Page 162 of The Robin on the Oak Throne

“She is,” Graves confirmed.

With the tension defused, Nate and Maura pulled them into their circle of friends. They sank into chairs and faced the couple as conversation resumed around them. People still glanced over at Graves as if uncertain when the bomb was about to go off in the room, but otherwise, it was as if they were any other couple at the party.

The whole thing was a novelty. Having Graves at her side. His arm across the back of her chair. Their legs brushing under the table. Him listening intently to everyone’s conversations, though only speaking up when a question was directed at him.

With his general aura of command, she had never considered him an introvert. But of course, he lived alone and had for years. He didn’t like large crowds of people and wanted his silence and privacy. Was this draining him to be around people he didn’t know? A million questions she had never considered. A million experiences she had neverthought she’d have with him. The possibility of each one as captivating as the next.

It was some time before Ethan and Corey reappeared in the speakeasy. Gen had ditched Ronan at some point to speak with her mother. And now all three of her friends rounded the table and took a seat in front of Graves and Kierse. Ethan sat stiffly across the table from Graves, his chin held high, eyes watchful and alert. Corey shot him an exasperated look before slouching back next to him. As if they’d already had this conversation and Ethan was being ridiculous.

Kierse didn’t doubt they’d all talked about Graves’s appearance and decided in advance what to do about it. But Gen had spent enough time with him now that she was almost…not afraid of him. Corey looked as if he believed Ethan’s fear was overstated. And Ethan…well, he looked like he’d rather be doing anything else.

“So,” Graves said, placing one gloved hand on the table. Ethan’s eyes shot to it as if it were an affront. “Are they still making you run miles at midnight during the full moon?”

Ethan’s eyes widened. “What?”

Gen furrowed her brow. “Who is?”

“The Druids,” Graves said.

Kierse glanced at him, wondering what his game was.

“How do you know about that?” Ethan demanded.

“So yes?” Graves said with a long-suffering sigh. “That was the worst part. As if we weren’t already training our mind and body and magic from dawn until dusk—then to wake us up to run by moonlight.” He looked at Ethan with a forlorn expression. “’Course we at least got to run through Wicklow with the Irish wind whipping across our faces.”

Ethan’s jaw dropped. “Youtrained with the Druids?”

“What? They didn’t tell you that part?” he asked, knowing full well they had absolutely left that out.

“Don’t tease,” Kierse said. “Graves trained with Lorcan when they were both teenagers. They came up in the Druidic Order together.”

Ethan looked like his mind was going to explode. “But you’re not a Druid!”

“Not anymore,” Graves agreed.

“How could you have been a Druid?” Ethan demanded.

Kierse and Gen exchanged a grin. Well, that had gotten Ethan talking.

“The same way that you are,” Graves said. “My mother was a High Priestess.”

“How do you know who my mother was?”

Graves raised an eyebrow. Knowledge himself. He’d gone digging.

“I’m naturally curious,” he said.

“Cat,” Kierse muttered.

“No wonder Anne Boleyn picked you,” Gen said. “I had been wondering.”

“Anne goes where she will.”

Ethan chewed on his lip like he wanted to say more. Finally, Corey sat forward and put his arms on the table. “Can you just tell him about your training? Otherwise he’s going to torture himself all night wondering what it was like but refusing to ask.”

“Corey,” Ethan groaned. He ducked his head into Corey’s shoulder. “I’m fine.”

“There were fewer of us back then,” Graves said. “Magic was still a big fear in the countryside, and we had tohide our existence. The Druids had a stronghold outside of Wicklow and another within Dublin. We switched between the two for training. There were five of us who were close at the time. Two Druids, two High Priestesses, and a wisp.”

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