A Passion for Potions (Petalfall #1)

63. Sixty-Three - A Very Important Question

Sixty-Three - A Very Important Question

Viggo

“Do us both a favor and take a deep breath.” Penny slips his fingers around the back of my neck, squeezing gently.

I do.

It doesn’t help.

Turning the box over and over again in my hands, I know I should put it away before Penny takes it away from me.

It would probably be safer if I gave it to him.

“We should probably wait,” I say.

“Maybe, but you don’t want to.”

“No.” I would have asked weeks ago. “ You are supposed to be my voice of reason.”

Smiling, Penny leans close, kissing my cheek before he whispers. “I don’t want to wait either.”

And Ana doesn’t make us.

She comes into the room, looking behind her, almost like she may have been shoved inside.

Stopping just over the threshold, she turns to us and her eyes narrow.

“Everyone is acting suspicious,” she says, glaring at us, but smiling, all the same. “When I got here, Dorrian opened directly to my room. Loric and Yenna made me change, and now you two are whispering... I feel like secrets are being kept.”

“They are.” Penny crosses to her, bending down to brush his lips against hers. “But you’ll be a party to them soon enough.”

He kisses her and I touch my pocket while he has her distracted. Just to make sure I didn’t somehow leave it on the mantle... despite not setting it down aside from placing it in my pocket.

What if it vanished into thin air?

It’s nonsense, of course. Nothing but nerves.

Penny brings her to me and she gently pokes me in the stomach. “Why are you so stiff? I feel like I’m about to hear bad news.”

“No bad news. I hope .” I kiss her thoroughly, trying to distract us both.

It works for a moment. She lets me gather her to me and lose myself in the perfection of her mouth.

She sighs when I finally draw back and Penny watches us from the settee with a patience that makes me think I may have lost track of time.

“The dining table is set…” She looks at me with a sidelong glance, but it wasn’t actually a question, so I don’t give her an answer, even when she looks pointedly through the open doors.

“I hope you didn’t fill up on tea.”

Blicks pokes his head into the room as if he, too, is waiting for her response.

“I didn’t.” She pointedly doesn’t look at Blicks. “I had assumed that you were going to find a reason to feed me.”

“We always want to feed you,” I say. And feed from you.

Blicks clears his throat. “Dinner is ready.”

Ana quietly says, “Of course it is.” But she lets us lead her in and pull out her chair.

I sit, managing not to touch my pocket until both it and my hand are hidden beneath the table.

Yenna and Blicks come out with their plates and Loric brings my goblet and I can see Ana’s suspicion deepening as she watches them leave.

“Why do I feel like we’re back at the beginning and everyone is watching me like they think I’ll disappear?” She spears a tomato with her fork. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“We are all very glad to hear it.” Penny says.

But she’s not satisfied with that non-answer.

“We know you’re not going anywhere... sometimes, we just want to spoil you. Will you let us?”

I’m not sure she’s satisfied with that either, but she nods and finishes her dinner while asking if we’ve heard from Kirra since she’s been home.

“I admit that I’m afraid to write. As soon as she learns we didn’t divulge your birthday we will incur her wrath.”

Penny tells her about the patch of broomrot he found today and they both grimace before explaining to me how volatile the plant is and how he will have to contract with a nixie to help him remove it... unless he wants to risk burning the entire forest down.

By the time Blicks delivers desert—apricot sorbet in frozen lemon halves—Penny has even admitted to his frustration at not finding the naga warren, but he’s certain there is one hiding away in the depths of the forest.

“They can wait until after—” I say and then I freeze.

“After what?” She looks at the lemons and then up at both of us, eyes narrow, smile suspicious. “What are you two up to?”

“Finish that, and we’ll show you.”

Lips twisted, still suspicious, she puts the spoon in her mouth and it comes back clean.

I expect to need to warn her not to eat too fast, but she does the opposite, finishing her sorbet one spoon lick at a time.

She’s torturing us. I don’t blame her.

But when she’s done, I stand immediately. “Let’s take a walk.”

She takes my hand, pressing her lips together instead of asking the question I’m certain she wants to, and lets us lead her out through a side door.

Once we’re on the path, Penny takes her other hand and we walk side by side into the forest lit by low and wavering lights Penny placed hours ago.

Here, at least, some of her tension leaves her. When we reach the clearing we’ve spent the last few days cleaning in preparation for this, we let her go ahead of us.

“There are stories about this, you know…” she spins a slow circle. “Usually it’s just a vampire doing the luring, and I am certainly not a young girl... but those stories would tell me to be very afraid right now.”

She looks up at Penny and then turns to me as she pushes her hair over her shoulder. “Do you want to bite me?”

“Always. But we didn’t bring you here to drain you.”

“Did you bring me here so I could drain you?” Her brow raises and her smile is sly.

“Later.” Penny says softly, taking her to a small boulder and lifting her up to sit on it.

She looks so beautiful, bathed in elf light.

Hand in my pocket, I go over the speech I had planned. It’s all wrong. It’s too much clutter and fluff.

She doesn’t need or deserve either. She…

I blink at her because, “What’s your middle name?”

“What?” Her laughter is incredulous and I realize how utterly random that must seem to her.

But I need to know.

“I just realized we don’t know your middle name. Humans usually have them.” In the same way that elves always have at least four.

“It’s Naveen,” she says, softly.

Naveen . The name of the first evening star…

Pulling the ring box from my pocket, I take Penny’s hand and stand in front of her. “Anastacia Naveen Eventide, will you marry us?”