Page 23 of Enchanting the Elf
“Yeah. Sadie seems to like Vegas a lot.”
“Everett called me this afternoon. I am not fully certain what transpired between them, but what he shared with me helped my understanding of the situation, and I was able to confirm a theory.”
“That’s great news, right?” I’m not sure how much I want to disclose about what she told me either, but it seems like a good thing if what Everett told him matches up with what Adelbert has found in his readings.
Adelbert nods as he strains the liquid out of the grated potatoes through a kitchen towel and sets the bowl aside.
“It is definitely encouraging to know that I am moving in the right direction of figuring things out.”
I find myself sitting up straighter in my seat so I can follow his movements, curious about how he’s making these potato pancakes. He comes back from the pantry with flour, an onion, and an egg.
Feeling like he’s the most comfortable he’s been around me yet—maybe due to the distance between us, or maybe because of the kitchen he seems so at home in—I try to push my luck and ask some personal questions.
“Do you like cooking?”
Adelbert’s movements halt, and he looks up at me. Angling his head, a lock of his silvery hair flops onto his forehead, andmy hands itch to run through the silky-looking strands that he usually keeps so perfectly styled. But right here, in this moment, he looks so at ease, like the weight of all the stress he’s been carrying around is not as significant, and it makes my heart ache in a very funny way.
The lightest of grins, if one could even call it that, tugs at a corner of his mouth.
“My grandmother taught me how to cook. We spent a lot of time in this kitchen. She taught me everything I know about cooking.”
“You look very comfortable there and like you know what you’re doing.” I grin back at him.
Adelbert picks up the onion and starts grating it too.
“This is a comfort food we made often. We may not have ‘hugged out our feelings’ but she liked to cook them out.”
“That sounds lovely.” I don’t know what he’s doing with the onion, not being able to do this level of cooking myself, so I lift slightly from my seat and crane my neck to see better.
Adelbert mixes the ingredients in a bowl and squints his eyes as a memory seemingly plays through his mind.
“It was, in its own way. Don’t misunderstand, she would boss me around and there was no space for emotions in her kitchen, nevertheless, one would say it was a bonding experience to cook together.”
“Wow. I’m envious of that. I can only throw together the basics and call it a meal. Despite my mom trying to teach me, I’ve never had a real knack for it. Even Sadie is better than me and she’s not especially good either.” Dede and I sometimes tried our hand at cooking fancier meals, but they mostly ended up burned, so we gave up trying too many new things and stuck to salads and sandwiches.
“That is a pity. Cooking allows one to feel more connected to their food.” Adelbert looks genuinely disappointed, thoughI’m not sure if he’s pitying my lacking skills or if it’smehe’s disappointed in.
I want to ask him so many more questions about his grandmother, this house, how he grew up, but I don’t want to push this tenuous peace that’s currently between us. I shift the conversation back to Everett and Dede.
“Please don’t feel obligated to tell me anything, but if you feel comfortable with it, I’d really like to know more about the theories you have about the bond.”
Adelbert pauses again and looks at me from across the room. His eyes narrow for a fraction of a second, and then he nods to himself.
“I think it best that you know since this affects you too.”
Adelbert puts down whatever he was mixing and plants both hands on the counter in front of him. He fixes me with an intent gaze, his eyes blazing quicksilver.
My heartbeat picks up a new rhythm and my palms become clammy at the ominous charge in the air, but I quickly stretch my lips into a smile and nod at him to continue, hoping he can’t pick up on my rare spike of anxiety.
“You’re safe with me. I wish you no harm,” he reassures me in a tone I suspect he thinks sounds soothing.
“Okay.” My voice comes out as something between a whisper and squeak, betraying the mask I tried to slip on.
Adelbert’s lips thin before he continues.
“To put it bluntly, around the bonded person, we monsters seem to be reverting to our more baser beings. We have been conditioned to control ourselves and have learned to suppress our monstrous natures to a certain extent, in order for us to blend into a mostly human society. But based on what I read today, and Everett’s phone call earlier, those suppressed ‘urges’—for lack of a better word—are coming to the fore. I havea hunch for why this is, but I need definitive proof before I will explain more.”
I bring my hair over one shoulder and drag my fingers through the waves as I process his words.
