Page 87 of The Shadow Path
“Aye, well, let’s not talk about it, shall we?” Duncan lowered himself into a chair, and his expression was stormy.
“And I can see the blissful morning-after feelings are blooming like flowers in springtime.” Laura sat across from Duncan and placed three coffee packets on the table. “Hey, grouchy pants. Looks like we have to be friends now, so try smiling when I get you a coffee.”
Duncan smiled, but it was closer to gritting his teeth.
There was a tap at the door, and a maid wheeled in a cart with a steaming pot of water. Carys nearly leaped on it. She was pouring water into three coffee cups before anyone could say another cross word. “We’ve just had a complicated morning, that’s all.”
Laura shook her head. “Mornings after sex are always complicated, right? I mean, especially for you guys.”
The maid let out a small gasp, and Carys realized that news of her sex life was going to quickly spread across the castle. She looked at Duncan to find him staring back at her.
Without a word, the maid fled the room, shutting the door behind her.
“I do not care,” Duncan said carefully. “She can announce it at dinner if she likes. I would prefer that everyone in Briton knows that I’m fucking you. It might make life easier.”
Carys sank into her chair. “This is so… awesome.”
“Well,” Laura said, “you can’t say he’s not direct. I like that for you.” She stared at Duncan as she sipped her coffee.
“What?” he finally asked.
“I am noticing a certain… ease in my dear friend there.” She nodded at Carys. “You, not so much.” She pursed her lips, and then her eyes went wide. “Ohhhh.”
Carys knew the moment she realized what happened. “Laura?—”
“No condoms here.” She winced. “Shit. And not exactly available at the corner store. Dude, that sucks, but speaking of sucking, there are other ways?—”
“I’ll take my breakfast in my room.” Duncan rose and started to walk away, but then he turned back and planted a hard kiss directly on Carys’s mouth. “Professor Morgan, I’ll see you later.”
“See me now.” She pointed at the chair. “I have an idea, and it involves both of you. And maybe Cadell, but maybe not.”
Duncan frowned, and Carys lifted the cover on the tray. “Also, hot breakfast is already here, and you need to watch me eat, don’t you?”
Duncan grabbed a plate from the tray, filled it with sausages and eggs, then set it in front of Carys before he sat down. “Eat.”
Laura smiled at him. “He’s such a nurturer. It warms my heart.”
“I think” —Carys sliced off half a fried egg— “we should go back to London, as in Brightlands London.”
Duncan blinked. “Seriously?”
Laura set her coffee down. “Okay, I can tell the sexual chemistry is very much alive right now, but going through a fae gate just to get condoms?—”
“And more coffee,” Duncan muttered.
Laura opened her mouth, then closed it. “Okay, you have a point.” She reached over and clinked her coffee cup against Duncan’s. “Still, it seems a little excessive when there are world-changing magical tides turning at the moment.”
“We’re not going to get condoms and coffee,” Carys said. “I mean, we are definitely getting those things, but that’s not themainreason.”
“So what’s the main reason?” Laura reached across the table and grabbed for the scones. “If you’re out, I’m out.” She traded a serious look with Duncan. “For real. You got hurt yesterday, and there may be some kind of war brewing. I am not authorized to fight for any foreign entity, so?—”
“If you need to go back to California,” Carys said, “I get it. One hundred percent. You signed on to come to a coronation and a few fancy parties. Parties and coronation are done. But I did something a few days ago, and I’m starting to wonder whether it has way more implications than I realized.”
“The Crow Mother,” Duncan said.
“Aren’t you all a little bit curious what she’s been up to in London? I mean, other than sunbathing, of course.”
“No,” Laura said.
