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Lewis turned. “Oh yes. Thank you so much. I can’t believe there’s so much room. And this kitchen is amazing.”
“Very well. I’ll get your things moved over, and you can call this place yours from here on out. If you have any questions, let us know. We’ll discreetly check on you for the next week or two and see how things are going. Otherwise, congratulations again. I’ll leave the two of you to get to know each other better.”
Master Edison disappeared, leaving me alone with Lewis. A moment later, things just appeared in the new house, and I shook my head. If only moving were always that easy, then— My thoughts stopped there, and I looked over at Lewis. My mate, although still unclaimed for the moment, was fae. He had magic and would be able to move things in such a manner.
“Apparently, it is a done deal,” I told him.
“It is.” He grinned over at me. “Now there’s just the matter of you showing me your gargoyle.”
“What about Beau and your Friendsgiving?”
Lewis waved his hand across the island, and there was suddenly a rather large spread of food. “Oh, look, a private meal that matches the foods that they’re having there. Give me a sec, and I’ll message Beau. I’ll have to turn my phone off then because it will no doubt be bombarded.” Lewis was looking at his phone one moment and up at me with wide eyes the next. “Will they know where we are? I have no doubt they might try to come over to your old place to retrieve me.”
I did not like the idea of having interfering “friends.” I was almost certain they wouldn’t bother us though. “No, they won’t know where we are unless Master Edison tells them. They might be able to use magic to find you though?”
Lewis sighed. “They shouldn’t bother us,” he said. He started typing on his phone, and I stood there waiting. A few moments later, he turned it to the side and held the button. He then touched the screen and set the phone down on the counter behind him. “Would you like to eat? You mentioned feeding me; well, here we are.”
I had to admit, the spread looked delicious. “We can certainly eat,” I told him. “I was going to cook for you though.”
I started walking toward Lewis, who was coming around to my side of the island where the tall stools were. I pulled him close when he was within reaching distance. “Hello, little mate,” I told him. He smiled up at me.
“Hi there.”
I wanted to kiss him, but I knew that if I started, one wouldn’t be enough. Not at the moment. My beast wanted to take Lewis upstairs and slowly peel those clothes off him. Instead, I opted to help him up onto the stool, not that he couldn’t do it himself.
“The food smells amazing,” I said when I sat down beside him.
“I know I have magic, obviously, and I can use it to cook and bake and everything, but I like to do it without magic most of the time,” he said. “Fae magic can be a bit unpredictable, especially when we’re overly tired or pregnant.” He glanced at me quickly before continuing to speak. “I’ve never actually had a lot of these specific foods before. They were from the list that the others got that were traditional foods for this holiday.”
I smiled. “Well, I appreciate the effort, and I can’t wait to give everything a taste.” I wasn’t a picky eater. If it was food and was edible, I was going to eat it. I’d lived a long time, and I’d learned early on that food wasn’t always guaranteed. That hadn’t been an issue in a long time, but I had learned early in life to make certain I was grateful for what I’d been provided.
Lewis started eating, and only then did I join him. The food was just as delicious as it smelled, not that I was surprised by that. I had a feeling that Lewis could make anything taste wonderful. I’d been around long enough to understand the human holiday, and this had been the first year that the council had decided to give an extended weekend. It had taken me entirely too long to realize they had done so because some were mated to humans.
“Are you certain you don’t wish to talk to your friend Beau?” I asked.
“I do, and I will, but not right now. I love him like a brother, I really do. But I think it’s better if he gets any questions answered about you from Evan. I’d say that he probably knows you better than I do at this point. Beau can ask him all the questions that I know he’s going to have. I didn’t get to ask or judge his mate, so it’s only fair that he doesn’t get to do so with mine.”
My hand froze with a bite of food partway to my mouth. “What do you mean? Why would he judge me?”
Lewis sighed. “He shouldn’t. He probably will though. It’s the whole…‘is he good enough’ type of thing.”
“Did you do the same to his mate?”
Lewis shook his head. “Beau was already mated and pregnant when I arrived here. I stayed back for several months after Evan and Beau came here. Evan wasn’t going to come unless his younger brother could as well. I just figured I would never see them again. I was shocked when the fates came and wanted to talk to me specifically. Now, here I am. That’s that story. I saw Beau later, when he came to the bakery and was really worried about how everything would get done when he gave birth.”
I didn’t have anything against Evan. He seemed overly concerned for his younger brother at times, but it seemed like that was simply because he had spent time raising him. I knew that the fae enforcers had often talked about Beau and his friend, and I was still trying not to be too upset with myself that I’d not met Lewis at some point before now.
“We can go if you’d like. I wouldn’t mind walking back to Lukan’s with you if you want to see them.”
Lewis shook his head. “I really don’t. I know that sounds bad, but I don’t. It’s sweet of you to offer, but I really just want to eat and then see what happens.” Lewis took a bite of turkey and chewed happily. “I’m looking forward to seeing your gargoyle. I’ve seen the others, like I said earlier, but I’ve never seen any of the gargoyles when they were shifted.”
“No, you wouldn’t. We don’t normally go around in that form unless we’re in the privacy of our home or in the clan house. It’s just not something we really do. We’re incredibly private outside of our immediate families. And even then, sometimes we’re distant with family.”
“Why do I feel like that comment was because you’re not close with your own family.”
I tried to smile at Lewis, but he was surprisingly perceptive. “I am a generation younger than my brother. He still lived in the clan house, but he didn’t want much to do with me. My parents doted on both of us, but they moved to Europe in the seventies. Even Wilder and Marley having children hasn’t brought them back. I think they are taking their retirement years seriously, and they don’t want to be roped into anything.”
Lewis snorted. “I wouldn’t ask your parents to watch our children anyway.”