“But what if they recognize me? I—if they’re. What if I cause them to be upset?” Mads tensed up, but Midnite didn’t let him stop, merely gestured him on.
He shouted over his shoulder with a bright smile. “No worries, Marquis. Mads and I are going to get along.”
“Make sure he gives you that blooming onion I sent.” Marquis’s call out confused Mads, but earned a solid middle finger.
“What’s with the onion?” Mads followed Midnite, his anxiety easing with every step.
“Long story short—Americans think this chain restaurant calledOutback Steakhouseis indicative of Australian cuisine, and they serve a deep-fried whole-ass onion cut up in a certain way where it blooms like a flower. Deep-fried anything doesn’t remind me of home.” Midnite sighed. “So anyways, Leon and Sailor keep buying the onions and putting them in bags fromplaces that serve fish, and I open it up—Boom, onion.” Midnight sighed.
“That seems mildly annoying.”
“Imagine being postpartum, chest-feeding, and having a craving for salmon and opening the bag only to find a fucking deep-fried onion.” Midnite glared off in a specific direction and Mads nodded in agreement.
“That would definitely suck. I recall craving doubled eggs.” Mads made his way to a set of metal stairs with cement steps and climbed.
“What are doubled eggs?” Nite walked a few rooms down, opened a door, and gestured for Mads to enter. He deposited the carrier bags and gestured for Mads to follow as they strolled back downstairs to what he’d called thecommunity center.
“I think they’re calleddeviled eggsnow. Pronunciation changes over time, but yeah. Boiled eggs with the yolks mashed and dressed up before being piped back in.” Mads fidgeted with his hand self-consciously, the gesture giving him something to do.
“That’s neat to know. It’s hard getting used to this whole living forever thing. So much changes.” Nite waved his hand.
“That’s right. You’re not that old. A teenager compared to most mages… Not that I have room to talk. I was twenty-nine when I met Marquis.” Mads fanned his face to abate the growing heat over his cheeks.
“Thirty-four last week.” Nite stretched his arms and leaned his head back with a deep yawn. “Rex fought me for a while. He was no match for these paws.”
When Nite made a clawing-at-the-air gesture, Mads caught a glimpse of the magic on his fingertips—prosthetics on all of them.
Mads stared in horror that Nite must have caught as he drew his hands back in, hiding them in his pockets with a quick gesture. “It’s not that bad.”
“Did Baron do that to you?” Mads stared and Nite shook his head.
“Human. I was stuck in cat form, and he had me declawed.” Nite shrugged his shoulders. “Rex fixed them up just fine, though.”
“That’s Rex’s magic?” Mads perked up. “He did a good job. I hardly noticed. He really did take after his father on skill.”
“Took after you, too, from what I’ve heard. He’s great at trickery magic and a whiz with fairy gold. Taught me quite a few tricks and with his magic and my thinking, we got some really neat stuff going.” Midnite still kept his fingers in his pockets, though. That much didn’t escape Mads.
“Can I see them again? Please?” Mads glanced at Midnite’s hands and gave his best half smile as Midnite grudgingly pulled them out to show.
Mads reached out to take his hands and turn them over. “It’s lovely work. And there’s so much care put into them. I can tell Rex really adores you from how the magic flows.”
Midnite smiled, withdrawing his hands gently but not putting them back in his pockets. Sometimes, a little reassurance went a long way. They weren’t prostheses for his disfigurement but an advertisement of his mate’s love.
As they continued on past a chain-link-fence-framed swimming pool and toward what used to be the office part of the motel the coven had been made from, the sound of joyful children made Mads perk up.
As they swept in, two adults glanced up—two faces he recognized. Leon and Warring.
“He’s here. Everyone be nice.” Nite snatched a little wobbly stepped Caspian as he toddled over. With a flourish, the child settled neatly on Nite’s hip. “Now where’s my other kid?”
Vince, Mads was certain. A little blond boy toddled over, blue eyes wide and curious. Mads flinched, waiting for the child to recognize him, to be scared, to cry. The little boy only tilted his head and glanced from Mads to Midnite with a curious expression. “Who’s that?”
“We talked earlier. This is Rex’s papa,” Midnite said.
“Nite. Thank goodness you’re here. We have a double-blowout situation.” Leon waved him over, and Nite aided Leon in the changing of a few diapers. The same magic that covered Nite’s fingers shone over Leon’s face. The birthmark that Mads had known him for was nowhere to be seen.
“Grandpeep!” Vince bounced excitedly and before Midnite could correct him, Mads opened his arms and took the little boy in for a hug.
“Grandpeep… I like that. Grandpa isn’t really my thing, is it?” Mads circled the boy in his arms and sighed.
