“No monsters here,” he replied, his voice lilting in a half-teasing tone. Kade’s mouth twitched in a small smile. “We’re just going up a few blocks.”
He heard August laugh from the kitchen, but Florian was already on his feet and leading Kade out the door as they waved goodbye to Koji in the living room.
The evening air was cool against his skin as they walked side by side on the narrow sidewalk. Florian had considered asking Nadia about bringing Koji along, but he was already glad that he’d decided against it. Not because he didn’t want Koji there, but it was nice to be alone with Kade, even if just for a little while.
As if sensing his thoughts, Kade glanced toward him, catching his gaze. Florian leaned closer to him, their fingers intertwining; they walked in silence until they were at the restaurant. Florian caught sight of Nadia sitting outside as they approached—she spotted him at almost the same moment, grinning widely as she stood up and all but ran toward them.
“Florian!” she exclaimed, and Kade let go of his hand so Nadia and Florian could hug each other fiercely. “How was your trip?”
“Really good,” he laughed, his voice muffled in her shoulder. “I missed you, though.”
“Aww, Flor. I missed you too.”
They hugged for a moment longer, then Nadia pulled away, looking up at Kade.
“Kade, right?” she said, smiling at him. “Nice to see you again.”
Kade nodded—while his face remained as stoic as ever, Florian could practically feel his uncertainty, making him stifle a laugh.
“You too,” Kade finally said, sounding very earnest.
“I already put our names in,” Nadia continued, gesturing for them to follow. “So hopefully it won’t be much longer.”
They sat back down together, and Florian asked about her job—it was a relief to hear that she was still working at the same smoothie shop. She always had plenty to say about work, though, so they hadn’t even started on what Florian and Kade had been up to by the time their table was ready. The restaurant—a homey little Italian place that he and Nadia had been to a hundred times before, because it was cheap but good—was just starting to bustle with the dinnertime rush.
“Enough about me!” Nadia finally laughed as they sat down. “Tell me all about Japan.”
Florian obliged with a grin. Their vacation had been amazing, between the sightseeing and the sheer relief of decompressing from—well, everything. He kept it mostly to the sightseeing, which were exactly the parts Nadia was most eager to hear about.
“It was a lot of fun,” Kade agreed, after Florian had described everything he could think of, which made both him and Nadia laugh.
“Yeah, it was,” Florian echoed.
“So, what have you been up to since then?” Nadia asked, perfectly casual over a glass of white wine. Florian hesitated, his grin faltering. What could he tell her except the truth?
“We were in the... the Veil,” he replied, looking down at his own drink. “Working on some of the stuff my... my dad left for me to finish.”
Nadia was silent for a long moment, and he couldn’t bring himself to look up to gauge her reaction. She hadn’t believed him when he’d first told her about the Veil and everything he’d done there, and they had just agreed to drop it. Would she be mad at him for pressing the issue now? Would she be upset, thinking he was lying to her or being purposely cruel?
“That’s... the other world your dad’s from, right?” Nadia finally replied, her tone mild. Florian’s head snapped up to look at her with his mouth agape in surprise—whatever he had been expecting from her, it hadn’t been this casual acceptance.
“I—Uh, yes,” he stammered, still staring at her. “You believe me now?”
She frowned, sighing as she leaned back in her chair.
“I don’t know,” she said, making Florian’s stomach flip-flop with confusion all over again. “But I... I don’t know. You’re my best friend, and I trust you. And if you were going to lie about where you’ve been, why would you make up something so ridiculous? So I don’t know if I can really believe it, but I guess I’d rather believe in magic and another world than believe that you’ve been lying to me.”
For a long moment, Florian couldn’t think, his mind going blank with the hope that maybe she believed him after all. She wanted to believe him—and that was good enough for him.
“I’m not lying,” Florian replied quickly, managing a nervous smile now. “I promise, Nadia, I’m not lying. I wish I could prove it to you.”
“Can I go there? What did you call it, the Veil?” she pressed.
“Humans can’t cross over to the Veil,” Kade replied before Florian could answer, which strangely made Florian feel relieved. Having another person backing him up might help convince her even more, or at least he hoped so. “Only fae like Florian, and shifters like me.”
“Well,” Florian offered as her expression became disappointed. “There was one human, once, who came over. Maybe I can figure out how they did it. Then I can show you.”
Nadia glanced between them with obvious trepidation on her face—her eyebrows tensed and her lips pressed together. But after a moment, she sighed and forced herself to smile.
