River clicked his tongue to shut them both up and effectively gained my attention again as he watched me like a predator with gorgeous, golden eyes.
“By ‘dragon stuff,’” he explained, “Caleb means they’ve gone out into the woods to work on their shifting and their magic. If anyone can help either of them practice and master their new abilities, it’s each other. That was a smart choice of a bet reward, love.”
“Thanks.” I beamed, finally having done something right. It felt like everything I was doing was wrong lately. “So, what’s in the cards for us today?”
“You have more magic training with Austin—and Caleb, if he feels like helping out. Wesley and I are going to have a chat about this situation with Director Pierre and what to do about it.” River placed his teacup back down on his saucer and—wait, what?
“Are you... drinking tea right now?” I asked, both fascinated and amused at the stereotypical British thing to do.
River just rolled his eyes and stood from the table. “When you’re done with breakfast, Austin is in the den waiting for you. He’s in a mood too, so probably best you get down there.” He threw me a wink that either said good luck or just kidding or, hell, it could have even been nice rack because I hadn’t bothered with a bra before coming to breakfast and my nipples were hard as ice cubes through my thin tank top. Either way, I was still too sleepy and not yet caffeinated enough to probe further into it.
Caleb had slipped into my bed when he got back from magic lessons smelling like smoke and herbs and had been surprisingly forthcoming about his night. No details on the lesson or his teacher, but at least he’d opened up about how he was feeling with his progress. Despite the late hour, I hadn’t wanted to stop him, but now I was tired as hell and about to face another gruelling day with Teacher-Austin.
“Guess that’s my cue, too,” Wes murmured, packing up his dishes and smacking a quick kiss on my cheek. “Good luck; don’t kill anyone.”
From Caleb, that would have earned a snarky remark back, but from Wes it seemed more like a genuine concern.
“I won’t kill anyone,” I muttered a bit sullenly while Wes dropped his dishes into the kitchen sink then followed River out of the room, leaving Caleb and I alone.
“Seriously?” I demanded as I reached for my coffee and found it gone from where I’d left it. “You have your own!”
Caleb grinned a cheeky grin and licked his lips, taking another sip from my cup. “Yeah, but yours tastes so much better. Besides, you didn’t even notice I’d personalized your mug for you.”
Now that he pointed it out, it was a much larger mug than the rest of the guys had been drinking from, and there was something printed on it…
“Move your hand so I can see, dope,” I prompted, and he obediently handed the cup back to me.
On one side, Kit’s Koffee Kup, and on the other, Zero Fox Given, except with a little cartoon fox instead of the word.
“Cal, I love it! It’s like that first one you got me... but better.” I placed it carefully down on the table and snaked my arms around his neck to kiss him. Given I was already in his lap, it was an easy task.
“You’re welcome, Kitty Kat,” he murmured when I eventually released his lips. “And I magicked this one so it won’t break if you pitch a fit with it.”
“So thoughtful,” I snickered, but secretly, I thought the extra work to make it break-free was almost as awesome as the cup itself. Caleb was being seriously awesome lately. “So does that mean you’ll come and help in magic class? Austin is less likely to shank me if you’re there as a witness.”
Caleb pursed his lips, like he was thinking about it, then nodded. “Sure. I can come keep you safe from shanking, you weirdo.”
“Excellent!” I finished the last of my coffee and hopped out of his lap to pull him up too. “If you think of any cool blood spells that will help me learn faster, that would also be super appreciated!”
Caleb snorted, following me through to the den where Austin was supposedly waiting for us. “It doesn’t really work like that, Kitty Kat. I can’t just...” he trailed off, and I looked back at him sharply.
“What?” I prompted.
“Uh, nothing. I just had an idea. I’ll ask Austin about it.” He nodded thoughtfully, then slapped me on my yoga-pants-covered ass. “Keep moving, slow poke. He’s not getting any sweeter for waiting.”
Grumbling under my breath about Austin not knowing sweet if it bit him on the ass, I dragged my heels into the den and found him sitting cross-legged on the rug in front of the fire, staring intently into Tyson’s feline eyes.
“Hope we’re not interrupting?” I teased, and my words seemed to break whatever was going on between Mage and familiar because they both snapped their eyes to me simultaneously. The similarity ended there, though, as Austin rolled his emerald-green eyes and Tyson bounded toward me like he hadn’t seen me in weeks.
“Oh, hey buddy,” I greeted him as his dinner plate–sized paws pushed me backward onto a couch, then he tried to climb his entire six-hundred-and-something-pound frame into my lap. “Come on, man,” I groaned, pushing him back to the floor firmly. “We’ve been over this. You’re not as small as you think you are.”
Tyson looked up at me with a sad-as-hell look on his face, so I sighed and slid off the couch to sit on the floor beside him.
“See, now we’re both on the floor. Happy?” I could hardly believe the one-sided conversations I had with that cat sometimes, but he genuinely did seem happier as he rolled on his back beside me, demanding a belly rub.
As I obliged, I realised the twins were having a whispered debate on the other side of the room, which cut off abruptly when they noticed me staring.
“Uh, something you want to share?” I prompted.
Caleb looked to his brother, who just threw up his hands and muttered something about your fucking funeral.
“I had an idea,” Cal informed me. Again.
Giving him my very best “uh-huh, no shit, Sherlock” expression, or what I hoped was, I nodded. “So you already said, but go on...”
“When you said just before about a blood spell to help you learn faster, and I said it didn’t work like that? Well, technically it could.” He looked so excited he was practically bouncing on his toes. “If Austin were to tattoo you with blood-ink, then you could—in theory—retain every lesson the first time it’s taught. I mean, it’d still mean Austin running through all the same stuff, but it’d be just once. Not, like... however many hundreds of times he is making you practice this stuff at the moment.”
“Uh...” I glanced at Austin, who just wore the same vaguely annoyed look on his face. “Well, that sounds freaking amazing. Are you sure you’re up for that?”
Caleb shrugged in a way that told me he wasn’t totally sure he was up for it, but I also sensed that my faith in his abilities would go a really long way in his confidence about magic.
“Austin?” I asked, and he met my eyes for a long moment. We didn’t really need to exchange any more words than that, seeing as in a calm environment like this, our emotions were just right there on a silver platter for the other to examine.
In that moment, he was worried and tense and annoyed? Maybe that he hadn’t thought of it? I wasn’t sure. Just because I could feel his moods didn’t mean I got any reasons behind them.
Regardless, his main emotion was hope, and that was enough for me.
“Let’s do it,” I agreed.
Austin’s mouth turned down, but his overwhelming emotion was now concern, and concern I could handle. He was just being... protective. Or that’s what I was running with. Caleb, on the other hand, looked elated, and that in itself made the risks worthwhile.
“I’ll grab my stuff,” Austin muttered, giving me a sharp look that clearly said I hope you know what you’re doing before leaving the room.