Jocasta swallows so hard I can see it from here. Softly, she says, “You know I do.”
Flynn’s gaze drops to her mouth. Jocasta’s lips part, and her tongue darts out to wet them. He targets the movement with his eyes, tilting his head slightly and suddenly looking like a hungry and very focused predator. She sways toward the man she’s loved for so long, slowly closing the distance across the worktable. Flynn doesn’t back off for once, and I start to feel like the worst sort of thrill seeker, because my heart is pounding for them, and I can’t look away.
Do it. Kiss her. Claim her. It’s all she wants.
Flynn’s head drops a slow inch. Jocasta tilts hers up.
This is finally happening!
Bellanca charges into the kitchen through a side door. Flynn and Jocasta jump apart. I jump, too, my hand flying to my chest where my heart starts kicking like a deranged donkey. Everywhere Bellanca goes, she goes like a bloody tornado. A bloody flaming tornado.
“What in the Underworld is that awful smell?” Bellanca waves her hand in front of her nose, looking at Flynn and Jocasta like it’s probably them. Then she storms over, peers into Jocasta’s bowl, and scowls. “What’s that?”
“It’s going to be a sleeping draught,” Jocasta says tersely.
Bellanca wrinkles her freckled nose. “Who for?”
“For me,” Jocasta answers from between gritted teeth. She’s usually friendly to Bellanca, or at least neutral, so I know her crossness comes from being interrupted before her first kiss ever, and that from the man she’s been waiting for for years.
Bellanca huffs. “You can’t be that stupid.”
Flynn’s brown eyes narrow. The look he turns on Bellanca is truly terrible, but she doesn’t seem to notice.
Jocasta takes a slow breath, her expression suddenly such a careful mask of politeness that I have no doubt she’s erupting underneath. “Excuse me?”
“Why would you want to sleep that heavily? Only an idiot would do that.” Bellanca looks genuinely confused. As usual, she’s oblivious to anyone’s reaction to her…forthrightness.
“Do you suggest I sleep with one eye open?” Jocasta asks coolly. “Or possibly not at all?”
Bellanca reaches between them and grabs an apple that somehow escaped the splattering of herbal sludge. “Good idea.” As she straightens, she knocks Jocasta’s bowl over, giving it a hard enough shove to dump it on the floor. The earthenware vessel shatters into tiny pieces, hopelessly contaminating the concoction.
Jocasta’s mouth drops open.
Bellanca winks. “Eyes open.” She crunches into her apple as she moves backward in a tinkle of gold bangles and a froth of sky-blue skirts.
Flynn steps after her, his voice lowering in pitch. “Did you just threaten her?”
Bellanca stops halfway across the kitchen, looking increasingly surly. She dabs a fingertip to her lips, wiping off a drip. “I’m trying to protect her.”
“Do you know something?” Flynn growls, stalking forward until they’re only a pace apart.
Bellanca takes another bite and then shrugs. “I know lots of things.”
“Like what?” Flynn demands.
“Like potions such as that one are better left alone.”
Jocasta stiffens. “I know what I’m doing. I’m not likely to overdose.”
Bellanca shakes her head. “That’s not what I mean.”
“Then what do you mean?” Flynn asks, menace still heavy in his voice.
“Good Gods!” Bellanca rolls her eyes. “I was just trying to help. I’m going to change and pack.” She takes another bite and then throws her apple at Flynn, hitting him square in the forehead.
I slap my hand over my mouth, stifling a gasp. Laugh. Gasp-laugh. I can’t believe she just did that!
Stone-faced, Flynn wipes apple juice from his brow. Jocasta stares in horror. Bellanca whirls on her heel and then stomps from the room, going out the same way she came in—fast and flaming.
As soon as the Tarvan woman is out of sight, I back away from the open door before dissolving into fits of quiet laughter. Soon after, I hear Flynn and Jocasta do the same.
*
Jocasta doesn’t ask me to stay and help her find an advisor, so I don’t offer. I don’t want her to know I was eavesdropping, but more importantly, I want to show her that I have faith in her and her decisions. I won’t rattle her confidence just before we leave by asking if she needs my help. Besides, I agree with her. As long as they stay within the castle grounds, I think she and Kaia are perfectly safe.
We’ve all gathered in the courtyard, those of us who are riding out today and those of us we’re leaving behind. It shouldn’t be a dangerous journey, or long, but goodbyes are always hard.
Behind me, I hear footsteps and the creak of leather and turn from watching Griffin and Carver give last-minute instructions to their sisters. Kato drops my saddle onto Panotii’s back.
“I can do that,” I say, reaching to help.
He brushes my hand away. “I know you can.” He bends down to tighten the girth.
No one lets me lift anything anymore, but I don’t argue about that. Straps, however, I can handle, but Kato’s broad back is blocking my attempt to help, and there’s not a Satyr’s chance in Tartarus he’ll move out of the way. He finishes, tugs the stirrups into place, and then jiggles everything to make sure it’s secure.
I pat Panotii’s shoulder, and his enormous ears twitch in my direction. His chestnut coat is shiny and smooth, even though I haven’t had much energy to brush him. By the time I think about heading to the stables, I’m usually ready for a nap. Maybe Griffin groomed him for me.
Kato turns to me. The rain-charged wind lifts his blond hair from his shoulders, sending it swirling around his head. Storm clouds rush across the sky, darkening his blue eyes and throwing the courtyard into shadow. I shiver.
“Are you cold?” he asks, a slight frown creasing his brow.
I shake my head but keep rubbing my arms anyway. “Little Bean is like a bonfire inside me. It’s… I don’t know. Something in the air.” Or right here in the somber courtyard. It’s the ache of leaving Jocasta and Kaia behind in an only mostly stable situation, and the dread of separating them from their brothers and from the men they love. Despite my apparently confidence-inducing presence, anything can happen. An infinite number of things can go wrong, and I might not be able to stop them. What if they never see each other again?
“We can wait out the storm,” Kato says.