“A vision covered in soap suds?”
I felt him smile. “With the new patrol rotation, my unit’s assigned to the king’s road tonight. Will you be all right without me?”
I feigned a sigh. “I’ll somehow survive.”
Truth was, him leaving worried me. I wanted him home, not patrolling the forest and doing gods know what.
“You know it pains me to leave you.” He trailed his lips to my nape. “But it’s my duty to ensure no harm befalls the kingdom.”
“I know.” I rested my weight against him. “Just make sure you’re careful. Otherwise, I’ll kick your butt, mister.”
Chuckling, he kissed me again and pulled away.
Bustling with nervous energy, I hunted for ingredients to bake something. Between being upset over Callum and hismystery girl and worrying about Maddox, my stress level was rising. I needed a brownie, dammit. Once I whipped up the batter and tossed the pan in the oven, I watched Rowan and Lake play a round of chess.
“No cheating,” Lake told him with a huff. “Magic isn’t allowed.”
“How did you know?” Rowan dropped his hand back to his thigh. His twirling fingers had been causing shadows to inch toward Lake’s queen.
“Because I know you.” Lake’s tail flicked once. “Cheater.”
A light tap came at the back door.
Lake growled.
“Retract those claws, pup.” Rowan stepped that way and opened the door. “It’s only Reign and Draven.”
The two spies entered the kitchen, decked out in their usual all-black garb. Hoods up and masked. Daggers were sheathed at their sides, and smaller blades were tucked into their leather chest armor.
“Evening,” I greeted them. “You got here just in time. The brownies should be done soon.”
Rowan cracked a smile. “Always wanting to feed everyone.”
“I’d rather he didn’t,” Draven said in his thick accent. “Sweets are for children.”
“I disagree.” Reign looked at me. Only his eyes showed—one brown and one blue—but by the way they crinkled at the edges, I knew he was smiling. “Brownies are my favorite.”
“You’ll have to eat one and tell Draven how good they are then,” I said with a wistful sigh. “Since he’s still convinced I’m going to poison him.”
Draven’s baby blue eyes lingered on me. “It’s not poison that concerns me, boy. I’ve built a tolerance for most of them.”
“Ah. I see.” I pulled the brownies from the oven and set the pan on the counter to cool. “So, you’re like Ro and just don’tlike sweets. That’s fair. You boys need to eat something before you leave for work though. Wouldn’t want you giving away your position while tailing someone because of a growling tummy.”
Reign laughed. “He makes quite the point, V.”
“V?” I asked. “Is that a code name?”
“A childhood one,” Reign told me. “As a boy, I couldn’t remember his name, only knew there was a V in it. The name has stayed with him ever since.”
“You grew up together?” I cut into the brownies, sectioning pieces. “That’s sweet.”
“Sweet like you,” Reign said with another smile clear in his mismatched eyes.
Maddox cut his eyes at the spy.
“Enough small talk.” Draven turned to Rowan. “Get dressed. The night awaits.”
With a nod, Rowan stepped into the shadows near the pantry and vanished. A creak came from upstairs seconds later.
