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“You look happy.”
Happy. The concept is as foreign as love is to me. But if I can feel one, surely it’s possible to feel the other? I let my hands drop. “I think I am happy?”
“Are you asking me or telling me?”
“I don’t know.” I laugh. “I have no business being happy. We still have so much to accomplish. We’re nowhere near safe. We—”
“Mina.” The quiet command in his voice cuts me off. Malachi takes my face in his big hands. “Life is challenging enough without putting qualifiers on happiness. It passes, just like fear and anger and horror pass. Enjoy the feeling while we have it.”
I make a face. “That’s not exactly comforting.”
“I wasn’t trying to be comforting.” He leans down and presses a light kiss to my lips. “Now, onto the magic.”
Strangely, the magic training is more difficult than the sparring. Malachi sets me up as if we’re going to meditate, but his low voice talks me through the process. It feels like trying to bench press a car. I can feel the magic, but it’s so overwhelming, I can barely envision wrapping my hands around it, let alone guiding it to my will.
I don’t know how much time passes before he calls it quits, but it feels like I’ve learned nothing at all. “I don’t care what you all say. This is going to take years.”
“You can already feel the movement of your powers. That’s the hardest part.”
I give him the look that statement deserves. “If that’s the hardest part, I should be able to do more.”
“It’s the first day, little dhampir. Have some grace for yourself.” He holds the door open. “Let’s feed you.”
“Shower first.” I pull the wet fabric of my tank top away from my skin and cringe.
“Shower first,” he confirms.
It takes twice as long as it should because we get distracted with each other’s bodies, and by the time we make it out, both Rylan and Wolf have disappeared. I eye the bed. “How many rooms does this place have?”
“More than enough.” Malachi wraps an arm around my waist, guiding me to the door. “But if we want to reduce the amount of damage we do, we should confine fucking to this room.”
Because we’re destined to lose control and continue to trash whatever room we’re in. I press my hand to my mouth, as if that’s enough to hide the grin. “That sounds like a good idea.”
“Mmm.” He tucks me against his body as we head for the kitchen. “You are happy.”
He would know. If the lesson earlier is anything to go by, I won’t be successfully shielding for some time. “I suppose I am.”
“It looks good on you.”
We find the other two in the kitchen, Rylan making a pot of coffee and Wolf staring at the fully stocked fridge as if it might jump out and bite him. “Humans and their desire for options. It’s food. Why should it need to be so fancy?”
“Spoken like a vampire.”
He motions at the fridge. “Pick your poison.”
“I’m more than capable of making my own food.” I slip out from beneath Malachi’s arm and walk to the fridge. As ridiculous as I think Wolf’s being, he’s right; there are a truly overwhelming number of options here. I grab an apple and wander to the pantry door a few feet away. Thankfully, the owner has a veritable storefront of power bars. I pick a couple and head back into the kitchen.
All there vampires look at me with disbelief.
Rylan raises his brows. “All those options and you choose that?”
“I don’t know how to cook all that many things and I’m starving, so I don’t want to take the time to deal with it right now. Power bars were good enough for me before. I don’t see why they shouldn’t be good enough for me now.”
Malachi’s frowning as if solving a complicated problem. “I thought you preferred them because they’re easy to carry on the run.”
“That is one of the reasons I prefer them, yes.” From their expressions, they’re not going to let it go, so I feel compelled to explain. “While there are humans and dhampirs in my father’s compound, they’re hardly a priority compared to the vampires. The food they’re provided is designed to keep them alive and healthy so they can continue to act as walking blood banks and, at times, breeders. Power bars were the tastiest of the bunch.”
Wolf shakes his head slowly. “That is rather pathetic, love.”
“It is what it is.” I take my power bars and apple to the counter wrapping around half of the kitchen island and sit down. “Good food matters less than keeping myself alive. That’s always been the priority.”
“It can still be the priority if you’re eating other food.” Malachi crosses his arms over his chest.
Rylan pours coffee into a mug and passes it to me. “I’ll learn to cook.” When all three of us stare at him, he shrugs. “It’s a necessary skill if we have someone who consumes food.”
