Page 4 of Oh, Sacred Dark
“Okay? You know when the mealtimes are?”
“Yes. Breakfast for all morning. Lunch at one. Dinner at six-thirty.”
Tyler waited for something more. “Right,” he said eventually.
Roman let out a little huff of breath as though he were annoyed by the questions, his expression flat and a little distant, as if he were above what was happening.
“Fine.” Tyler sighed. What was he supposed to do, drag the guy to the dining room? “You good?”
“Yes.”
“Okay…I’ll leave you to it, then.”
Roman nodded, and Tyler shut the door.
“What an amazing conversationalist,” Tyler muttered under his breath.
The tables were almost completely set by the time he made it downstairs, but he helped with what was left before sitting beside Connie.
“Someone’s grumpy,” Connie teased, pointing at Tyler’s face. Her voice was curled with a Hispanic tilt, her big brown eyes peering at him. She was a few years younger than him, but they’d been friends since Tyler had helped make the stables she now used to treat horses from nearby areas, one of the most talented people with Animal Magic he knew.
“Just hungry,” Tyler said, waving her off.
“Sure. This cheese comes from Alex’s farm, by the way. Try it.” Alex was another Animal Magic user in a nearby coven, whom they worked with to trade goods.
Tyler popped a piece into his mouth, the creamy flavour cutting with a sharp tang. “Wow, that’s good.”
“Right? New cows.”
Tyler nodded, a lull falling between them as they each served themselves. “Hey,” Tyler said once their plates were full. “You heard about the two people from the Imber coven?”
“Oh, yeah. Poor guys, I can’t even imagine what it must have been like to be in that place…” Connie replied, her curly hair bouncing as she shook her head.
“Right. Sure.” He glanced up at Cross, who was sitting far enough away not to be able to hear their conversation. “You seen Roman around? Skinny, pale, looks like a cherub.”
Connie raised her eyebrows. “I don’t think so? I know who you’re talking about, I saw him when he arrived, but I haven’t seen him lately. Why?”
“Nothing. I’m in charge of him or whatever. Can you tell me if you see him out and about?”
Connie narrowed her eyes at him. “I don’t know why, but you’re making this sound fishy. It’s not like he has to be monitored twenty-four-seven.”
“I know that—I just want to know if he…needs anything,” Tyler excused.
“Right. Well, I can tell you if he needs something.”
Tyler rolled his eyes. “Fine, thanks.”
Was nobody but him even slightly worried about having the son of the Imber Coven’s high witch here? Really?
Cross seemed perfectly capable of eating with the rest of them. Why not Roman?
There was something strange about that man—Tyler could feel it in his gut. He just had to figure out what.
**********
That thought—of what it must be like to live without a coven—lay belly up and squirming as Tyler tried to fall asleep that night.
Being part of a coven wasn’t just about the people you lived with, or the high witch you answered to—it was whom you were connected to.
