Moonshadow (Moonshadow #1)

“Multiple times,” he snapped.

“Your presence offends me.” She patted her chest. “It literally hurts right here. Not you, Gawain,” she said in an aside. “It’s nice to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too, Sophie.” Gawain sounded amused, but she noticed with gratitude he also kept his voice at a quiet enough level that it didn’t sound abrasive. Looking pointedly at Nikolas, he said, “I thought you said you two were getting along better.”

“That was apparently before I forgot to buy coffee,” Nikolas replied dryly. He plucked the mug and tea bag out of her hand. “I will make you a cup.”

“Make two while you’re at it,” she muttered. “I’m going to need a second one.”

Gawain said in a diffident voice, “Lass, I hate to bother you, especially right now, but is there any way you could do your silver null spell on me so I can stay?”

“Damn it,” she muttered. “Of course. I’ll be right back.”

She left to retrieve her vial of colloidal silver, and when she returned, Gawain held out his hand without a word. She cast the spell as she painted the rune, and after she finished, Nikolas set a hot, bracing mug of tea on the table in front of her. She latched on to it and didn’t let go until she had drunk the whole thing. He had added milk and sugar too, and she decided she liked the combination.

Giving her space to wake up properly, the men resumed talking about people she didn’t know, but she presumed she would probably meet in the next few days. Gawain stood and worked at the stove, and within a few minutes the smell of frying bacon and eggs filled the air.

When she had drained the first mug of tea, without a word, Nikolas took it from her and set another full mug on the table near her elbow. This time Gawain also slid a plate filled with a hot, cooked breakfast in front of her.

She stared at the plate. Bacon, sausages, beans, eggs, fried mushrooms, sliced tomatoes, and what looked like fried bread. It looked like enough food to feed someone twice her size. For a moment her stomach reacted with an uncertain queasiness, then sharp, genuine hunger set in. The last time she had eaten a proper meal had been two nights ago, in the pub.

She fell on the food and practically inhaled it while Nikolas and Gawain also ate. The talk fell away, and for a while all three existed in the quiet comfort of the sunny kitchen as they finished breakfast. To her own astonishment, she ate everything on her plate, and afterward she finished the second mug of tea too.

Finally she felt comfortably full and alert. She pushed that empty mug away too and looked up to discover both men watching her, Gawain with a slight smile, while Nikolas wore a brooding expression she didn’t know how to interpret.

She knew what his mouth tasted like. She knew how his hair felt, as the short, silken strands slipped through her fingers. Scowling, she averted her face and said to Gawain, “Thank you for breakfast. That was amazing.”

“You’re welcome, lass.” Gawain stood. “I need to get the packages in the storage compartment of my bike. Be right back.”

After he walked out, Nikolas said, “Why don’t you sleep well?”

“It’s just a thing,” she said. “It’s who I am. It’s not a big deal.”

“You say that a lot,” he told her. “I don’t believe it now, any more than I did before.”

She remembered the last time she had said it and how he had brought her to climax in spite of herself. A flood of warmth washed over her face. “Well, sometimes when I say it,” she said between her teeth, “it’s a boundary that you’re not supposed to cross. This is one of those times.”

She rose to slap their dirty plates together in a stack and carried them to the sink. He wasn’t going to let it go, she just knew it. They were rubbing each other the wrong way this morning, and this wasn’t going to end well.

But just in that moment, Gawain stepped back inside and the invisible pressure that had been simmering in the kitchen eased.

He set the packages on the table and unwrapped them while she finished clearing the table. When she started to wash the dishes, Gawain said, “Sit down, lass. You’re helping us so much you don’t need to do the washing up too. I’ll do those in a bit.”

“You can’t,” she pointed out. “Not and keep the null spell active.”

By the chagrin that passed over his face, she saw that he had forgotten. Nikolas stood. He told her, “Leave that for now. Come show us how to make the colloidal silver.”

“And that leads us to something we’d been talking about before you came to join us,” Gawain said. “The rent we’ll be paying you is more than fair, but we should be also paying you for your other services—for this and for helping us to explore the possibilities in your witchy house.”

She couldn’t wash dishes and have this conversation with them at the same time. Turning her back to the sink, she wiped her hands on a towel while she shook her head.

“My consulting services cost the LAPD a hundred grand a year,” she said. “But that’s not what we agreed upon. I’m teaching you the colloidal silver and null spell combination, and in return, you’re giving me a handgun with silver bullets and the legal right to use it. As far as exploring the manor house goes, I want to do that anyway. It’s my house. I should know its strengths and pitfalls and if there’s anything of worth inside that I might want to sell. If you want to engage me for anything else, we can talk about a consulting fee at that time. For now, the bargains we’ve struck are more than fair.”

Nikolas said, “Actually, there is something else we would like for you to consider doing. We want you to cast your runes and do a reading for us.”

She raised her eyebrows. “I guess that changes things a bit.” Looking from Nikolas to Gawain, she added, “I’m all about monetizing my skill set, but just doing a reading for you is not that big of a deal.”

Nikolas walked over and took the dish towel out of her hands. “It’s a big deal to us,” he said quietly. “We need to understand how and why I was ambushed, and what other magic had been in play that day and if it might still pose a danger. Also, after the attack on the pub, we need to try to figure out how much the Hounds may know about us, about the puck, and about you.”

Frowning, she looked at him directly for the first time since having breakfast. “Knowing that would be of benefit to me too,” she pointed out.

“Here’s what I propose,” Nikolas said. He laid his hands on her shoulders. “Instead of bargaining piecemeal over every little thing or added service, I want to pay you a blanket amount for a month of your consulting services. If you’re not going to go away, as you should, that’s a fair offer.”

Why did he keep approaching her and touching her? It made her cranky and confused her. She wanted to step forward into his arms. She wanted to slap his hands away.