Twenty-Three
Zamir
I placed my handson my hips as I stood back and eyed our creation. It was a little lopsided because Nolan had accidentally broken one of the poles and we'd had to borrow an extra from someone else that was a little shorter than the rest.
"It's beautiful," I breathed, and Nolan chuckled.
"It'll do."
The tent was small—cozy—and a sleeping bag lay on the ground, a solar lamp, and a bag of supplies sitting in a corner. I'd packed a lot more stuff, but Nolan had convinced me we didn't need all of it. A few pillows would've been nice, though.
"Hey, guys! All set up?" Sofia asked as she skipped over, a wide smile on her face, and I grinned.
"Yep. What do you think?"
"Best tent I've ever seen," she said with a solemn expression, and I laughed.
"Thank you, thank you."
"Come on, we're setting up a bonfire. The sun's gonna set soon. So we'll have dinner around the bonfire and chat, and then tomorrow bright and early, we'll go hiking."
"Sounds fun! We'll be there in a minute," I said, and she nodded quickly before racing off.
Other than the two of us, six people made up the camping party: Sofia; a human and supe couple who had the type of closeness that came from having been together for a while; two humans; and another supe. I didn't know if the two humans knew about supes, so I made a mental note to ask Sofia later.
Turning to Nolan, I stepped closer to him, and slid my arms around his waist.
Nolan smiled and leaned down, his lips warm and soft as they brushed against mine. With people waiting for us, we kept the kiss light, and I hummed at the wisps of life force that slipped from his mouth to mine.
"Come on," he murmured when he pulled away, and he slid his hand into mine before leading me to the half-constructed bonfire.
Rocks were arranged in a circle around the bonfire, and we picked a big one to share. One of the supes quickly joined us, a witch in her mid-twenties with a warm, light aura.
"Hey, there. I'm Zamir and this is Nolan," I introduced, and she smiled. She was tall, with amber eyes, and a kind smile, her dark red hair tied up in a ponytail.
"Hello. I'm Michelle," she said, a hint of French in her accent. She glanced around, then leaned closer, her voice soft, as if shedidn't want anyone to overhear. "The human woman, do you know her?"
"Sofia?" I asked after a pause, then nodded quickly. "She's the bartender at my mate's bar."
I leaned into Nolan, and he tightened his arm around me.
"Does she know? About supes?" Michelle asked, her eyes flicking to Sofia, who was talking to the others.
"Oh yeah. Her stepdad is one," I said, then glanced at Nolan to double-check. Nolan nodded in agreement, and Michelle leaned back.
"Okay, thank you."
She stood up and went over to Sofia as I turned to look at Nolan. "What do you think that was about?"
Nolan smiled and nodded toward the others, and I watched as Michelle murmured something to Sofia, and the two walked away from the group into a copse of trees.
"Huh. Do you think..." I trailed off, and Nolan hummed.
"It's possible."
I grinned up at him, and he returned my smile, shaking his head.
The others pulled us into a conversation as everyone introduced themselves, and we discovered that, like Sofia, her friends were pretty damn cool.
