“Ready,” Vergis said.
Inkiri pulled me into a tight hug, holding me so I couldn’t have lifted my arms to reach out of the circle, even by accident. “Ready.”
“Then take us away, Muffin.”
And Vergis did.
Chapter 10
The flare of magic around us ebbed, and the burlap sack hung empty in Vergis’s hand when we got where we were going, which was…a gazebo on a lawn behind a large two-story house with a flat roof topped with solar panels. It looked to be the only house for miles and miles, only tall trees and mountains in the distance.
“Home, sweet home,” Kinnek said as he walked down the gazebo steps, Vergis in his wake.
“Where are we?” I looked around.
The lawn the gazebo stood on wasn’t pristine; no manicured grass-scapes here. Rather, there were wildflowers and moss and butterflies as well as bees zipping from one flower to the next. A winding garden path led from the gazebo to the house, and Inkiri made me follow Kinnek and Vergis while he brought up the rear.
“Welcome to Canada,” Kinnek said. “More precisely, our home. Vergis’s daddy built that gazebo.”
“Huh,” I said, but there wasn’t any more time for talking, because the back door of the house flew open, and Fellisse took the stairs two at a time, then jogged toward us.
“You are back!” He gave us all a toothy smile before zeroing in on me. “And Rory is better, thank the ancestors!”
Fellisse was hugging me before I could so much as wave at him, but he was being pretty careful and pulled back quickly.
“Uhm, thanks. Good to see you too,” I told the big, oceanic bagu.
“It’s very good to see you indeed, Rory. You were right, then, Kinnek?” Fellisse asked before giving Inkiri a hug, rubbing cheeks with him.
“So it would seem. Muffin, go inside and make sure the bath is ready for Inkiri and his mate. I’m sure a bit of soaking would do them both good.”
Vergis rolled his eyes and mumbled something I didn’t catch.
“Kinnek’s bath is wonderful,” Fellisse told me and Inkiri. “There is a steam bath too. Human engineering fused with bagu sensibilities, Nokim calls it. He’s been taking notes and asking about the plumbing.”
Kinnek sighed. “Ah, the plumbing! It made Charlie grumble like you wouldn’t believe, but he’s proud. As well he should be.”
“It is very kind of you to open your home to us.” Inkiri dipped his head in Kinnek’s direction.
“Ach, it’s nothing.” Kinnek pushed his hair back behind his shoulder. “Not when I am so deeply in your mate’s debt.”
Fellisse tilted his head. “What?”
“Much to talk about,” Inkiri said.
Kinnek clapped his hands and beamed. “We should all soak together so we can talk and get to know each other better.”
My jaw dropped, but before I could ask for clarification on whether any swimsuits would be involved, all the bagua broke out in grunting agreement, and I was led toward the house and what would be my first public and naked soaking.
Lissir and Nokim were the next people to hug me, almost the moment we got into the house.
“That’s more than enough,” Lissir said as he pulled Nokim off me. “Have you no shame?”
Inkiri just clicked, relaxed and content.
“It’s not like it would matter much, seeing how Inki has marked him.” Nokim pointed at the necklace. “And even I with my poor sense of nose—I mean, my poor sense of smell—can smell they shared pleasure.”
Inkiri broke out in a growl-purr, sounding smug. I tried not to turn crimson.
