He has a large rucksack on his back and another one in his arms. The door snaps shut behind him. He drops the rucksack he is carrying and I pounce. I push him back against the closed door. My arms cage him in and my lips claim his.
He gives a little squeak of surprise but then sets about kissing me back very earnestly. He is here. He came back. He is unharmed. He is kissing me. It is all far too wonderful for words.
Reluctantly, I break away. Mabon stares at me with shining eyes.
“Everything okay?” I check, even though I know it is. I felt it in our kiss.
He nods.
“Are you sure you can find the way?” Seems like I’m checking everything.
He gives me another nod.
“There will be fences and rivers and roads and cities,” I say.
“And cows,” he adds solemnly.
My eyebrows rise. “Cows?” I mean, clearly there are going to be cows. We are walking cross-country, all the way from Scotland to London. But I don’t understand why they warrant a mention.
“Cows get angry,” he says with wide eyes.
Right. Okay. I still have my feather earring to translate for me. Is he speaking fey and the translator is glitching again?
I shake my head. It doesn’t matter, and we really need to get a move on. Half of what Mabon says to me never makes any sense. I should be used to it by now.
“Ready to go?” I ask.
“Nearly!”
He slips past me and retrieves a sachet of instant coffee from the table. I did kind of scoop up the debris from the container he threw, and I’ve piled it neatly on the side, but it still looks terrible and I feel bad for the cleaning staff.
I watch in bemusement as he slips the sachet into his pocket. Then he steals a teaspoon. I shake my head in weary resignation.
“Why the coffee?” I ask.
The teaspoon is shiny, so I kind of understand that.
“The gold writing is pretty,” he says as if it’s blindingly obvious and I’m an idiot for not noticing.
I shake my head again and pick up the rucksack.
“The sunglasses and hat are in the front pocket.”
“Thanks,” I say as I fish them out.
Wow, they are really nice ones. I was not expecting this. I assumed he’d simply grab whatever cheap ones were at hand, but it looks like he took the effort to find me a hat and a pair of glasses of good quality. Ones that are going to suit me, and I’m stupidly touched by it.
I flash him a grin and hold the door open for him.
“Ready now?”
He smiles, nods, and glides past me, out into the hallway. As I follow him, there is a spring in my step. Almost as if I’m looking forward to this.
Chapter thirty-five
These woods are quite lovely. It’s winter, I’m in the ass end of nowhere in Scotland, and it is wonderful. I never thought I’d be enjoying myself while on the run.
It’s not even a nice day. The sky is completely grey. I think it is about to rain. But the air is so fresh, and it is so peaceful out here. It feels restorative. Like it is healing my battered soul.
