"Maybe." Wonder leaned back in her chair. "Either way, he's entertaining, but I don't know if he also takes care of the results of his potions."
Tula wanted to ask what she'd meant by results, pregnancies or babies, when she saw Tony walking into the café.
She tensed up.
This was the first time she'd seen him since he'd moved out, leaving a note on the kitchen counter and not saying goodbye. He'd just moved into William and Kaia's spare bedroom.
He looked good. Rested. Like living apart from her was actually working out well for him.
That thought shouldn't hurt, but it did.
"Hey," Tony said as he reached their table. He nodded to Wonder, then looked at Tula. "How are you doing?"
"Good." Tula forced a smile. "Thanks for coming."
"Of course. I said I would." He pulled out a chair and sat. "Wouldn't miss it. So, everything all right in there?" He motioned at her belly.
"I'm nervous about the appointment," she admitted. "But supposedly, it's not a big deal."
"I wouldn't know," Tony said, and that was the end of the small talk.
An awkward silence settled over the table.
Wonder glanced between them, looking like she was debating whether to help fill the conversational void or let them work through it themselves.
"So," Tula said, needing to break the tension, "How have you been? Settling in at William and Kaia's okay?"
"Great, actually." Tony's face brightened. "Kaia and I are working on a project together. It's good to be doing what I've actually been trained to do."
He'd been in the village for three days and was already working? How had he managed that?
"What kind of project?" she asked.
"I can't tell you. It's classified."
Tula's anger flared. "Classified? You've just gotten here, and you're human. How can you possibly be working on a classified project for the clan?"
Tony squared his shoulders. "I'm a bioinformatician, Tula. So is Kaia. She needed my help and asked Kian to give me clearance so I could work with her. Kian arranged for me to meet a guy named Toven who compelled me to keep my mouth shut, so I literally can't tell anyone about it even if I wanted to."
Wonder snorted into her coffee.
Tula turned to her. "What's so funny?"
"Tony calling Toven a guy." Wonder grinned. "Toven is not just some guy. He's a god. Mortdh's brother."
Tula's eyes widened. "That Toven? He's here? Does Areana know?"
"I don't think so." Wonder's amusement faded. "It was another one of those strategic secrets that Annani couldn't share with Areana while she was still on the island."
"I always liked Toven," Tula admitted, memories of the handsome, aloof god surfacing. "He was so smart, so knowledgeable, and he wasn't interested in the political intrigue the other gods were immersed in."
Wonder arched a brow. "You were a kid. What did you know about politics?"
Tula shrugged. "I listened to your conversations with Annani. She understood the machinations of politics even as a young girl."
Wonder nodded. "Annani was groomed by her father to become the next leader of the gods. She's also smart."
"I'm smart," Tony grumbled. "And yet you left me for an uneducated redhead who works with his hands."
