I opened my mouth to defend Kieran then closed it. I really didn’t need to get involved. Especially since someone razzing Kieran for being cheap, which obviously wasn’t true, was pretty funny.

“Okay,” the guy said, and spirit didn’t just crawl across the ground and rise around us—with his help, it floated through the sky, connected to all our souls, and swirled up like mist. He didn’t need air to plaster a spell to the house. With his training, I might not need it either.

If he was trustworthy.

16

Alexis

A couple of hours later, after a hot shower and a back massage from Kieran, I trudged downstairs and half fell into a seat at the kitchen table. Working my magic around the watch had required more technique than power, but casting a protective net over the whole house had drained me.

First of all, it was incredibly hard to call enough power to see the spirit floating all around the house. The other Spirit Walker had made it look easy. He hadn’t even strained. I’d looked like I was sitting on the toilet in need of Ex-Lax. Or so I imagined, given the way Daisy and Mordecai kept laughing at me. Thank God Kieran loved me.

When I asked the Spirit Walker why it was so hard for me, I got a disapproving look. Apparently I hadn’t been pushing myself. I could have come up with a list of explanations. That I’d only been at this for half a year. That I couldn’t have known I needed to push myself in the first place. But there wasn’t any point. As far as the spirit was concerned, it was my fault.

And then there was the challenge of feeling spirit, something that was even harder for me. Finally, I had to twist and nudge and bend and braid spirit around every inch of the house (which was easier, the Spirit Walker claimed, since it was so “modest”). Sweat was running down my face at this point. I might have piddled myself a little.

The protections wouldn’t be enough to stop a Demigod, but they would severely slow them, and by that time, Kieran and I could combat them. All other spirits or magical workers wouldn’t stand a chance.

Or so the smug spirit had claimed. I got the feeling he’d been testing me all along. If my undies weren’t that little bit damp (super embarrassing), I might’ve felt a little pride in my accomplishment. I was new, fine. A novice. But I was no dummy. I could be taught.

Just maybe not without a few minor accidents.

One thing I did pick up on: with spirit hovering around me, I could tell when another spirit worker was using their magic in the area, something the Spirit Walker helped me to see.

That realization earned me a nod of approval from the spirit. I nearly clapped in glee, and would’ve if I hadn’t been worried I’d look like doofus with wet drawers.

“What’s for dinner?” I asked as Boman put a glass of water in front of me.

He hesitated. “Or did you need a beer?”

I let my head thunk down on the table. “Water is fine.”

Jack and Donovan turned around from the grill and stove respectfully, delicious-smelling smoke rising behind them. “Steak,” they said in unison. “Potatoes.”

“What’s this, the Tweedledee and Tweedledum show?” Bria asked as she walked in, burns on her hands and a backpack slung over her shoulder.

A little mew preceded the cat sauntering in behind her, its tail curling at the end like it owned the place. Zorn followed them in. Both Zorn and Bria had showered and changed, but only one of them looked fresh and revitalized. Zorn got benefits from the blood bond. Bria was just a trooper.

“You can make a salad,” Jack said to Bria. “You can’t fuck up a salad.”

“Are you sure?” Bria shot back.

“I got it. The girls did all the heavy lifting today. They deserve a rest.” Boman smiled and winked at me before pulling a little glass tube filled with green gel from a pant pocket. He set it on the table next to my arms. “Aubri would like you to smear this under your eyes when you are feeling tired, fatigued, or puffy.” From another pocket on his Mary Poppins cargo pants, he pulled out a lemon zester. “Oops. That shouldn’t be in there.” He placed it on the island. Next, out came a little plastic tube of aspirin. “Here we go. This’ll help.”

“I’ll make her a martini,” Bria said. “That’ll help more.”

“No alcohol,” I said. “It’ll put me to sleep, and we’ve had watchers. I need to be alert.”

“No problem. A Jaeger bomb will keep you up,” she replied. “That failing, narcotics, though those’ll probably hurt more than help.”

“Where would you even get narcotics?” Jack asked, flipping a steak. Loud sizzling filled the kitchen.

“Boman’s pants, obviously. He’s got everything else,” she said.

“All out, I’m afraid,” Boman said, heading to the fridge.

“Just set up the salad stuff here.” Bria patted the counter, leaning back to catch Boman’s eye. “I’ll help cut. I need something to do.”

Zorn slipped into the chair next to me. Apparently he wasn’t planning on helping. What a coincidence; neither was I.

“What name did that spirit give you, by the way, Lexi?” Bria asked, centering her cutting board.

“Why, does he have more than one?” Donovan asked as Thane stiffly walked into the room. I could barely see the kids heading up the stairs behind him. They’d gotten in some training of their own while I was wrestling with spirit.