Chapter 13
Chapter
Thirteen
Caelan’s furious tension had seeped away as he cooked, though he hadn’t fully relaxed.
We were in a different space than a few months before, and I knew he didn’t think I’d done anything inappropriate, but me and Garrett waking up together like that had jostled something loose inside him, and he was struggling.
As much as I wanted to get up and snuggle against him as he cooked, I gave him the space he asked for, content to watch him so at ease in my home. Before, I thought he sucked all the air away. He was just so much.
But now, as his power lay cloaked to his skin, almost crackling in the surrounding air, I wondered what he saw when he looked at me.
“You’re staring.” He didn’t turn around.
“Can you blame me?”
A huff of laughter as he used tongs to remove the cooked bacon.
“Is there extra bacon?” I asked hopefully.
“Eat as much as you want. Moira and I had something earlier.”
He turned, his face unreadable, and set the filled plate down. I watched as he piled pancakes and bacon high on one of my old, chipped plates and drowned it with maple syrup. I started to get up, but he shook his head and carried it over to me before going back to make his own plate.
I waited to dig in until he’d settled beside me, then watched warily.
“Eat,” he said with a grunt.
Not waiting to be told twice, I dug in like a starving man.
Or a Floromancer who’d tapped all her energy out trying to save an innocent man.
When my plate was clean, Caelan said nothing, only got back up, filled the dish with two more pancakes, syrup, and the rest of the bacon, and handed it to me without a word.
I stared down at the food, tears filling my eyes for no reason I could identify, and dug back in.
Magic took a lot of energy, even more than it used to when I’d hidden my Chimera side away.
When I finished, Caelan took my plate and set it on the coffee table, then pulled me across his lap and buried his nose in my hair, inhaling deeply.
“I could have lost you last night,” he said softly.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” And I was. No longer was it me and Moira against the world. If Caelan and I stayed serious, I needed to bring him into everything I did, or at least the things which had the potential to involve him or could result in serious injury or death.
What we’d done last night had been phenomenally dumb.
Fun, but dumb.
“I understand why you didn’t. I would have stopped you.” I felt him smile against my hair. “Or I would have tried.”
I shifted, threading my hands around his neck, and tilted my head up to press a kiss to his throat.
His chest rumbled.
I smiled and did it again.
“Stop, Evie. We’re talking.”
I pouted. “Spoilsport.”
Caelan snorted. “Moira told me what happened, but I want to hear it again, from your point of view.”
I ran through the story as best I could, straining my memory for the smallest of details.
“And when Moira left? Leave nothing out.”
Moira was already gone when Garrett took the bullet. I started from that moment and what I’d done when I went back to Thorvin’s property.
“I’m not sure if he’ll know we were there or not.”
Caelan’s brow furrowed. He shifted and reached into his pocket for his phone. “Let’s look at the weather from last night.”
He searched for a few moments and nodded. “Snow, just like rain, clears scent molecules from the air. Weather reports are notoriously inaccurate, but there’s a good chance it snowed again last night.”
“He was too close when I went back to clear the evidence, and it wasn’t snowing when I left. Is shifting the snow to bury everything enough?”
His jaw tightened. “Possibly. But underestimate Thorvin at your peril. He’s by far the most intelligent of us.”
“How soon will we know?”
“We have a meeting tomorrow. He’s always been a shit liar. I’ll know if he suspects anything when I see him.”
I grimaced. “If he does?”
He sighed and shook his head. “He’s the smartest of the Lords, but he’s also the most reasonable. But we’re all unpredictable. There’s no way to tell what he’ll do.”
“Is he power hungry?”
“I’ve seen no evidence of it. Thorvin far prefers books to leadership.”
The thought of a powerful wolf shifter preferring to bury his nose in a book rather than lead people made me chuckle. “How’d he become a Lord?”
“Again, underestimate any of the Lords at your peril. He might prefer scholarship over war, but Thorvin takes fitness and prowess to the extreme. He won his position the old-fashioned way—through challenge.”
I sighed. “Well, shit.”
“Exactly.”
“And Garrett?” Thorvin was a worry for another day. Garrett lived at the Keep with Caelan. The way my Lord looked at his Second when I rose from the shelter had sent shivers down my spine.
“We’ve been friends for many, many years. This was a blip, Evie. Do not worry about him. He’s skilled enough to hold his own if I decided to take my anger out on him.”
My eyes narrowed. “And will you?”
He tweaked my nose. “A couple of months ago, you would have skewered Garrett on a limb and roasted him on the barbecue. What’s changed?”
I sighed. “He’s still a massive pain in the ass, but he proved helpful. And Thalia really annoys him, and that’s been fun to watch.”
Caelan’s eyes flickered at my mention of Thalia, an unreadable look on his face gone in less than a heartbeat.
“Caelan?”
“Hmm?”
“Do you not like the Seer?”
“The Seer is a chat for another day.” He rose in one lithe motion, scooping me into a bride’s carry. “In the meantime, you need a shower.”
He buried his nose in my neck and sniffed. “You smell like dirt and my Second.”
“Hmm. The shower is a little lonely. I wouldn’t mind some company.”
The ring of his eyes went golden. “Your energy hasn’t replenished.”
“I’m off today. I have all day to replenish.” I wiggled my eyebrows, making him laugh.
He carried me into the bedroom and straight into the bathroom, placing me on the counter, his hands on either side of my hips. “I wouldn’t want you to overexert yourself,” he said huskily.
Caelan pressed a kiss to the sensitive place where my neck met my shoulder. I shivered.
“How about I wash you?”
I blinked. Images played in my mind, and I almost slid off the counter.
He grinned and slid the strap of my pajama top down. “Sounds good.”
I made an unintelligible noise.
Caelan laughed and turned the shower on. “Now, Miss Quinn. Let’s get you all cleaned up so you can start replenishing your energy. Once I’m finished with you.”
“Yes, please,” I breathed.