I smacked him in the shoulder. “Come on. I’d rather play games than hear about your boyfriend’s cock.”
“Your loss,” he said with a shrug and a grin. “It’s lovely.”
We moseyed on down the hallway, a comfort and ease to walking with him that I appreciated. Amelia, Charles, and Theo had become closer friends than any I’d ever had before, and I even anticipated seeing more of the people I’d talked to at the last game night. Cillian surrounded himself with genuinely good companions, a reflection of who he was behind the reticence and cool demeanor.
“So are the two of you…” Charles asked, waiting for me to fill in the blanks. We’d been doing this for close to two months now, and I didn’t have an answer for him. We were living day to day, and I knew I didn’t want to be apart from him. Yet, at the root of it all, a part of me needed to be free to choose him, to choose this, but I wasn’t.
I shrugged. “We’re enjoying each other’s company.”
That was paltry compared to the depth of what I felt for him, how much he’d changed my entire life, but I didn’t have any answers. Charles’s bright smile slipped for a moment, a flash in his gaze I wasn’t sure how to interpret. Maybe he thought I was toying with his friend.
“Cillian hasn’t brought anything up, and neither have I, so until we have that discussion, I can’t give you more of an answer,” I clarified.
Charles nodded and let out a weary sigh. “He’s stubborn to a fault.”
That was the damn truth.
We turned down the corridor toward the dining hall, and voices traveled our way from the open room. My heart sped up. I wanted to delude myself into thinking it was nerves over who awaited us there, but the truth was, the second I heard Cillian’s rich voice, my body and soul awakened for him. I’d known from the moment I met him that he inspired a reaction inside me, but I hadn’t understood why the strength of it had been there from the start.
He and I could never have been anything casual.
We were destined for either a love foretold by the stars themselves or absolute ruin.
I still wasn’t sure which.
When I stepped into view of the dining hall, I sought him out on instinct. He sat at the head of the long table they’d formed out of several pushed together, and he chatted with Sofia and Mal. Another woman was at the table, one I recognized from early on in my time here. The one who I’d also spotted in wolf form.
When Cillian’s gaze landed on me, the slow smile that rose to his lips made my heart thump harder. I wandered his way instantly, my feet carrying me toward him. I slipped up beside him, and he reached out to drag me closer. When he tilted his chin up, I took the cue to lean down and kiss him, and my wholebody sang from the contact, even though I’d seen him mere hours ago. However, the fact he didn’t hesitate to claim me in front of his friends still vaulted me higher and higher. Having this man’s esteem—that meant something.
“Sit here,” he said, spreading his legs and patting his lap.
“Then I can’t play,” I countered.
Mal pushed up from his spot—I’d met him at the gala the other night—and found another open seat farther down. Even though he wasn’t wearing the high drama outfit of the other night, his bright purple crop top matched his eyeshadow and nails. His dark curls were glossy and well taken care of, and his eyes were a hypnotic green with slits for pupils. “I’ll move just to spare myself the show.”
I accepted the proffered seat by Cillian’s side.
“I wouldn’t mind watching the show,” Sofia teased, seated on the opposite side of me.
“Gretel keeps you plenty busy,” the other woman muttered.
“Don’t be jealous, Fae,” Sofia teased. She glanced between her and me. “Have the two of you ever had an official introduction?”
“You were staying here for a spell, right?” I asked. Cillian coughed into his fist, and I locked in on Sofia. I’d begun piecing things together about why certain monsters resided in the empty rooms temporarily, but no one had given me a confirmation.
Sofia shook her head, an amused smile on her graceful lips. “Cillian, I don’t understand why you’re keeping it a secret from this boy.”
“It’s not a big deal,” he grumbled, and I kicked him in the foot.
“Well, now I need to know.” I crossed my arms and stared him down.
“He facilitates a safe space for monsters in need,” Charles announced from the other end of the table. “When someone in the community is in trouble, these upper rooms in the Spires are a place where they can escape for a little or recover.”
Theo snorted. “You’re fearless.”
“That’s why you love me,” Charles said, snuggling against Theo, their seats nudging together.
All of the goings-on up here clicked into place. How the dining hall had mysterious visitors, same as the ones who filled some of the rooms. A thrill rose inside me at the realization of what he’d been involved in all along.
