“Where is Kylo?” Beaumont questioned as he pulled out a seat for Duron, before taking the seat next to Felix, who had several files in front of him.
“He’s somewhere checking wards. I could feel the change in them the second I drove through the gates.” Nori gave Felix another hard stare. “Not that anyone listens to me!”
“Oh! Now that you’ve come to mention the wards. Who protects your home for you?”
Beaumont, it seemed, never missed a trick, so Duron settled in his seat next to his mate and nodded his thanks when a bowl of whatever was cooking appeared in front of him with local mbejú fresh and delicious. “Eat.” Nori encouraged Duron with a smile. “I could hear you salivating from the doorway. Borí borí it’s one of my specialties along with the mbejú. Enjoy.”
Duron brought his hand to his chin just to check he hadn’t dribbled, because he was right. The smell of the chicken type soup with dumplings was divine, and his mouth was watering. Though politeness dictated he should wait.
Go on, I can hear your stomach complaining.
He didn’t need to be told twice and spooned up a mouthful. Nori could cook for sure. The flavor of the chicken and herbs were top class.
Nori hustled back to the stove and filled another bowl. “The wards are courtesy of a family friend. They have been coming here since they could first conjure. A lovely girl, Selina. Sad story.” Another bowl went in front of Beaumont and Felix huffed but said nothing as Nori returned to the stove. “Roiu found her when he was taking a run in his cat form years ago. He tracked her scent deep in the rainforest. Yet it appeared to circle back on itself, not showing where she’d come from. Very odd, but Roiu couldn’t leave her to fend for herself when she couldn’t speak.
“He went to the police, but they weren’t able to locate any family and with Selina being mute. She has no tongue.” Nori shook his head, wearing a sad expression. “Poor girl, even with all her magic, she appears unable to change it.”
Duron wasn’t sure what to make of his mate’s overwhelming grief at the mention of the girl being lost. He reached out and folded his hand over Beaumont’s.
What’s wrong?
Beaumont shook his head slightly.Not here. I’ll explain later.
Nori continued talking. “Anyway, Roiu, who has no family, took her in as Selina was quite attached by this time. It was a little while later that Roiu discovered, quite by accident, she was a magic user.”
“By accident?” Duron asked, his senses on full alert, and Beaumont stilled also, the spoon to his lips. His thoughts were clear. He didn’t think it was an accident, either.
“Why yes, he found her in his den, where he keeps all his magic books. Roiu has been interested in magic since… well, forever, as I remember it.” Nori came with two bowls and laid one down in front of Felix, the other in the space next to him.
Felix looked at Duron as he picked up a spoon. “Why the interest?”
Let me.
Beaumont swallowed and placed the spoon in the bowl. “Someone knows we are here. But more than that, they know what we are doing even before we’ve done it. Whoever was involved in the place we watched while waiting for Wyatt, knew what we were up to. When we went back, the place was empty, everything gone except for false clues, I suspect. The only folks who knew what we were going were you and your brothers…”
The pause was deliberate. Duron expected nothing less than an explosive reaction, having witnessed the Putney brothers in action, and figured his mate was aware of this, too. Beaumont was as observant as any assassin.
The second it took for it to sink in what Beaumont was implying, the seat Felix was sitting on fired back and crashed to the floor with the force. Nori continued to spoon the chicken soup into his mouth, appearing unconcerned by Felix’s behavior.
“What the fuck are you implying?” Felix hissed between clenched teeth. His cat was right there.
Duron growled at Felix for daring to act threatening toward his mate.
Beaumont didn’t bat an eyelid. “That the wards in your home might not be as protective as you think. They might’ve been doing more than stopping folks from getting inside.”
Nori paled at that, and stopped eating, pushing the bowl away. “That’s quite an accusation.”
“What accusation, is this?” Mao questioned from his position lounging against the door frame. He looked relaxed but Duron got he was anything but that as his eyes glittered with menace.
Felix jabbed a finger at Beaumont. “He thinks someone magically bugged our house.”
Duron rose to his impressive height when Mao came into the room looking fit to kill.
Don’t stress, mate. They aren’t going to hurt me. They are all a little hot headed is all.
“Keep away from my mate unless you want to be minus your claws.” Duron wasn’t able to hold back his aggression when all his animals agreed, no one was getting near their mate.
Kylo stomped into the room. “Can’t I leave you alone for two damned minutes? What’s all the posturing for?”
