“Happy Yule, Professor!” Darika calls out, and Ian sinks into one of the overstuffed armchairs, hanging his head in his hands.
“I definitely missed something,” Cassian astutely surmises.
“Oh, saints, did you ever,” Simon says, laughing and shaking his head.
Alyssa beams, pleased as can be that I’ve joined her in the mated omegas club. “Oh, girlie, we’re going to have the best bash ever. I’ll see you soon! Mwah!”
The call ends and I pocket my phone, unsure which of my men to look at first.
“So, yeah,” Ellie says. “I’m going to make a sly escape right about now. Mom and I are going to hit up the post-Yule sales. Any wants, needs, or desires?”
“Find me a hole to crawl into,” Ian mutters.
Ellie lets out a gleeful peal of laughter, gives me a quick side hug and heads back into the kitchen, throwing a wave and a “Happy Yule, Professor!” over her shoulder.
I go to Ian, perching on the arm of his chair, and he surprises me by pulling me onto his lap and into a kiss.
“Hi,” he says softly. “I missed you this morning.”
I return his kiss. “I’m, uh, sorry about, well,that. But Bitsy already knew because she can read me like an open book, Ellie probably suspected, and I’m pretty sure Alyssa picked up on the, um, ah, tension? Between us? But I trust them completely. They won’t tell anyone.”
“It’s not that,” Ian says, ducking his head. “It’s just… ProfessorPanty Melter? Please tell me only Miss Jordan calls me that.”
“Yeah, only Bitsy Jordan and half the female student body at Fairhaven,” Simon cuts in. “To be fair, I’m pretty sure Bitsy means it as a joke.”
“She had better,” I grumble.
“Possessive omega,” Ian teases, but there’s a hint of heat in his voice.
“Utterly, completely, and unapologetically,” I agree, feeling lighter than I have in months.
* * *
But for as much asthis morning has felt like a dream, it’s still a dream caught between two nightmares: Yule night, locked in my bedroom, praying for salvation, for an escape, and the retaliation that’s coming. We’re caught in a lull between crashing waves, the eye of the storm. For now, all is calm, but the air is charged, the horizon dark with danger.
“I caught something from Rad at Yule dinner,” I say quietly, picking at a loose thread at the hem of the tee-shirt Cassian lent me.
“What is it, my darling?”
“Sigils. Six of them. But I’m not sure what they mean. I just know Rad really didn’t want me to find them.”
“And yet, you stole them from him.” There’s a heated note of pride in Ian’s voice that makes my belly flip. I’ll never get enough of him praising me when I’ve done something clever.
“Why don’t we move this conversation up to the library?” Cassian suggests. “We’ll have more privacy.”
Simon helps me up from Ian’s lap and gives me a twirl. “Come, my clever kit-kat. We have a dastardly villain to topple. Saints, but your life is full of them.”
“Well, at least I’ve got a few handsome heroes in my life, too,” I say with a sweet, sly smile.
“Cheesy, Junes. So very cheesy. Never stop.”
Cassian ducks his head back into the kitchen to talk to his mother. “We’re heading up to the library. Do you need anything before we go?”
“I need you to make your caffeine-fiend mates another round of coffees, and maybe one for your caffeine-fiend mom, too.”
Mates. It sounds so very lovely.
Cassian drops a kiss on his mom’s cheek and makes for the espresso machine while Simon takes my hand, guiding me toward the stairs.
