“No,” Hex says, after a beat. “I suppose not.”
Something in his voice is very carefully even. I glance at him despite myself. His face gives nothing away. Those red eyes are steady and unreadable, which is somehow worse than when they’re full of amusement.
“Anyway.” I push back from the table and carry my mug to the sink. “You told me to use my claws. So I’ll try not to let them walk all over me. That’s something.”
“It’s everything,” Hex says quietly.
I rinse the mug out and don’t turn around, because my face is doing something I’d rather he didn’t see.
“Right,” I say to the sink. “I’m going to go and shower and try to look like a person.”
“You already look like a person.”
“A presentable person. One my mother can’t immediately find fault with, which is a higher bar.” I grab a tea towel and dry my hands. “She’s going to be awful tonight. She always is. But especially tonight because James got a promotion and got engaged, and I’m bringing nothing to the table except excellent latte art and a growing collection of crystals.”
Hex makes a low sound that might be a laugh. “You’re bringing yourself. That should be more than enough.”
“Tell that to my mother.”
A pause. Something shifts in the quality of the silence, and when I finally turn around, Hex is watching me with that expression he gets sometimes. Soft around the edges, just for a moment. The one he thinks I don’t notice.
“Go and get ready,” he says softly.
I nod distractedly. My mind is doing several things at once. Making a mental list of everything I need to do before I leave. Bracing for the dinner party and the questions and the comparisons to James.
And underneath all of that, something quiet and warm that I’m definitely not going to name.
I rouse myself and step away from the sink. I’m almost at the kitchen door when I stop and turn back.
“Thank you,” I say. “For staying. This morning.”
Hex holds my gaze. For once, the smirk is absent. “I’ll always be here in the morning, Adam. For as long as I’m here.”
For as long as I’m here. The qualifier lands exactly where it’s supposed to. He’s not pretending otherwise. He’s not making promises he can’t keep. He’s giving me exactly as much truth as I can handle and leaving the rest up to me.
I nod. I turn and go.
It’s only once I’m under the shower, hot water running over my shoulders, that I notice something is different. I’m still dreading tonight. I’m still going to walk into that house alone and field questions about my job and my flat and my complete failure to become James. My mother is still going to be my mother, in full and spectacular form.
But underneath all the dread, something else has taken up residence. Something small and stubborn and warm. The memory of Hex’s voice, steady and certain.You’re extraordinary. Anyone who can’t see that is an idiot.
And more than that. The way he looked at me across the table this morning like I was worth looking at. Like he was in absolutely no hurry to be anywhere else.
I know what this is. I know where it ends. He’ll get strong enough, he’ll go back to the Shadow Realm, and this will be a story I can never tell anyone for the rest of my life. That’s fine. That’s the deal. I went in with my eyes open.
But tonight, when I’m standing in my awful family home, being compared unfavourably to my cousin, I’ll know that I woke up with someone this morning. That someone made me coffee and encouraged me to use my claws and meant it.
That’s something. Actually, that’s quite a lot.
I tilt my face up to the water and take a deep breath.
Right. Let’s go and be the cautionary tale. With considerably better posture than usual.
Chapter 13
Meeting the Parents
Thegardenpathisexactly as I remember it. Neat. Oppressive. The kind of path that has never once had a weed in it because my mother would consider that a personal failure. The rose bushes are trimmed to within an inch of their lives on either side. The front door is painted the precise shade of tasteful burgundy that my mother spent three weekends selecting.
