“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the one you’re getting.” He gestured to my samples. “You’ll tell me if you find anything else?”
It wasn’t really a question, but I nodded anyway.
He left without another word, and I found myself staring at the empty doorway a long time.
The afternoon passed in a blur of testing and notation. I’d moved on to analyzing the crystalline structure of the unidentified compound when Feral appeared again. This time he carried a tray.
I blinked at it, then at him.
“You haven’t eaten,” he said, setting it down on the only clear space on my worktable.
Tea, the floral blend I preferred. A plate with bread, cheese, and sliced fruit. A small pot of the bangleberry jam I’d enjoyed in the kitchen days ago.
He’d remembered. Noticed. And cared enough to bring it himself rather than sending one of the staff.
Warmth unfurled in my chest.
“Thank you.”
He grunted, already turning to leave.
“Wait.”
He paused, glancing back.
I gestured to the tray. “You brought two cups.”
“I did.”
“Were you planning to stay and have tea with me?”
His jaw worked for a moment before he pulled over the chair from his abandoned desk. He sat, poured tea for both of us, and pushed one cup toward me.
We drank in silence.
“Tell me about your family,” he finally said.
I wrapped my hands around my cup, letting the warmth seep into my palms. “What do you want to know?”
“You mentioned growing up at your grandmother’s manor with your cousins.”
“My parents were always busy with coven business. Building alliances, managing territorial disputes.” I took a sip of tea. “They loved me. They just didn’t have much time for me.”
Irritation flickered across his face.
“My grandmother pretty much raised me,” I said. “Along with my three cousins. Their parents died in an accident. Such a tragedy. The four of us spent all our time together. Always getting into trouble, experimenting with magic we probably shouldn’t have touched.”
“Sounds dangerous.”
“It was educational.” I smiled. “Adele nearly burned down the greenhouse once. Cyrene turned all the roses black for an entire summer. Sasha convinced a family of pixies to relocate to the library, and it took us months to get them out.”
“And you?”
“I may have accidentally created a compound that made everything it touched temporarily invisible. Including myself. For three days.”
His laugh caught me off guard. “Your grandmother must have loved that.”
