Milo made a step forward, his hand outstretched. Cian had no choice but to take it if he didn’t want to cause a scene. And if there was one thing the entire board never wanted, it was to cause a scene. Not in front of so many guests. “I’m so happy to be here, Mr. Sunfire. Your home is such a unique blend of the architecture of the mid-1900s and Scottish late medieval style. I can sense the magic flowing through the water. Quirion tells me this kind of water magic is very hard to master. I’m so impressed!”
Cian took Milo’s hand, clearly surprised and not sure what to do. He settled for shaking Milo’s hand with an almost shy smile. “Well, thank you, Dr. Abber. I’m very proud of my home. If you want, I’d be happy to show you around. And you may call me Cian, seeing as you are one of our newest members.”
Milo beamed at Cian. “You’re so kind, Cian. And I’ll definitely take you up on that offer. Can you tell me about the history of the place? I have a dear friend who I know would love hearing all about it as well.”
“Oh, I can tell you stories, Milo. If your friend is interested, he’s more than welcome to visit.”
“I’m sure Sammy would love that. He’s a total history nerd, and his mate Dre takes him to all those interesting places. It would be nice to be able to offer Sammy something Dre can’t.” Another charming smile had Cian eating from Milo’s hand. Hismate might be a brilliant scientist and one of the most intelligent people ever born, but first and foremost, he was a top student in the Sammy School of Charming Paranormals. “I have to admit, I never studied magic too deeply, because as a human, I didn’t have access. Now that I can sense it, I see a lot of learning new things in my future. So, this water magic, how did you connect the runes with the water particles. Is it on an atomic level?”
Cian looked at Quirion, silently asking his permission to take Milo on a little tour. Quirion decided it was good idea not to have Milo present when he talked to the rest of the board. He nodded, letting just enough red bleed into his eyes to make it clear what would happen should even one hair on Milo’s head be out of place. Cian bowed his head slightly, showing the warning had been received and understood. “Please, Milo, follow me. You are right, of course, to bind the magic to the water, I had to go into the molecular level. It seems to me you have a deeper understanding of the intricacies of magic than you give yourself credit for.”
“Quirion is an excellent teacher.” Milo followed Cian after giving Quirion a peck on the lips. The look in his mate’s eyes was clear.I’m letting you have your fun but don’t overdo it.How in all the dimensions had Quirion gotten so lucky?
As soon as Milo and Cian were out of earshot, Beverly spoke. “Your mate.”
Quirion shrugged. She didn’t have to say more for him to understand what she was implying. “It is recent. We found out a week before your little test.”
Rasputin huffed. “You prepared him well. I assume it was you?”
“Of course. And really? Making him read theHistory of the Elves? What a waste of time.”
“Obviously he didn’t waste his time because I have no doubt you gave him the cliff notes.” Rasputin lifted an eyebrow.
“You know as well as I do that two-thirds of that treatise are just blah-blah. I boiled it down to the important bits.”
“I thought I recognized some of his reasoning.” Beverly managed to look haughty.
“It’s common reasoning. You’ll be hard pressed to find somebody with a different opinion of the work.”
“So, this was not some elaborate scheme on your part to get back into the society?” The woman who spoke was short, of dwarfish descent. She must have come to the board after Quirion had left, because he didn’t know her.
“No. As I said when we parted ways, I have no interest in working with other people. This statement still holds true, except for my mate, of course.”
“Why did he do the test when you knew he was your mate? Your resources are easily as vast as those of SBW. What other reason could you have than infiltrating us?” Rasputin seemed determined to make the organization he was part of appear more important than it was. Quirion was only too happy to put him down several notches.
“For two reasons. The first being that my mate is wildly independent. He’s not a person who accepts money without doing something for it. You can believe me, my entire family has offered repeatedly to fund his school, studies and research. He always refused, because for him it was too much like taking advantage. The second reason was that once we realized why you wanted him to do the test—which was petty, by the way—he was determined to show you how good he is. Simple as that. No thoughts of infiltration have ever entered my mind.”
“He is good, I’ll give you that.” Beverly made a huffing sound. Then she turned to the other members of the board, doing some impressive eyebrow acrobatics which the others returned in kind. Finally, they seemed to reach an understanding and Beverly turned back to him. “It would be a damn waste tolose a genius like your mate, so we’re going to keep him in our program. Just please refrain from getting involved in our affairs.”
Quirion knew this was the best outcome he could hope for. With a genuine smile, he bowed his head the fraction of an inch. “I wouldn’t dream of it. How you handle your internal affairs is no concern of mine. If it affects Milo directly, I will be involved, just like every other spouse would.”
There was a moment of tense silence, which Rasputin Icebringer broke. “I see we’ve reached an understanding. Why don’t we enjoy the rest of the evening? There are other new members we have yet to greet. Quirion, it was more of a pleasure to meet you again than I thought possible.”
“I can say the same, Rasputin. And this soiree is indeed a wonderful affair.”
The board members left him after that, and a short time later Cian delivered Milo back to him with promises to invite him and Sammy back here. Poor guy. Didn’t know what he was getting himself into. Well, it would be a learning experience for sure, and that was what the SBW was all about.
“How was your tour,min Liechtbrunn?”
“It was great. How was your showdown?”
“That was great as well. Shall we swap stories?”
“Absolutely. After I’ve met all the other researchers. Cian said there is a selkie here who tries finding a way to keep the gulf stream stable even if the temperatures keep going up.” Milo hooked his arm into Quirion’s elbow, they got some appetizers and found the selkie. It was a perfect evening.
Epilogue
“And then Cian showed us the spring underneath his mansion where he binds the protective magic to the water. It was so fascinating.” Sammy beamed at Barion and Jon, who were suitably impressed by this recounting of Sammy’s first visit with Cian. It wouldn’t be the last becausethere were so many things I haven’t seen yet, and Quirion knew Cian’s impersonation of a deer caught in the headlights after two hours with Sammy would keep him warm on even the coldest days. If he needed keeping warm, which he didn’t. So, the saying didn’t apply to him exactly. He knew what he meant, which was enough.
