Page 83 of Enchanted Shadows
“I turned twenty-eight a few weeks ago.”
So she’d had her birthday and said nothing to us? “And what is your favorite color?”
She leaned back to look at me. “Why?”
“You know about my passion for cinnamon oat cookies. You know my family. Who I am. But I still don’t know much about you. Because of all those damn walls you build around yourself. I figure I should know before your ex shows up.”
“My favorite color is dark red,” she admitted. At what was surely my surprised face, she added, “Not black. The shadows are like a favored blanket, they are a comfort to me, but they lack color.” After a moment she asked, “What about for you?”
“Green.”
“Like your eyes and the color of your magic,” she noted.
“And what is the shape your palm magic takes?”
“A lynx,” she told me.
I thought it had seemed catlike, but it hadn’t moved slow enough for me to figure out. “Fitting.”
As the first song finished up, the other couples decided to join us for one. “Feel like doing a Nerede special?” Jorah called over.
“Only if you wish to be shown how it’s done,” I told her.
She gestured to the band, and I pulled Kessara back in close. “Apologies in advance for this.”
“What are we doing?” she asked.
“The Nerede way is a bit more lively,” I warned before we took off.
A minute in, we were all laughing. I was sure Jorah had suggested it because she knew this dancing had this effect on people. And she was trying to keep the mood light.
So we danced. We laughed. And I did my best to immediately forget how smooth the skin on Kessara’s bare back felt on my hands. How gorgeous she looked with her head tipped back laughing.
Toward the end of the night, the men had a whiskey together while the women chatted. They were so animated, gesturing and laughing. Jorah had a small bump from where she could no longer disguise her pregnancy, and Esta had little Ruelle on her chest, bouncing in place. Kensie and Warrick were taking turns giving Arden rides on their backs.
I had always assumed the marriage and kids happy ending wasn’t for me. But for a moment in time, I wanted to pretend it was all real. That these people I loved were happy and healthy, as was I. It wasn’t hard to picture with a woman like Kessara. Dammit if a very small part of me wanted it all. Not that I would ever admit that to Jorah. So I made sure our bond was still locked down tight like I had all week.
“Miles has been working hard on the maze,” Krew told me.
I looked at the whiskey, spinning it in my hands and liking the way it looked around the thick grooves in the glass.
“Owen?”
“Yeah?”
“I said Miles has been working hard on the maze trial.”
I knocked the whiskey back, loving the burn and undertones of it. “That’s good because I have been a bit busy lately.”
“I plan to come watch tomorrow morning,” Krew told me. “Keir might come with me.”
“Have you asked your sister?”
He gave his head a shake. “Sorry. That’s going to take some getting used to.”
I added, “It may make her nervous. Should both of you be there.”
“I’ll go ask,” Keir offered lightly as he slapped me on the back. “You’re right, Raikes.”
