Page 44 of Between Imminent Fates

He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Well, I was going to make you a nice dinner as a thank you.”

“For what?”

“For destroying that kennel and getting me back my old post. For doing this thankless job that everyone seems to take for granted or—better yet—get angry at you for.” His teeth ground together. “I had planned to give myself a couple of hours to get everything right.”

“And … is everything going right?”

Jax huffed, the sound sending a spark through Key. “No. I apparently can’t read directions, and I have no idea what it means to ‘fold in’ blueberries to batter. This is like a second language.”

Snickering, she asked, “Don’t you speak four different ones?”

“Languages? Yeah, but this might as well be Klingon.”

Key snorted. “Good thing I’m a closet Trekkie and I’m fluent in Warf’s mother tongue.”

Linking hands, she followed him into the kitchen where a cookbook was laid open on the counter. Admittedly, Key had little experience making food, but she could at least try. Much to her bewilderment, Jax had been telling the truth.

“The title is readable, but everything after that is foreign to me, too.”

A self-deprecating sigh. “So much for a nice surprise. How about we make cookies instead? They’re easier.”

Closing the cookbook with a whiff of temper, Jax opened the fridge. He pulled out a tub of yellow cookie batter and plopped it on the counter.

“You just so happened to have a tub of cookie batter in your fridge?”

“It was my back up to muffins.”

She fought a smile as she pointed across the room. “And that?”

Jax looked at the sink where a pot of something burned beyond recognition floated in sudsy water. “A back up to my back up. What do you think of pizza?”

***

Three trays of cookies and a call to the local pizza place later, Key and Jax snuggled happily together on the couch. His arm draped over her shoulders, and her legs were curled up in his lap. As they watched a knock-off Hallmark movie with the same four tropes as the one they’d fallen asleep to last night, Key began to drift off.

Jax tossed the crust of his fifth piece of pizza back into the empty box. “Definitely ate too much.”

“I had about ten cookies too many,” she agreed.

The classic ‘I love you’ moment, followed by a theatrical kiss, appeared onscreen. To Key, it wasn’t nearly as swoon-worthy as how Jax had greeted her today. Nudging him, she asked, “Have you watched the one where the Snowman is magically turned into a real person and charms the entire town?”

“Absolutely. Five stars.”

Key’s nose scrunched. “Right? Zia and Luna both thought it was too fantastical.”

“Too fantastical, huh?” Scoffing, he argued, “We’re living it. What’s more unbelievable: a snowman becoming real or people who can foresee the future and wield fire? No brainer.”

Resting her head on his shoulder, she felt safe enough for vulnerability. “Sometimes I wish I didn’t have this ability. Sometimes I don’t want to know what lies in store for us.”

“I don’t blame you.” The humor that’d infused his voice only moments ago was stolen and replaced with solemnity. “That’s entirely understandable.”

“You don’t think it’s selfish?”

The arm around her shoulders disappeared as he turned to look her in the eye. “Key, you’ve been having visions for centuries. Forced to live out futures where you watch people you love die. Of course it’s not selfish.”

She cringed. “That’s not true.”

“What isn’t?”

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