Bonus Chapter #3
Before he could question Silas any further, however, Silas glanced at the light streaming past the curtained window and let out a soft curse. “By the Goddess, I’m going to be late!”
Silas tossed back the covers and stumbled out of bed. Mel frowned, watching as Silas rushed about and frantically tugged on clothes.
“Is it really that late? Did we really sleep that long?”
“Apparently.” Silas hopped on one foot as he tugged on a boot.
Mel snorted a laugh. “I think your students will survive if you’re a couple minutes late, love.” He squinted at the window. “Besides, I thought you didn’t have a class today until the afternoon?”
“I don’t, but I promised Delila that I’d help her with her class prep. Plus, I still have some papers to finish grading on the Glakkrian Rebellion that I promised the students I’d finally hand back today.”
“All right, all right,” Mel said, raising his hands in defeat. “Surely, you at least have time for breakfast before you go, though.”
“Sorry, can’t.” Silas tugged on a shirt that may or may not have been inside out and stumbled toward the door leading from the bedroom.
“I was thinking of making pancakes,” Mel said offhandedly. He hid a smile as Silas paused in the doorway.
“Pancakes?” Silas asked, sounding slightly strangled.
“Mhmm,” Mel confirmed. “With blueberries.”
“And bacon?” It was impossible to miss the yearning in Silas’s voice.
Mel couldn’t hold back his grin any longer. “And bacon.”
Silas slowly turned back around. “I suppose Delila can wait a little bit longer. After all, there’s no sense rushing out on an empty stomach. I’ll need the energy to get me through the day.”
“Of course you will.” Mel gave Silas a quick kiss as he moved past him toward the kitchen.
Silas settled down at the table while Mel got to work on the promised breakfast. Mel was in the middle of mixing the batter when he found his thoughts turning back to their shared dream. He scowled, stirring a bit harder than strictly necessary.
“By the Goddess, I wish I could remember more of that dream. It seems odd, doesn’t it? The two of us experiencing something so similar at the same exact time?”
Silas shrugged. “No more odd than me falling for you.”
Mel feigned outrage, shoving Silas lightly in the chest when he rose and tried to approach. Silas grinned, softening his words with another kiss.
“What can I say?” Silas murmured against Mel’s lips. “We live in a world full of magic kept safe by Immortal beings fighting monsters from beyond the Void. What’s a shared dream compared to that?”
At the mention of magic, Mel cursed and set aside the bowl of batter with a clatter. “That reminds me, I almost forgot.”
Rushing back to their bedroom, he rummaged around beneath the bed until he extracted a small parcel. Then, he returned to the dining room and shoved the parcel at Silas, who’d returned to his spot at the table.
Silas took the parcel. “What’s this?”
“Just open it.” Mel turned away, focusing his attention back on preparing breakfast.
There was the sound of tearing paper from behind him, followed by a long silence. Mel tried not to let his impatience get the better of him, but eventually, the waiting became too much. He spun to find Silas staring down at the revealed book resting atop the torn wrapping.
Nerves sparked in Mel’s breast. “I saw it at the market the other day and couldn’t resist.” He scratched the back of his neck self-consciously, grimacing when Silas still didn’t speak.
“But if it’s not the right one, or if you’re not interested, I can always return it and get another.
I didn’t mean to be presumptuous if you… ”
He trailed off as Silas slowly stood and approached, clutching the book against his chest.
“Mel, it’s—it’s perfect.” Tears stood out in Silas’s eyes. “With this, I might finally be able to start learning some basic magic.”
Relief filled Mel as Silas tugged him into a tight embrace, Silas’s lips soft and warm upon his own. An involuntary whine escaped him when Silas pulled back all too soon, squinting at Mel. “But how in the name of the Goddess did you ever afford it? Spellbooks like this are ridiculously expensive.”
Mel shrugged and turned back to cooking, beginning to spoon the batter onto the griddle. “I figured it was about time that I sold that Immortal painting. You were right, by the way. It did fetch a very good price from an interested merchant visiting from Reeth.”
Silas’s eyes widened. “Mel, no! You didn’t have to do that. You loved that painting!”
“I did,” Mel agreed. He set down the wooden spoon and rested his hands on Silas’s shoulders. “But not as much as I love you.”
For once, Silas seemed at a loss for words. He tugged Mel into another embrace, the spellbook clutched between them. And as Mel returned his attention to the pancakes, insisting that Silas sit and enjoy his gift, he cast any lingering thought about the strange dream from his mind.
In a way he couldn’t entirely explain, both the painting and the dream felt like remnants of some other forgotten life. The imagined adventures of Infernals and Celestials didn’t concern him. He had his own life right here to enjoy with the man he loved.