“‘Ohana,” I agreed. “Forever.”
6. In the Snow
Seri
Later that night, as Casimir wrestled both Zane and Brummy away from the staircase leading to the roof—“No, you absolutelycannot ‘serenade the moon’ from up there! You’ll break your necks!”—Koa and I retreated to the kitchen.
We’d been through terror, relief, and absurdity all in the span of less than an hour, and my nerves felt raw. Koa knew it, too, silently preparing hot chocolate and popcorn. Wrapping my hands around the steaming mug he handed me, I smiled to see he’d added a dollop of whipped cream, just the way I liked it. But that was Koa. He remembered those little details, stored them away like treasures.
“Do you think they’ll be okay?” I nodded toward the living room where Casimir’s exasperated commands still echoed.
“Cas can handle them. Zane’s been drunk before. Brummy is the wild card.”
A crash followed by Casimir’s creative cursing suggested “wild card” might be an understatement.
Koa didn’t seem concerned. He just slid onto the barstool next to me at the kitchen island and set the popcorn bowl between us.
“Eat,” he murmured.
I obeyed, realizing I was actually starving. As the buttery popcorn melted on my tongue, I found my thoughts drifting back to what had happened. Not just the panic and fear, but what itmeant.
Something inside me had gone cold in a way that had nothing to do with fear. Arabesque had nearly stolen Brummy from me. My first friend, my silent companion through those dark days at the farmhouse. After everything he’d survived, she’d nearly ended him with one last cruelty.
Not only that, she’d hurt my husbands. Each in their own way.
“She almost won.” I stared into my mug of hot chocolate.
“Exploited our blind spot.” His jaw clenched, then relaxed as he nudged my shoulder with his. “You okay?”
“I will be,” I answered. Not yet, not while the image of Brumous writhing in pain was still so fresh, but soon. “Thanks to you.”
“Right place, right time.” He shrugged. “Any of us would have done the same.”
“True, butyouwere the one who did.”
“He’s‘ohana.” That explained everything about Koa. He protected family. Period.
Both of us winced at the crashing thud from the living room and Casimir’s aggrieved voice: “I swear by the eternal night, Zane, if you try to hang from that chandelierone more time—”
Whatever threat he made was lost beneath the sound of Brummy’s excited barking and Zane’s manic laughter. Koa and I exchanged a look of half amusement, half concern.
“What are you thinking about?” His dark eyes, always so perceptive, seemed to see straight through to the tangled thoughts I was trying to sort out.
“Arabesque, of course. She upset all of you today. Casimir feels betrayed by his own security protocol, Zane nearly fell apart, and you…”
“Me?” Koa raised an eyebrow.
“You’re out for blood,” I said, and he didn’t deny it.
“Aren’t you?”
Was I? The Seri who had arrived here, broken and terrified, would have said no.ThatSeri wanted only to escape, to hide, to find a corner of the world where Arabesque couldn’t reach her.
But I wasn’t that girl anymore.
“Yes,” I admitted. “I am.”
“Good.” He gave me a nod of approval.
