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“You’re our friend, too,” Max adds. “We need to stick together.”
My eyes water. Before I cry, Peggy gestures for Geraldine to dish up, and just like that, we’re in this together.
“Did you hear?” Geraldine waggles her brows as she scoops soup into her bowl. “The House of Stone Tower burned to the ground.”
She almost spills the soup and pouts. Max smiles at her, takes the ladle from her hands, and finishes. The affection blossoming between them swells my heart. Wait.
“What?” I breathe, perching on a stool. “When did that happen?”
“Not long ago,” she replies, then notes the concern in my eyes. “Your Radiant still hasn’t turned up?”
I shake my head. I love how they don’t blink when they call FoxmyRadiant. The possessive beast in me preens. I rub my mating mark and press all the aching bits so the pain knocks out my worry.
“Do they know who’s responsible?” I ask.
They look at me and my heart sinks. Peggy reaches across the table and squeezes my hand, reminding me of my first day here. “Just because he strolled out of the tower seconds before it crumbled down, doesn’t mean he did it.”
Oh shit.
“Yeah,” Max adds, ladling soup into his own bowl. “It could have been anyone. They need proof right?”
I bite my nails. “Yeah.”
“You sure you don’t want any soup?” Max asks.
“No thanks, I’ll?—”
Cricket bustles in with Finch hot on her heels. She stops upon seeing me. “Poppet, what are you doing down here?”
“Visiting my friends.” I smile at them. “You sure you guys don’t want to room up with me? Or even eat with the rest of us? I feel weird with you down here.”
“Nonsense,” Cricket says. “You lot need your privacy.”
“They sure do,” Geraldine adds, hiding her smirk with a spoonful.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I gasp. How much do they know?
Max giggles.
“Max?” I shoot him daggers. “What have you all been told?”
I swing my gaze to Cricket, and she raises her palms. “Don’t look at me. They visited the chatty gossip, that’s all.”
My head drops into my hand with a groan. Cricket doesn’t wait for my embarrassment to cede. She bustles me off the stool, saying, “Your dinner is going cold and you’re the only one who actually eats it. Off you go.”
“But...” I walk to the doorway, pouting. “Maybe I want to stay here.”
“Master Fox has returned,” Finch announces rather abruptly.
“Oh.” I suck my lips. If I run out now, it will just prove the chatty gossip’s... whatever she gossiped about.
Geraldine laughs and tosses a balled napkin at me. “Go!”
Before another word utters, I’m out the door and jogging up the stone staircase to the next level. When I burst into the dining room, five sets of eyes snap my way. Legion, Bodin, Emrys, Varen, and Fox. Everyone is here but Styx. The scrape of chairs against floorboards is deafening as they respectfully stand. I scan Fox for evidence of... I don’t know... signs he’ll be taken away from me.
He is the same suave, sexy Fox I am in love with. My heart bursts at my silent confession.
I love him.
