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“Whichever you don’t.”
“That’s not helpful.”
“It’s the truth.”
She glared at me. I blew out a breath. “Look, it really doesn’t matter. Either way, we’re both going to get oily and covered with herbs.”
And no, that shouldn’t sound sexy at all, but I was a desperate man, and anything with Daruka was sexy at this point.
“Fine,” she said, pushing the bottle of oil toward me.
“Okay, follow along behind me,” I instructed. “Make sure the entire pig is covered, inside and out—”
“Inside?” She eyed the butterflied carcass.
“Inside,” I repeated, lifting a leg to show her the ribs.
We worked silently for a time. She caught on quickly, probably because she wanted to stop brushing against my hands every time she tried to spread the herbs.
“How bad was your punishment?” she finally asked.
After the incident in the moat, Mrs. Caldwell had taken all three of us to the headmistress. Poor Krishna had to shift back into human form without any clothes at his disposal. Daruka had tossed him her towel; she had been able to get dressed before heading inside.
The headmistress had pulled us into her office one at a time. Once again, I felt sorry for Krishna; I was willing to bet this was his first trip to the headmistress’s office. He probably wished he could have stayed in his wolf form for the lecture that ensued.
I, on the other hand, was quite familiar with the inner sanctum of our feared leader. Six years plus being a mischievous elf and oh, let’s not forget a lust demon—Headmistress Blackthorn and I were well acquainted.
I shrugged. “A lecture that felt like it lasted for days and bathroom cleanup duty this weekend.” Weekend bathroom duty sucked because that’s when drunken students tended to miss the toilet when expelling the contents of their stomachs.
“Sorry,” Daruka muttered.
I stopped massaging oil onto the pig. “What?”
“I said I’m sorry.”
“Why?”
She waved her salt and herb encrusted hand in my direction. “If I hadn’t decided to go for a swim in the moat, you never would have dived in after me—although I’d like to point out that I didn’t need your help.”
“Are you serious right now? You’re apologizing and then immediately pointing out how dumb I was for trying to help you?”
“Not for trying. I appreciate the consideration. It just wasn’t needed is all I’m saying.”
“What about Krishna? Was his help needed?”
There it was. The tell. She lowered her gaze and refocused her efforts on spreading the herbs over a section of the pig that was already plenty coated.
“So what the hell is going on between you two?”
“He’s my friend.” She lifted her gaze to glare at me. “And for your information, yes, he did help me. But that’s beside the point. He’s just a kind person. And frankly, it’s nice to hang around someone who has no ulterior motives.”
Well, hell.
I quickly oiled up the last pig and left her to add the dry rub while I slid each porker into its respective smoker. Without a word of acknowledgment, I returned to the kitchen to wash my hands and shed my apron.
Daruka joined me at the sink. “So what’s next?”
“That’s it,” I said, drying my hands. “You’re free to go.”
