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“Just practice,” he replied, turning to the sink to tidy up the dishes. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m alright. Just a bit sore. Nothing I can’t handle.”
Walter said nothing else on the matter, and I ate quietly, trying not to think too hard about the fight I’d just had with Fenris or the awful nightmare I’d had.
“How’s Lyka?” I asked quietly, though Abi hadn’t followed me downstairs. “Is he here? On the island?”
“He is,” Walter confirmed, turning to face me as he dried a clean bowl. His lips pulled down. “Unfortunately, he seemed to snap out of his daze last night shortly after arriving. He was completely feral and had to be contained in the silver-lined safe room.”
I sighed, poking at my French toast. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what was better—the despondent Lyka, or the raving animal bent on violence. Both probably weighed heavily on Fenris, and I looked to the door that led outside.
“Fenris has gone to visit him,” Walter mentioned after a moment, turning to grab another dish. “Though he seemed…more wound up than usual when he came through.”
“Yeah. We had a fight,” I said, pressing my lips together. “And he was already pretty keyed up before that.”
He must be really stressed out right now. After what had happened to Lyka, and then to me, I could see why Fenris was at his breaking point. I bit my lower lip. I was still pretty pissed at him for even thinking of using a command on me, but ultimately, he hadn’t. And maybe he never would’ve if I hadn’t told him off. It was obviously a crutch he was used to relying on when things didn’t go his way, but…
At least he stopped when I told him to.
That, at least, was something.
I finished my meal in silence, turning over Lyka’s condition in my head. Regardless of what was going on between me and the Lunar Lord, I wanted to help his brother if I could. If this was Sabine’s doing, maybe it could be undone. I probably couldn’t resolve his madness, especially if that part of his curse could only be undone by his fated mate, but the least I could do was remove Sabine’s influence, which I imagined was nothing less than painful.
As I got up to bring my dish over to the sink, Val let herself in from the sliding glass doors that led to the patio. “Gilbert and Piers have returned,” she announced.
I smirked, but before I could even call up the stairs to Abi, she came thundering down, practically flying past me to hurry outside.
“Hey!” I called to her, laughing as we trotted down the sandy stretch toward the dock.
“You’re back!” Abi called out to Gilbert, stopping just short of pulling him into a hug. The older of the twins looked flustered as he licked his lips, dipping his head to greet Abi much more quickly.
I snickered and stepped to the side, bumping my shoulder against Piers. “You survived your boring trip to Romania, huh?”
He beamed at me. “Oh, it wasn’t so bad. I forgot how beautiful the people are out there—even the vampires are lovely. It made the trip much more interesting.”
I rolled my eyes but nearly smiled. “Thank goodness for that.” My eyes flickered back to where Abi and Gilbert were standing, pressed even closer together. “Did he pine the entire time you two were away?”
“Oh, yes,” Piers said, nodding sagely. His eyes flashed as he grinned, clearly pleased to discuss it with someone. The urge to gossip and having no outlet while traveling must have killed him. “Poor thing nearly perished of loneliness,” he replied, loud enough that the other two could overhear us. “I’m glad, for one, that I tie myself to no woman or man. How boring life would be if I didn’t have a bit of variety!”
Gilbert shot his twin a dark look before touching Abi’s elbow and motioning toward the house. Obviously, he didn’t want an audience for whatever he had to say.
I gave Abi a bright grin, hoping I looked more encouraging than manic as the two began walking up toward the mansion.
Piers sighed as they headed off. “I suppose that leaves me to report back to Fenris,” he sighed, giving me a mournful look. “Unless you…”
“You really think he’d appreciate it if you handed off your report to me?”
“No,” he whined oh-so-dramatically. “Though perhaps if you’d distract him for me…”
“Piers!” I exclaimed, chuckling. “We’re friends, you and I, but we’re notthatclose. Go make your report. He’s not going toeatyou.”
“Yes, yes, I know.” He flapped a hand at me. “I best get this over with.”
I watched him turn to the mansion as well, and I was tempted to follow him to check Lyka’s condition—and to see how Fenris was holding up. But before I could make up my mind, Val called to me from the patio.
“I’ve made another tincture for you, Celeste,” she said. “This should help with your soreness.”
Deciding to take the universe’s subtle hint on that one, I nodded and walked back to the house.
