Project: Nighthall

8

I had my eyes closed, but I knew that I was safe. The presence around me wasn't heavy, but instead, uplifting and peaceful.

"You seem to be in better spirits."

I rolled my eyes even though I hadn't opened them.

"Funny," I said, knowing that Ivan's statement was pun intended.

He laughed and I cracked open one of my eyes, smirking at him. His accent was much heavier than Dimitri's. I wondered if it was because living in the States Americanized him, or if he purposely tried to cover his accent to make it easier to be understood.

"How's lookout duty?" I asked him. The one thing that was nice about being able to see the dead was that I had a handful of people who kept an eye on me even when I couldn't see them. Or when I was asleep. Savanah-May had clearly been the southern gossip I knew she was and told Mason and Ivan, meaning that the two of them were around more often at night.

"Fine," Ivan said with a shrug, resting his elbows on the railing in front of us.

"Just fine?"

"Haven't seen what you saw in the bush. But I did find out what it was," he said.

"And?"

"Nothing good."

"Oh really? I thought that it made my skin crawl looking at it because it wanted to braid my hair and read Teen magazine," I retorted.

"It's a demonic entity. Like heavy-duty stuff," he said solemnly. I sighed and shook my head.

"Great. Any ideas on how to keep it from coming back?"

"Still working on that," he drawled and I shook my head, looking out towards the water. The sun was setting, and it was like the sun had turned up the dial. The sky was so bright, the orange and pink bouncing off the water. I could feel it on my face and I soaked in the feeling, using it to keep me from letting my mind slip into the darkest places I could conjure.

"Dimitri seems to be doing better," Ivan added after a few minutes of silence and I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye.

"Are you going to ask me when I'm going to have the 'talk' with him too?"

Ivan shrugged. "I don't have to; you asked it yourself."

That earned him another eye roll.

"Go away."

"I can if you want me to."

I turned and found Dimitri standing behind me on the deck, hands tucked into his pockets with a grin on his face.

"I wasn't talking to you," I said with a smile. Ivan made a comment in Russian before vanishing.

"I figured as much," Dimitri said as he approached, leaning against the railing beside me, "Who were you talking to?"

"Your annoying best friend," I snickered, "Still a pain in my ass."

"He was everyone's pain in the ass, but he was a good man."

"I heard that!" Ivan's voice floated by me and I rolled my eyes again.

"He says he heard that," I repeated and he smirked.

"Good, but he's nosy. I wouldn't be surprised if he listens in on conversations."

I smiled and glanced at him before glancing down.

"I didn't think that you owned a pair of shorts," I teased. Dimitri rolled his eyes.

"Emily made me by them," he said looking down at the cargo shorts. I had to admit that they looked good on him, accenting the muscles in his thighs while showing off how nice his calves were. It was a strange thought, but I shook it off. I always thought he was hot and gorgeous, and that hadn't changed.