Page 36 of A Siren of Beasts

He gave me a soft smile and one of his tentacles brushed my cheek and tucked some hair behind my ear. “You showed me. These are all things I’ve seen you watch being made or have been instructed how to make throughout your lifetime. Plus, magic helps as well to fill in where I lacked skill.”

“Thank you, this is incredible and everything smells so amazing,” I said, giving him a delighted smile then picked up my spoon.

The broth was rich and tasty with lots of vegetables floating in it. Next, I took a bite of the bread and moaned at how good it tasted, some of the best I’d ever had.

“I cooked the fish,” Rhun interjected as I took a chunk of the flaky flesh and popped it in my mouth. “Just hope I didn’t overcook it, I’m a little rusty on my skills.”

The fish melted on my tongue and burst with the bright flavor of spices he’d coated it in. “It’s absolutely perfect, Rhun, thank you. I can’t remember the last time I had fish, Barnaby hated the stuff, preferring red meat instead. While I enjoy red meat there is something to be said for how light and delicate fish can be.”

Washing my food down with water, I hummed with contentment as I added some of the fish to the soup. When I looked up noticing the room had gone quiet I realized the guys were staring at me intently.

“What?” I questioned.

“Who, the fuck, is Barnaby?” Rhun demanded through clenched teeth.

I realized I hadn’t told them his name. “That would be the man rotting at the bottom of the sea.”

“You mean the man who owned you,” Moreth spat.

When had he switched places with Milin?

“Correct, past tense because he’s dead, snapped neck and everything. He’s not going to come back and steal me away like what happened to my mother. Plus, Imp and I are soul bonded mates, as well as Rhun’s side of the bond is in place. There’s no reason to get upset about the name of a man you’ll never have to worry about,” I reminded them.

“Yeah, doesn’t mean we have to like hearing you say his name,” Rhun grumbled. “From now on if you have to say something about him, call him fish food.”

“Fish food?” I questioned.

“That’s what he is,” Moreth agreed. “No reason that human deserves to be called anything better when he treated our mate like nothing more than a toy. You forget, Song Bird, I watched your whole life unfold when I was trapped in that memory. I know exactly what he did and if I had the power to bring him back to life so I could string him up and tear him limb from limb, I would.”

Blinking at them, I took a moment to understand in no way were they kidding about wanting me to never speak his name ever again. Being mad about what my life had been like wouldn’t change that it happened. But it would seem these monstrous males had taken it upon themselves to be angry for me.

“Okay, fish food it is,” I acquiesced. “But I need you all to understand that I’m not mad about my life before coming here. It was all I knew, there was no other choice for me to have missed out on and be filled with regret about. That, and I learned from my mother that leaving me where she did was what needed to happen to bring me here. If things had gone differently, I’d never have been on that boat and gotten shipwrecked. Things needed to happen for a reason and right now being here with all of you, I’m having a hard time seeing what there is to be mad about.”

The four of them just stood there watching me with varied expressions of surprise, confusion, and respect.

“Am I going to eat alone or are you going to join me?” I asked, breaking the silence.

That got them moving. Imp sat to my left while the others gathered plates and bowls for themselves. Rhun cut in front of Milin, slamming his plate down to my right before the ent could claim it. They stared at each other for a tense few moments, then Milin backed down and moved to the chair next to him. Hisceas sat on the other side of Imp, who had nothing before him.

“So you don’t eat at all?” I asked my raven.

He shook his head. “No, Shiny, I feed off souls, but to be honest I’ve never tried to eat physical nourishment. There’s been no need.”

“You made me food the other day,” I challenged.

Imp chuckled. “There are many things I can do when it comes to taking care of my mate. I knew you needed food so I found an old human woman gathering things in the forest, ate her soul, and used her knowledge to make what I did. She’d already gathered it all, no sense in wasting it when you could have it.”

Every time I asked a question the answer I got just left me with more questions, more often than not. The table fell into a comfortable silence as we ate and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with them like this, just being, no fighting. Seeing that it could be possible gave me hope that with time maybe they could always be like this.

Imp moved his chair closer to me and rested his hand on my thigh. It was a sweet gesture and I smiled at him, making sure he knew I was pleased with the show of affection. My raven however took that as permission to do more than just have his hand on my thigh. He slipped his hand under the fabric of the robe and pulled my left leg closer to him, giving him more space to work with. Since his fingers were tipped with talons that were far too sharp to be used for such intimate work, he discovered he could use the back of his knuckles instead.

Pressing a finger between my legs, he purposely let it scrape across my clit before twisting to point the lethal weapon away from my body. I stifled a moan, but from the way Rhun froze next to me, I didn’t have to make a sound for him to know what was going on. Imp had told me the second I got turned on my pheromones filled the air and drove him wild. Rhun’s amber eyes fell on me as he took a deep breath so I knew exactly what caught his attention.

“You know, Shiny, I might not be able to eat food, but there is something else I can eat,” he commented, pulling my gaze back to him, his voice full of smugness. “What do you say we take your food with us and head back to the nest we made, hmm?”

A growl and the sound of claws digging into wood had me snapping my attention to Rhun, but he hadn’t moved a muscle. The one who was struggling to hold himself back was Hisceas, my sweet gentle giant. Before him were gouges in the wooden table and his head was bowed, but his tentacles twined and twisted around each other as if holding themselves back.

“Hisceas,” I ventured, starting to rise from my seat when he pinned me with a look that had me rooted in place.