Page 38 of Redeeming the Angel

I nodded, unable to hide a yawn.“Well, eternity or no, if you feel as exhausted from tonight’s work as I do, you should sleep on it.Then tomorrow, we can visit the King and Queen’s tower to offer assistance with these Earth mages.”

Gratitude shone in Gabe’s eye’s.“You would aid me with my efforts to know her?”

“Yes.Though my motives aren’t entirely unselfish.”I smiled.“I also have a lady in that tower who I wish to be near.”

The next day proved that the decree that Gabe would stay with me held little teeth.He’d convinced Sylvis and Zareth that he could be of use in their mission to find out who was following a coven of witches in New York.He’d turn himself into a dog and see if he could detect the stalker’s scent.Zareth was also going on this mission.Nik and Del were joining Akasha on a mission to take out a cell of vampire cultists.

Which meant Kerainne was once more left alone in the tower.After Xochitl hugged her mother goodbye and departed with the others, I took a risk of rudeness and remained in the solar.For the longest time, she stood and stared at me.

I held my breath, waiting for her to order me to leave.

“Would you like some strawberry shortcake and tea?”

I had to bite my tongue to keep from cheering in victory.“I’d love that.”

Soon we were settled in a smaller parlor that was much cozier than Zareth’s cavernous dining room.Kerainne summoned plates and silverware to the table, followed by a pot of tea and plate of cakes and ice cream sandwiches in a time-stasis container.

“I made the cakes myself,” she told me as she loaded my plate with a cake that looked like what would have been served at a luminite palace.

I was impressed.“I haven’t known you to cook since the times we spent with the tribes on Earth.”

“I cooked before.”Her voice was defensive.“I did a lot of cooking for Nik.And even more when I moved to Earth.There was no one else to cook for me there.”

A thought started to come at her mention of cooking for her sister, then vanished when she spoke of living on Earth.“Kerainne, I—”

She held up a hand.“No.Don’t do this.I can’t handle talking about the past right now.Yesterday was bad enough.Sometimes just looking at you is bad enough.”

The last stung, much as I deserved it.But you hurt me too, I wanted to argue.Instead, I took a bite of the cake and moaned in pleasure at the spongy lightly sweet cake complemented with whipped cream, freshly sliced strawberries, and strawberry syrup.

“Fates, this is delicious.”I frowned at her plate that contained an ice cream sandwich instead.“Why aren’t you having one?”

“Oh, I hate strawberry shortcake,” Kerainne said cheerfully.“I just make it because my daughter likes it.”

For a moment, all I could do was blink in confusion.“I’d forgotten how strange you can be.”

“And I’d forgotten how astonished you are at the smallest things.”The words came out warmly, with no edge of taunting.“I’d sometimes wondered what would happen if I actuallytriedto shock you.”

“I may enjoy participating in such an experiment.”

My tone must have come out too intimate, for her eyes widened with the same defensive wariness she had since I first stepped foot in Zareth’s tower.Then, she smiled again, though it lacked the warmth of earlier.“Would you like to watch a movie with me?I can turn on the popcorn maker.”

Again, another inadvertent reminder of our early courtship years.One of the southern tribes introduced us to popped corn and Kerainne couldn’t get enough.I’d seen very few movies, but I’d been incredibly amused when I’d learned that the ancient treat was inexorably tied to them.

She led me to the relaxation room.It was very different from the one her mother had in Medicia’s palace.There were a few requisite overstuffed couches and chairs, but the rest of the furnishings were different.There were giant round fuzzy things she called “beanbag chairs,” a popcorn machine that I’d only seen in Earth-films, an enormous music and speaker setup, and an equally vast television with endless shelves of films in various formats.

The beanbag chair felt awkward at first, but once it molded itself around me, I found it to be surprisingly comfortable.

After making the big machine produce popcorn that Kerainne scooped into tubs and covered with some type of yellow substance and salt, she got out bottles of beverages I’d also only seen in films.

The movie she selected was calledTotal Recall, and it was astonishingly violent.Even more shocking was how Kerainne giggled at all the murder and mayhem, often quoting the main actor, a thickly muscled human man with a strange Earth accent.

“Get your ass to Mars,” she echoed with a screen recording of the character’s message to his own alternate identity.

But by the time the hero and his love interest saved a dead planet in a way that would never work in real life without great magic, her happy sigh at their kiss warmed my heart.

“Well, that was…interesting,” I told her when the credits rolled.

“You told me you’d be interested if I shocked you on purpose,” she said with a laugh.“Xochitl and I watched this at least twenty times when she was growing up.Want to go downstairs for a glass of wine?”

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