Chapter 9: Put Me on a Friday

"It's Friday," James said.

Felix blinked. "What?"

"It's three in the morning. That's Friday."

Felix looked at the window, the moon, and the clock on the stove.

A slow grin spread across his freckled face.

"So it is," he said. "You're very good at calendars, for a man who's asleep most of the day."

"You asked to be an event."

"I did." Felix took a breath.

"Then be one with me. Not with the paper. Not with Bella, or the debt, or whatever the plan is. Just us."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"I'm lazy," said James. "I only do things I want."

Felix laughed, a soft cracked sound, and James crossed the tape line.

They did not go to the bathroom or the pool.

Felix pulled him to his own bed by the window, where a pot of ivy trailed down the sill.

He touched one leaf with a fingertip.

The ivy woke up.

It poured over the bedframe in green ropes and wove itself into a curtain.

The two of them were closed into a leafy room that smelled of pine and wet earth.

"Rootspeak," Felix whispered. "It's the only privacy a Serpent heir ever gets."

"It's very pretty."

"You haven't seen anything."

He sat on the bed and pulled James into his lap.

The kiss was slow.

It was the slowest kiss James had ever had.

Felix took his time over it, tasting him, pausing to smile against his mouth.

"You're thinking," Felix murmured.

"I'm not."

"You are. I can taste it."

"You can taste thoughts?"

"I can taste lies." He kissed James's jaw. "Say it. Say you're not scared."

James's mouth opened to say it.

"I'm not scared," he said.

Felix drew back and looked at him very gently.

"Copper," he said. "That's a lie."

James looked at the leaves for a while.

SYSTEM: Is something wrong? Your pulse is elevated.

"Is he doing this because of you?" James thought, as clearly as he could.

SYSTEM: Please contact support.

That was no answer at all.

"I don't know if this is real," he said aloud, very low.

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