Page 73 of Ulune's Daughter

I shake my head. “Not consciously.”

She taps my finger against the speckled black granite countertop. It rings like metal on stone. “Hard,” Teddy says, turning my hand over to examine the undersides. “I’d avoid scratching anyone with these.”

I look at the nails of my free hand. The undersides are black and shiny, which I haven’t noticed before.

“Research hag claws when you get back to Bevvy,” Teddy suggests.

I punch her lightly on the shoulder. “I’m not a hag.”

“Well,” Teddy allows. “Professor Hag.”

I elbow her gently and nowhere near her stomach. “Rude.”

She chuckles, taking the popcorn out of the microwave, dumping it into a bowl, pouring the caramel over it, and stirring it with a long-handled spoon. “Put some of those chips in a bowl and pop everything else on a tray so we can carry it back in, would you?”

“Sure.” I generally remember the lay of the land from the last time I was here, so I find a bowl and a tray and arrange everything. “I have had a couple of dates,” I admit. “But we haven’t gone that far yet.”

“Tell,” Teddy demands.

“He’s a swim team coach. In very good shape. Big shoulders.” I demonstrate with my hands and Teddy whistles. “Good taste in music and beer. Didn’t freak out when I dragged him to Turkey with me to do deep magic in a cave full of jackalweres.”

Teddy’s eyebrows shoot up. “Big points.”

“Very big points.”

“You like him,” she says.

“I really do,” I admit. “Only fault I can find in him is that he doesn’t like my cat. But he’s waiting for a spot with the justiciars. So he’ll be wherever the Aedis Astrum sends him and I’ll be in Bevington.”

“You can walk the Fae Ways,” Teddy scoffs. “That’s no barrier. You’re worried about your career.”

“I’m a little worried about my career,” I agree. “This is a bad time for me to get distracted. I’m thinking about going for tenure.”

Teddy leans a hip against the counter and looks at me. “I get it. Juggling the twins and the lads and my classes and Gabe’s unicorns and my business and the million places everyone wants us to be ... it’s a lot. Sometimes, I have to put teaching or my business on the back burner. People come first. Don’t wait, Kells. I know everyone’ll say the opposite. Wait. Focus on your career. Plenty more fish in the sea and all that. But from someone who has seen bits of the future ... don’t wait. These lads we love, they can be gone tomorrow. And then there’s nothing to do but dream about them and try not to forget their faces.”

“Oh, Teddy.” I hold my arms out to her and when she steps into me, hug her tightly, despite her big belly. “Other Gabe?”

She nods.

When she was a freshman, Teddy got thrown into a splintered Timeline where she was already dead. She met her husband ten years in the future and fell in love with him. When she returned to our Time, she fixed the event that fractured the Timestream, but it meant that Timeline collapsed. Her Other Gabe’s gone.

“Gabe’s almost as old as Other Gabe now,” I say, half-questioning.

“He’s not the same man. I’m glad of that. Don’t get me wrong. Other Gabe’d been wrecked by grief and loss. I never want my Gabe to feel any of that. But even so, they’re not the same man. And I still miss t’other.”

I rub her back consolingly. “I’m sorry, Teddy.”

“Don’t waste a second, Kells. If this lad’s worth your time, give him every moment you can. I know you’re passionate about the treasures you recover, but they’re what will wait. People don’t.”

“You’re right.”

“Now gimme the make and model of your buzzy friend because there’s no way you’re glowing like this just because of a couple of dates with Mr. Pool Hottie where you haven’t even sealed the deal.”

I push her away gently and scrunch up my face at her. “I swear I don’t have a buzzy friend. I’m just—I’m just having very good dreams.” That’s the truth. I don’t really remember them, just the hot haze of arousal and then bone-deep satisfaction. “I didn’t dream like this on Isla Cedros. I haven’t really thought much about it, but if I did, I’d put it down to being back at Bevvy. It’s the place I’ve felt most at home.”

“I’m glad you feel at home. You even got a pet, huh?”

“He got me. He followed me home one day and now I can’t imagine being without him. He’s such a cuddle bum. And you should see his ear tufts. He’s such a handsome boy.”

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