Chapter Twenty
Winter
With a small grin, I grabbed Miles’s elbow and steered him over to the plates at the other end of the table so the two of us could eat as well.
Miles still seemed nervous, so I wasn’t sure he’d actually eat anything, but I had to try.
Maybe once we were sitting with something to do, he’d calm down some.
“Mm, this is really good potato salad, Miles,” Aeson said. “Delicious.”
That made me laugh. “Actually, I made that. It’s the only thing I made. My mom’s recipe.” I almost grimaced at the mention of the mother who’d abandoned me when I’d been arrested, but I held it back.
I absolutely didn’t want to talk about any of that today, whether Maggie showed up or not.
Aeson grinned at me. “It’s so good. Best I’ve ever had.”
“Thanks. I’m glad you like it.”
A few minutes later, Aeson hummed, eating a bite of macaroni salad. “Holy crap, this is so good too.”
Miles smiled slightly. “Thanks.”
Aeson pointed at his full plate with his fork. “Did you two go to culinary school or something? Were you a chef before the exterminator thing?”
Miles snorted. “Definitely not. I’ve just been cooking for a long time.”
I tried to keep a smile on my face at that, but I was pretty sure it turned into a grimace.
The reason Miles had been cooking for so long was that his parents made him take care of himself when he was still a kid. I was pretty sure he was cooking his own dinners at age ten, possibly even younger. And after he got kicked out at eighteen, he’d been all alone.
And he hadn’t had anyone since. Not really. Not in the sense of having a partner or even a roommate to share the load with.
The poor guy had been taking care of himself his entire life, and all he wanted to do now was take care of animals, faeries, and clearly, other people too.
My boyfriend with the biggest heart.
Chaos said, “I can cook easy things, but nothing like all of that.” He gestured to the table, and I was relieved he was joining in on the conversation and not going to just sit there and brood like the broody teenager he was.
“Well, if you ever want a recipe or even want me to help you learn how to cook something, just let me know.” Miles shot him a smile, then went back to making his plate.
He seemed a little, tiny, itty bit less stressed now, so that was good.
Hopefully, he’d keep calming down the longer we hung out.
Hopefully, my stress would go down too.
Aeson asked Lyric, “What about you? Can you cook?”
They shrugged. “I’m alright. It’s not my favorite thing in the world to do, but I get by.”
I added, “I like their food.”
Lyric winked at me. “Thanks, babes.”
I snorted and put a big heaping of taco salad on my plate, excited to try it now that I was allowed.
I’d wanted a bite of the ziti earlier, but Miles wouldn’t let me eat anything until the others arrived.
He’d threatened me with a spatula—it was hilarious and made us both crack up. But now, I was starving.
Even my nerves about my sister not being here yet couldn’t stop me from inhaling some of this deliciousness.
Miles and I settled down in a pair of chairs in the corner, and I dug into my food with vigor. Mm. It was as delicious as I’d suspected and well worth the wait.
Lyric asked the kids, “How’s school going this year? What are you guys? Juniors?” They’d tried asking them at the museum, but the kids had changed the subject, so I wasn’t surprised they were bringing it up again.
The kids exchanged a look before Chaos said, “Yep, juniors. It’s going okay. The classes are kinda boring.”
Aeson nodded his head in agreement but didn’t reply out loud. His eyes were shifting around, and he kept looking down at his plate, like he didn’t want to meet anyone’s eyes. Even Chaos wasn’t meeting our eyes.
Hmm. They definitely looked suspicious.
From the look Miles was shooting them, he thought so too.
“You don’t like any of your classes?” Lyric asked. I couldn’t tell if they were pushing because they too were suspicious, or if they were just trying to keep the conversation going.
“Not really.” Chaos shrugged, and Aeson nodded his head in agreement.
Lyric turned to me and raised their brow. So. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed.
Why did the twins keep evading questions about school? Did that mean they had bad experiences there—were they bullied? Or did that mean… they weren’t doing well in classes? Could it be something else?
I stared at them for a long moment, taking in how skinny they were, and my eyes widened.
It couldn’t possibly mean that they’d stopped going, right?
But… if they were in a bad situation at home, then no one was probably watching out for them and making sure they were showing up. Although, the kids were obviously responsible people since they maintained their jobs well, and Chaos was even still doing extra jobs with his necromancer magic.
So then… what was it? Why didn’t they like talking about it? Maybe they really were being bullied or something. That wasn’t uncommon, and kids could be mean, especially when people were different—like Chaos being a necromancer—or when people didn’t have a lot of money.
The thought made me sad. No one should be bullied. Everyone deserved to be treated with kindness.
Maybe I could go down to their school and have a few words with the principal. If they were made aware of the situation, then perhaps they could do something about it.
Or I could even have words with the bullies themselves… if I could get the kids to give me names.
“Win?” Miles’s voice pulled me from my thoughts, and I turned to him.
“Yeah?”
He sent me a soft smile and nudged my knee with his. “Aeson asked if you like working for Carry A Faerie now. The kids didn’t know you didn’t officially work for me when we were at the gnome house.”
I turned to them. Aeson was staring openly at me while chewing on a bite of food, and Chaos was staring down at his plate, but I had no doubt he was listening.
I offered a smile. “Oh, I guess it makes sense you didn’t know. Yeah, I used to work for Faerie Be Gone Pest Control, and I hated every minute of it.”
“They kill the faeries, don’t they?” Chaos asked, looking up and meeting my gaze with his one uncovered eye.
Aeson kicked his brother. “Don’t be rude.”
Chaos scoffed. “What? I’m not. It’s just a question.”
“Uh, yeah. They do… I… I, um, did. Before Miles hired me. I really love that we save faeries now.”
Miles reached over and squeezed my forearm, offering a sympathetic smile before he faced the kids and Lyric.
“Most people don’t see the harm in using kill traps and poisons.
Honestly, it’s not something I ever thought about until I had a pixie problem here at the house.
I didn’t realize before that so many people use that stuff on the little creatures.
I guess it’s just not something I thought about before then. ” He shrugged, looking a little sad.
Aeson nodded. “That makes sense, I guess. Faerie rights weren’t really talked about when you guys were young, huh?”
I scowled at him. “We’re not that old.”
To my surprise, the smile Aeson shot me was shit-eating. “Really? From the looks of it, you’re a lot older than us.”
“Hey!” Lyric shouted and threw a napkin at him, making the teen laugh. “I’m the same age as those old geezers over there.”
Aeson put a hand over his heart. “Don’t worry, Lyric, you don’t look nearly as old as them.”
This time, it was me who shouted, “Hey,” and threw a napkin at him.
The teen laughed, and to my surprise, Chaos joined in, although he mostly laughed down at his plate. When he lifted his head, he did a head flick to get the hair out of his face, and I gasped.
There was a giant bruise on his face! What the hell?