Page 83 of Cost of Courting

I can sense Kingston through the bond. His attention slowly turning to focus completely on me. Strangely, there’s a warmth glowing inside me, a feeling of not being alone anymore.

I wonder if everyone else has bonds this strong? It’s inconvenient to have what feels very much like a tracer on me, but, in saying that, I know where they are, too.

This could come in handy.

By the time I feel his alarm, I’m smiling as I slip into the pub. Kent pauses in stacking glasses and scowls.

“What are you doing here?”

“Can’t a girl come say hello to her boss?”

“No one in their right mind comes to work on their days off. Except you.”

A tall guy with ginger hair wanders out of the back room and sets a case of beer bottles on the bar.

“You need to order three more of these.”

I dislike him intensely just on principle.

“Who are you?”

He blinks the bluest eyes at me and then smiles, the widest and friendliest grin I’ve seen in ages. “Who are you?” He mocks me. Then, with a laugh, he grins, and his whole self warms. “Eben.”

“Eben who? Wait, you’re not Mael’s cousin, are you? Little Eben?”

He laughs. “Not so little now.”

“What are you doing here?” I say and walk up to hug him.

“Seeing how long it takes Mael to notice that I’m in town. It’s a game I like to play with him, since he won’t stop trying to flush me out of my hole.”

Kent looks between us. “I’m never going to get anything done with you two. Go, have a beer or something and talk outside!”

Eben laughs. “You old grump, you just want us to fuck off so you can go smoke a cone.”

Kent tries to look stern, but he ends up spluttering with laughter. I’ve never seen him like this either.

“Yep. Busted, and I don’t care. Now get out.”

Eben grabs two beers, tosses his apron onto the bar, and leads the way outside. He sits on the ground with his legs bent. I sit beside him, marvelling at the massive bulk he’s grown into.

“I heard you were gone,” Eben says with a wink.

“I am gone.”

“Uh-huh. Looks like it.”

“I heard you were left.”

“I was left.”

“Looks like it.”

“Mael came back for you, didn’t he?” Eben asks.

I sit quietly, listening to the sound of traffic and bird song. The sun isn’t hot today but warm.

“I don’t know if he came back for me or if I was simply here when he came back. I wish they hadn’t come back, though.”

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