Chapter 54
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
Briar
I tossed the last of my mushrooms into the cauldron and stirred it as Zephyr flew back and forth, his wings buzzing while he did the sprites’ equivalent of pacing through the air.
I’d have to ask Knox to take me out to harvest more mushrooms soon, but I wasn’t in a rush to be anywhere alone with him.
Throughout the day and my work on the potions, I’d decided to hate him. Never again would I give in to him; I was determined to make sure of that, but my traitorous body burned for his touch.
No matter how different last night was between us, he’d awakened the part of me that had gone dormant without him. It was rearing its ugly head in demand for more.
But my body would have to catch up with my mind. It would learn that it wasn’t allowed to have sex with an overbearing, inconsiderate asshole.
“Can you believe he said that to me?” Zephyr demanded.
“Hmm, what?” I asked as I stirred the potion.
He stopped fluttering back and forth, turned to face me, and planted his hands on his hips. “Haven’t you been listening to me?”
“I’m sorry, but no,” I admitted.
“You’re lucky,” Gizzi muttered.
“Atlas! Can you believe he said that to me?”
Now I felt really bad, because I had no idea who Atlas was. “Who’s Atlas?”
Zephyr threw his hands in the air. “He’s a sprite!”
“Well, there are a lot of you. I haven’t learned all your names yet.”
“There’s no one else in this kingdom except for us, the four shifters, and you.”
I wished I’d kept pretending to listen instead of asking. “You’re right, I should have realized Atlas was a sprite.”
Zephyr hmphed loudly but resumed fly pacing.
“What did Atlas say to you?” I asked.
When Gizzi groaned in my head, I realized it was a question that might have been better kept to myself.
“He said I don’t know what to do with an asshole,” Zephyr said.
I had no idea what to make of that declaration. “What?”
“He said—”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I heard that part.” I waved my hand to ward off a further tirade. “What did he mean you don’t know what to do with an asshole? Does he expect you to fight them or… or…?” I had no idea what else could be there.
Gizzi groaned again as Zephyr’s jaw nearly unhinged. “I should hope not! That wouldn’t be enjoyable at all.”
“Huh?” I asked.
“Nobody wants their asshole punched, Briar.”
Now I was really confused, but Zephyr stopped flying as his expression became pensive. He planted one hand on his hip and tipped his head to the side. “Or maybe Atlas does. Maybe that’s why he said I didn’t know what I was doing with his asshole.”
“Wait… what?” My brain spun as I tried to keep up with this preposterous conversation. “Oh,” I said when reality dawned.
“Welcome to my hell,” Gizzi said.
Red crept up my cheeks as I focused on stirring. I honestly had no idea what to say to Zephyr after that announcement.
“Well, anyway, I’ll find out if that’s what he wants.” Zephyr resumed flying. “But I still can’t believe he had the nerve to say that to me.” He rested his hand over his heart. “Me. I have centuries of experience and have never received a complaint from either a male or a female. Centuries!”
“Ahh, okay.”
“I told him that too.”
“Well, good for you. What did he say to that?”
“Why are you engaging in this?” Gizzi grumbled.
“Because he’s clearly upset, and he’s a friend.”
“Friends shouldn’t learn about other friends’ assholes… or anyone’s asshole for that matter.”
I suppressed a smile. While I agreed with Gizzi, Zephyr was eager to have someone listen to his tale.
“He told me that none of… can you imagine this… that none… of… them knew what they were doing either. Or… and I cannot believe he said this… or they just didn’t tell me because they were afraid of hurting my feelings,” Zephyr fumed.
I had no idea how to salvage his pride and calm him down. “I can’t imagine that’s true,” I assured him.
“Of course it’s not true!” Zephyr blurted. “Hundreds of years of experience, Briar! Hundreds! He’s not even fifty yet!”
“Maybe it would be better if you stayed away from Atlas,” I suggested.
“Hell no! I’m determined to make him eat his words… and maybe my asshole while he’s at it.”
My jaw dropped as I blinked at him. “Uh-huh.”
“Do me a favor,” I said to Gizzi when I’d recovered enough from my shock at Zephyr’s words. “If you find another lowleeto and have sex, I’d really prefer not to hear about it.”
“Why not? I had to hear yours.”
I was pretty sure flames burst from my face as I ducked my head over the steaming pot and bit back a groan. “Please don’t talk to me for a little while.”
“Gladly.” Gizzi rose, stretched, and turned in a circle before settling with his back to Zephyr and me. It did nothing to ease my humiliation.
“How about you?” Zephyr asked, apparently having calmed enough to stop talking about assholes. “How was your trip into town?”
The abrupt change in topic threw me off, and it took me a few seconds to recover. I wiped away the sweat dotting my brow as I tried to get my flaming cheeks under control; I failed miserably. I hoped Zephyr believed my flush was from the warmth of the room.
“It was good to be free of the castle,” I said.
“And…?” he prompted.
“And what?”
“And the two of you stayed out all night.” He flew over to the counter, lay down on it, propped his chin on his hands, and kicked his feet in the air over his back. “What did you do?”
I didn’t know how he could look so cherubic while questioning me about my sex life. “We got caught in the rainstorm.”
“And?”
“And we took shelter in a cabin.”
“ANNNND?”
I rolled my eyes at the sprite before removing my potion from the fire and carrying it to the counter. “And we started a fire to dry off.”
“You’re not going to give me any details?” he asked petulantly.
“No.”
He sighed and, fluttering his wings, lifted himself off the counter. “You’re no fun.”
“My life isn’t as exciting as yours.”
“Liar.” But he smiled as he said it.
With the newest potion cooling, I turned my attention to the cauldron on the counter; no steam rose from it. It had cooled enough to start putting it into vials.
“Can I help you with it?” Zephyr asked.
“You made it, so of course you can.”
I’d decided to teach him how to make the potion with and without the mushrooms. I’d told him it was because someone else should have the knowledge, but the truth was, if I ever got the chance to escape, I’d take it. I’d feel better leaving if I knew someone here could make them.
This was the first batch he’d made entirely on his own. Together, we poured the potion into the glass containers and put the stoppers in place. When we finished, Zephyr put two vials in his pockets, kissed me on the cheek, and flew out of the room.
For the hundredth time, I walked over to the fire to ensure all evidence of the paper had vanished. I used the poker to push aside the glowing logs while I searched for any remnants; they’d all vanished, but I knew I’d check again.