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“Because she was lucky,” Kaden added.
Of course this was when he decided to chip in voluntarily.
Tiber and Luisca were having some silent conversation that I guessed was about us, but where they stood on the matter was beyond my mind-reading abilities.
I wasn’t going to find out either, because there was a knock at the door. Tiber blew out a long breath, sharing another silent thought with Luisca.
Kaden leaned back with a groan.
“Here it comes,” Luisca said, getting up from her chair.
“What comes?” I asked.
“The welcome wagon,” Luisca said. “They’re all going to want to pay their respects to Kaden—and definitely going to want to meet his mate.” She motioned to my plate. “If you’re done eating, it might be easier to handle the influx in the living room.”
Everyone got up and walked into the living room. I followed, feeling like I was at the tail end of a funeral procession.
“Sit there,” Tiber said, pointing to the chair. “Gives you a little more space. You’ll be a sitting duck for crowding if you sit on the couch.”
Kaden went and leaned against the wall. The door opened and then barely shut for the next two hours as a trail formed into the house. One family after another filed in, all bearing gifts.
They’d walk over to Kaden first, greeting him, before heading over to give me not only a once-over, but sometimes a four- or five-over. Again, they stared as if I were some mystical creature that had wandered into their private forest, although not all of them looked at me like I was a unicorn. I got the vibe from some, mostly ones with younger women in the group, that I was more along the lines of a medusa. I also picked up on Kradix energy, weak but there, from about half of them.
By the time the herd started to dwindle, I had zero gas left in the tank.
Kaden pushed off the wall as the living room emptied. “I’m going to the lake,” he said, looking like he was waiting for me.
I nodded and followed him, afraid if I didn’t get out of there, more people might show up.
As soon as we were away from other people, I asked, “Why are there so many Kradix here?” I was beginning to realize there was much more going on here than I’d initially suspected. This wasn’t just a random choice of a place to hide. These were possible troops.
“Because anytime there was a conflict, and they or I wanted them out of the fray, they came here. It was an easier way to hide the numbers of who was left for the time being.”
So he’d been hiding people to appear weaker. Until when?
We didn’t talk any more as we went to the lake, or even as we were returning. Even when I got back to the bedroom, I didn’t say anything. Not until I saw the folded t-shirt on my side of the bed.
“Did you leave this here?” I asked, thinking it was a mistake.
“I thought you wanted one to sleep in,” he said, as if we hadn’t had this discussion last night.
“But you said you didn’t have one to spare.” I held the shirt, already feeling hesitant to give it up. I loved how soft his shirts were.
“It’s fine,” he said, barely glancing my way.
“Are you sure?” Was this another olive branch? Was this because of his attitude today?
“I’m positive,” he said, an edge in his voice.
Maybe not a branch at all. So why give it to me?
I held the shirt out to him. “I can make do—”
“No. Take it. You got cold last night.”
I did? Wait. How did he…
Ooooohh. I took it back and didn’t say another word. Had I hung all over him in the middle of the night? What had I done? At least he was blaming it on the chill in the air and not looking at me like I was some hormone-enraged desperado.
