“Magic,” he said, shaking his hands in the air and then wincing from the pain. Fuck. Forgot about the chest wound.
“Stop using that arm, you idiot.”
“Make me.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
She glared at him, but it had little meaning when he could see the smile pulling at her lips.
Eimi and Ciro came back from the mission Felix had set them on at seven a.m. His sister had been more than displeased to fetch like a dog, but because he almost died, he had some leverage. They walked down the hall, Eimi holding a brown paper bag. Avery’s nostrils flared as she tried her hardest not to look like she was smelling the delicious scent coming from inside it, her attempt at nonchalance undermined by the way she leaned forward half an inch. Felix took the bag from his sister and pushed it toward her. Felix caught Eimi’s eye and mouthedthank you.
Tentatively, Avery took the bag and opened the top of it before crinkling it closed again. “Is this what I think it is?”
Even Eimi couldn’t help the grin forming on her face. “Mmhmm, went all the way into London for it.”
Like a kid on Christmas, the wonder in her eyes couldn’t be missed as she opened the bag. Her lip wobbled. Was she about to cry over chicken nuggets?
“How did you know?” Her voice cracked. She really was.
“You talked about them in your sleep,” Felix said, a warmth spreading in his chest. He’d listened to her mumble feverishly for twenty minutes about the perfect crispy texture, like she was repeating a goddamn ad from memory or something. He’d known exactly what he needed to do. It was then that he realized that they had a shared obsession with delicious chicken. They truly were soulmates.
Avery fished the nuggets out of the bag and held the box like she was carrying a delicate artifact. “You don’t know how much this means to me, thank you,” she said sincerely, before turning to Eimi and Ciro. “Thank you.”
He knew she meant it, every word. Felix watched Avery look at his sister as she had just performed a miracle instead of a fast-food run.
“Consider it your welcoming gift to the den,” Eimi said. “Usually, for any other witch, they would be poisoned, but for my brother’s mate, I’ll make an exception.”
Avery looked surprised. “He’s your brother?”
“Unfortunately,” she deadpanned. “But thank you for keeping him safe.”
They smiled at each other, and Felix recognized that particular expression: the girl smile. The we’re-going-to-talk-about-you-later smile. Oh god. Were they going to be friends? It was good that Avery would have friends here, but all Felix could think about was every embarrassing story Eimi had kept hidden over the years.
“Now eat them before they get cold,” Eimi insisted.
Avery happily obliged, opening the box and looking at the ten crispy golden nuggets and sauce that steamed in the morningchill. They all watched her face light up like he’d given her the fucking crown jewels. Even Ciro couldn’t hide the chuckle behind his hand. The scent of greasy chicken hit his nose. He had to admit, they smelled pretty good. Carefully, she dipped the nugget in the sauce. And when Avery took a bite of one? She moaned and rolled her eyes back more than any lick of his tongue had ever done. That chicken nugget was living its best life, and Felix was absolutely, pathetically jealous. It was then that he realized he would live his life a jealous man, of the clothes that kissed her back, the seats that held her, and the blankets that warmed her when he couldn’t. Jealous of all the days, hours, and minutes he had spent not touching her. Felix would spend an eternity making up for lost time, and he would love every second. As long as he was alive, she would never have personal space again.
Funny how they always said curiosity killed the cat, well, they had never said how love could destroy one. It had wrecked him completely and built something better in its place. In a game of cat and witch, somehow they had both won. He wouldn’t have it any other way.
Epilogue
Wren
Her dragon’s voice,his voice,echoed around her mind. It was a fucking shifter.
The rifle jammed as she tried to shoot it, and she grabbed it hard enough that it could snap between her fingers. Her magic wasn’t working. And her familiar, theshifter,was flying away with her sister and another shifter in its claws.
“Fuck,” she muttered under her breath as they disappeared over the hill.
Lowering the scope, she took in the scene around her. Carnage rained, bodies littered the ground, and injured enforcers crawled across the ground, groaning.
“Call the healers!” Wren barked at the stunned enforcer next to her. The young woman stared blankly back at her. She was obviously not high-ranking or had even been an enforcer for very long, given the way she reacted to the blood flowing in a river towards them. Wren felt nothing looking at the gore, had stopped feeling anything about blood years ago, but watching this girl freeze pissed her off. She stepped over it and walked towards an enforcer tending to one of the wounded before he saw her coming and stood and saluted.
Her dragon was a shifter.
She forced the thought out of her mind. No. There had to be an explanation for it. Her mother would never do that. Not after all the shifters had done to them.
“Call the healers,” she barked at the enforcer.
“Yes, Commander.”
