“Let me think… How about you conjure up some wine for us?” I asked, finally committing to a choice.
Theo rolled his eyes. “This is too easy, wordsmith.” He flicked his hand and a bottle of rosé wine and two glasses appeared in front of us.
“Hmmmm, not bad,” I mused and tried to think of something else. “Thatwastoo easy! Can you make a monkey appear here in this barn?”
Theo threw his head back and laughed. “Yes, I can. But why would I want to?”
I loved hearing him laugh, his voice was so deep and rich and made me feel all tingly. We went back and forth, Theo conjuring up the most absurd things, one after another and one bottle of wine turned into two.
“Can you control the weather?” I asked, popping a grape into my mouth.
“Certain aspects of it,” Theo said. “And only for a short time. It’s important not to interfere too much with the natural order of things.”
“So,” I said lightly, “you could have stopped the rain outthere.”
He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he turned his glass in his hands, watching the light shift through it.
“Yes,” he said at last.
“Then why didn’t you?” The question landed heavier than I’d intended.
Theo lifted his gaze to me then, not sharply, not suddenly, but as though he’d decided something and was bracing himself for it. His expression softened, something unguarded flickering there before he looked away again.
“For the same reason I didn’t suggest the Pathways,” he said quietly.
I waited.
He cleared his throat. “Because some things,” he added, “are… worth taking the longer way for.”
I didn’t answer.
There was no need to say anything.
I focused on the grape in my fingers, turning it slowly until the skin split.
“So,” I said at last, far too casually, “whatcan’tyou do?”
Theo smiled. “More than I care to admit.”
I hummed. “I know we joked about it tonight, but I truly think it’s so impressive what you can do. I sometimes forget that you are an actual God, but when you stepped onto that field in Rivermond. Holy hell, you looked like one and you acted like it too.”
Auretheos stilled at that and without a warning, his mask of the somber stoic was back in place.
“Did I say something wrong?” I asked.
“No, of course not. I am sorry, I guess I am simply tired. It’s late, maybe we should take the Pathways back to the Lodge and pick up the horses tomorrow.”
He got up and started packing our things, gone was the relaxed and happy Theo.
“I am sorry, but I don’t understand what happened,” I said again, getting up too and walking towards Theo. He held out a hand to halt me in my approach.
“Please just drop it, all right? You didn’t do anything wrong, I simply hadn’t realized how late it was.”
But I was not about to let it go and crossed my arms in front of my chest.
“What is going on with you? We were having a good time and all of a sudden you get so angry with me.”
Theo stopped with his pointless tidying and ran his hands through his curly hair, blowing out a hard breath.
