I’d never see again, but to be honest I’d never understood what he saw in me in the first place. Even with the rumpled, slept-in, bloodstained clothes, a day’s worth of stubble and the wavy, shoulder-length hair, Lex still looked as though he belonged on the cover of one of the many romance novels crammed into the bookshelves in my bedroom. Maybe as a pirate, or a barbarian warlord. And he ought to have a busty wench to accompany him. Not me, a mousy waitress in jeans and a T-shirt. I guess we must’ve been doomed to failure.

“What’s our plan for today?” I asked.

“I still say you should stay here, or let me take you somewhere else safe.”

“If it gets real bad I can stay with my cousins, but I’m not letting the evil dead chase me out of my home if I can help it.” To emphasize my point I jabbed a spatula in his direction, and he held his hands up in defeat.

“All right, I surrender. I’ll have to make some calls, and if nothin’ turns up we’ll take a drive and talk to some people.”

“That sounds deceptively easy.”

“Don’t worry, it won’t be.”

“How encouraging.”

When I finished the last of the pancake batter, I loaded up my own plate and refilled my coffee before sitting across from Lex. My cats sat side by side at his feet and stared up at him as he ate, until I distracted them by getting up and filling their food dishes. The loud crunching of cats chowing down on dry cat food was the only sound in the kitchen while everyone enjoyed their breakfast. I don’t do well with silence, and decided to ask something that’d been bugging me.