I wasn’t keen on everyone thinking I needed watching, but if it gave Matalina a chance to talk to Jax, then I’d deal with it. Scooting back to the headboard, I stretched my legs out and balanced the plate on my lap. “Nick still here?” I asked as I took a bite out of the first sandwich. The tang of the mayonnaise hit the sides of my tongue, and I suddenly couldn’t shovel in food fast enough. “Oh, this is good,” I mumbled around my full mouth. “Thank you.”

“Pierce is talking to him.” Her gaze was on my perfumes. She’d given most of them to me in our chemical warfare against her instincts. “He told me to leave. Said they had a gentleman matter to discuss.”

“Oh really? ” The sandwich was fabulous, and I forced myself to slow down.

“I think Pierce is trying to find out if you two are really over or not,” Ivy said.

My eyes rolled and I swallowed. “Over? Does he need it in neon?” I said, but inside, I was cringing. Being over with Nick did not translate into being available for Pierce.

“You’re sure you’re okay?” Ivy asked, and I nodded, mouth full again.

“Until they find someone else who knows Al’s summoning name,” I amended, wiggling my fingers for the bowl of crackers. My thoughts shifted to Al telling me he’d finish the deal—even teach me how to jump the lines—if I told him who sold me out to the coven. Funny how things had changed when I’d brought up my ovaries. Lots of people knew Al’s summoning name, and what demon summoner wouldn’t trade an hour’s work for amnesty? But if I gave Nick to Al, then the council was right and I was a demon, trafficking in human flesh.

Ivy passed the bowl, and grabbing a handful of crackers, I tilted my head back and dropped them in, sneaking a glance at her and wondering if she was in here trying to convince me to give Nick to the demon and be done with it. “I’ve always wanted to get to the West Coast,” I said around my chewing, not wanting her to bring it up. “Hey, did I tell you I got a ride on a boat? I saw the bridge and everything. It’s way smaller than the one in Mackinaw. There’s a big chocolate factory right across from Alcatraz. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment.”

Ivy wasn’t listening, her eyes on that box my mother had sent. “When did that get here?” I asked as I worked a bit of cracker out from between my teeth.

Shifting position on my bed, she flushed, putting her eyes everywhere but on it. “When you were gone.”