"I'm going to poison his food. See if we can go at this from a different direction. Direct attacks don't seem to be working, we'll go for a sneak attack."
I nodded. "Okay, sure. I'll make sure to make enough for you."
He grinned. "I doubt any of us will be eating much, but you need to keep up pretenses, I guess. Just doesn’t feel right to eat while you’re poisoning someone at the table.”
"I need to stay busy." I collapsed into a kitchen chair. "If I don't, I'll be tempted to go see Ariel and that can't happen." If Anna thought I wasn't leaving, that I might try to take Ariel away from her, she might try to call the whole thing off or notify the authorities. Gabriel and Michael's magic would keep her from doing that, but it would only go so far. We hadn't had time to craft a spell or curse that would be more foolproof, so we had to keep from triggering Anna's emotions enough that she could break through the magic.
Michael pressed a kiss to my forehead. "Try to stay busy, and we'll get through this as soon as we can. This pain is temporary." With that, he disappeared.
He was wrong, though, the pain wouldn't leave. I had a daughter, after thousands of years of yearning, an actual daughter.
I'd carry this pain forever.
What I'd told him about staying busy had been true. I couldn't stand being idle.
I fully edited the video and got it posted, and filtered through dozens of emails and hundreds of comments on my channel. By the time the garage door opened announcing Lucian’s return from work, my steaks were ready to be cooked. I set them to sizzling in butter in the cast iron skillet, very carefully following an online video.
It was a waste, really. Cooking steak that would only be an avenue for the poison. But maybe we'd get a few yummy bites before it happened.
I pulled the baked potatoes I had cooking out of the oven and put them next to the big salad that was waiting on the kitchen table.
Lucian walked in just as the front doorbell rang. He raised his eyebrows at me, but I shrugged and feigned ignorance. "No idea."
"I'll go see," Lucian said. I watched him walk out of the kitchen and down the hall. When he opened the door, both he and Adam shouted obscenities at each other.
Soon, he reentered the kitchen with his arm around Adam's shoulders. I reminded myself to think of him as Adam in my mind tonight, so that I wouldn’t accidentally call him Michael.
"Hey, Adam, long time no see." I cocked my head at him behind Lucian's back and widened my eyes.
"Hey,Connie." He looked around the room. "Oh, man, I didn't realize the time. I'll go, we can hang out another time."
"Nonsense," I said. "Have you eaten?"
"No, but I see you're making steaks. That's not the kind of dinner you can easily add a person to." He smiled blandly as Lucian looked between us.
Luc pursed his lips at me as if asking me for permission for his friend to come over and play.
"You're in luck. I had one steak left in the freezer. Somehow, we ended up with an uneven number. I already have it in the pan,andI even put an extra baked potato in the oven. I was going to send it for Luc's lunch tomorrow."
Lucian clapped Adam on the back. "I guess I'll have to deal with a ham sandwich, my friend."
Adam ducked his head and grinned. It was so cute. Now that I knew who he was, I had to fight the urge to kiss his bashful grin. I'd seen that same smile many times over the years, but it had never made me want to love on him. But I hadn't known then who he was.
I finished cooking while they sat at the table and talked. I intentionally forgot the steak sauce. If Adam hadn't had a chance to poison Lucian's plate by the time I asked for the sauce, he could then.
When everything was dished out and everything was settled, I sat down to cut my steak. "Oh, shoot. Luc, will you grab the steak sauce?"
He rolled his eyes. "You kill me, Conn. How you can eat a strip steak like this with sauce, I'll never know. It totally covers up the flavor."
"Yeah, well, at least you aren't lecturing me about it being well done."
He snorted as he stood. "I should. You ruined yours."
Adam poured a clear liquid all over Lucian's steak, and it blended in with all the juices before Lucian returned with my sauce.
Butterflies swarmed my stomach as I watched Lucian take a bite of his steak. Nothing happened.
Michael...Adam and I took bites of our own. Mine tasted heavenly. I cooked it to perfection. Three or four bites in, Lucian was happy as a clam, chowing down on his steak and potato, which he'd covered liberally in toppings. I glared at Adam, who shrugged.
