“I’ll benice and let you nap in my bed, so you don’t have to climb up to the top bunk.” Nessa pushed the front door open and marshalled Sabby through.
“I need food.”
“And I will make you food just as soon as I can stop babying you.”
“Just the table is fine for now,” Sebastian said, pointing toward the kitchen. “My brain is whirling. She’s gone after me with that level of power before. In the caves, remember?”
Austin paused in front of them. “Need help?”
“Nah, I’ve got it.” She gave him a salute. He nodded and went into the kitchen.
“No, I don’t remember,” Nessa told Sebastian, guiding him after Austin. “I was ineffectively hiding from a large gorilla and then being carried down to you like a sack of potatoes.”
“Oh, yeah, right.” Sebastian slouched against the edge of the table. “Crap, I’m tired.” She helped him climb into the seat, and he slumped forward, arms out on the surface. “Well, she’s always had more brute strength than me. She hammered me and hammered me until she eventually incapacitated me. And then she let me live.”
Nessa nodded as she stopped behind Austin. He was bent over, grabbing things out of the fridge. She would’ve offered to make something for Jessie and let him get back to his alpha meeting, but she knew it would be a waste of time. This shifter liked to take care of his mate, and cooking was his love language.He not only wanted the duty, but he also loved providing her something she so obviously cherished.
Nessa’s heart glowed for them. Theirs was such a perfect, reciprocal love. It was probably that, more than anything else, that kept peeling back Nessa’s reservations and letting her dare to hope there was someone out there who would treat her so well and with such devotion. Someone she could fully trust and open up to. Someone who wouldn’t judge her for her past and that would make her feel safe within that intimacy. She’d never thought anyone out there could forgive her multitude of wrongs, but now…
“What are you making?” she asked Austin.
He put some spinach on the counter before straightening up. “Protein smoothie. Lady’s request. You?”
“A big omelet. It’s his favorite after he’s done too much magic.”
Austin grunted in acknowledgement before moving away. “Any surprises in making it?”
“Maybe.” She gave him a hoity one-shouldered shrug, lifting her nose into the air. “Not like I’ll tell you.”
He huffed with a grin and began prepping his ingredients.
She smiled, looking over at Sebastian for him to keep talking.
“Well, so she’s always had brute strength,” Sebastian said. “I can manage for a while, but eventually—in close range, at least—her spells overcome me and would eventually kill me. But they don’t drain me as much because it’s basically blocking and casting, blocking and casting. Her new spells, however, are not only powerful, but also incredibly complex. The blocking is not as simple, and her defenses aren’t as straightforward. It takes more energy to counteract one of her spells now. It’s exhausting. And…” He propped up onto an elbow. “The complexity of her spells is odd. Not like I’m used to. Likeanymages are used to, I’d wager.”
“It’s those Ivy House books,” Nessa said, pulling out a cutting board. “They’re from a time lost.”
“Yeah.” Sebastian’s voice drifted away, obviously thinking that through.
Nessa chopped the ham and then pulled over a bell pepper. The red of that reminded her of Tristan and the wound he’d taken in getting Sebastian to safety. He hadn’t balked or even flinched. He certainly hadn’t backed away. He took the pain and pulled Sebastian to safety without a moment’s hesitation.
He deserved a really chocolatey dessert.
“You should’ve seen the spells she did in that battle the other day,” Sebastian said, laying back down on the table. “They were hardcore. Like, I haven’t seen spells thatgrislyever. Mages can be horrible, but they don’t dream up spells like that.”
“They would if they could, I bet,” Nessa said, taking the seeds out of the tomato. “The Guild would throwmoney at her for those spells.”
“Yeah,” Sebastian said again. “I’d wondered if they were outlawed. I mean, Nessa, they werethatbad. Death on delivery. Boom! But according to her, mages don’t outlaw stuff, and she’s right.”
“Maybe not now.” Nessa sliced up the tomato. “But the Guild and mages as a whole weren’t always this corrupt and vicious. They weren’t always the bad guys. There have been times throughout history when they’ve regulated magic for the safety of the user.”
“Yeah,” Sebastian repeated.
Austin pulsed the blender before wiping his hands on a kitchen towel and dragging his phone from his pocket. He tapped it a few times before giving it to Sebastian.
“I thought Niamh would’ve shown you this,” he said, heading back to the blender. “She’s had her hands full, though. That’s a video from an onlooker at a pack we aided. It was right before wewent to help you, actually. That day, Jess was trying out some of her Ivy House spells.”
Sebastian tapped the screen to play it. The sound had been turned off so Nessa couldn’t glean what was going on. That was, until Sebastian started reacting.
