I cocked my head. “What, the one you peeled? It doesn’t work that way. The person tossing it has to be the one peeling it. I don’t need it anymore, and you already agreed I have your initial on my thumb.”
Lissir made a humming noise. “On his thumb? That’s a story I want to listen to.”
“Maybe not before Christmas,” Vergis said.
Back at the stove, Nokim looked over his shoulder. “We’re calling it Santasmas. Inkiri agreed, and Charles and Kinnek had no complaints, so it’s decided.”
Vergis looked unimpressed. “It’s the middle of summer.”
Lissir reached for an apple of his own. “Then you want to make me wait until winter to hear how Rory has Inkiri’s name on his thumb? I don’t want to wait that long, Vergis.”
I shrugged. “It’s only a scar. I tried the apple peel thing once, and I cut myself.”
Vergis sniggered. “Of course you did.”
That had Inkiri clicking and purring. “That won’t happen again though. What are we going to do with the peel? Do you think Vergis can use it, Sadir?”
Vergis crossed his arms. “Vergis doesn’t think Vergis will use it.”
“You can feed it to the bunnies though, right?”
And while Vergis’s glare was powerful, I was pretty sure it softened a fraction when he looked at me. “Fine. Just another chore on my never-ending list.”
Lissir held out his hand to Inkiri. “The knife, please? I want to try this custom and see if there’s any writing in my apple peel.”
I frowned. I had accidentally made my guys superstitious.
Chapter 15
One hot day in June, Kinnek had kept me at the kitchen table for most of the morning, doing things to a glass of water. He had swung himself up to sit on one of the honey-brown and cream kitchen counters, his bare paws dangling. He wore a crop top and shorts and was winding a strand of his hair around a finger. He looked like a bored teenager for some reason, and by this point, I was sure those blue-gray strands were dyed.
“Make it freeze again, snapdragon,” he said for about the millionth time.
The presence hadn’t left me, and I could still feel it in my head when I concentrated, but it was less chatty these days, which had probably been the point of all this magic training. It was easier to interact with the outside world while I made the presence do things for me, such as freezing water.
I sighed and propped my head up on my hand. The presence did the rest, and the water turned to ice. There was still condensation misting the glass, and much of it had soaked into the placemat while I’d been practicing. Part of me felt like I was an understudy sitting in on rehearsals for plays I hadn’t been cast for, learning the lines in the hopes someone broke a leg or something.
“There.”
Kinnek beamed. “You’re better than the fridge. Now make it liquid again.”
I tapped the glass with a finger, collecting a drop of condensation. “We’ve been at this for hours.”
“And you’re doing so well.” He looked at the actual fridge. Kinnek had a weakness for iced tea, especially if Charles made it, and there was a fresh batch in there. “Tell you what, you boil it, and you can take a break, yes?”
I had the water in the glass bubbling and radiating heat in less than a minute.
“That’s your break then, sweet pea.”
I stood and stretched, yawned. “And iced tea for you.”
Kinnek slid off the counter, grabbed two glasses, and filled them with ice and iced tea from the fridge. He walked back over and sat down next to me. I moved my practice water out of the way, and he set a glass in front of me.
He drank some of his. “Ah. This is one of the many human things I’d miss on Aër. Same as chai in the winter.” He brightened. “And hot chocolate with marshmallows.”
“Oh, so you thought about going back?” I had. Despite everything, I’d liked Aër and the people. Well, the ones who weren’t cola asshats.
Kinnek sipped his tea, the ice clinking against the rim of the glass. “Not really. This is home. It’s just that it’s become a little more work since all the monsters started coming here when the veils fused.” He leaned back and propped his feet up on the table, flexing his toes to reveal those sharp bagu claws. “That spider Vergis said was about to eat you on the monster world? We had one of those earlier this year. It was out in the forest. Charles found it when he was picking wood garlic, and he said he felt like Ripley and the space marines walking into the colony in that movie. We have a flamethrower in the basement now.”
