Page 54 of Heir

His full lips pursed for a moment before he gently said, “I helped Kase load her into his vehicle. He will take care of her.”

My heart hurt. “You trust him?”

“I do not know him. But I hope I can trust him. You are the Queen. He knows better than to do something stupid.”

“Are you always this . . . honest and straightforward?”

He still stroked my hair. “I am who I am. This is me. I will never lie to you, Omaera. And I don’t believe in beating around the bush. Facts are best.”

“Facts are best.” I made to sit up, and he helped me. “What do you do for work?”

His smile was boyish and sweet. “I don’t really have to work. I’ve been alive so long, my investments and the money I made over the centuries are enough. But I used to be a carpenter. A very good one. I still build things when I want to. If you ever want me to build you something, I will.”

Why did an offer like that make my heart swell with joy so much? Nobody had ever offered to build me something before. I reached for his big hand and placed my palm on his. The difference in size was laughable. His fingertips and the heel of his hand were rough and calloused, but I didn’t mind.

“Your hands are so small,” he said. “How do you even catch a fish?”

That made me laugh out loud. “Well, I’ve never been fishing. But if I did, I’d probably use a fishing pole.”

He nodded. “Okay, that makes sense. But I’d like to take you to the river and teach you to catch one with your hands . . . or mouth, one day.”

I gaped at him. “My mouth?”

He nodded again. “During spawning season, it’s easy. The fish are jumping up stream, they literally just jump right into your mouth. It’s like gumdrops falling from the sky . . . but not gumdrops and not the sky.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

He smiled. “I’m okay with that when it makes you smile.”

My brows bunched. “Wait, does this mean I’ll turn into a shifter if we mate?”

He lifted a bulky shoulder. “Maybe?”

“That’d be weird.”

“I’d love it.”

I smirked and snorted.

Drak and Maxar heard us talking and joined us from where they were arguing in the hallway.

“You’re awake,” Maxar said, coming over to stand in front of me with relief in his eyes. “Are you okay?”

I swallowed a few times, took some nice big inhales, then bobbed my head. “Everything seems to be working again.”

Drak was in the doorway to the living room. “The Council has agreed to move the meeting to tomorrow.”

I glared at him. “Oh, have they now? How courteous of them. Considering I nearly died. And my aunt did die. Thank them for their immense and overwhelming generosity, Drak.”

His gaze was level. “You didn’t almost die. Demons can only die via beheading.”

I growled at him and stood up. “Why did my aunt cast that spell?” I headed back to the kitchen.

“I wouldn’t go back in there,” Maxar said, following me. They all followed me. “She might have the place booby trapped with spells.”

“But why?” I asked, returning to the exact spot of the crime and when I started to choke. “I was standing right here. Trying to calm down. I did the ‘three things I could see, three things I could touch, and three things I could smell.’ I was going to do the ‘three things I could hear,’ but one of those things was you guys hauling away my aunt’s body. So I went with smell. I picked off a leaf of lemon balm here and smelled it. Then I took in another deep inhale and that’s when I started to choke.”

Maxar joined me in front of the sink. “Do you think there’s something here somewhere that your aunt wanted to hide?”

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