“Doyouwant to sit on my lap, Dexter?” Hunter raised a brow.
Dex gasped in horror. “No! I wantherto sit onmylap,obviously.”
“Well, that’s an easy answer. Because it’smyoffice,” Hunter replied smugly, tucking my hair behind my ear and pressing a kiss to the nape of my neck. It sent a zing of hot tingles down my spine, and I wiggled. “Be good and eat your food.”
I pouted.
“Fine,Dad.” Dex grabbed his cheeseburger and took a dramatic bite, glowering at Hunter as he did it.
Bram chuckled before cutting into his steak, the same meal as I had. “I meant to mention something to you, Hunter. Slater told me he’s interested in helping out the council. The Supernatural Council, specifically.”
“Oh?” Hunter grabbed his sandwich and took a bite before setting it back down and swallowing. “Why the Supernatural Council and not the Demon Council?”
“Well, he’s always wanted to be an agent. He’s not interested in admin duties but carrying out missions,” he explained to Hunter. “I don’t know the full reason, but he wanted to see if there was any way I could put in a good word for him, so to speak. I don’t know who else to talk to other than you.”
“I’ll talk to Sabine about it, but she’s not a huge fan of the Demon Council, so I can’t promise anything,” Hunter told him.
“I get it.” Bram dug into his steak some more.
“Hunt-y!”Joel sang as he tossed open the door to the office and froze, his blue eyes scanning over all of us. “Why didn’t I get invited to the party?”
I tilted my head as I sensed a spark of magic in his soul that usually wasn’t there unless he was around Jenni.
“Because it’s not a party,” Jenni scolded him before walking around him. “Clearly, it’s a cute little lunch date.”
“Yes, a cute lunch date of my best friend, my savior, and her mates.” He sniffled. “I would’ve accepted the invite, just so you know.”
My soul eater powers flared as I took a deeper look into his soul. His magical essence lit up like foil in sunlight along the edges of his soul, but it should spread from the center and out. All I needed to do was tug it from the edges back to the center.
Jenni rolled her eyes. “We had lunch plans, remember? Would you have just ditched me?”
He gasped in horror, and the magic bled into his soul more as he stood closer to Jenni. “Of course not! I’d never ditch my best friend.”
I nudged it further into his soul with my magic, and it bled more.
“I thought I was your best friend,” Hunter grumbled, tugging me closer. “You okay?” he whispered in my ear.
“You are my dude best friend,” he assured him. “Jenni is my girl best friend. Totally different, but equally loved.”
The magic spread further before Jenni turned and walked closer to us, and the magic snapped back to the edges of his soul like a rubber band.
I flinched back into Hunter, blinking rapidly. “I’m fine.”
“Dream girl, you okay?” Reed tilted his head, searching my gaze with his.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I promised, grabbing my fork and stabbing into the cut pieces of steak on my plate. “I just…thought I could fix something, but I’m not sure if I can. I’ll explain more when I know more.”
Joel and Jenni shared looks of confusion, but they let it go.
Time flew by as we ate our lunch, and Jenni and Joel stayed with us.
It was a good time, and we had good conversations. However, something stood out to me about Joel’s soul—his magical essence lit up on the outskirts of his soul when Jenni was close to him. It made me suspect they shared something blessed by the Fates, but I wasn’t sure of anything yet. Perhaps he just felt safe with her because of their trauma bond. Something told me it was more than that, though.
Hunter groaned, wrapping his arms around me and inhaling deeply. “I wish you didn’t have to leave.”
I turned in his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck with a pout. “I don’t haveto.”
“If I didn’t have any sessions after this, I’d agree.” He frowned with a low groan, like he wanted nothing more than to take me on his desk. “But I have several sessions after this, starlight. I promise to make it up to you.”
