“Damn it, would you stay still? I just want to see if you’re okay, you little so-and-so!”
Paloma had laughed at her predicament, and then, once both Deryn and the cat were grimy, she whispered, “Soot. Sooty. That’s her name. Since you seem unwilling to take proper care of your pet, Ms. Crowhart, I shall take both Soot and Huckleberry to the resort until your sister arrives. She’s much more responsible.”
“How would you even know that?” Deryn could hear the insult in her voice and didn’t care for it. It was just a cat—she didn’t even like it. Well, her. Sooty, apparently. She didn’t like her. Much. Maybe a little…
“Well, for one, she did find a suitable name for her kitten, Ms. Crowhart. Huckleberry is a wonderful name for the pet of a horticulturist.”
Then, without as much as a by your leave, Paloma had turned on those ridiculously sexy heels of her ridiculously sexy boots and left the disaster of the house behind.
And so, the cat now had a name. When Ceridwen returned home later in the afternoon, Paloma sent Lachlan to deliver the sleeping kittens. They were both wearing little collars. How the woman had found time in half a day to even get those collars on the damn island, Deryn would never know.
“And so, what is her name?” Ceridwen’s voice jolted Deryn out of her walk down the very recent memory lane.
“Ah…Soot. Sooty, I guess, while it’s…she’s still little.”
“How…apt.” Ceridwen’s pause was not lost on Deryn, and neither were Victoria’s eyes widening.
“What?” She crossed her arms over her chest, then decided that maybe she didn’t want to hear the answer to that question and snatched the bowl of icing from the table, turning back to the stand mixer. No, it didn’t need another whisking. It was fine as it was. Yes, she turned the mixer on anyway, hoping the noise would cover whatever Ceridwen said next.
“Since I am firmly convinced you have not shared power with her, I’m very pleased she is so astute.”
Still, despite her best efforts to drown her sister out, Deryn heard her anyway.
Victoria cackled. “Sure shared enough other things.”
Deryn opened her mouth to protest, but Ceridwen simply laid a hand on Victoria’s forearm, careful not to disturb the kitten that was now snoozing on her lap.
“That’s uncalled for, Aunt.”
Victoria sputtered, but Ceridwen just tapped her fingers on her skin one more time, and there was silence.
Deryn slid the tin of cupcake sponges out of the oven, setting them on the rack to cool, happy for a distraction from this conversation as it was beginning to veer toward a territory she did not want to revisit while in the company of her family.
It was, however, a night she would revisit often on her own. Maybe even nightly.Magicalwas an overused word, and she hated attributing it to nonmagical things, but for the life of her, there had been magic last night. True, pure magic in their lovemaking, and it made her eyes fill with tears when she thought of how it would never happen again. Visions, fire, and centuries all fell by the wayside, nothing but raw emotion and desire between them. And somehow, none of that was enough. Paloma had made a decision. And Deryn had given her word.
Hell, Paloma had even broken her own rules for her last night, and Deryn was all too happy for that. But their goodbye felt final after they had made love for the last time in Paloma’s immense California king. Hence, Deryn had left at four a.m. to escape the awkwardness and the pain of the farewell.
“I have not shared power with her.” Deryn wondered why she spoke up at all, as the conversation seemed to have found its conclusion. Why did she need to resurrect it? Stupid.
To have something to do and not just stand there staring at Ceridwen sipping her cooling tea, Deryn began filling the piping bag with the frosting.
“I had hoped you would, Deryn.”
Ceridwen’s words slashed right across her chest, and as her hands suddenly began to shake, Deryn set down the spoon she was holding.
“Why?” Her voice didn’t sound quite like her own. It felt mechanical even as the word left her throat.
Ceridwen took another sip, and her fingertip caressed the sleeping kitten’s head, making her ears twitch.
“Because it would’ve meant something. Something that I sincerely wish for you.”
It was Victoria who sighed and shook her head.
“That is a mating, Ceridwen. Do you really think Deryn and Allende are fated mates?”
She said it so casually, so breezily, Deryn almost strangled the piping bag still in her hand.
Ceridwen did not raise her eyes from the kitten, just stroked the silky fur as she spoke.
