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Another few minutes later, we were all changed and Nico and I headed for the mountainside while the others returned to the Great Hall. I wanted to go with them, not to leave them on their own, but I also needed to find my mentor. With the lessers in big trouble, I couldn’t imagine where she went.
Nor did I find out that afternoon because no matter where we looked, we found no sign of her.
Chapter Thirteen
“It smells delicious,” I said, exiting my room. I had spent far too much time in that place, moping around, racking my mind for solutions but, each time I thought of one, there were too many variables to count or to make any kind of plan work.
Jude was hard at work chopping vegetables and tossing bunches of them into a huge stock pot. “I saw a show earlier where the chef was making a huge vegetable soup and it looked incredible. I also have garlic cheddar biscuits in the oven.”
“I can’t wait to eat,” I exclaimed and went over to the stove to get a better smell of Jude’s cooking.
“Well, you can’t have any,” he said, with a smirk.
“What? Why not?” I reached into the silverware drawer for a spoon, but Jude took it from me after kissing my lips.
“Because you have other plans.”
I cocked out my hip and scoffed. “When do I have other plans? What? Watching TV or writhing in a cold bath trying to get a break from this fever? Let me taste it.”
“You have other plans with me.” Nico’s voice rippled through me. It always did. There was something in his tone or his presence that brought a halt to me, no matter where I was.
I turned around, because at his beckoning, I couldn’tnotturn around. He was wearing a gray T-shirt and some dark-colored jeans which was about as sunny and cheerful a wardrobe change as Nico ever had with the exception of the bronze suit the night before. He took my breath away.
Feeling a smile rise on my face, I appreciated how different my mates were and how differently I loved each one of them.
Yeah, I loved them all.
“What plans?” I looked down at my simple white dress. “Do I look okay? I can change.”
Nico chuckled and shook his head. “No need to change. No need to change anything about you, mate.”
“But where are we going? Can we eat first?” I hooked my thumb over my shoulder at Jude’s soup.
Jude and Nico both laughed. There was a noticeable absence of Soren but he was probably stomping in a corner somewhere, whatever brooding men did in their spare time. “I have prepared a fine charcuterie board for your afternoon, mate. Now go and enjoy your date.”
Date.
The hell?
Dragons didn’t date. They barely were nice most of the time.
“I don’t understand.”
Nico looked over me to Jude. “I told you.”
“Told him what?” I said even more confused than ever. “What did you tell him?”
Jude rolled his eyes and before I could protest, Nico had me over his shoulder like a sack of flour and Jude was handing him a picnic basket. “Take care of her.”
When Nico turned around, Jude kissed me, which completely took me by surprise considering I was in Nico’s arms. “Stop fussing so much and let us spoil you.”
Nico didn’t carry me far. In fact, after picking up a jacket, he let me down at the front door. When we got outside, he transformed into his dragon and flew me and our picnic to another mountain, one with flourishing green grass and speckles of autumn’s flowers and fallen leaves all around, carried by the wind.
After he was dressed again, he came to sit by me. “It’s all I could think of. I just wanted time with you.”
“All?” I scooted closer to him as I had taken a seat in the grass, loving the coolness under my bottom. “This is incredible, Nico.”
A small smile pulled at his mouth. “You say my name.”
