Page 197 of Serpent and Shadow

You might want to have a talk with your brother, though, he added, quieter.

I thought about that, and glanced at Arcturus, who was chatting away with Nyx and Reena, telling them all about the Sanctum Occulus with Wraith still cradled in his arms. My new fire fox primal stood on the table in front of them, staring at Arcturus and the cat with its fiery tail swishing back and forth, almost like it was getting ready to pounce.

Before it could, Draken’s lion primal and Miranda’s corgi barreled down the length of the stone table, their light paws, legs, and bodies passing invisibly through plates and mugs. They reached the fox and crashed into her, knocking her off the end of the table happily. They jumped immediate after her, and the three of them began wrestling on the grass.

Bones’s bone dragon sat on his shoulder and watched, clicking its bone jaw disapprovingly.

When I glanced at Bones’s face, he was laughing, though.

I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen such a relaxed look on his face.

He noticed my stare and quirked an eyebrow, aiming his smile at me.

Taking my hand, he leaned down unexpectedly, tilted his head, and kissed me on the mouth. It was definitely a more passionate kiss than I’d been prepared for. When I returned it, sliding my fingers around the back of his neck, he released my hand, wrapping an arm around my waist and tugging me half into his lap. His fingers fisted in my hair as he kissed me again, angling his head closer, his tongue hot in my mouth.

“Gross,” declared Arcturus.

“There they go again,” muttered Jolie, and Nyx laughed. “Is this what our future holds? Every group outing ending with the two of them snogging in front of us?”

“I’m with little Shadow,” Draken retorted sourly. “Gross.” He threw a piece of potato at us. “Not at the table, for fuck’s sake. Someone get the hose.”

Bones and I completely ignored them.

I didn’t make it back up to the tower for another hour, and only after Bones left through one of the mirrors to go see his mother, and hopefully check her out of hospital.

It felt strange to walk up that staircase alone, after everything that had happened.

It felt stranger given everything about to come.

The term had ended early.

Finals had been canceled or made optional, either to be conducted long-distance by individual professors, or omitted altogether, with grades being calculated by the work completed by students up until that point. Given fire damage, the remnants of a dark curse still decorating the floor of our main assembly hall, and evidence still being collected across various parts of the campus, the graduation ceremony for the senior class would be conducted in Bonescastle this year, at the main temple in the center of downtown.

I was going upstairs to pack up a few things for me, Bones, and Wraith, and then I would hopefully be joining Bones and Varya in London, where he’d already directed some of his staff to clean out a house owned by the family in Kensington.

He had gone to the hospital in Exmoor to check his mother out first.

The Black Tower would be closed for a while longer, due to numerous law enforcement and military investigations, followed by what Bones cynically termed, “a stripped to the stone renovation and exorcism.”

Most of my friends would be going to London, too, and staying in the same house, which Bones said should have plenty of room for “all of my annoying friends,” along with Alaric, Luc, and Nyx, who seemed to annoy him less for some reason. Even Arcturus would be joining us, as he’d already gotten permission to spend a few months with us in London and Brighton before returning to the Sanctum in the fall.

I strongly suspected Bones would be ready to strangle Draken by the end of the summer, if not by the end of the first week, but he’d also said I’d have to sit through at least a few dinners with Elysia, so maybe that was going to be the trade-off between us.

I missed Bones, though, and I felt guilty that part of my reaction to the news of the entirety of my friend group and family packing up to camp out together in London for the summer had been tinged with disappointment. As much as I wanted to spend time with all of them, particularly my brother, particularly Miranda, who I’d still gotten almost no time with, I desperately needed alone time with Bones, too.

It was beginning to look like that wouldn’t happen until the fall.

A few hours later, after a hot shower, and far too much time weighing which of Wraith’s toys to bring, I had four cases packed and was writing a note to send off with Elwood the drakai to see about hiring a carriage to bring us all into London.

I was just finishing it off when Bones walked out of the walk-in closet, his mouth pursed, making me jump when he gliding out of the dark opening. Ignoring my flinch, he glanced around at the four cases packed, and quirked an eyebrow in amusement before walking up to where I was leaned against his kitchen counter.

He kissed the back of my neck, read the note over my shoulder, and murmured in my ear.

“Busy, busy, Mrs. Bones,” he said softly.

His hands and fingers wrapped tightly around my waist as he rested his chin on my shoulder. I felt a ripple of heat come off his magic, right before he pressed his face to mine.

“Send the luggage off with the rest of them,” he said, quieter. “I’ve got my mother set up in the house already. She can greet them and fuss over them and find them all rooms. She loves that kind of thing.” He kissed my neck again and I shivered.