She let out a strangled cry of surprise. “Fuck! Ah. Sorry. Good morning. You scared the life out of me.”
“Terribly sorry, my dear. I have that map of Dublin that I promised you,” Cosmo replied and placed a rolled-up scroll onto the table. He looked over the notes that she had been compiling that morning. “Have you made any progress?”
Bridget showed him her list of attacks. “If there is a pattern other than these attacks happening during the same year in the same city, I haven’t found it yet.” She unrolled the map and placed some of her books in the corners to keep it straight. “I’mhoping that if I plot these addresses down, we might start to get a better picture of its hunting grounds.”
Cosimo nodded. “It’s a good start. Bas said that this creature hunted you in the astral plane. It already had gotten a hook into you, but thankfully, the protections around the mansion removed it. Do you remember anything strange happening at all in the previous days?”
“The strangest thing that’s happened to me this year was having your son wandering into my mind palace. It’s the first time I had ever seen anyone there,” Bridget admitted.
Cosimo smiled with fatherly pride. “My boys are all exceptional, and if anyone was going to find a way into someone else’s mind palace, it was going to be Bas. Would it be too forward of me to ask if you like him?”
Bridget tried desperately not to think of making out with his son the previous night. She had never been grilled by someone else’s parent before.
“Probably a lot more than I should,” she admitted.
“Why would that be a problem?” he pressed, his head tilting to one side. It was a gesture that she had seen Bas do before.
Bridget didn’t know how to politely say what was on her mind, so she went with honesty. “I don’t think I’m the kind of girl that your son would be interested in long term. I don’t want to get more attached to him if, after we catch this monster, we go our separate ways.”
She quickly shut her mouth and bit her tongue so hard that she tasted blood in her mouth. Maybe she should’ve said nothing at all so she wouldn’t feel like shit now that the truth she had been thinking about all night wouldn’t have come out.To his fucking dad. Bridget wanted to bang her head on the desk.
Cosimo had a small, amused smile on his face. “Somehow, I don’t think my son will be deterred so quickly or easily. He found you in the astral plane twice and then in the real world. I don’tthink fate will let you slip away when you have finally found each other. You both have very rare gifts that make you powerful but isolate you from nearly everyone around you.”
“What’s your point?” Bridget replied, folding her arms.
“My point is neither one of you is alone anymore, and that’s a very good thing. Good luck with the research today, Bridget. I’ll see you at dinner,” Cosimo said, and with a nod goodbye, he disappeared into the stacks.
Not alone anymore.Bridget didn’t even know what it would feel like. She swallowed the burning lump in her throat and turned back to the map, determined to put the whole awkward conversation out of her mind.
It was easier said than done because even though she knew it was going to be a terrible idea to crush on someone like Bas Greatdrakes, she also knew she wasn’t going to be able to stop.
17
By the time Bas had showered, made a tray of fresh coffee and snacks and carried it into the library, Bridget had already plotted out all the addresses onto a large map and was busy working through a pile of books.
“You are making me feel bad for not setting an alarm,” he joked and put the tray down on the table where it wouldn’t be in her way.
“I couldn’t sleep, and I’m bad at sitting still, so I thought it better to get to it. Your dad got me the map,” she said, looking up from the book she was going through. There was something shy and wary in her tone that hadn’t been there the night before, and Bas didn’t like it. Had Cosimo said something to upset her?
“Can I top up your coffee?” he asked.
Bridget took stock of the tray, and she bit back a laugh. “Did you bring me scones? Bas, has anyone told you that you are a bit of a feeder?”
“Yes, but I don’t like the idea of you being hungry. You were up early, and I wasn’t, and you didn’t eat breakfast,” he argued.
“I ate toast!” Bridget said, exasperated.
Bas made a frustrated sound. “That’s not real breakfast. Just try my scones, I’m sure you’ll like them.”
Bridget took one that was covered in strawberry jam. “Is the feeding obsession thing a dragon thing?”
No. It’s because someone had to be in charge of looking after the kitchen when my mother died, and now I can’t stop because trauma is a bitch, and I can’t handle the idea of you being hungry.
“Sure, we can go with that,” Bas said, trying to clear the spiraling thoughts in his head. “I just...want to take care of you.”
Bridget cocked her scarred brow. “Because you think I can’t take care of myself?”
Bas growled in frustration. This was coming out all wrong. “That’s not it. It pisses me off that no one has looked after you before. I like looking after people and making sure that they are fed and comfortable. I want you to feel full and safe, so I can think straight.”
