“The Phooka pup?”
Brev rolled his eyes. “She's not a pup anymore, Mom.”
“No, I guess not. She's about, what, ten?”
“And mature for her age.” He grinned broader.
“Brevyn, are you sure you only kissed her?”
“Of course, I didn't just kiss her.”
My heart started palpitations.
Then he added, “I held her hand too.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “I can't believe you kissed someone and didn't tell me.”
“You're not supposed to tell your mother about your first kiss.”
“Why not?”
“You're just not.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, all right. A Phooka, eh? Not a bad choice.”
“She's pretty and really funny and she can faster than me. I like her.”
And there they were, the building blocks of attraction—looks, humor, and power. Leave it to a kid to make it simple.
“Well, it sounds as if you're getting those urges we talked about—the ones I thought you didn't have yet.”
Brevyn shrugged. “I don't think I'm ready for sex. Honestly, it sounds a little gross to me.”
“Oh, thank goodness. Promise me that you'll talk to me about it when you do think you're ready.”
“I don't know, Mom. I think I'll be okay. Rian's the one who's going to need help.”
I burst into laughter. “Well, if you do have questions, you can ask me. And you can tell me anything, Brev.”
“Okay, Mom.”
“Now, please, for the love of fire, be a child for a few more years.”
“Can't. I'm already a young man.”
I snorted a laugh. “Well, young man, you need to work on your subtlety. Thor figured out that you enchanted him.”
“Be subtle. Got it. I love you, Mom.” He kissed my cheek, then started to turn toward the door.
“Where do you think you're going?”
“Back outside.”
“Uh, no. You need to apologize to Uncle Thor and remove your magic.”
His face fell.
“This is what it means to be a young man. You have to face your mistakes.” I got up, put my arm around his shoulders, and led him out of the room.
