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“Cling all you want.” I roll through the open gate and up the hill toward the cabin. “But I’m the big spoon.”
I park in front of the house, not trusting the steep slope of the driveway that leads to the garage at the back. The rain shows no signs of letting up, and I can’t use the excuse of a muddy hill to take tomorrow off work.
I reach for the door handle. “We’ll have to make a run for it.”
Flint doesn’t move, his gaze fixed on the cabin.
“Flint?” I touch his arm. “Food’s going to get cold.”
He shakes his head and turns toward me, wedging his shoulder against the car door. “I propose a picnic in the car. The rain is rather romantic, don’t you think?”
I glance toward the house, then take in his forced cheer. “Sure, if that’s what you want.”
Flint’s lips curl into a half-smile, but his eyes hold a hint of sadness. “I just think…Darius and Marc could use a little longer with Pen.”
“I’ve never had a car picnic.” Turning the car back on so we have heat, I unbuckle and shift to face him. “How is it different from eating during a stakeout?”
“Well, for one, we don’t have to pee in bottles and keep a constant eye on our surroundings.” Flint pulls out two containers of stew and passes one to me, setting the other on the center console while he digs out the bag of rolls.
I crack open the lid on mine, and the delicious scent of beer, cheese, and bratwurst drifts out. While I may tease Flint about his current obsession with the stew, it really is good. There’s not a single thing I’ve eaten at Hopper’s that’s bad.
Flint opens his own container, and a twinkle fills his blue eyes. “You know, with three fire beings in the cabin now, we really do need to install a sprinkler system.”
I laugh, the sadness in the air dissipating. “You might be onto something there. If we’re doing that, we should add an extension with another bedroom and a second bathroom.”
Flint frowns. “We have a second bathroom.”
“The garage one doesn’t count.” I shudder. “It’s like showering in a locker room.”
Flint’s smile widens. “We could build one with a sunken tub big enough to fit everyone.”
“Why not just add a hot tub at that point?” I take a bite of stew, savoring the rich flavors.
“No way.” Flint shakes his head. “Two houses ago, we had a hot tub, and Pen was constantly floating around in it. It became a real problem.”
I laugh. With how much Pen enjoys her baths, I can see how a hot tub could become an issue.
I accept one of the pretzel rolls from Flint and tear off a piece, tossing it to Anny before dipping the rest into my stew. “So, I’ve been practicing something.”
Flint’s black brows arch. “Do tell.”
Setting my stew container on the dashboard, I reach over and pluck the spoon from Flint’s hand. “Watch this.”
I squeeze my hand around the spoon, focusing on that dark slither inside me, and the spoon vanishes.
Flint leans forward. “Holy shit, when did this start happening?”
“After the first encounter with the Hive Queen’s drones. I think it triggered something in my mind.” I reach into my pocket and pull out the spoon. “Unfortunately, I can only make things vanish to my pocket.”
When I hold the spoon out to him, he shakes his head. “I don’t want your pocket spoon.” Leaning forward, he grabs the one from my stew container. “This is mine now.”
“Fair enough.” I grab my container and dig back in. “It’s not much, but I wanted to show you.”
Curiosity dances in Flint’s eyes. “What else have you made disappear?”
I chuckle, a bit embarrassed under the weight of his scrutiny. Flint is so powerful with what he does that my little trick feels silly. “Mostly things on my desk. Nothing bigger than what will fit in my hand. It’s nothing more than a parlor trick, so I’m not sure how useful it will be.”
Flint sets down his spoon to give me a firm stare. “It’snota parlor trick. You’re teleporting objects from one location to another, without a spell, and without turning them into a mangled mess. That is high-level magic.”
