Page 56 of Out of Sight

“Understandable. Wonderful talking to you. If you happen to have any bluestone samples or goldstone or basalt...”

He grinned. “I will bring some, and we can discuss options.”

They chatted for a few more minutes, and when they ended the call, Yorwell was still grinning. The reason was the text that he got. Achilles is your cousin?

He simply looked at her and spoke. “He is my cousin’s son. Two generations of elf mixing with the giant genes.”

You sound tight.

“I looked up to him when he went on this mission. I never imagined following in his footsteps centuries later.”

His mate is a light elf. Like Regis. I am... not an elf.

“You are not an elf. You are a beta and a mage and an amazing woman who survived shadow mages with no training. You have no idea how impressive that is.” He chuckled. “I am also not an elf. I don’t want an elf or a djinn in my bed. I want you, and I am glad you are there right now. Comfortable?”

Surprisingly, yes. You being nearby has helped considerably. I am not going to repeat that while I am awake.

He chuckled. “I am going to do some work then. Oh, I gave Pandora your diamonds to incorporate into your clothing and suggested some comfortable clothing for you. Pandora has mentioned a few events that are on my social calendar, and I would love to have you at my side at them.”

She’s making fancy dresses?

“Four of them. Dark tones.”

Sounds nice. I have been to some fancy-dress stuff in the past.

“Just think of it as a costume party.”

Unicorn onesie it is!

He chuckled. “I set up your studio, and all your toiletries are in place. I didn’t know what order you wanted the polishes, so I just went according to the rainbow.”

I am gonna jump up and hug you.

Her body snorted and rolled over on the bed. Yorwell grinned. “Maybe you need some more rest.”

Shut up.

He chuckled and talked to himself as he went through the emails about quarry statuses, large veins being discovered, and exceptional samples, and then he projected them into the room with him to examine the details.

She chatted with him and admired some of the samples. He noted her favourites with pen and paper. He wanted to make her a giant traditional wedding set. If she thought she was heavy now, she was going to be slowed down in the extreme. He was going to have to find the designs that would suit her journey and his. Carving cameos was going to be rough. He wouldn’t be able to touch her with his nails jagged. It had to be done by a loved one, so there was no one he could get to help. Lucia was worth the time and the effort.

He started to design the cabochons and the parts of her life that they would depict. Her family, the dumplings, the university, the thick band marking the curse. He paused. He didn’t know what had happened between the application of the curse and her losing her body. He tensed as he realized that she hadn’t mentioned it once. That period of her existence had been brushed over.

He pondered how to bring it up when he designed the image of three hands touching the thick band and the statue that housed her.

He designed a teacup for her meeting with her family and their first meeting. That would be a large cabochon.

He continued scribbling and flipped through the pages to make sure that the story was continuous.

Chains. The missing years were in chains. I escaped and ended up in hospital after crawling through every alley in town. I fell into a coma, and that is where my body began to come apart. One day the bed was simply empty.

He nodded. “How are you watching me?”

Um, I can read thoughts as well as cellphones. Yours were pretty loud.

“I see. That is fairly advanced.”

One of the nine distinct magics? Maybe number ten?