AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We’ll see you later,” Odin said easily, his hand landing on my thigh as the three of them headed out.
“Hey, pull your chairs over here,” Ivy called from their table. When I looked over, she was waving us toward them.
We moved our chairs and bowls, squeezing in with everyone else. Though the space was tight, no one seemed bothered.
Odin’s arm draped over the back of my chair, and I leaned against him a little as I devoured my pasta. It was tasty on its own, but he was right; with sauce, that shit was other-worldly good. Ivy admitted that she’d told Tariq she wanted to try their pasta, and he’d made it happen for the whole damn castle.
Everyone chatted, and Odin seemed to enjoy the conversation a lot. He was more social than me, though—that had never been a question in my mind. He liked people, and was good with them. Except apparently the earth fae’srepresentatives of the peopleor whatever they were called. But if his family was involved in that, it was probably a lot more complicated than a conversation among friends.
Anyway, it had been a long, long time since he had a simple conversation with friends. And I got that he wanted to catch up, even if I was too tired to participate in the conversation. It didn’t bother me to be there with him. Honestly, I liked it.
After I finished eating, I was so damn exhausted I could barely keep my eyes open. I found myself leaning more against Odin. He pulled me closer, so my side was pressed against his and tucked under his arm.
As he and the others continued chatting, my eyes grew heavier, and heavier, until I fell asleep.
When my feetleft the ground and my body tilted, I wrestled my eyes open.
“I’ve got you,” Odin murmured, and I felt my cheek pressed against his bicep. My dress swayed around my feet as he strode through the castle, back to the room we’d claimed the night before, I assumed.
It still didn’t have a bed, but that didn’t really matter.
He’d found pillows and a blanket, I realized, as he lowered us to the ground and soft warmth engulfed us. After sleeping without anything for so long, the fabric felt heavenly on my back and legs.
I didn’t know whether or not the pillow was nice, because Odin had me draped over his chest like his personal throw-blanket.
“How’d it go with Dove?” I asked him, my words probably sounding weird with the exhaustion that weighed me down.
“She’s having a hard time,” he admitted. “I’m hoping that as she learns how to hold that magic, she’ll adjust and her struggles will get easier.”
Damn.
“I hope so too.”
“I can tell you more about it in the morning. For now, you need to sleep.” His hand stroked my back slowly.
I made a noise of agreement, and drifted off quickly.
Chapter16
It was prettysurreal to wake up in Odin’s arms again. He was already awake this time, his hand moving slowly over my back as he held me.
“Hey,” I whispered, stretching a little without getting off of him. “How long have you been awake?”
“Only a few minutes.” His lips brushed the top of my head once, and then again. “Good morning. How do you feel?”
I considered it, reaching for my magic to see how it felt.
It was… docile.
The fire was still alive, but it wasn’t boiling anymore. It felt more like a warm fireplace in my chest than the barely-restrained bonfire it had been before.
It had gone from ticking time bomb to a heated blanket, and damn, I was here for it.
“Really good,” I admitted.
“How are the flames?”
“Calm, for the first time ever.”
