“Glowing?” she and Maggie asked in unison. She’d almost forgotten the other woman was there.
“Yes. Glowing. And there was a voice, telling me I was the ‘keeper of the scales’ and that I needed to lead with a kind heart and not be corrupted by the ‘glitter of gold’. There was more but that’s all I remember.”
“Holy crap. That’s amazing.” It hurt, more than a little, to know he hadn’t told her about it when it had happened, but since she probably wouldn’t have told a brand new fuck buddy about a conversation with a glowing statue either, she was trying not to hold it against him. “How did you not connect the dots when you heard about Zora?”
“I told myself I’d just imagined it.”
“And you believed that?” she asked, her voice rising with incredulity. “You honestly convinced yourself it was, what? A hallucination? A dream?”
“Not really.” Letting his head fall back, he closed his eyes, and for the first time, she caught a glimpse of how miserable he looked. “But I wanted to so badly that I convinced myself I believed it. Even when I got that first email from the Guild, I deleted it because some part of meknewI’d been chosen. And it scared the fuck out of me.”
“Mina.” Maggie’s quiet but firm voice drew Mina’s attention away from Cyrus. “Would you mind giving us the room for a bit?”
Her instinct was to protest, to insist she had the right to be there not just as a journalist but as his…whatever they were. Lover? Ew, that sounded like they were having some kind of illicit affair. Boyfriend was too serious. Friends with benefits still seemed to be the best fit, but that role didn’t really afford her privileges into his affairs, did it?
Either way, she swallowed her pride and gathered her things. Laying a hand on his shoulder, she bent down to brush a kiss across his cheek. “I need to go to the office and take care of some things anyway. Call me.”
With a quick, final wave for the pair, she scooted out the door. And wondered how badly he would kill her for breaking the story before the official announcement.
ChapterTwelve
“You do know she’s already on the phone with her editor, right?”
The amusement in Maggie’s tone did nothing to ease the maelstrom of emotion swirling inside of him. “I know,” he said without bothering to lift his head. “The Guild will just have to deal with it.”
“How long have you been banging her?”
Jerking up in his seat, he stared at her, not sure he’d heard her correctly. “What?”
“Please.” She pinned him with a look that he’d seen leveled at hundreds of suspects over the years. “Don’t insult us both by trying to lie to me, Cyrus. How long?”
“Two days.” For the love of Zeus, where was a hole in the ground when you needed one? “I was an ass to her in court a few days ago, so I took her out to dinner as an apology and things just sort of…happened.”
“You’re an ass to all the reporters, on a regular basis. It’s practically part of our job description. If you wanted to get into her pants, just say that.”
“More of an ass than usual, then. And fine, I’ve been thinking about getting her into bed pretty much since the moment I met her. Can you blame me?”
A rare grin spread across Maggie’s face. “Not in the slightest.” As quickly as it came, the smile faded. “But be careful there.”
“She’s trustworthy. If I had asked her to hold the story, she would have.”
Maggie raised an eyebrow. “Why didn’t you?”
“Maybe I didn’t think of it.”
“Or maybe it was a little Fuck You from you to the Guild? Rob them of their big announcement?”
“Maybe.” Okay, so that was absolutely why, but it felt petty and small to admit it out loud.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Snorting out a laugh, Maggie shook her head. “But I’m not just talking about her. If the others get wind of it and think you’re giving her preferential treatment, both your careers could take a hit. Might be a good idea to give others a shot at your next couple interviews.”
Shit. Mina wasn’t going to like that, not one little bit, but Maggie had a point. “I’ll make some calls.”
“Good. Now, get your ass out of here and I don’t want to see you again until Monday.”
“What? Why?”
“Because you’re going to be overrun with vultures and I don’t want them in my house. And because you’re going to need some time to get settled into your new role as Libra Master. So go, we can handle things without you for a few days.”