“He’s actually a hist—” Gavril started but Wadim cut him off.
“I can regale you with dangerous battles and secret missions, fighting every kind of foe you can imagine,” the Romania historian said with a wink, his spirits renewed apparently after being called worm poop.
Kara had to give it to Wadim, he was hard to keep down.
“Because he’s read it all,” Gavril said so low that Wadim either didn’t hear it or chose to ignore it.
CHAPTER16
“Every supernatural species in existence apparently has a secret responsibility tied to the survival of reality.Honestly, at this point, I’m expecting squirrels to be guarding time itself.”~Kara
By the timethe meal finally ended, Kara was beginning to suspect troll hospitality was less “light refreshment” and more “we will continue feeding you until movement becomes impossible.”
The cavern they’d been led into sat deeper within the mountain than any place they’d seen so far.Enormous stone arches curved overhead like the ribs of some ancient beast buried beneath the earth, their carved surfaces worn smooth by what had to be centuries of hands brushing against them in passing.Long tables hewn directly from dark rock stretched through the center of the chamber, lit from above by hanging mineral lanterns that glowed warm gold instead of the colder blue threading through the outer caverns.
Honestly?
It was almost cozy.
If one ignored the world-ending corruption beneath the mountain.
And the fact that Kara’s unborn daughter apparently had some kind of magical restraining order against ancient darkness.
Minor details.
Nick sat beside her at the massive stone table, one arm draped possessively across the back of her chair while his other hand rested low against her thigh beneath the heavy edge of carved stone.The contact had become almost constant over the past two weeks.She wasn’t just his anchor, he was hers as well.
His wolf had settled some after the confrontation in the lower chamber, but not by much.Every few minutes his thumb stroked absently against the curve of her leg as though reassuring himself she was still there.Still safe.Still breathing.
Kara leaned slightly into his side and watched Verna direct a group of younger trolls between the tables with the efficiency of a battlefield general.The elder female pointed sharply, and a steaming platter changed direction mid-stride.Another tilt of her chin, and a stack of empty bowls vanished into the arms of a passing server.
“You need more meat,” Verna announced, sliding another plate in front of Kara with a quiet thunk.
Kara stared at it.
Then at Verna.
Then back at the plate.
“That appears to be an entire animal.”
“It is only half.”
“Oh good,” Kara deadpanned.“For a second I was concerned.”
Across the table, Aphid snorted into his drink hard enough that he had to set the cup down before he choked.Wadim, two seats further along, looked personally offended that Kara’s portion remained noticeably larger than his own.Somehow he’d managed to sneak away from the kids’ table without Verna forcing him to go back.
“This is discrimination,” he muttered, gesturing at his plate with a piece of bread.“I too am growing something important.”
Zara didn’t even glance up from her food.“An ego doesn’t count.”
“I’ll have you know it requires constant maintenance.”
“Clearly.”
At the smaller table just beyond their own, Torvik laughed so hard that he nearly slid off his chair, catching himself at the last second on the stone edge.
Watching Wadim willingly hold court at the children’s table for the past hour just because the troll younglings had decided he was some legendary warrior had been worth at least half the stress of the day.
