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If we do this right, as soon as tomorrow there could be no more need for carnage.
Seven
Riva
The breeze cools with the falling darkness. I pull my hoodie tighter around me and finally turn back toward the mansion.
I’d hoped the fresh air and solitude would settle my nerves. I slipped away after our hasty dinner, shaking my head at Griffin when he shot me a questioning glance and counting on him to stop the other guys from following.
He must have been able to tell I needed the time to myself, because I remained undisturbed while I wandered among the trees that surround Rollick’s mansion.
The crisp smells of the greenery and the murmur of the breeze through the leaves do set a peaceful atmosphere. That atmosphere hasn’t quite penetrated the tension twisted up inside me, though.
I’m not sure anything would.
When I enter the house, a hush fills the halls. I think most of the shadowkind have retreated into the darkness for the night rather than keep their physical forms. But on my way to the guest bedrooms, I catch female voices filtering from a doorway.
It’s the kitchen. I pause a couple of steps from the threshold, keeping my silence as I take in the puzzling scene.
Toni stands by the stove, her back to me, stirring something in a pot that wafts a creamy, sweet scent. Pearl has hopped up on the island kitty-corner to her, watching with an avid expression.
“You learned how to make this stuff in India?” she says.
Toni nods. “It’s better with saffron and cardamom, but it doesn’t look like your boss keeps that wide a variety of spices.”
Pearl laughs. “I don’t think he does much cooking. A benefit of not needing to eat food: you can wait until there’s something really worth tasting. Did you usually learn stuff from the local people whereveryourboss took you?”
Toni hesitates before she answers. “Not exactly. I didn’t really have time. But Willa—his wife—always made a point of mingling with the locals and picking up customs from them. She had a knack for knowing which ones I’d be interested in hearing about too.”
Her voice has softened with that last sentence. Pearl’s expression softens too. She leans closer as if drawn by the audible emotion. “She meant a lot to you. Tell me about her?”
Toni’s head jerks toward the succubus in apparent surprise, giving me a view of her face in profile. Of the surprise fading into something both sad and grateful.
Has she been able to talk about the woman she loved withanyonesince Willa’s death? It isn’t as if she could have commiserated with Balthazar in his grief and admitted she’d carried a torch for his wife.
She gives Pearl a small smile and turns back to the pot. “Her favorite of Mr. Balthazar’s regular haunts was his place in Croatia. She always said…”
I walk on as she continues, my skin itching with the sense that I’m intruding on a private moment. I hadn’t realized Pearl had taken any particular interest in the full human in our midst, but maybe it only just happened because of whatever Toni’s cooking.
Even Toni, adrift from her career and everyone she knew before she met us shadowbloods, has someone to spill her feelings to. A starker uneasiness rolls over me, an impression of being far more alone than I’ve ever wanted.
I’m not really on my own, of course. I’m aware of all five of my guys through our connection, as they must be of me.
Zian and Andreas have gone to their respective bedrooms. Jacob, Griffin, and Dominic are farther away, gathered in one of the common rooms.
I waver in momentary indecision, and my gut tugs me toward the room that’s currently Zian’s.
He’ll know it’s me before I even knock on the door. His “Come in” carries through before the rap of my knuckles against the wood has faded.
I ease inside and find him sitting in the armchair next to the bed, just turning off the small TV mounted over the dresser. My gaze sticks to the screen for a second as I wonder what new horrific scenes might have been playing out there, but I don’t think witnessing them will do me any good.
Zian gets up and comes over to me with the strange mix of eagerness and hesitation that’s become the norm since we finally hooked up. He stops a couple of feet away but reaches out to touch my arm. “Is everything all right?”
I grimace. “In theory. I’m just—I’m worried about tomorrow.”
Zian’s eyebrows lift slightly. “And you came to me to talk about it? I mean—not that I’m complaining…” He trails off awkwardly.
I guess it might seem like it’d make more sense for me to seek out Andreas’s easy-going reassurance or Dominic’s thoughtful consideration, or even Griffin’s calming powers. But it was Zian who helped me the most when I was grappling with the kind of situation I’m stressing about now.
