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Nic’s strategy workedwell enough that everyone dispersed after the simple but delicious dessert of fresh strawberries glazed with orange-blossom honey, served with newly whipped cream. It helped that she mentioned that brandy would be served in the north-wing common room.
“We’re giving them brandy, too?” Gabriel asked blackly as the last of them meandered out of the room.
“Not the best stuff,” she soothed, though it wasn’t as if they had any that was very good, “and they won’t linger, as the common room is far from comfortable yet.”
“I’m surprised it’s adequate for serving brandy.”
“Just barely,” she confided.
“You’ve been busy today, accomplishing amazing feats of hospitality.”
Wasn’t that the truth. “I don’t know about amazing feats,” she temporized, “but enough to keep our current roster of residents happy, and happy wizards are productive wizards who will more than earn their keep. And if they don’t, we give them the boot.”
“I look forward to that part.” He put his arm around her, snugging her against his side. “What makes familiars happy?”
“That’s easy. Happy wizards.”
He slid her a look. “I want to think you’re teasing, but I don’t think you are.”
“Well, there’s a great deal of truth in it.”
Pausing at the junction where they’d either turn toward the arcanium passageway or toward the staircase to the master suite, he glanced at her. “What would make you happy now?”
It wasn’t difficult to know what he was really asking. As much as she’d been looking forward to time in the arcanium with him, Gabriel had clearly worn himself out on every level, between the backbreaking work at the levee and dealing with strange wizards and assorted entourages. His steps had been heavy, and while his magic shone brightly, he looked tired. She was tired too, she had to admit. And her conversation with Quinn lingered in her mind.I wonder what it’s like to be bonded to a wizard who is also your lover.
“It might be nice to do something really kinky—for us—and have sex in a bed for once,” she suggested with a saucy smile. “Unless you’re too tired for it.”
His black gaze fired, and before she saw him move, he’d swept her into his arms, carrying her laughing up the stairs, taking the steps two and three at a time. “The day I’m dead,” he declared, elbowing open the door to their suite, “is the day I’m too tired to bed you, my heart.”
“See?” she replied with a purr. “That’s how you make a familiar happy.”
More people thanshe’d expected gathered the next morning at the levee, particularly given the heavy overcast. Dark-bellied clouds loomed over them, promising torrential rain even to her untutored eye. That didn’t seem to deter the locals or dim their merriment as they turned out in a horde to witness the magical levee rebuilding. More people had gathered, in fact, than she’d realized lived in the vicinity of House Phel. Men and women in coarser clothing suitable for field work, others dressed more for indoor, less filthy pursuits. Children ran about shrieking like it was a festival. The newly arrived wizards and familiars, hearing that Lord Phel would be putting on a practical display of his wizardry, had also made the walk over. They stood in a convivial group, Laryn holding an open umbrella as she scowled at the threatening sky.
Even Narlis had attended with Daisy and GF. The old familiar wore a broad-brimmed hat that partially obscured her face as she looked about with interest, if of a hazy variety. Narlis beamed as she spotted Gabriel, quickening her step to reach up and pat him on the cheek. “You’re a good boy,” she told him.
“What’s going on?” Gabriel asked his parents. “It’s not a party.”
Daisy made a face and patted his cheek also. “That’s where you’re wrong,” she corrected cheerfully. “Everyone is miffed they didn’t get to see you and Nic raise the manse. They’re not going to miss this display.”
“They’re excited, son,” GF added. “It’s good for your people to see the strength of their new lord.” He slid a look to Nic and winked conspiratorially.
Gabriel opened his mouth—to deliver some scathing remark, no doubt—but Nic threaded her arm through his. “Itisgood,” she said, tilting her head at the cluster of their guests, including ones who’d arrived just that morning. She had yet to meet any of those, as she and Gabriel had opted to enjoy a private breakfast on their balcony, then went directly to the library to dispense with the most urgent correspondence. No word still from Elal, something she was trying to resign herself to. Nor had the Convocation replied, a silence that began to feel more and more like a sword poised over their necks. It was possible the proctor Gabriel had agreed to host would simply arrive unannounced. Or that that lack of response boded something far worse.
Iblis had counteroffered for Narlis, so Gabriel, on Nic’s advice, lowered his own counteroffer. He wasn’t pleased, but she promised it was the right move. “A show of power put to productive use makes for a good tale,” she explained when Gabriel frowned. “When Iblis hears about the manse and what you demonstrate today, they’ll cut their losses.”
His gaze strayed to their guests, now representing most of the Convocation High Houses—with a few salient exceptions—along with a healthy smattering of lower-tier houses. “A show, eh?” he mused.
“A showy one,” she answered with a sparkling smile, rewarded when he snorted with amusement.
“Better get to it quickly,” GF advised, casting a wary eye at the sky, “or yon impending rain will undo all our work from yesterday.”
“Come, familiar,” Gabriel said in a pompous tone, escorting her to a rise above the levee. “Let’sshowthem what we can do.”
Though he’d been teasing her, hearing him address her that way gave her a surge of erotic longing that nearly took her breath away. Their lovemaking the night before had been slow and intimate, and lovely in every way, but had only scratched the surface of the need he’d kindled in her with his sensual torments.
“Yes, wizard,” she murmured in reply. Catching the flare of his magic, the heat in the wizard-black eyes that pinned her, she realized he hadn’t been teasing at all. He knew exactly what he was doing to her. A monster, indeed. And how she enjoyed being devoured.
Unwinding her hand from his arm, he placed her so she rested both hands on his lower back, then raised his hands dramatically to the heavy gray sky, the crowd hushing and growing still. Gabriel drew on her magic, an easy pull, as hers had begun greedily reaching for him the moment he addressed her as “familiar.” The sensation tugged at her with a sensual thrill, as if he’d fastened his mouth to her nipples or her sex, feeding from her and caressing in return. Needing more contact, she nestled her cheek against his side, sliding her hands around him to his flat, ridged abdomen and peeking out beneath his muscled arm. Her wizard.
