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Mael is on one now, and I’m trying not to think about the worry over him. He’s a capable man, and I know he’s out doing important work. Work he enjoys at that.
I start running my hands through Zohar’s hair, and he moves his head so he’s laying with me instead of on the cushion.
“Keep going,” he murmurs when my hands still.
“Stop touching him altogether, ZoZo,” Ryes snaps, breaking from his argument with the others to direct his anger at Zohar now. “That snake gets you for six hours a week. There’s barely anything to learn with fucking water witches. Why does he get longer?”
“Did you look at your lesson plan before ripping it up?” Etrix asks, and Ryes frowns and shakes his head.
“No. I didn’t even notice that there was one.”
Eirik rolls his eyes and passes him a sheet of paper from the coffee table. “Read it over, and make sure you’re happy with it. Mr Downey and Necos Bellen are now monitoring your progress in these sessions.”
“Just mine?” Ryes demands.
“No,” Eirik replies, shaking his head for extra reassurance. “I’ve got a meeting with Necos tomorrow to discuss it all, but my understanding is that, going forward, he’s the one monitoring Zoe’s progress.”
“Who the fuck does he think he is?” Ryes snarls. “I’m perfectly fucking adequate.”
“Adequate, sure.” Ciar snorts, looking over his own papers. “We’re going to try summoning shadow people,mo sholas. I think that’ll be fun. I’m glad we’ve got our time back.”
“Me too,” I say, softly. I don’t tell him that we’ve only got it because I specifically asked, but I’m grateful Mr Downey arranged it.
Ciar grins at me, and I groan knowing he’s heard my thoughts. Oh well. At least he knows I asked for it back.
“I’m working with you on dreamscaping,” Ryes says before grinning. “Ah, that’ll be perfect actually. We can cuddle whilst we play in the dream realm.”
“See, that sounds great,” I say. “I don’t like that I need to see Necos every single day now.”
“He’s not that bad, you know,” Etrix says. “Sure, he gets on with Jasper, but honestly, Jasper needs some friends.”
“He knows about her heritage,” Eirik reveals, and I’m glad he took one for the team by sharing that.
“Well, Mr Downey is fucking shit with secrets,” Ciar says with an angry snarl. “Can we even trust Necos?”
“My magicae trusts him,” I say, focusing on Zohar’s head strokes instead of looking at them because every single eye darts my way. “But I don’t.”
“You’ve got good instincts, ZoZo,” Ryes says, coming to sit on the arm of the sofa I rest my head on his arm, and he kisses the top of my head. It feels so natural.
“I don’t know which part of that you’re referring to,” I say, confused, but he just laughs.
“Both parts. But, for now, we’ll rely on the trust from your logical brain and not your magicae because I don’t think he deserves automatic acceptance,” he says, and I nod. “Go with that thought process tonight, too. Be distrustful, and don’t let anyone separate you from fat head over there.”
“My head is normal-sized,” Etrix snaps, and I burst into giggles.
I can just imagine him getting a tape measure and actually checking his head size compared to the average.
“It’s most definitely something he’ll be doing,”Ciar says with a smirk.“Especially if Ryes continues taunting him like he’s planning.”
“I should tell him to stop…”
“Nah,”Ciar replies, winking at me.“Let them tease each other. Etrix has missed six years of this, so he deserves it. It makes him feel welcome—he gets off on it.”
I nod, not sure if I truly believe that.
“Fat, like I said,” Ryes says, waving him off. “And ZoZo, the food might look pretty, but don’t eat it or you’ll be trapped there forever, and then I’ll have to come raid the castle and it won’t end well.”
“Like Persephone or fae,” I say, nodding seriously. “Don’t worry, I’ll avoid the food.”
