Page 71 of Noctis

“Promise.”

Caligo blinked out of existence.

“That’s not promising. That’s disappearing.”

“I promise.”

Okay, that was weird. Caligo was there, but not there. I reached out tentatively, touching the spot from where the voice had come. I don’t know what I’d expected—maybe to sense his presence somehow—but the space felt like any other part of the room. “Is this where you are, or have you moved?”

“I’m still here.”

I retracted my hand. “Okay. Well, just stay invisible, all right?”

By the time I finally made it to the door, Remy was sitting on the doorstep. He climbed to his feet as soon as I pulled the door open, his entire demeanor more miserable than I’d ever seen it. His hair looked a couple of days past the point of needing a wash, and dark circles shadowed his eyes.

“Can I come in?” he asked sheepishly.

I crossed my arms over my chest and regarded him silently for a few moments. “What are you going to do if I say no?”

“I don’t know. Probably cry. And then come back tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that, and—”

“Jesus!” I stepped back and waved a hand toward the entrance hall. “I can’t take the melodrama.”

He stepped inside, his relief a giveaway that he hadn’t taken me letting him in as guaranteed. “Who were you talking to?”

“What?”

“Before. I could hear you through the letterbox.”

My new seven-foot monster lover. “Myself.”

“Because if it’s Tyler—”

“It wasn’t Tyler. I just told you I was talking to myself.”

“If it’s Tyler, I’d rather know we’re having this conversation with him here.” He took a quick look around the living room.

“Tyler’s not here,” I reiterated.

Remy checked the kitchen before heading up the stairs. I followed, praying that Caligo really would keep his word and stay out of sight, because if not, I was going to have a hell of a lot of explaining to do. Remy tried the bathroom first, the room still bearing a faint haze from my shower.

The office and the spare bedroom came next, leaving only my bedroom to check. I lagged behind, wondering why I was accommodating enough to let him conduct a damn tour rather than insisting he believe me. Probably because I had, in fact, been talking to someone.

“What the hell happened in here?”

I sped up, my heart rate increasing at the thought of walking in to find him face-to-face with Caligo. Instead, Remy’s attention was on the extremely messy bed. It was messy because Caligo and I had indulged in three rounds of energetic sex there that morning. “I didn’t sleep well.”

Remy pointed at the bed. “That’s way beyond not sleeping well. That’s—” He seemed to realize what he’d been about to say. “Yeah…”

“You should know,” I said, unwilling to let him off the hook that easily—or possibly ever. I might have let him in, but that didn’t mean everything was hunky-dory between us. Far from it.

Remy closed his eyes, nodded, and released a breath before opening them again and forcing a smile. “I’ve been practicing what I’d say to you if I actually got you to talk to me for days, and at no point did the speech start with me demanding to search every nook and cranny of your home.” His shoulders drooped. “I just figured that if Tyler was here, then none of what I had to say would matter because he would have gotten in first.”

“He’s not here,” I repeated. I waved a hand at my fitted wardrobes. “Do you want to check in there?”

Remy snorted. “Yeah, right? Like Tyler would ever be cooperative enough to stand silently for more than two minutes.”

I was somewhat warmed by the bitterness in Remy’s voice. Part of me had been concerned that he and Tyler might become an item and I’d just have to learn to live with it, but it seemed his feelings toward my ex were no warmer than mine. Tyler had said that Remy refused to speak to him, and apparently it was true.