“Veryfriendly.” Brioni laughed, turning toward the door, then immediately swung back around. “Oh! Almost forgot, this is for you.”
She shoved a letter at Kizros, then gave a dramatic wave as if she were saying goodbye to the entire shop. “I’ll tell the girls to come visit! Bye, Tim.”
The bell chimed, indicating the humanhad left, but Kizros was too busy staring at the letter to confirm. He slid a claw under the seal, swallowing his nerves, then unfolded the parchment.
“Kiz? Everything okay?” Aofe asked, blue hovering in his peripheral.
He grunted, realizing that his luck had finally run out. Cold seeped through his limbs, and if he’d been blessed with spikes or armor, they’d be fortifying. Slowly and methodically, he braced himself from the inside.
Kizros folded the paper back up but couldn’t muster more than a half smile as he looked at Aofe.
Human Aofe. Sweet, sunshine Aofe.
Not hisAofe.
“My parents have requested we join for family dinner.”
9
FAMILY DINNER
Kizros
Kizros had been given three days to stew in his anxiety. Well, he’d been given three days to clear his schedule of any potential conflicts, and since he was an awful liar, he couldn’t even come up with a fake excuse to avoid it—not that he’d ever done such a thing, even if he’d wanted to. So, three days of anxiety it was.
And three days from avoiding any sort of conversation or close quarters with the one person he so desperately wished he could confide in.
Aofe sat across from him in the carriage, a soft-blue dress pillowing out at her hips and spread across the seat. Brioni had delivered it the day before, and apparently the long sleeves had been embroidered by one of the other humans. Silver flowersand vines decorated the scooping collar and trailed down to her wrists where they secured over her rune cuff. The leggings, silver to match the stitching, were tucked into flat ankle boots that he’d noticed she wore with all of her outfits.
So dangerous, how he would have much preferred to keep her home than be here. Peel those leggings from her thighs and count all the freckles on her skin.
But she was not his, and he could not keep her sequestered away. He was not a monster, and he’d kept himself busy so that he wouldn’t dare tempt himself to do something foolish.
Like kiss her, no matter how much he wanted to.
“Whoa,” Aofe whispered, blue hair twisted around her finger as she stared toward the home at the end of the pathway. She’d dyed her hair again, the blue a richer hue than before—her own recipe combined with the stronger pigments of demon-native flowers—leaving her shoulder-length strands shining in the waning moonlight.
Beautiful. Utterly stunning. And now he was trying very hard to scrub those thoughts from his brain as he stared at his childhood home looming over them.
Already, he could see his older sister and younger brother chatting against the marble balustrade, the white-columned backdrop and bright lights illuminating their varying shades of green skin. His youngest sister was likely inside already, gossiping with their aunt. And since his parents were waiting at the base of the stairs to greet them instead ofwaiting at the doorway, he had a feeling he knew what the topic would be.
As their carriage rolled to a stop, he caught his father’s mildly concerned look toward the qapian before his famous Kosteri smile was back in place. “Kizros, so glad you could join us.”
Kizros hopped out of the cart and gave a polite nod to his dad, then leaned down to accept air kisses from his mother. A dozen ideas of voicing his displeasure lingered on his tongue—particularly how this was most likely a political stunt for his father’s campaign—but he instead chose to say, “Thank you for inviting us.”
His mother pulled away, squeezing his arms gently. As predicted, she had none of the tact his father possessed in her greeting. “Surely you could have saved time walking instead of waiting for a ride. I just know Vylless Sohraxi is going have questions as to why my son had to hire such a lazy form of transportation when…”
Kizros had already turned away from her, offering a steady hand for Aofe to exit. He lingered, not just for her comfort, but for his own, as she descended to the unstable rocks at their feet. Or perhaps so he could hide his embarrassment at his mother’s behavior from his ever-observant father.
What he didn’t account for was Aofe’s ever-observant eye as well.
She adjusted her skirt and then grippedher crutches, offering his parents a wide smile and her own polite nod. “Hello, Ukela. Karroth. I’m Aofe. It’s lovely to meet you.”
Karroth placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Nice to have you visit. Both of you.” His eyes flashed to Kizros, but that smile remained in place as he waved a hand to the house. “Please, let’s head inside. Dinner is almost ready.”
His parents turned, almost as one, and began the climb up the two dozen stairs at a quick pace. Kizros took one look and nearly cursed aloud.
“It’s fine, Kiz,” Aofe whispered, taking the first step. “Just… maybe don’t let me fall backward? It’s a long way down.”
