“Alright, that’s enough of this.” I scoop her out of bed and toss her over my shoulder, the t-shirt she stole from me riding up to show her panties.
“What the hell?” She tries to push herself upright, squirming, and I bring a palm down on her ass, just enough to sting and wake her up some more.
“We’ve got shit to do, little fae, so moping around is going to have to wait.” I walk into the bathroom and put her down so I can turn on the shower.
She glares at me while I simply smirk. I’ll gladly take any anger she throws my way just to see that spark come back to her, even just a flicker. This girl has too much fire in her; it would be a tragedy to see that light snuffed out. So if that means I need to take the brunt of her lashing out, so be it.
“I’m not moping, I’m conserving energy,” she argues.
Rolling my eyes, I motion for her to strip. “Don’t get all modest on me now.”
“You trying to say I stink?” She gasps in mock indignation, a tiny bit of teasing bleeding into her tone.
I shrug a single shoulder. “You said it, not me. But if we’re going to be spending the day together, I’d like to enjoy the company.”
Cambria whips her shirt at my face and I pull it away with a grin. She’s standing there flipping me off , fighting a small smile of her own. “You’re kind of a dick.” Stepping out of her underwear, she gets into the shower, yelping when she feels how cold it is, because she’s right; I can be a dick sometimes.
“I thought you liked dicks?” I argue, leaning against the counter.
She scoffs, turning up the heat until steam clouds the room. “You trying to pick a fight? After some make up sex?”
“Depends. Is it working?” I head into her bedroom long enough to grab a change of clothes.
She exhales a humored breath. “Yet to be decided.”
When she finishes up her shower, I’m there passing her a towel. Ten minutes later, I get her into the kitchen where Dorian’s just finishing putting breakfast on the table, eyes widening when he sees Cambria finally joining us and hurrying to grab another plate.
No one comments on it or makes things weird, not even Lucien when he emerges. The three of us make idle small talk to keep the room from falling into awkward silence, and I see Luce hesitate as he glances at the clock on the wall.
I narrow my eyes at him in warning, because so help me god if he just dismisses her and makes her feel like second fiddle, I will punch him in the kidney. On second thought, that might legitimately get me killed, but I’ll put gum on his chair or something.
“See you tonight,” she offers, sensing the rising tension and finishing up her breakfast without meeting his gaze
“Maybe I should switch and take today off instead,” he murmurs, speaking more to himself than the rest of the room.
Cambria rolls her eyes. “I’m not made of glass, Lucien. I’m perfectly capable of existing without you hovering. Go to work. Make somebody their millions, or whatever it is you do on a Thursday. Trust me, I’m okay.” She heads to the kitchen to wash her dishes, and the three of us share a nervous look.
No woman actually means it when they say they’re okay.
Lucien grinds his teeth before sighing, heading over to the kitchen and wrapping his arms around her. He leans in to kiss her cheek, so much more free with affection than I ever would have imagined the man capable.
“Come by the office for lunch?” he asks hopefully.
Of all of us, he’s seen her the least since the Rickon development and her starting to fall into a depression was eating away at him, no idea how to help. This of course just meant he spent that much more time at work trying to get ahead of stuff so he could be free when we needed to cross back over, which just exacerbated the problem.
She leans back into him, closing her eyes briefly. “Can’t; I have plans. Have your people call my people and we’ll set something up.”
He chuckles, kissing her once more before pulling away to go grab his keys. “What sort of plans?”
Her eyes twinkle in amusement, a bit more of herself starting to resurface under his attention. “Terrible ones, really. I don’t want to spoil anything, but there may or may not be an axe involved.”
He smiles at her warmly. “Be safe.”
She snorts. “Never.”
***
Three hours later,we’re thirty miles outside of town, traipsing around in the wilderness. I hold the branch back for them to pass by me, letting Cambria resume the lead. Honestly, without her, I doubt we’d ever find another fairy ring. It was only by following her that we stumbled across one in the first place, and I doubt we’d get that lucky twice; if you can even call getting caught up with the fae, luck.
