"The staff actually prepared everything.”
“But these are your ideas.”
“True. Now get away from the dishes."
"But—"
"This cocktail party is for you as well as the Claws. I don't want you sampling everything before the actual event."
"No, no." He held up his hands and backed away from the prep station. "I want to help you with this."
"Seriously?"
"Yes. That’s why I was tracking your scent today. I wanted to make sure you didn’t forget about the party."
“Hiro, how can anyone forget about the party when you are constantly bringing it up?”
“Someone has to keep everyone on the proper course.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re so extra. And stop saying you were tracking my scent.”
“Why?”
“It’s. . .weird.”
“The tracking your scent or the saying that I’m tracking your scent.”
“Both.”
“Well. . .there’s nothing we can do about that.” He grabbed a stool, dragged it toward the counter, and sat down on it. "Anyway, I'm glad I tracked your scent here. And now after trying those two dishes, you are doing an amazing job. But we need to make sure this continues to go perfectly. So tell me—what else are we doing?"
I studied him for a moment—this man who'd just comforted me through a trauma flashback, stolen my test food, sworn a knight's oath for cheese, and casually offered to commit murder on my behalf.
My new family is weird, but I love them.
He shrugged. “You’re not getting rid of me so you might as well let me help.”
“I see.” I grabbed my sketchpad from the counter and sat down on the stool beside him. "So, I want the cocktail party to have signature drinks."
"Yes. Signature drinks." He grinned and for a second I thought he was going to clap his hands together and squeal.
"The only downside is that it will be a lot of drinks.”
“There can never be too many drinks for the Claws, sis.”
“Well, I want to name a drink after each Claw, so good." I flipped to the pages where I'd started sketching concepts this morning. "And I want these drinks to represent who they are. Their personality. Their ups and downs. What makes them who they are."
Hiro's eyes widened.
"So maybe you can help me with that? You know them better than anyone. You know their stories, their—"
"This is going to be so much fun." He was staring at the sketchpad like it contained the secrets of the universe. "They don't know what's coming for them. How much this is going to mean."
"I hope they like it."
"Like it?" He turned to look at me, and his expression was completely open—no walls, no masks, no predator lurking beneath the surface. Just genuine, overwhelming emotion. "Nyomi, you're naming drinks after them. You're creating dishes that honor where they came from. You're—"
He shook his head slowly. "You'reseeingthem. Really seeing them. Do you have any idea how rare that is?"
