“...used to seeing a potential child-bearing female out in the big, bad world?” She grinned as she came around the other side of the island. “I know. Wardens all over the world are rolling in their graves. I don’t care, and Nicolai knows better than to try to stop me.”

I really wanted to confirm whether she and Nicolai were together, but it was none of my business.

“Nice place,” Gideon commented, joining us. He carried a laptop, which he placed on the island as he looked around. “Very...industrial.”

I hid my smile behind my fingers.

He looked across the open space, the vibrant blue eyes missing nothing. “One bedroom?”

“About to get a two-bedroom a floor down,” Zayne answered, and my hand slipped away from my mouth. “You’ll be happy to hear it’s just as industrial as this one.”

“The apartment is available?” I asked.

Zayne glanced at me. “Yeah. Just heard from the manager yesterday evening. Should be able to move in by the end of next week.”

“Oh.” I shifted my gaze to Gideon’s laptop, trying to not be hurt that he hadn’t mentioned it to me. Not like he hadn’t had time while we’d sat in silence before Gideon and Danika showed up. “That’s good news.”

“You’ve had to share a bathroom with this guy?” Danika jerked her chin toward Zayne. “Oh my God, that’s unfair.”

I cracked a grin at that, liking the girl. “It’s been okay. So far.”

“I think you’re being kind.” Her sky blue eyes were dancing. “These guys shed worse than we do.”

A surprised laugh parted my lips. “You know, I’ve noticed that. So much blond hair everywhere.”

“Yeah, you think that because you haven’t seen all the dark brown hair that’s literally on everything,” Zayne commented, and before I could figure out if he was teasing or being a jerk, he turned to Gideon. “What you got for me?”

“For us,” I muttered under my breath.

Danika’s grin kicked up a notch.

“Two things,” he said, sitting on the stool. “The spikes are still glowing, in case you all wanted to know.”

“I’ve seen them.” Danika hopped up on the island and spun halfway on her butt so she was facing us. “Glowing spikes are freaky.”

“That they are,” I agreed.

“Haven’t found anything that tells me what kind of language is written on them,” Gideon continued. “Leads me to believe that it either predates any known record of language or it’s a language we’ve never seen before.”

“Or it’s not language at all,” Danika suggested, and when we looked at her, she shrugged. “It just looked like scratches and circles to me. Could just be some kind of drawing.”

“You have a point.” Zayne leaned against the island. “It could be what Gideon suggests, or some kind of drawing.”