He stood outside her apartment door, tall and motionless, cloaked in shadow and silence. A fixed point in her suddenly tilting world. Splice.
Her heart gave a happy little flip. Gods, he looked good: his dark, vine-like hair curling neatly around his birch-bark skin, his leaf-shadow-green eyes catching the dim hall light. Her body answered with a thrum that recalled every scandalous thing they’d done with his god in the atrium that afternoon.
“My meeting with Tamsin was a success,” she announced brightly, unable to keep the triumph from her voice. “We have so much to discuss!” She unlocked her door with a flourish and swung it open, a clear invitation.
As if on cue, the cats slipped out of the shadows. Maeve wound herself around Goldie’s calves judgmentally.You came home earlier smelling of god-sex, and now you smell of plans. Explain. Where’s my dinner?
Oberon, all sleek midnight and aristocratic scorn, padded to Splice and settled at his feet. Pick me up. Adore me.
Splice looked down at the cat. Oberon leveled him with the kind of expectation that required no magical translation whatsoever. With a soft sigh, Splice bent and scooped Oberon into his arms.
Goldie’s laugh burst out bright and unguarded, breaking the tension and sending a warm shimmer of magic through the air. For a heartbeat, they were a peculiar little tableau: a witch, a plant-man, and two feline tyrants presiding over it all.
“Here’s the good news!” she declared, heading into the kitchen. “Tamsin is going to help us. I told her about everything, and we have a real plan now.” She busied herself with cat food, turning to beam at him with a sparkle of triumph.
“You told her everything?” Splice crossed to her, Oberon draped in his arms. The sleek cat licked his chin. Splice shuddered but didn’t stop stroking his fur. “Was that wise?”
Goldie shrugged as she scooped kibble into the bowls. “I mean, she’s my coven leader. And yeah, it’s problematic, but I trust her. We’re not going to worry about the wholewoo-woo evil Land Trustthing right now, since they’re in comas. First, we fix Mycor and the land, then we solve everything else.”
She set the food down. Maeve padded over with her usual air of expectation, while Oberon leapt from Splice’s arms to join her, tail flicking like a banner.
About time,Maeve purred between mouthfuls.Schemes are fine, but dinner first.
Oberon licked his whiskers and cast a smug glance back at Splice.Not bad, plant-man. You’re learning.
“So what’s the plan, then?” Splice asked. “How do we heal Mycor?”
“So we were on the right track with the whole ritual-sex thing.” Goldie waved a spoon in the air like a wand. “But Tamsin says to excise the hurt, we have to do it at thesource. Tomorrow night, she thinks, because the crescent moon will be waning—” she waggled her fingers theatrically, “—blah blah something about optimal timing. In other words, we get to have ritual sexinthe Grove Core. I told her I’d talk to you.”
She laughed, bright and a little wicked. “I know, what a hardship, right?”
Splice didn’t laugh.
The sound of her own chuckle echoed back, suddenly too loud in the room. She turned toward him, expecting at least a smirk, but his face… his face was strange. Shadowed. Still. His eyes fixed on hers with a weight that made her stomach plummet.
Oh, gods and goddesses.
Wait. Was he?—?
Had she read this completely wrong?
She thought he’d liked it. Sheknewhe had—hadn’t he? Every kiss, every low sound in her ear, every time his hands stroked her skin—none of that could’ve been just duty. Could it?
Had he only been enduring it? Was that what he and Mycor had been talking about?
Her pulse stumbled. The air felt too thin.Oh no. Oh, no, no, no.
“Can we talk, Goldie?” Splice asked quietly.
Her stomach dropped. “Sure,” she managed, barely a breath.
They moved into the living room and sat on the couch. The hush between them was thick enough to choke on.
“Are you okay?” Goldie asked, softer still.
He didn’t answer. His jaw flexed and his hands curled against his knees, as if he was trying to brace himself.
The silence stretched until it felt unbearable, and the words spilled out before she could stop them.
