“Good enough for breakfast in bed?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I’ve never had breakfast in bed.”
“We’ll have to do something about that.”
“Maybe. Let’s see if these eggs hold up.” I took one of the plates he’d put together, handed him the other, and got busy adding the toppings I wanted. And coffee. He’d wisely brought up two of our biggest mugs. I filled them to the brim.
We ate in silence, other than the muffled sounds of appreciation, the rain on the window, and the music drifting up from downstairs.
Spud finally came into the room, yawning, and got a couple pieces of bacon for being a good boy and staying on the floor while we ate. Dragon pig was downstairs somewhere sleeping. I could hear its rumbling snore every now and then.
“So?” Ryder asked, mopping up blueberries and bacon with a fork full of waffle.
“I vote we make breakfast in bed a new Sunday tradition.”
He grinned. “Seconded. But what about when you’re working the weekend shift? Or I’m out of town?”
I sipped coffee, already on my second cup. There were still things we needed to work out, things we needed to say to each other. Maybe now was the time to start on that. I could ease into it. Slowly warm up to all the things I needed to say to him.
“Why didn’t you tell me Mithra was using you like a puppet?”
Okay, so much for slow and easy.
He crunched bacon and leaned his head back against the headboard, staring at the ceiling.
“I think it happened so infrequently that I thought I could just handle it. You have so much on your plate.”
“Never too much for you. Never too much that I wouldn’t drop it all to help you. Do you believe me?”
He rolled his head, still against the headboard, to look at me. “Things have been hard the last couple years.”
I swallowed, breakfast a lump in my gut. “I guess so. But there’s good things happening too.” I lifted my left hand where the simple band encircled my finger.
He smiled, and his eyes twinkled. “Yeah, that’s good.”
“Yeah,” I said. “It is. But you trying to deal with Mithra alone, isn’t.”
“You took on a demon. Two. No, three.”
“Not alone. I never wanted to take them on alone.”
He shifted so his arm was behind my shoulders and pulled me toward him. “I don’t want that either. So let me fill you in. Delaney, Mithra’s been a total ass and thinks me being the Warden, or me marrying you, is some kind of leverage he can use over your family and Ordinary. I’ve tried to leave, but he’s told me more than once he’ll appoint a new Warden if I do.”
“Hmmm. I’m not sure he can do that.”
“I’m not sure either.”
“My turn. Ryder, my soul is almost healed, but even though it’s still a little broken, demons have some stupid idea that I’m weak and can be used to hurt Ordinary and the people within it. Also, there’s probably a ruler of the Underworld on his way to start a war.”
“Sounds messy.”
“That thing with Mithra sounds messy too.” I tipped my head closer into the crook of his shoulder and rubbed my palm across his chest.
“We’ll figure it out,” I said.
His thumb gently stroked the side of my arm to the beat of Crosby Stills and Nash singing about their house being very very very fine.
“I know we will,” he said.
