‘while you were sleeping’ recap . . .” She leaned up against the bureau with her arms crossed, in a semi-casual pose that made her look like a guest in the bedroom they had once shared, as she took him through the events of the past twelve hours.
He started getting dressed, but by the time she got to the part about Anna and Mendez being the second and third Triad magi, he was sitting on the side of the mattress in his jeans, with a T-shirt wadded in one hand, forgotten, while she described her card-sparked hunch on the etznab spell, and using it to put them both into the vision of their first night together.
“I don’t know why we didn’t stay through to the end,” she finished. “I didn’t see anything that had to do with owing anybody anything.” She paused. “Or am I on the wrong track? Do you think there’s something else you’re supposed to remember?”
How am I supposed to know if I’ve forgotten it? He stifled the sarcasm, though. It wasn’t her fault he’d lost twelve hours that felt like days, just like it wasn’t her fault that he couldn’t wrap his head around the way she was acting.
He’d spent the past two and a half years wishing she would let them concentrate on being Nightkeepers. Now that she was doing exactly that, he found himself wanting to hash out the sex, and why it’d felt the way it had. What they could do to keep that connection.
He really was a dick sometimes.
Focus. Exhaling, he pulled on the T-shirt, then stood to tuck it in. He caught a hint of her scent— their scent—but didn’t let himself acknowledge the tug it brought. “I don’t know what debt the nahwal was talking about, but I think you’re right. It makes sense that it’d be something about that night.” He paused. “The thing is . . . when I was stuck in the Triad magic, I kept looping through a different memory.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Something you had forgotten?”
He shook his head. “No. It was there all along, just not in the front of my brain. But the thing is, there were debts owed. I thought I handled it right . . . but maybe not.”
“Was it—” She held up a hand, cutting herself off. “Wait. This shouldn’t be just the two of us. Let’s go get Jade and Lucius, and see if the others are back yet. And you should get some real food into you.”
Part of Brandt wanted it to just be the two of them, the perfect team they had once been. He didn’t understand why a relationship that had worked so right out in the human world had gone so wrong inside Skywatch. It didn’t make sense.
And he had to get his head back in the game. “Yeah. I could go for a breakfast meeting.”
But as they left the suite and the last dregs of warmth from the vision-memory drained away, he found himself wishing he could go back to being the man he’d been on the beach that night, hunting down the blonde he’d glimpsed earlier in the day because somehow, deep down inside, he had known that she was meant to be his mate.
“Shit.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Headache.”
Keeping her tattered version of a warrior ’s detachment wrapped tightly around her heart, Patience led the way to the main mansion.
When they came through the arched doorway leading to the great room, her steps hitched slightly at the sight of the packed kitchen. Strike, Leah, and Jox sat at one end of the breakfast bar, looking tired and strung out. Lucius, Jade, Rabbit, and Myrinne were at the other end, deep in conversation, while Izzy, Shandi, and Tomas moved around the kitchen.
At the sound of Patience’s and Brandt’s footsteps, Strike’s head came up and his cobalt eyes lit briefly. “Brandt. Thank the gods.”
“Hold that thought. I don’t have the magic yet.”
The king’s expression flattened, but he said only, “You’re still better off than the other two.”
Patience’s stomach clutched. “Is Anna . . . ?”
“She’s alive.” Strike scrubbed both hands over his face, which did nothing
He started getting dressed, but by the time she got to the part about Anna and Mendez being the second and third Triad magi, he was sitting on the side of the mattress in his jeans, with a T-shirt wadded in one hand, forgotten, while she described her card-sparked hunch on the etznab spell, and using it to put them both into the vision of their first night together.
“I don’t know why we didn’t stay through to the end,” she finished. “I didn’t see anything that had to do with owing anybody anything.” She paused. “Or am I on the wrong track? Do you think there’s something else you’re supposed to remember?”
How am I supposed to know if I’ve forgotten it? He stifled the sarcasm, though. It wasn’t her fault he’d lost twelve hours that felt like days, just like it wasn’t her fault that he couldn’t wrap his head around the way she was acting.
He’d spent the past two and a half years wishing she would let them concentrate on being Nightkeepers. Now that she was doing exactly that, he found himself wanting to hash out the sex, and why it’d felt the way it had. What they could do to keep that connection.
He really was a dick sometimes.
Focus. Exhaling, he pulled on the T-shirt, then stood to tuck it in. He caught a hint of her scent— their scent—but didn’t let himself acknowledge the tug it brought. “I don’t know what debt the nahwal was talking about, but I think you’re right. It makes sense that it’d be something about that night.” He paused. “The thing is . . . when I was stuck in the Triad magic, I kept looping through a different memory.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Something you had forgotten?”
He shook his head. “No. It was there all along, just not in the front of my brain. But the thing is, there were debts owed. I thought I handled it right . . . but maybe not.”
“Was it—” She held up a hand, cutting herself off. “Wait. This shouldn’t be just the two of us. Let’s go get Jade and Lucius, and see if the others are back yet. And you should get some real food into you.”
Part of Brandt wanted it to just be the two of them, the perfect team they had once been. He didn’t understand why a relationship that had worked so right out in the human world had gone so wrong inside Skywatch. It didn’t make sense.
And he had to get his head back in the game. “Yeah. I could go for a breakfast meeting.”
But as they left the suite and the last dregs of warmth from the vision-memory drained away, he found himself wishing he could go back to being the man he’d been on the beach that night, hunting down the blonde he’d glimpsed earlier in the day because somehow, deep down inside, he had known that she was meant to be his mate.
“Shit.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Headache.”
Keeping her tattered version of a warrior ’s detachment wrapped tightly around her heart, Patience led the way to the main mansion.
When they came through the arched doorway leading to the great room, her steps hitched slightly at the sight of the packed kitchen. Strike, Leah, and Jox sat at one end of the breakfast bar, looking tired and strung out. Lucius, Jade, Rabbit, and Myrinne were at the other end, deep in conversation, while Izzy, Shandi, and Tomas moved around the kitchen.
At the sound of Patience’s and Brandt’s footsteps, Strike’s head came up and his cobalt eyes lit briefly. “Brandt. Thank the gods.”
“Hold that thought. I don’t have the magic yet.”
The king’s expression flattened, but he said only, “You’re still better off than the other two.”
Patience’s stomach clutched. “Is Anna . . . ?”
“She’s alive.” Strike scrubbed both hands over his face, which did nothing
Similar Books
