“I’m just a humble cook, Fallon. I leave life and death to the Old Magic.”
My mind leaped two paces ahead. If I couldkill an animal, in theory I could kill anything. Weren’t we all just meat in the end?
“But how does that work?”
She scoured the work surface and set a cast iron pan in front of me to clean. “I think that’s enough for today.”
That mother tone had me scraping and oiling the pan in record time. I set it back on the stove to let the oil bond. Exhausted but ecstatic, I had actually learned something. Perhaps too much. I wasn’t prepared to have the power of life and death at my fingertips.
Declan burst through the door, trailing siblings like snowflakes. He scooped me up in a hug.
“Did you have a good day? Are you the best feastweaver the world has ever seen?”
I looked at Anise, who subtly shook her head. So her children didn’t fathom the extent of her magic either. Maybe her mate had a valid reason to believe she was too powerful.
“I didn’t explode the kitchen so I’ll take that as a win.”
“That’s my girl.” His kiss was sweet, brief, and combined with his words, decadent. I kissed him back before I thought too much. His hands gripped me tighter, raising my temperature.
Anise laughed and we parted. The siblings shouted her down in a chorus.
“It was just getting good.”
“You’re ruining the fun.”
“I have pointers to offer, Fallon.” Eilie chimed in with the last and everyone stared at her.
Desperate to end the awkward moment, I peeled myself off Declan and dove into the sibling pile.
They served dinner with a side of racy suggestions. Sure, shifters were more open about such things, but I grew up in a home where we barely spoke to each other. Open wasn’t a concept I was used to. Even when Maggie and Evie acted up, I usually sat in the background. Despite a glass of wine in my hand, I could only listen to so many versions of the words lips before it was time–
“You’ve kept her up late enough. Save your degenerate suggestions for your own love lives.” Declan took my hand.
Back in his room, he chattered about his day with his siblings, dressed in my nightgown again. Krystall’s friends had produced a few new leads to follow. He waited patiently while I got ready for bed, regaling me with his excitement.
I tugged on my nightgown. “You don’t have to wear that.”
“I don’t?” He pulled it over his head with all due speed.
My hands jutted out, nerves surging up. No way I could look at his penis again without crashing out. “I mean. You have to wear something.”
His crestfallen expression softened his voice. “I would ratherwear this then.” He lowered it back over his head, smoothing out the fabric and fluffing the ruffles.
I steeled myself against his disappointment, the bone I had to pick with him lodged in my throat. “I don’t know how this works, Declan. What if skin to skin contact makes it worse?”
He stared at me like he would fix anything I asked. “Makes what worse?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “The bond you didn’t tell me about.”
Like a naughty boy, he looked anywhere but at me. Did he think the novels he stared at had any answers for this?
“Yeah, I figured it out. What is that all about? I thought bonds were for mates and we’re certainly not that.”
He flinched like I kicked him. “Friends have bonds too.”
I raised an eyebrow. It was the truth, but he understood what I meant.
He blushed. “I didn’t force it on you if that’s what you’re asking. Sometimes it just happens when people are close. I mean… did you hate it?”
