Fine. Food now, questions later.
By the time Fane came to escort us back to our room, my stomach was close to bursting, like roadkill that’d been left to bloat under the hot sun. One jab would pop me open. Instead of asking the million and one questions poking at my brain, I’d gorged myself on potatoes and bread.
“Can I trust that you’ll stay put for the night?” Fane asked once we’d stopped in front of the door. “Or do I need to lock you in?”
“We’ll behave,” I said, one hand going to my hip. The other held on to Lake, who hadn’t spoken a word since his conversation with Varys. He’d barely even touched the rest of his food.
“See to it that you do.” Fane’s eyes bore into me. “I’ll return at first light with your breakfast.”
My stomach turned at the thought of eating again. I could barely even walk. I just wanted to collapse into bed and sleep for the next ten years.
He stormed off down the hall, and I guided Lake into the room, closing the door behind us.
***
Later that night, Lake sat on the cushioned bench, staring out the window. He’d said very little since we’d returned from dinner. After kissing me softly, he’d taken a seat and turned his attention to the outside world, blocking out everything else. He did that when upset or trying to process his thoughts.
I sat beside him, rubbing his back. “If you want to talk, I’m here, okay?”
With his gaze still on the night sky, he gave a small nod and pressed his leg to mine. Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes to what seemed like hours, before he finally stirred. “This must be how you felt.”
“About what?”
His purple eyes moved to me. “When you were in Exalos and learned about your mother.”
“Oh.” I breathed in deeply. “Yeah. It was… a lot. On one hand, I was happy to know more about her. But on the other, I just felt…”
“Sad,” he roughly said. “Having so much you want to say but knowing you’ll never get the chance. There’re so many questions I want to ask my father. I know he wanted to stay in the place he and my mother built together, but if he had left Bremloc with the other demi-wolves, he wouldn’t have…”
His hand balled into a fist.
“Maybe he was scared.” I grabbed Lake’s closed fist and lightly unfurled it. Once his fingers were relaxed, I traced the pronounced veins leading from his knuckles to his wrist. The touch seemed to soothe him.
“Scared?” he asked.
I nodded. “Leaving the safety of his home and journeying into the unknown, potentially risking your life in the process, might’ve seemed more dangerous than staying. The Shadow Realm doesn’t exactly have a reputation for being rainbows and sunshine. Callum told me all kinds of nightmarish stories about it. I bet your dad heard those same stories.”
“Perhaps you’re right.” His eyes glistened as he refocused on the window. “I only wish I could speak with him one last time.”
“I know you do, my sweet wolf.” I brought his hand up and kissed the back of it. “The lamb was yummy tonight, huh? When we see our men again, we’re gonna have to tell them all about it. Then add it to our weekly dinner menu.”
There was a subtle quake in his chin before he turned back to me. “Rowan will want it served with peppers.”
The change of topic worked. The sadness still lingered in his eyes as we spoke of our men and all the things we wanted to do when we finally reunited with them—when, not if—but the heaviness in the air gradually lifted.
We eventually moved to the bed and propped against the pillows. The only light came from the whispers of moonlight streaming in through the window and the glow from the hearth burning in front of us. Flames from the fire cast shadows along the wall.
“Good news is we got some answers tonight,” I said, threading our fingers together and holding them up to the firelight. He smiled. “Onyx has a soft spot for demi-wolves. Something he and I have in common.”
“We also learned that he finds you intriguing.” Lake slipped one arm beneath my head and curved his body around mine. “Something he and I have in common.”
The last was said in an awful imitation of my voice. I nudged his belly, earning a gruff sound in response. He then brought my hand to his mouth and nipped at my fingers. These playful moments with Lake warmed my heart.
“Not sure it’s a good thing to be intriguing to a demon lord,” I said, shifting my focus to Lake’s inner wrist. Dark blue veins stood out against his porcelain skin. “Feels like I’m an insect or something he plans to study and dissect. I’m still convinced he wants to eat me.”
“Aye, I’m sure he does.”
“What?” I flipped to my side. “So you think so too! He intends to fatten me up first though. And you let me eat all those potatoes earlier. The audacity.”
