Aiden blinked, clearly caught off-guard by my reply. “I was hoping you’d say something along the lines of tapas and a movie, but I suppose breaking into the highest security clearance area at the Machiavellian cult I’ve been actively avoiding for several years sounds fun, too.”
“It’s going to be really romantic,” I nodded, yawning.
“Right… Well, a massive hangover won’t do you much good tomorrow, Agent Ninety-Nine. Let’s get you to bed,” Aiden said, rising from the couch. He extended a hand and I gratefully took it, teetering awkwardly as I stood.
“I really need to fix this floor,” I murmured. “It’s not supposed to roll under your feet like that…”
“Here – make yourself useful and hold this, please.” Aiden gently pushed me back down on the couch, then handed me a kerosene lantern. I took it with both hands and set it on my lap obediently. He waved his hand casually and a small yellow spark floated from the fireplace, like a tiny firefly, landing on the wick of the lantern. It glimmered gently to life. I beamed up at Aiden over the orange glow of the lantern in my hands.
“What else can a Level-Three Pyromancer do?”
He leaned over, easily scooping me into his arms. I was too tired to protest.
“I’ll show you sometime,” he said, kissing my forehead as he carried me into the bedroom.
He carefully laid me in my bed, taking the lantern from me to place on the nightstand. I inelegantly took off my pants, then tossed them to the floor. As I did so, I noticed Aiden intently examining something on the ceiling.
“What can I get for you before I go?” he asked, coming over to tuck the sheets around my shoulders. My face fell.
“Would you stay?” I asked meekly. He hesitated. “Please?”
Aiden sighed. I pulled back the sheet and motioned for him to come next to me. He still didn’t move.
“I won’t take advantage of you, I promise,” I tried to smile innocently. “Please just stay with me tonight?”
He chuckled softly. “You’re a dangerous woman, Aspen. I find it extremely difficult to say no to you.” He took off his shoes and unbuttoned his shirt, leaving on a tight, white t-shirt underneath. He also left on his jeans. I stifled a sigh but knew I was in no place to object. Aiden crawled into bed next to me, opening his arms for me to come over. I nuzzled against his warm chest and he wrapped his arms around me, which, I noted groggily, were surprisingly muscular for a professor. As he stroked my hair softly, I pressed my face against his neck and took a deep breath; his scent was better than anything I had ever smelled. He kissed the top of my head gently and I knew that no dream could have ever been as good as that moment.
***
I awoke to a knock on the bedroom door as Aiden stepped into the room with a mug and plate. Confused, I looked at the clock: 8:45 a.m. My eyes widened; I couldn’t remember the last time I had slept in that late. I quickly sat up in bed as he walked over, which made my head throb dully.
“Good morning,” he smiled, sitting on the edge of the bed. He looked a little tired. “I brought you ibuprofen, a granola bar, some cashews, and quite possibly the most revolting coffee I’ve ever tried in my life. No matter how hot I made the water, I couldn’t get the instant coffee powder to dissolve.” He set the plate and mug down on the nightstand. “May I bring you a French press and ground coffee beans the next time I spend the night?”
My heart skipped a beat at the thought of him spending the night again. Despite my throbbing head, I nodded and smiled.
“That would be wonderful,” I said, reaching for the ibuprofen. I took it with a sip of bitter, chalky coffee, wincing at the taste. Aiden certainly wasn’t wrong about that.
“On second thought, perhaps you could spend the night at my place instead, where I can bring you bacon, eggs, and a buttered English muffin? And perhaps a multivitamin, since you don’t seem to eat enough vegetables.” He winked. “I noticed your pantry was lamentably lacking in kale.”
“Evelyn always tells me the same thing,” I said, then immediately grimaced. I felt a heavy brick appear in my stomach the moment I said it.
“I wrote Robert last night,” Aiden said, seeing my bleak expression.
“You did?” I asked, looking up.
“You fell asleep so fast, but I still had a lot on my mind…” He cleared his throat but didn’t clarify. “Anyway, I sent him an email essentially saying that you urgently needed to talk to Evelyn about a strange name you saw on a piece of her mail. I hope that was sufficiently vague enough? I didn’t want to air anything you might not have wanted me to share.”
I smiled, touched by the gesture. “Thank you – that was perfect. I did write her a pretty hasty email at her place last night, right after I saw the letter, but I doubt she’ll see it. More than anything, I really just need to talk to her.”
“He hasn’t gotten back to me yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as he does… You mentioned wanting to stage a break-in last night. Is that still something you want to attempt?”
I hesitated. “It is still something I want to do… But it was selfish of me to ask you to be my accomplice. I know you’re doing everything you can to avoid that place.”
Aiden shook his head. “If you go, Aspen, I go. Besides, I wouldn’t mind taking a peek at one or two of the files in there, myself.”
I took his hand in mine.
“Thank you for coming over last night, and for staying with me.” I looked down again, slightly embarrassed. “I’m sorry you had to see me like that.”
“There’s nowhere I would have rather been,” he said, squeezing my hand gently. “Now, can I take you out to breakfast for some real food?”
I looked at the clock, biting my lip.
“After I finished Electromancy lessons last night, Ori gave me a training schedule that Savannah made for me. It says I have Auromancy training today at ten a.m. I’d gladly skip it, but she made it clear that I have to adhere to the schedule as part of our agreement…”
“Agreement?” Aiden asked, frowning slightly.
I sighed. “When they told me I couldn’t work at the restaurant anymore, they also said they’d be giving me a stipend to join the Chapter. Four thousand dollars a month.” Aiden gave a low whistle. “I didn’t want to take the bribe, but I wouldn’t be able to afford to eat otherwise. Anyway, the terms – which I realize are basically puppet strings attached to all my joints – were made pretty clear. I’m worried that if I bail on training, they’ll send Strauss to take me to the arena himself.” I shuddered slightly.
“Let me ask you this, Aspen,” Aiden said, still clasping my hand in his. “Let’s say we go in tonight, we find the information you’re looking for… Then what?”
Replying took more effort than it should have.
“Then… I take that information and leave without telling them I’m going. Wherever my parents are – I’ll go there. I’ll do whatever it takes to find them, to find the truth.”
I swallowed tightly. I realized just then that for all the times I had considered what I’d do once I had the information on my family, there was one complication that I hadn’t taken into account: leaving him.
“I’ll go with you,” Aiden said softly, as though reading my mind. My breath caught in my throat.
“You would do that?” I asked in disbelief.
“I would. I already figured that would be your answer. Robert will be back next weekend to teach the class. I have unused paid time off. The only person whose sign-off I would need is his, and he’ll be glad to let me go. In seeking out answers for you, I might also be able to collect further data on the Asterian Order.” He shrugged. “So, I’ll be able to stay near you while also contributing to our research. Seems like a win-win all around.” He smiled tightly.
I flung my arms around him, pulling away after a moment to gaze into his eyes.
“Thank you,” I whispered, kissing him gently on the lips.
Aiden wrapped his hands around my waist, pulling me close to him, then kissed me deeply. Every nerve in my body was electrified. For a moment, I knew his thoughts and he knew mine, and for that brief moment, everything in the world was right.