“It’s fine, you don’t have to answer now,” he said, putting on a subtle pout that surely Avery saw right through? Right?
Callum looked back at Avery, whose eyes softened at his obvious manipulation.
Nope, absolutely not.
He had to put a stop to this. Using his paw, Felix knocked over the glass of wine sitting on the table and spilled it onto Callum’s crisp white shirt, the red spreading over his abdomen as if he had just been stabbed. And honestly, Felix wished he had thrown a knife at him instead.
Callum cursed as he jumped back, the wine dripping onto his pant legs. A smug smile tugged at Felix’s lips, his fangs completely showing as the enforcer tsked at his white shirt while Avery tried to hide her tipsy giggling behind a napkin.
Callum sighed. “Do you want to get out of here?”
“Absolutely,” Avery said, swaying slightly as she stood.
Wait, no! That’s not what Felix wanted. Why didn’t he want to go home to change? Did the man have no dignity?
The night air bit at Felix’s nose as they stepped outside. Wind whipped through the trees, tumbling orange leaves around their feet and paws. Callum, ever the chivalrous man, draped his jacket over Avery’s shoulders. Perhaps next time, he would sneak into Callum’s room and piss on it.
“I want to show you something.” He held out his hand, and Avery took it with a wobble. Now she was just doing this to spite him. There was no way Avery would actually have an interest in this belligerent oaf.
Callum led her down a cobblestone path still damp from an earlier rain. The pine trees became denser while fog rolled around the ground. It almost made Felix and the fox look like they were swimming. The fox tried to play, taking strikes at Felix before he finally tackled it and put it in its place. Another degrading memory that was going to keep him up at night.
“My father always said that the strongest unions are chosen.” Callum’s voice carried to where Felix was lagging a few paces behind.
Avery stumbled slightly on the uneven stones. The wine was clearly affecting her coordination, though it had never really been great, from what he had seen.
“That sounds depressing,” she said.
“Does it?” Callum said, gripping her elbow to steady her. Felix’s claws extended, making it sound like he was tap dancing on the stones as he walked. He could just kill the witch. There was no one around. Who would see? He would happily tap dance on his corpse.
“The council matched my parents. Together they became the youngest council members in history.”
“So romantic,” Avery muttered.
“I think it is, actually.” Callum’s grip tightened on her elbow, and Felix’s ears flattened against his skull. “They built something greater than themselves.”
Avery rubbed the back of her neck, her nervousness traveling down the bond like bugs he desperately wanted to shake off. “Right.”
“Your parents’ marriage was arranged, right?”
Avery stiffened at the mention of her dad, looking around like she wanted to escape. A spike of grief came down the bond, hitting between his ribs and taking his breath away. By some miracle, Callum noticed and didn’t press her further.
They continued to walk in silence until the trees seemed to thin and stop in a line. There was no clearing; instead, there was a large green hedge with an arched iron gate in the middle. Avery looked up at it, stumbling backward.
“Easy there.” Callum laughed. “Maybe we should sit?” He guided her over to a bench outside the hedge. The wood was oldand rotted, moss crawling along its planks. Hopefully, it broke under Callum.
“What is this place?” Avery asked.
“It’s a maze—my father actually took my mother here on their first date. When I had a dream about it last night, I knew I had to take you too.”
Felix clawed at the dirt, stretching his back as he tried to shake the irritation coursing through him. The cold mud did nothing but piss him off more. Cold paws were the worst.
“Callum,” Avery said, pulling the jacket around herself as the fog floated around their feet. Felix’s whiskers twitched, picking up something in the air that made his hackles rise.
“Can I tell you something?” Callum’s voice became gentle. “My mother tells this story about how nervous she was the first time they had dinner together. She spilled soup all over herself.”
Avery let out a laugh. “Really?”
“Really,” he laughed. “And my father just handed her his napkin and told her a joke to make her feel better. Just like tonight.”
