Page 66 of Bitten By the Basilisk

Alice pouted at him. “That’s not much of a silver lining.”

“And you’ve impressed everyone.”

“I…suppose that’s true,” she grudgingly admitted.

“Come,” he then said, backing away. “We should wash our hands before we eat.”

Chapter Nineteen

Alice

While Alice and Silas were away from the table, the catering crew made short work of whisking away the tainted drink and magically disappearing any trace of the spill.

As the culprit couldn’t be found, the banquet proceeded, albeit with extra caution, each course closely examined for any contamination. The caterer personally brought Silas a new beer that Alice deemed free of magic, dark or otherwise.

And now, as beautiful as dessert looked, she was too stuffed to have more than a couple of bites from one of the three exquisite entremets on the plate in front of her.

Next to her, Una appeared to be having the same issue. The dark-haired selkie had eaten most of the chocolate and caramel dome, but the other two cakes were untouched, and she was leaned back in her chair with both hands over her stomach.

Meanwhile, Una’s husband, Isaac, had just finished all three and was eyeing Una’s leftovers.

With a small amount of effort, Alice was able to glimpse the red thread of fate connecting Isaac’s left pinky to Una’s right one. Unsurprisingly, Silas’s parents did not share a thread.

“I’m honestly jealous of how much serpent-folk can eat,” Alice remarked, laying down her fork and adopting the same pose as Una.

“Same,” Una intoned. “Feels like I’ll never be hungry again.”

“Mind if I finish the chocolate one for you?” Isaac asked, fork at the ready. Once his mate waved her assent, he didn’t hesitate to stab the last bite. “Did you forget that you’re pregnant? You’ll be wanting a croissant and a mug of hot chocolate first thing in the morning.”

Una closed her eyes and frowned in discomfort. “Mm, I can’t think about that right now.”

Isaac, his mouth full, made sure his lips were clean and then kissed Una on her cheek, earning him a smile.

Silas was still on his last bites of the apple spice entremet, having been relishing the sweet selection. His smiling eyes twinkled with amusement at her and Una’s predicament.

The antidote the caterer had promised had arrived partway through the first course, which Alice’s True Sight perceived to be exactly as described. Within seconds of imbibing it, the ice-cold ache in her wrist had vanished.

Throughout the rest of the five-course dinner, Silas’s father had said little, but his demeanor had ceased to be hostile.

His mother had been more talkative, and she had thankfully refrained from bringing up children again. Her earlier question had been so unexpected, not to mention incredibly premature, even in a scenario where Alice did see a red thread tying her to Silas.

She suspected the topic was meant to upset Silas’s father more than anything else. From what Alice had gleaned, Vesta had been a somewhat detached mother. Maybe she hadn’t wanted to be one, as her primary joy seemed to be her work, which she had talked about for two entire courses.

Silas, as usual, had said exactly what Alice had needed to hear—that no matter what, her happiness would always come first.

While she did desire to have a child someday, she wasn’t ready to be a mother yet. And really, what did it matter when her and Silas’s relationship was almost certainly temporary?

“I take it you enjoyed the meal?” Silas asked as he sliced off his next bite.

“It was incredible,” she declared. “Delicious and beautifully plated.”

“Indeed,” his mother said, lifting another forkful of the pistachio-strawberry cake. “The caterer really outdid themselves.”

“Boss planned the entire menu,” Nic revealed. “He and the caterer made sure their crew could pull it off with the limited equipment they could have on-site, but he put together the recipes and the prep plan.”

Alice raised her eyebrows, more than a little impressed. Though she didn’t have any direct experience with event planning, she frequently worked with vendors who did. Putting on a multicourse dinner of this size at a location without a dedicated kitchen had to have been difficult, to say the least.

His parents also looked impressed. His father glanced at his empty plate, then scanned the gathering as though just now noticing the jubilant atmosphere.