"Does it bother you?"
"Not really. I know they don't mean anything by it."
"Yeah. I've taken part in a few bets myself in the past," I admitted with a grin, and he chuckled.
"Trust me. I know."
I discovered Zephyr had made his closet deeper and added more shelves so there was space for my clothes, and it made me pull him into a deep kiss before I put all my clothes away.
Once that was done, I placed my blankets at the foot of his bed, then deposited the empty bags in a dresser drawer for future use.
"There. I'm all moved in now," I announced, and Zephyr wrapped his arms around me as he stepped close.
Hugging him back, I rested my head on his shoulder, and let out a soft exhale. I was home. Finally.
Twenty-Five
Zephyr
I'd just gotten allthe spell ingredients ready when Keoni came into the office the next day, and I smiled at him as he approached the desk.
"Ready?"
"Yep!" He had a cheerful smile on his face, but I could tell he was nervous, so I walked around the desk and pulled him into a hug.
He sighed as he tucked his head under my chin, his warm breath brushing against my skin.
"I feel strange," he mumbled, and I squeezed him closer. "Not scared, but a little anxious. He doesn't even know I exist. He might want nothing to do with me."
While it was a possibility, I didn't want to say that. I wanted Keoni to be loved by everyone, including the father he'd never known.
"Whatever happens, you'll always have me. And everyone who lives here," I assured him, and he pulled back to smile up at me.
"I know. That's the only reason I can do this."
Leaning up, he pressed a soft kiss on my lips before shuffling back. "So, how do we do this?"
"It's very similar to the last spell we did, just a different wording."
"And my blood instead of yours."
I nodded, and he clapped his hands together. "All right then. Let's get started."
I was working with a map of North America this time since centaurs weren't fond of water travel and Keoni's parents had met in the US.
I lit a match and dropped it into the bowl with all the ingredients and started murmuring the spell.
The smoke from the bowl wafted into the air, and I held my hand out for Keoni's.
Instead of his palm, I decided to prick his finger instead. Once a few drops of his blood had spilled onto the map, I grabbed the Band-Aid I'd set aside earlier and wrapped it around his finger as his blood started moving over the map.
Keoni smiled at his finger, and I turned my gaze to the map as the blood settled in the middle of a large patch of green called the Tongass National Forest.
"They went in completely opposite directions," Keoni murmured as he gazed at the blood marker. "My parents' herds, I mean."
I hummed as I found a map of the national forest—I had alotof maps—and unfurled it on the desk, then whispered a direction for the blood marker. It smoothly moved from one map to the other, then started moving again.
"You'll come with me, right?"
