I nearly choke on my next bite at the mention of Helena having a mate.
Okay so maybe I was alittlejealous. And it seems those feelings were entirely unfounded.
“Mate, huh?” I take a sip of the wine that’s on my tray to take a moment to gather my thoughts. It’s a sweet and slightly sour mix of berries that ismuchbetter than the watered-down swill they serve in the human realm. “How long have they been together?” I ask, trying to keep my voice even and uninterested.
“Oh, centuries,” he says with a devilish smirk that tells me he knows exactly why I’ve gone down this line of questioning. “They’ve been mated since before I was even born.”
“Oh, wow. Centuries is… that’s a long time.”
“Indeed, it is.” He’s leaning back in his chair looking so smug like the cat who got the cream. “Still feeling a little jealous over there?”
I wish I could wipe that smirk right off his gods forsaken face. “I already told you, I wasn’t jealous. Why would I have any reason to be jealous?”
“I don’t know,Olivia, why would you be jealous?” he asks with a nonchalant shrug that is in no way nonchalant.
I swear this male makes me want to scream. “I detest you,” I scoff.
“Keep telling yourself whatever lies will help you sleep better at night,” he says with a wink as he pops one of the potatoes into his mouth.
“It’s not a lie,” I force out, the words tasting bitter. “Anyway, about tomorrow.”
“What about it?” he asks, the amusement fading away with the abrupt change of topic.
“What’s the plan?”
“We’ll head to the portal at first light. It’s not far, less than an hour from here. Once we pass through, you’ll take the lead since you know the area better than I do. That’s it really. No real grand plan,” he shrugs as he slumps back into his chair and pushes the empty plate towards the middle of the table.
“Right, okay. Sounds easy enough.” I look down at my plate and realize it’s equally empty. Stacking it with his, I rise from the table, feeling awkward to be lingering in his room with no reason. “I should try to get some sleep then.”
“On that note,” his voice stops my escape. I turn back to find him already in the process of undressing for sleep. His shirt discarded over a nearby chair. Heat rises to my cheeks, flustering me further. “It seems you’ve been sleeping better.”
“Yeah, no nightmare last night. That’s two nights in a row now and I’m trying not to focus too hard on it in case I jinx it or something and they come back. Anyway, um, goodnight.” I say before flinging the door open and throwing myself across the hall towards my room.
“Lock your damn door!” he calls behind me and I have to bite my lip to hold back the laugh that wants to bubble out.
