He laughed. “I was gathering them, not stealing.”
“Whatever you say, flower thief.” I rose up and kissed his cheek before continuing making breakfast. After putting the muffins in the oven, I turned from the oven and crashed into Maddox. “Ow.” I rubbed my forehead. “That’s familiar.”
“Just like the morning we first met.” He took me in his arms. “Are you all right?”
“I’ll live, I guess.”
“You better.” Maddox cradled my face and softly kissed beneath both my eyes. The tenderness of it made my heart wobble.
“What will you do if I don’t? Bring me back to life so you can spank me?”
A gruff laugh vibrated in his chest, and he skimmed his lips down to mine. As we kissed, I felt the tension in his body. My big guy held so much on his shoulders, most of which he carried alone. Worries and doubts. Learning my true identity had only made it worse.
Knocks came at the front door.
“A visitor this early?” I asked.
Lake was beside me in less than a second, his purple eyes glowing bright and his fingernails pointed. Something that happened when he felt threatened. When another set of knocks sounded, Maddox left the kitchen and headed toward the front parlor. The rest of us followed, though Lake stopped in the hallway, staying out of sight.
“Court physician!” came a man’s voice from the porch.
Briar opened the door. “Yes? What is—”
“Your presence is needed at the castle right away, sir,” the boy panted. Looked like a squire. “A patrol unit from the Third Order was just attacked.”
Chapter Four
Vanilla Bean and Sunshine
Potted plants sat on the windowsill, soaking up the rays of sunlight spilling into the clinic. Others hung from hooks in the ceiling, their long, leafy vines varying in shades of green. Herbs dried on a rack along one wall, and a small cauldron bubbled.
The clinic looked like it could’ve been pulled from a Studio Ghibli movie. I half expected Howl Pendragon himself to step through the door.
Who stepped through instead? A sandy haired twink holding a bulky satchel who lit up like a Christmas tree at the sight of me.
“Evan!” Thane closed the door and placed the bag on the counter with a light thud. “This is a nice surprise.”
“Are you hungry?” I asked “I brought sandwiches and pastries from the café.”
“Best day ever.” Thane bounced over and peeked inside the basket. With a boyish grin, he grabbed a honey bun and tore into it. “Oh! I need to introduce you to someone.”
With the pastry jutting from his mouth, he rushed over to the corner cabinet and grabbed a glass jar. And in that jar? A little horror I recognized all too well. It wasn’t Herbert though. Which could only mean one thing.
“There’s another one? I’m going to have nightmares tonight.”
Thane laughed and reached into the jar, placing the beetle on the table. “Isn’t she beautiful? Found her outside my window two nights ago. Can you believe it? Luck is on my side.”
“Our definitions of lucky are different.” I took a small step backward as the insect scuttled across the table. “How do you know it’s a she?”
“The spots on her rear.” He pointed to a section of red dots. “Only females have them.”
“Herbert has spots.”
Thane’s shaggy hair bounced as he shook his head. “Those are specks. Come closer. See the larger dots right here? There’s three of them.”
“Ah. I see.” Where Herbert the Terror had a midnight blue body and red and yellow specks, this new horror was dark green with red spots.
The young apprentice rested his chin on his hands and beamed at the beetle. “I hope Herbert likes her. I’m trying to introduce them slowly. This species can be highly territorial and aggressive. My hope is they’ll mate and give us lots of little babies.”
