Page 104 of Made

“Come then,” Kagan told her. “Keir’s house is just around the corner.”

Of course, Esme knew that. And he had to know she knew it, but it was words to fill the silence. He was learning to make conversation without specific purpose. Conversation for no purpose other than connecting with another person.

“Sure,” she said.

He was in shirt sleeves himself, but he put an arm around her to take the edge off the chill.

They rang the bell.

No one answered.

They tried the door, but the two dogs on the other side were being very quiet, just waiting for someone unauthorized to try and enter. When the door cracked, two muzzles fought for the privilege of defending home.

“Hold up, pups,” Kagan said. “’Tis I. Your master’s brother. We mean no harm.” Esme chuckled. “What’s funny?”

“Well, I wouldn’t have thought of Rita as ‘master’. And you’re notherbrother.”

“These are Keir’s dogs, are they no’?”

“Definitely not. He feeds them occasionally, but they’re Rita’s dogs without question.”

“Whatever.”

“Don’t be snippy with me.”

Kagan ran a hand through his hair. “Are you overly tired, Esme?”

On hearing that, she looked up and, seeing concern on his face, burst into tears. Again. Kagan, who’d never had an authentic relationship with a female, had no notion what to do. After a few seconds of looking for the right words and finding none, he stepped into her body and hugged her tight. As it turned out, intuition trumps experience. That was the exact right thing to do.

Esme sobbed uncontrollably. Any sign of tears coming from Esme could rightly be judged uncontrollable because, until very recently, she’d not been someone who cries.Ever.

When I re-entered the house, having gathered three pots of red amaryllis, the first thing I noticed was that the dogs were nowhere to be seen. I set the pots down on the kitchen island, removed my gloves, and called out.

“Frey! Fen!”Hearing a faint whine coming from the living room, I rushed toward the front of the house and discovered the dogs staring at the front door. “What is…?” I opened the door to find Esme weeping like her heart would break, and Kagan looking miserable. “Come in,” I ordered, grabbing Kagan’s sleeve and pulling.

Without taking his arms away, Kagan gripped Esme in a bear hug and walked into the house with her. By the time he stopped and set her on her feet, the tears had subsided.

“Esme,” I said quietly before rushing away for soft tissues. When I returned, I shoved the box into the crook of her arm and said, “Darling. Tell me what I can do.”

“’Tis been a rough time for her. Em. Emotionally?” Kagan said, doing a passing job with love language.

I nodded. “And she doesn’t want to go home.”

“’Tis no’ that. Her coat and keys must still be at that vampire’s.”

“Oh. I see.” To Esme, I said, “Why don’t you let me run a hot, deep bath and take a nap in my soaking tub while I send Romeo to fetch your things.”

“The car?” Kagan looked toward the kitchen. “The car will fetch?”

He sounded incredulous, which was hard to reconcile given that he was a magical being who’d lived his entire life surrounded by magic. How could he sound so surprised that humans command our own kind of magic?

“I’ll call John David. He’ll be on the lookout for my car. When it arrives, he’ll put Esme’s things inside. Or, more likely, have the butler do it. Then Romeo will hightail it back here like a homing pigeon.”

“Oh.”

“Let me get Esme settled,” I told him. “Then I’ll put the kettle on and pull out some snacks.”

Kagan nodded gratefully.

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