Jax's question totally caught me off guard.

I gaped at him. "Uh..."

He prompted again, "Well?"

Kyra and Lord M eyed me with a look of unease.

I looked over to my roommate. "Would it, ah... even be possible?"

Kyra scoffed in peevish tones, "Honestly, Annalise, I'm not even sure how my weakass love spell managed to bring these two into the real world. Don't ask me how to send them back!"

My brow furrowed with skepticism.

I wasn't convinced that Kyra was being truthful with me. At the moment, she was looking pretty comfortable sidled up beside Lord M on the couch, and her thirsty green eyeballs had yet to drag themselves away from Jax's tatted pecs ever since I came out of my shower.

Was Kyra withholding info on purpose? Or was the girl as confused and clueless as the rest of us?

Regardless, there definitely seemed to be a conflict of interest here on her part.

I grumbled, "What about all that witchy stuff you're into? I'm sure there's some kind of spell you could—"

In urgent tones, Lord M interrupted before I could finish, "Let it be known, my dearest, sweetest, most benevolent Annalise—I, for one, feel very much at ease in your world and possess very little interest in being returned to the realm of A Loveless Blood Moon Eclipse at the moment."

"I don't wanna go back, either," Jax muttered in agreement, "my relationship with Cate was kinda toxic if you think about it... I feel like I might need therapy. I'd like to stay here and try to sort through my issues for a bit—if that's okay with you, Annalise?"

Lord M and Jax stared at me like sad little puppy dogs. Uncertainty writhed inside my chest.

What was the right thing to do in a crazy situation like this one?

My thoughts proceeded to tumble down the rabbit hole that I had been subconsciously avoiding this whole time. Between dousing myself with pepper spray and running around campus like a coked out pigeon, I never took the time to fully process the insane fact that my characters had, indeed, come to life!

Lord M and Jax didn't belong in my world. They were supposed to be fictional. They were supposed to be on Hottpad. I wasn't a religious person, nor was I a deeply spiritual one, but I was a firm believer in karma. I felt like the universe was probably going to punish Kyra and me for messing with this kind of dark magical shit.

My boys were still staring at me. The weight of their gazes felt heavy as fuck. Helplessly, I gazed back at them.

Lord Maxwell's lower lip began to tremble.

Jaxon's jaw clenched and unclenched stiffly.

My chest clenched, too.

Now that they were standing before me in the flesh, it felt wrong to make them disappear against their will. In fact, the mere idea of sending them away actually made me sick because it felt a bit like... murder?

I finally spoke up with a somber expression. "Relax, guys... I'm not gonna force either of you to go away. It doesn't seem like we have the option to send anyone back, anyway—even if you wanted to ditch this world for your old one."

Lord M's face flooded with relief. "Oh, blessed be! You are a most receptive and generous mistress, Annalise! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I will make certain to pull my weight within this humble abode of yours. I swear upon my beloved Elizabeth's life, I shall nary give you a reason to regret your decision to keep me here!"

With a shrill giggle, Kyra melted into the vampire's pale muscular arms. "I'm so thrilled that you're gonna be staying with us, Lord Maxwell!"

My roommate chortled some more. The vampire smirked. I refrained from gagging.

Jaxon's face lit up with a handsome grin. "Wow, that's fucking awesome! I really appreciate it, Annalise! I promise I'll get a job as soon as possible to help out with all the extra expenses and whatnot. I definitely don't expect you to be my sugar mama. I'm really happy that you're gonna let me stay..."

For some reason, Jax's words made me blush. I never knew that he could be so genuinely... sweet.

I cleared my throat and attempted to regain my bearings. "That would be a really big help, Jax. Thanks."

He nodded graciously. "Of course."

"So," I asked while gesturing to my phone, "did you actually find anything on there?"

"Well," Jax replied, "I came across a few positions at, like, Starbucks and McDonald's that I'm probably qualified for, but..."

"But... what?"

"But," he replied with a grimace, "all the applications required a high school diploma, a birthdate, and a bunch of other official documents and details that I don't seem to have..."

My eyes widened. "Shit! I never added those descriptions in the story, huh?"

Jax offered me a small smile. "Don't worry, Annalise, I think I found a way to fix our problem..."

My ears perked up. "How?"

"I started revising your book," he stated in matter-of-fact tones.

I gasped, "Oh, my God! No way!"

"I hope you don't mind, but I logged into your Hottpad account through your phone."

"What?" I gasped again, feeling slightly upset now.

Before I could scold him for sticking his perfectly shaped nose into places it didn't belong, Jax pulled out his wallet and produced an honest-to-goodness driver's license. He offered it to me. I scrambled over to examine the card more closely.

Name? Jaxon Zane Maddox. Check.

Birthday? October 31. Check.

Height? Six-foot-three. Check.

Weight? One hundred and sixty three pounds. Check.

"Damn," I whispered, "this thing looks legit!"

He beamed. "Right?"

"How in the world did you pull this off, Jax?"

"Well," he explained, "after switching the genre of The Nerd and the Player from 'New Adult' to 'Non-Fiction,' I tried to add in all the documents and stuff I needed into one of your chapters, but nothing happened and nothing changed in the real world... It wasn't until I started fixing up some of the plot holes and inconsistencies in some of the other chapters that I managed to get this driver's license to appear! If I keep editing your story, then I might be able to get all the other documents I need as well!"

I gazed at him in awe. That was terrific news and all, but—

"Don't tell me you're a better writer than me! That's messed up, dude!"

Jaxon laughed and reached over to ruffle my hair. "Sorry, babygirl. Did I hurt your feelings?"

"A little bit," I whined gloomily.

At this point, Kyra and Lord M were full on making out on the couch. Their lips and tongues seemed to be locked in a fierce battle. Lord M's hands groped all over Kyra, and her hands groped all over him.

Then, they started dry humping each other and moaning as though Jaxon and I weren't even in the room.

Jax arched an eyebrow at me. "Should we, uh... give them some privacy?"

I winced. "Probably."

He coughed. "Wanna go finish watching that K-drama in your room?"

I grinned. "You know what, Jax? I think this is gonna be the start of a beautiful friendship..."