Chapter 32
THIRTY-TWO
QUINN
I haven’t been in a hospital since the day I was born. My Elemental blood probably has something to do with it. There’s no definitive data on the topic, but Harley and Cat are as healthy as me, and I’m not aware of any others of our kind who’ve come down with anything even resembling a cold.
This building—with sterile white walls and white floors, chairs with easy-to-disinfect upholstery, and troops of beeping, intense-looking machines—comes off as foreign to me despite the handful of medical dramas I’ve watched.
As I let August lead, I maintain my protective aura, hovering just behind his shoulder.
A nurse with sharp eyes and a confident stance points us in the right direction once we tell her who we’re visiting. My boyfriend powers down the hall, easily maneuvering his large body around beds and doctors in his way. Just as August steps into a doorway, a deep voice booms out.
“August! My boy. You’re here.”
Like a kraken taking hold of an innocent sea vessel, massive arms snake out of the room and engulf my companion, pulling him out of sight.
I jog after to make sure he doesn’t need rescuing.
But when I step into the room, I discover August has his arms in an equally tight hug around …
Bigfoot? It’s my best guess. Maybe Santa Claus.
If the jolly gift-giver was a buff lumberjack.
To put it simply, the man is massive, with an impressive salt-and-pepper beard. I thought August was big, but this guy has a few inches on him.
“Hey, Dad,” my man rumbles into Bigfoot’s flannel.
Whoa. August comes from mammoth stock.
Are all Ice Elementals this huge? Or did the Nords hoard all the tall genes for themselves?
An image pops into my mind of August’s ancestors, Viking Ice Elementals, trekking across frozen plains until they stumble upon human villages, where they seek out the tallest women to sleep with.
Of course, since these are August’s ancestors, they’re super-polite, helpful Vikings who put a lot of effort into wooing their romantic interests. None of that pillaging nonsense.
Stop thinking about August’s great-great-grandfather getting it on with tall women when you’re seconds away from meeting his family, I scold myself.
After another round of backslapping and hugging, the two break apart, and I get a better view of the giant. Underneath the expertly sculpted beard, I catch the similarities between Mr. Nord and his son. They share cool blue eyes and strong cheekbones, along with the distinct mountain-man build.
“I’m glad you made it,” Mr. Nord says.
“Of course.” August extends a hand in my direction, beckoning me forward. “This is Quinn. My girlfriend.”
Suddenly, I’m aware of how awkward I’ve made this situation by insisting on coming. I’m not sure how I didn’t think of it before. I guess I was too focused on figuring out how I could help my boyfriend that I didn’t consider how rude planting myself in the middle of their family crisis could be.
And would August have really told me no if he didn’t want me here?
Goddess, I’m already messing this up.
Not for the first time, I’m wishing I had more girlfriend practice before finding the perfect guy. Seems like it’s a matter of time before I lose him.
But then Mr. Nord’s shaggy face breaks open into a wide grin as his blue eyes focus on me.
“Girlfriend, you said? You convinced her then?”
“What?” The one word is all I get out before I find myself in my very own Bigfoot bear hug.
“Dad, don’t squish her.”
The big man drops me back to my feet with a chuckle. “Sorry. I’m a hugger. Also wanted to check that you’re real. Since you’re basically a fairy tale.”
“I’m a what?”
Hopefully, he doesn’t mean everyone expects me to be sweet, like a cartoon princess. I curse too much to be G-rated. Plus, I constantly want to lick his son like the Ice Elemental is my personal ice cream cone. Not really family-friendly content going on in my brain.
“Well, I’ve never met one of your kind before. Not many want to move up north, I guess.” Mr. Nord shrugs, staring at me with a joyful crinkle at the corner of his eyes.
My kind?
The confusion lasts for only a handful of seconds before his meaning clicks into place. “You mean Pyros?”
“Pyros? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”
I smile at the exuberant man. “What were we called in the olden days?”
He guffaws, then strokes his hand over his mouth and beard, as if to stifle a smile. “Cheeky. Now that I think of it, we didn’t have special names. Makes sense though. Easier to talk about each other.”
August’s hands settle on my hips, pulling me back against his chest.
His father watches the gesture, delight sparking in his gaze. “And what fancy name do you have for us?”
“I …” My response trails off when I remember I have nothing to say. And to my surprise and embarrassment, I realize I really wish I had an answer.
I don’t like the fact that August and Mr. Nord don’t have a special identifier while every other Elemental group does. Like we intentionally left them out of a club.
“Sammy calls me an Iceberg sometimes,” August offers, coming to my rescue.
“Hmm. That the same for you, Quinn?” Mr. Nord watches me, a teasing smile only partially hidden by his beard.
I’m betting the pale skin under my freckles is staining red. I’m not sure why I’m so mortified by this conversation. Harley has brought up a lot racier topics in much worse settings, and I just rolled my eyes. But it’s not so much the content that has me anxious.
It’s more a sense of failure.
August should have an official insulting nickname like the rest of us. Because he belongs with us.
“I have to apologize, Mr. Nord. Until I met August, I thought your kind were extinct. So, I never had a use for a nickname.”
The man clutches his chest and stumbles back a step as if I ran a sword straight into his heart. “Extinct? Like the dodo bird?”
I bite my lower lip, fighting almost-childish giggles at his antics. When he offers me a cheeky smirk, I realize something. Mr. Nord is a flirt. And not a make women uncomfortable with unwelcome caresses and suggestive comments flirt. August’s dad is a goofy class-clown flirt.
And I love him for it. Just like I’m starting to love—
No. No time for that train of thought right now.
Instead, I channel my own class-clown flirting abilities.
“Oh no. Not like the dodo bird. Something much more majestic. Extinct like the woolly mammoth.”
Chuckles rumble out from behind me, and I can feel the vibration in August’s chest against my back as he laughs at how I tease his father.
The older man tugs on his very woolly beard as he grins at the two of us. “Well, I hope my son has done his best to prove we still very much exist.”
“Dad,” August growls now, embarrassment clear in his tone.
But I laugh and earn myself a wink from Mr. Nord.
This is going better than I could have ever hoped. In fact, this first meeting would be perfect if it wasn’t for the circumstances that brought us together.
The moment that thought arises, it’s like I come back to the present. Like I had a brief dip into an imaginary land where everything was okay in the world, but now I crash-land in reality.
Mr. Nord must see the shift on my face or maybe his son’s because he sobers up as well. His eyes get sharp, focusing over my shoulder on August.
“Your mother is going to be okay.”
I knew that August was holding himself slightly stiff, but it’s not until his father speaks those words and my boyfriend’s body relaxes against me that I can acknowledge how tense he was.
“But she’s still here?”
Mr. Nord nods. “When she fell, she hit her head. Knocked herself out. I was a mess, but the doctors did all the scans and observed her overnight. She woke up slightly confused, but that cleared up after an hour or so. She has a concussion and a broken ankle, and she sprained both her wrists.”
A sympathetic wince jerks through me, and August’s arms tighten around my body. I’m not sure if he’s comforting me or himself. Maybe both. I silently pray to the gods that Mrs. Nord isn’t in too much pain and that my presence is somehow helping August deal with the fact that his mother is hurting.
Trying not to bring any attention to myself, I coax a small measure of heat from my veins, the maneuver easier with my blood so close to the surface of my skin after my earlier embarrassment.
When I have a hold of the warmth, I push it toward August, envisioning rubbing my power all over his skin like a soothing lotion.
His grip tightens in what I take as a silent thank-you.
“Concussions can be nasty,” August says.
Mr. Nord grimaces. “Yes, but it could’ve been worse. They want to keep her for another day, just to be cautious, but when she comes home, she’s going to need to take it easy.”
I glance behind me to see August nod, his face grim, but still with a hint of relief.
“Can we go see her?” he asks.
“Oh, no, August.” I step away from his hold. “You should go in. I doubt your mom wants a stranger trying to introduce herself when she’s laid up in a hospital bed.” No matter how much I want to meet the woman who raised such an amazing man, I’m not completely insensitive.
August frowns, but before he can respond, Mr. Nord talks over him.
“I’m in need of a cup of coffee. Why don’t Quinn and I go to the cafeteria while you visit?”
My boyfriend’s eyes flick between me and his father before he sighs. “Okay.”
I expect him to head straight into the room. Instead, he pulls me back into his arms, engulfing me in his own version of a mountain-man hug. Mr. Nord is a good hugger, but he has nothing on his son.
Since I’m not wearing heels today, the top of my head reaches to just below August’s chin.
He tucks me there, with one hand on the back of my neck, the other arm encircling my waist. Meanwhile, I emulate an octopus, my arms twining around his body and suctioning him close.
The embrace lasts for only a few seconds, but the affection emanating from it is like restorative medicine.
My exhaustion from the hours on a plane seeps away.
When we break apart, I feel healthier, and August gazes down at me with clear eyes before pressing a kiss to my forehead. Then, shocking me, he glares at his father.
“Don’t scare her away. I barely convinced her to give me a chance.”
I huff out a laugh, bringing both men’s attention to me.
Reaching up, I scratch my fingers in August’s golden stubble and offer a comforting smile. “If your mammoth of a father could scare me away, then I never deserved you in the first place.”
As August blinks in surprise, the older Nord chuckles and offers his arm to me.
“Damn, am I glad I’m not extinct,” he declares before leading me away.