Page 150 of Caelum

As I headed outside to the yard, I found her hovering by a bush close to the outdoor washroom.

“I didn’t think you had it in you to be a Peeping Tom, Eve,” I teased her, laughing when she jumped in surprise at my voice.

“I’m not peeping on anyone,” she muttered crossly, folding her arms across her chest in a way that screamed ‘awkward.’

My lips curved because I knew she wasn’t, but that still didn’t mean teasing her was out of the question. Curving my arm over her shoulder, I asked, “Who are you waiting on?”

“Reed.” Her brow puckered. “He came from the ocean.”

She said that like he was Triton reborn or something.

“He likes to surf,” was all I said.

Eve’s mouth tightened. “What do you like to do?”

I wasn’t sure why I was taken aback at the question, but I was. “I like to climb.”

“Climb what?” she inquired, her attention shifting from her feet to my face. I was glad for that. I hated seeing her so on edge, so uncomfortable.

Learning she was ours hadn’t put her at ease. If anything, it had made things so much worse for all of us.

“Trees, rocks, mountains.” I shrugged. “Whatever I feel like.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Pitting myself against gravity is fun.” I grinned at her. “Gravity doesn’t always have to win.”

Her mouth dropped open, and she reached up and pressed a hand to her forehead. “How high do you go?”

Because she looked so worried, I couldn’t tease her, and I even lied as I said, “Not too high. Just so I can take a great picture of the view.”

Her relief was instantaneous, and I knew she could never find out about my love of free climbing. She might have a heart attack if she did.

Killing my Chosen wasn’t on my list of things to do now that I had her in my life.

“Want to go inside?” I asked, tugging her slightly in Caelum’s direction.

“No. I’m waiting on Reed. He wanted to talk to me, but I wasn’t about to watch him shower.” Her voice turned high-pitched at that, and I almost laughed.

God forbid she see one of her ‘husbands’ naked.

That was the moment said husband, of course, strolled out in a pair of board shorts, a loose tee, and flip-flops.

When he saw me, he dipped his chin in greeting, but we eyed each other warily until he broke away and, to Eve, apologized, “Sorry about the wait. I stored all my stuff in one of the lockers but had to treat my board.”

I got the feeling she only understood about a half of that, and to take some of the spotlight off her, I questioned, “The surf good?”

“Yeah. Better over at Cruckshanks than Tomasse Bay.” He scrubbed a hand over his head and added, “Something weird happened when I was there.”

“Yeah? See a mermaid?” I teased, snorting when he flipped me the bird.

At my side, Eve smiled and relaxed slightly. I was never sure if she got my jokes, but whenever her tension eased, I took that for the win it was.

He squinted up at the sun for a second then shot me a look that instantly put me on edge. “Might be good to gather in Frazer’s room, you know?”

I scowled, frustrated with not having answers right away, but nodded. “Sure. I’ll gather my people, you gather yours.”

Reed’s smile was tight. “They’re already up there.”

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