Melancholy returned to her tone. “I miss them so much.” She stood. “But I feel better after talking about them. I’ve kept them as secret as I have myself the last number of years.”
I reached out and took her fingers in my hand as she passed my chair. “Perhaps if you do that more I can help carry the burden of your grief. I try to be a good listener.”
She blinked at me, a sheen in her eyes. Her throat worked as she swallowed. Phin opened her mouth but gave up and just nodded. Then she bent down and pressed a kiss to my cheek.
I sat there for several moments, thoughts scrambled as I processed what had happened. When I finally remembered to breathe again, my heart pounded to make up for the brief interruption.
A sniffle reached my ears as Phin retreated down the hall. My chest ached at her grief. I’d do anything in my power to ease it even a little bit, to take it from her, anything and everything I could to ensure her happiness.
There was simply no other choice.
Chapter 12
Phin
It had taken quite a lot of convincing, but I’d finally gotten Tap to concede that if he was going to do all the cooking it was only fair I clean up sometimes. Yet again, he’d made us a lovely breakfast, so I rushed to take up the plates before he could.
“That’s not?—”
“I can help. Fair is fair, is it not? You cook, I can clean.”
“But you’re a guest,” he frowned.
“I thought I lived here? At least for now,” I countered, heart pounding as I hurried to scrub the plates with soap and hot water.
Tap was flustered, more color than usual in his cheeks. “Well, of course, but you deserve to be comfortable?—”
“I’m perfectly comfortable, thank you. I’ve never slept so well, nor had as much leniency in my work schedule. I can certainly pull my own weight when it comes to chores. Perhaps we could work out a new schedule? One that divides things more fairly?” He opened and closed his mouth twice without uttering a word. “Good. We can work on that later?”
Finally, he rediscovered his voice. “Alright. As you wish.”
“Good.” I beamed, happy to have finally gotten my thoughts voiced where such things were concerned.
While it had been a lovely couple of weeks-worth of pampering, I wanted to feel useful, especially since I wasn’t even sure the man slept. Once, I’d caught him dozing in his recliner when I got up to get a late-night snack, but that was the only proof I had he ever slept at all—he either never used his own bedroom or was a master of stealth coming and going from it.
My workload had changed so drastically, I was actually becoming a little bored, and I definitely had guilt over being waited on. With no scheduled time to get up, no need for applying a carefully crafted disguise, no waiting for doors to be unlocked or nagging church bells dictating every hour of my day, I was living a whole life of leisure. And that didn’t even account for the demon bringing me snacks and tea throughout the day, or my own personal bath with endless hot water. Or the workshops. Some extra chores, given my current levels of comfort werewelcomed.
After a moment’s hesitation, Tap mumbled his thanks and left the room.
When I was finished and wandered out to the hall, I found the brothers already mid-conversation.
“—needs real sunlight. An afternoon in the glade would do you both a world of good. Nobody goes in or out unmonitored, and it’s warded.” Seir’s volume increased as I passed through the living area and approached the hall proper.
“I can’t keep leaving, Seir. I’ve taken several trips recently, not to mention the other hours I’ve been away.”
“But youcan, brother. And you should. It’s not healthy to work like you do, never has been. When was the last time anything serious happened?”
“There’s been something unusual happening with some of the dormant doorways lately. Surely that shouldn’t be justbrushed off? Especially considering there are angels out there hunting Nephilim?”
I heard two huffs of frustration, hilariously opposite, and the owner of each one easily identified.
“By all means, investigate. I’ll help you even. But you need to work less and get out more. That remains true.” Seir groaned. “We’ve had this particular conversation entirely too many times. I’m soboredof it.”
“Imagine how I feel then,” Tap countered.
I paused at the edge of the hall, finding Seir with his hands on his hips, scowling at his brother.
“Say yes.”
