EVA

CLATTERING DISHES WOKE EVA from a dreamless sleep. She half expected to be back in her own bed, dozing with a book on her chest after a night of Darkness research. It made perfect sense that her reading would have induced a horrible dream of last night's events and she would find that her life was just as normal as it had always been.

Instead, she opened her eyes to meet the popcorn ceiling of Bobbi's living room.

Sizzling ingredients and hushed voices prodded Eva to consciousness. She turned over and smushed her face against the tweed throw pillow, fighting to return to her peaceful slumber. It was easier to ignore the night before while in a blanket cocoon, wrapped up warm and safe from her new reality.

"Will you knock it off?"

Bobbi's annoyed tone made Eva wrinkle her nose. If her best friend was upset, going back to sleep wasn't an option.

A yawn fought its way from her lips as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Wisps of memory tickled the edges of her consciousness, threatening to overwhelm her once again.

"Eva! You're awake!"

She grunted at the far-off sound. Though her friend had just harped on someone else, Bobbi's voice had spun to a chipper, more pleasant ring... one that Eva never appreciated until she'd had at least two cups of coffee.

Thankfully, the smell of a fresh brew kept her from muttering a grumpy response.

Eva pulled herself to her feet and ambled sleepily toward the adjoining kitchen, where Bobbi poured a tall mug of heaven. A familiar man, who sat at the kitchen island with his back to the living room, craned his neck with a smile.

"Morning, sunshine," he said, raising his own mug in greeting.

As Eva approached, her stomach constricted violently. She wanted to say good morning, but she wasn't sure how to properly address him.

The previous night, she had eyed him carefully after he'd dozed off in Bobbi's recliner—though she wasn't sure if it was from concern for his well-being or to keep tabs on his activity. But one thing was clear: when she fell asleep, Emrys had been the man in the easy chair.

Now, she was greeted by the same cerulean eyes that welcomed her to the library each morning.

Bobbi, however, seemed content with their current situation. Setting the mug of coffee on the counter, she gave Eva a smile before grabbing a nearby pan and filling two plates with scrambled eggs.

"Guess who looks less like roadkill today?" Bobbi said, nodding to their male counterpart.

Emrys laughed as she set a plate in front of him. He did look considerably better—and a hell of a lot more like Jensen. Apparently, he must've felt better as well, judging by the speed he shoveled food into his mouth.

It was a moment before Eva realized just how long she had lingered in the entryway, eyeing Emrys with piqued concern. He was too busy with his breakfast to notice, but Bobbi was never so easily fooled. Before her best friend could say anything, Eva slid onto the barstool beside Emrys'.

"What had you all worked up a few minutes ago?" she asked Bobbi, whose unrelenting stare paid her no favors.

Emrys mumbled something unintelligible through his mouthful of eggs. Before he could swallow, Bobbi interrupted.

"Oh, no." She placed the second plate in front of Eva. "I've heard enough out of you, fire boy. You already have the neighbors asking about all the ruckus last night and starting a rumor that I had a threesome."

Emrys scoffed. "I just told them we were having a good time."

"That doesn't mean what you think it means."

With a huff, she turned to inspect the bacon sizzling on the stove. Emrys eyed her carefully. After ensuring that Bobbi had full focus on her bacon, he nudged Eva with his elbow and put a finger to his lips.

Afraid to speak in fear of embarrassing herself for the second time in five minutes, Eva watched as he held one finger over his coffee cup. An inch-long flame emerged from its tip, just long enough to graze the surface of his drink. Steam curled upward from the liquid while he swirled his finger across his drink.

BZZT!

A small flash made both of them snap to attention. On the opposing counter, the toaster sparked and sputtered. Even Bobbi yelped and flipped a piece of bacon out of the pan in surprise, splattering grease onto her hand. She swatted at the burn with a towelette, letting out a long string of foul language.

Emrys snuffed out the flame and pulled his hands onto his lap.

"Son of a—" Bobbi spun around, murder flashing in her eyes. "Emrys!"

He batted his long eyelashes. "Can't a guy warm up his coffee?"

"Not with magical finger-flames!" Bobbi pinched the bridge of her nose. "Here on Earth, we use a little thing called a microwave."

With a wave of her hand, she gestured to the appliance. Her eyes landed on the toaster beside it. Realizing the plug had pulled itself from the wall during Emrys' trick, she muttered a few more choice words and plugged it back in.

Eva's gaze flitted back to Emrys, who lifted his scalding coffee to his lips. "So, you're really... him?"

"Yeah, it's still me." As a devilish smile crept across his lips, his oceanic eyes brightened with a golden glow that swept the breath from Eva's lungs.

Until the toaster buzzed and let out a loud POP.

Smoke rose from the appliance, followed by two bread slices so charred that they should've emerged from a volcano. As the smoke turned the room's aroma from bacon to burnt whole wheat, Bobbi slapped her spatula down.

"Enough with the magic before you blow up my toaster!" Her tone grew more agitated as she yanked the plug back out of the wall. "If you're so insistent on using fire..." She pulled open one of the junk drawers beneath the counter and retrieved a small box. "Here. Play with matches."

Bobbi tossed the matchbox onto the island in front of Emrys, who scrunched up his nose and pushed the object away with his fork. She passed him a pointed look before returning to the stove.

Comfortable silence followed, with Bobbi plating the rest of her bacon and Eva picking at her own breakfast. Meanwhile, Emrys' stare never left the matchbox. He picked it up and struck one to life. He inspected the flame intently before holding the stick down over his coffee.

Eva watched curiously as the match slipped from his fingers. It plopped into his coffee, extinguishing itself and forcing him to stick his fingers inside to retrieve it. As she glanced over his shoulder, her eyes landed on the microwave's digital clock.

10:05 a.m.

Eva's heart leapt into her throat. "I've got to get to the library."

She was halfway out of her seat when Emrys flung his hand out of his coffee to stop her and sprayed her with droplets of burning liquid. Eva winced, earning an apologetic smile from her friend.

"Don't worry," Emrys said. "I called in reinforcements. As far as the other employees know, you went to the new Mexican restaurant with Jensen last night and got some bad burritos."

Eva swiped at the coffee splatters on her cheek. "Seriously?"

"Never underestimate the power of diarrhea."

A clattering plate returned their attention to Bobbi, who set a dish of piping hot bacon between them. Emrys gave her an appreciative smile and snagged a piece.

Bobbi wrinkled her nose as she slipped her checkered apron over her head. She shot a glare back at the toaster, which still emitted curls of gray, bitter-smelling smoke.

"For god's sake..." she muttered. "I'm airing this place out."

Bobbi turned on her heel to the nearby sink. She reached over the counter and pushed open the window before making her way out from behind the kitchen island.

"You two behave yourselves," she said, hanging her apron on a hook beside the refrigerator. "I have to get back downstairs before the morning rush sends Iris into another tizzy."

Eva bit back a laugh. "You left her alone?"

"She's the only supervisor I've got. That woman is all kinds of attractive, but one customer comes in with an attitude and I've got to throw her in the freezer to cool her off." Bobbi snickered. "Anyway... enjoy your breakfast!"

After a thankful duet from her friends, Bobbi made her way toward the door to the stairs, leaving Emrys and Eva with only the sound of birds chirping outside to keep them company.

The time passed easily while Eva finished her meal and savored Bobbi's home-brewed coffee. Occasionally, she stole glances at Emrys, who was fully indulged in his own breakfast.

For a moment, everything felt normal—as if the man beside her wasn't an immortal being and the world around them hadn't devolved into chaos overnight. She almost could've pretended they were themselves again... just Jensen and Eva, spending another morning together.

Emrys reached for his mug, still steaming heavily despite sitting idle for so long. After raising it to his lips, he crinkled up his nose, staring into the mug with a dissatisfied frown.

Considering the temperature of its contents, Eva was sure he had overheated it with parlor tricks until he stood from his barstool and meandered to the microwave. He set the cup inside, shut the door, and stared at the timer buttons.

Clearing his throat, Emrys glanced over his shoulder with a sheepish smile. "How long do I warm this up?"

Eva bit back a laugh. "You warm up my coffee every morning."

"And every morning, your computer crashes," he said. "Microwaves aren't really my thing."

"Try one minute."

After accidentally setting the timer for one second, Emrys finally punched in the number one, followed by two zeros. The clock began counting down successfully. A sigh of relief hissed through his lips as he leaned against the counter. Eva hid her amusement behind a forkful of eggs.

Soft chittering from the open window interrupted their moment of peace. A gray, bushy tail peeked around the edge of the window. Eva resisted the urge to laugh as she slid off the barstool and rounded the corner of the kitchen island.

"Bobbi will never let me hear the end of it if a squirrel gets in here," she said.

She turned to the sink, where the squirrel had backed up just enough for her to see its fuzzy butt twitching. Its chittering loudened to a more shrill tone that gnawed at her eardrums.

"Someone isn't happy," she muttered, getting up on her tiptoes to reach the top of the window.

A shriek pierced the air. The squirrel spun around with murder in its pitch black eyes.

"Eva, move!"

Before she could register what had happened, Emrys grabbed her by the shoulders and moved her away from the window.

The squirrel leapt into the sink, emitting an even higher-pitched squeal through bared buck teeth. Its eyes were unblinking voids, save for a speck of green that radiated from the center. It rose up on its hind legs to give an exceptional view of the gelatinous tumor bulging on its stomach.

Shifting away from Emrys' grip, Eva grabbed the cooling skillet from the stove. Despite his protests for her to get behind him, she held the pan high as the squirrel jumped onto the counter. It landed in Bobbi's fruit bowl, rocking it side to side and flinging strawberries from their confinement.

She whacked the demonic pest at full force.

The rodent squawked as her frying pan sent it careening back into the wall, scattering bananas and apples across the counter. It slumped against the brick backsplash and fell silent.

Hardly a moment of calm passed before its twitching intensified to violent thrashes.

A loud hum emanated from the microwave, surging with so much electricity that the hairs on Eva's neck stood at attention. The chilly breeze wafting in the window turned sweltering as Emrys stepped in front of her. Flames spiraled from his hand and curled between his fingers in playful jaunts.

"Burn, bitch."

The squirrel never saw it coming.

A column of flame shot from Emrys' hand, enveloping the devil in a fiery cocoon—as well as igniting various fruits and Bobbi's favorite wooden bowl.

Eva dashed for the fire extinguisher on a nearby wall. The electric hum grew stronger, but she paid no mind to the way her pin-straight hair frizzed with static.

CRASH!

An explosion of glass stopped her in her tracks. Steam billowed from the microwave, with shards of its viewing window and the ceramic mug within scattered across the kitchen. Splattered coffee coated the inside of the appliance and littered every surrounding surface.

Eva looked back to the blaze that consumed her best friend's favorite bowl. She popped the pin on her extinguisher. "Emrys!"

Emrys yelped as she elbowed him out of her way. She sprayed his fire with as much foam-power as she could, but the squirrel's limp body refused to stop burning. It wasn't until he stepped forward and placed his fingers on the animal's body that the fire gathered itself into a blazing stream. It retreated back into his pores, leaving nothing but a puff of smoke behind.

Eva passed him an appreciative smile, but he didn't seem to notice. He was too busy inspecting the foam that covered the countertop, stove, and wall. Tilting his head to the side, he stuck a finger into the pile of white glop and wrinkled his nose.

"So, that's what's in those things," he said, gesturing to the extinguisher. "Never understood why you kept so many at the library."

She furrowed her brow. "You've never heard of an extinguisher? We went over this in safety training."

"Didn't seem important. They're relatively useless against hellfire."

Eva opened her mouth to dispute that no one on Earth would expect to use it against Astraelan magic, but she paused at the sound of footsteps from the apartment stairs. She and Emrys exchanged wide eyes.

If he made the microwave combust with his powers... what had he done downstairs at the coffee shop?

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