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“Please.” He hands me his empty glass and I head into the man cave to get another tinny.
I feel Darwin’s warmth behind me as I’m bending over to fish out the yellow can. How can I tell it’s Darwin rather than Charlie or Gabe? I don’t know. I just can.
I grab a selection of beers for all of us and turn around.
Darwin’s standing right behind me, in his sneaky fae way, running his hand through his hair. “Are you okay?”
I go up on my toes to kiss him. “All okay. He tried to manipulate me. I threatened him. We agreed to trade insider info. We bonded.”
Darwin’s breath breaks on a laugh. “Really?”
“I honestly thought I’d never say this, but your dad’s okay.”
Darwin’s brow beetles. “Teddy, I—”
“I’m not saying I take his side or that I won’t protect you against him with my last breath, Dar. I’m on your side, always. I just don’t think we’re on opposite sides from your father.”
His silver eyes shift left and right and I’m not certain if he’s looking for a way to escape or just conflicted. I wait for him to sort through how he’s feeling.
In the end, he just opens his arms to me and hugs me, beers and all.
“Together,” I whisper, kissing his neck.
“Together,” he affirms, and he sounds much more solid than he did earlier.
He takes two bottles from me and follows me back into the kitchen.
Only one of the steaks is not still mooing. Seriously? What were they doing out there all that time? Fortunately, the testosterone-laden people around the table are happy to eat what looks like an autopsy. I take the steak that’s dark pink in the center and we pass around the other dishes. The potatoes are overwhipped. The green beans are a little too crunchy. I enjoy every bite.
We take our puds, tea and coffee, and another round of beers into the man cave. Charlie puts on an American football game. Callan sits on the couch. Darwin takes the spot next to his father. Gabe grabs a pillow, tosses it on the floor between Darwin’s feet, and curls up there, with his shoulders resting against Darwin’s knees. I decide they’re all safe enough for now, grab my hated Greenwitchery textbook, and curl up in the snuggler chair.
I listen to the men talk about sports with half-an-ear while I review the names and uses of Yank plants. Nothing against herb witches, but their spells could all be improved with a couple of freaking stones.
My mind’s drawn back to the spell that turned Darwin’s flesh and blood to stone. It usually takes a couple of repetitions for me to memorize a spell, but as soon as I think about this one, it’s there, right at the top of my memory. I wonder if that’s because of the power of the spell itself. Or just because of the gut-clenching fear of seeing my boy turn to stone when I didn’t intend him to. It sure did make an impression.
At least I don’t have to worry about not remembering the spell if I need to use it on Da.
When I hear the word “Yule” said several times, I pick my head up out of the textbook and focus on the lads’ conversation.
“There are already a dozen balls at Yule, father,” Darwin says. “Surely we don’t need any more.”
Darwin’s tone is neutral but he has one hand in Gabe’s hair, rubbing Gabe’s scalp with his long fingers. I haven’t seen him do that before.
It looks to me like he’s touching Gabe to soothe himself.
I put my book away, climb out of the chair, and slide onto the couch next to Darwin. He shifts forward. I scoot in behind him, pressing my chest to his back, and wrapping my arms around him.
“It could be a small ball,” Callan says. “The Ember Palace is free.”
“Sounds fun,” I say. Ball, whatever. It’s a party. One thing that Charlie Miller and I do well? Throw a rager. “We can take Oath Night if there aren’t too many balls on that night already.”
“Uh, we could?” Darwin gives me a narrow-eyed glance over his shoulder.
I rub my cheek against his shoulder blade. “Sure. Charlie and I can do all the organization while you visit with your family. We’ll do a unicorn theme, right, Gabe?” I reach around and run my fingers between Darwin’s, rumpling Gabe’s silky hair.
“Count me in, coach,” Gabe says. “I’ll take care of costumes.”
“See?” I ask, kissing the back of Darwin’s neck. “It’ll be fun.”
