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“Ok, thanks,” I said, trying to hide my disappointment. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
I walked into my bedroom without a backward glance, closing the door and heading to the bathroom for a warm bath that would hopefully rinse off my disappointment... again.
I changed into a long, loose, dark brown dress since the last few days it hadn’t been too cold. It had been surprisingly warm, feeling like spring instead of closer to winter. The dress was loose enough that I could enjoy as many rolls and turkey as I wanted. I slipped on some Chucks since I wanted to be comfortable. My hair was pulled back into a long braid leaving some tendrils around my face with minimal makeup.
It wasn’t supposed to be fancy or anything, but I had been feeling a need to dress up a little. Thank goddess I did. When I left my room, Zev stood on the landing looking debonaire. He was dressed all in black again except it looked like he had on some kind of vest. When he turned around to look at me, his normally loose hair was pulled back, his beard was trimmed, and he looked like he was straight out of a Jane Austen novel.
Why was he torturing me, goddess? Was he playing games with me?
Taking a deep breath, I tried to look as cool, calm and collected as I possibly could. He nodded at me when I walked up to him, noticing that he was not wearing shoes. Now that I thought of it, they never wore shoes. He caught my glance at his feet and shrugged.
“I hate the way shoes feel, I’ve grown so used to being shoeless that it’s really uncomfortable to wear them.” He gave me a tight smile.
“I’m surprised you’re wearing clothes,” I teased, as we walked down the stairs to the library.
“I didn’t want to be the odd man out if I just came in pants, which is what I prefer.”
“I’m sure all of you would prefer to be naked all the time.” I tried to keep from laughing. “I’m surprised you all opt for pants around me.”
“During the winter, no-one likes a cold cock.”
I laughed at his bluntness. He gave me a smirk as we walked into the library, making this all feel normal for just a moment.
The table was set with the decorations I had made yesterday. Mr. Potter, Lucien and Aeon were setting the table when I realized Zev was still at the door. I motioned him over when Lucien smiled at me only for his smile to fall when he saw who was behind me.
He was about to say something when I shook my head, and his jaw clenched. Aeon stepped next to him, staring at Zev. He looked passive, but I could feel both of their displeasure that he was here.
“Now that all of us are here we can eat,” Mr. Potter announced, like it was no big deal he was here.
“Sit,” I told them as I grabbed the first plate.
I loaded it up with everything while I looked over my shoulder to see all of them staring at each other.
“It’s not the first time they’ve fought with each other, and I can guarantee it wouldn’t be the last.” Mr. Potter grabbed the rolls to set them on the table.
I took the first plate to the table, unsure of who I was going to give it to when I decided on Lucien. He kissed me on the lips thanking me. The next plate I fixed, I sat in front of Aeon, who kissed my forehead before muttering a thank you too. I set the last plate in front of Zev, practically throwing the plate on the table because I didn’t need to be rejected again, but before I could turn away, he grabbed my hand and said thank you.
When I finally sat down, they were all looking at me with varying degrees of hunger. I felt like I did something that I wasn’t aware of, like the night of the water and the moonflower.
“Thank you, for joining me,” I said, not knowing what else to say.
“Goddess, thank you for blessing us with this dinner,” Zev said, looking down at the food.
“Blessed be,” we all responded and dug in.
“Zev figured out a way to get my grandmother’s grimoire open,” I said, in between bites.
“I thought it wasn’t legible,” Aeon responded.
“There was a hidden part of her grimoire that I uncovered. Her and her sister were trying to break the spell,” I said, grabbing a roll.
“You mean Ava?” Zev looked confused.
“Was that her name?” I asked, realizing I didn’t even know her name.
“Yeah, that was her name, and she mostly kept to herself,” Aeon said, looking like he was trying to think about the past.
“That would explain why she was always in the library.” Lucien added.
