Desperate to keep her smiling, words flooded out of my mouth like vomit. “Maybe he didn’t abandon you. It’s possible he was just eaten by an alligator or something.”Stupid. Why would you say that? That’s terrible.
She paused. “You know, that kinda makes me feel better.”
Oh. OK never mind that worked.
“Is your family close?” Brie asked. “You mentioned you wanted ten kids, which I’m sorry, but no.” she said, fanning herself. “Ten is too many, even if we are fated mates.”
I sipped my wine, eager to find out the acceptable number. “Yes, the orc clan I grew up with was all very close. Most of us were scattered during the last run of Myva’s curse. But you’ve met my brother, Balabash. I’m sure our brother Yala will turn up soon. He’s always had a knack for hunting us down if we ever got separated.”
“Hmm. Yes, I remember Balabash. He’s rather taken with Sunbeam. Do werewolves and orcs normally live together?”
“No, I’m adopted. I do not know what happened to my birth parents. But it doesn’t matter. The Monet clan is my family. How many kids do you want?” I asked.
Brie clutched her drink to her chest. “You’re not going to let that question slide, are you?” When I shook my head, she continued. “Maybe three?”
The fact that I’d gone from the possibility of zero to three was promising. “I can work with that.”
“You better.” She said, narrowing her eyes. “You won’t be the one pushing them out.” A startled look crossed her face, and she slammed her glass on the table. “Wait, how did we get into this conversation? We’re supposed to be removing your curse!” she said, wagging her finger at me. “Stop distracting me.”
“I promise nothing.” Our future children depended on it.
“Brat.” she muttered, returning her attention to the enormous book.
The spell book looked ancient and a little ominous. Most of my kind knew firsthand how dangerous magic could be. Volsog was a frozen hell-scape most of the year. The last thing anyone wanted was to make things worse with magic gone awry. Unless you were born with a natural instinct for it, like fox shifters or fae, it wasn’t something you dared mess with. “Beloved, not that I don’t trust you with my life, but do you know what you’re doing?”
“Not at all,” she said. “But Fallon said it was a do or die situation, so let’s give it a try.”
“Wasn’t fucking our way out of this also an option?” Panic crept up my spine. There was no telling the damage one could do with untested magic. Flashes of waking up, confused and beaten, entered my mind. I didn’t even know how much time I lost under Myva’s curse. My time spent captured in Wandermere was all a blank until Cinnamon woke me up. It could have been days or weeks.
Brie stood, waving me off. “Fucking our way out is Plan B. OK, first up is the herb blend. Hold still.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small leather bag. Shifting the book to rest on her hip, Brie pulled open the bag’s drawstring with her teeth and threw it at me. It landed square in my chest, dumping a mix of ground up spices all over my lap. I looked at the mess, then to her.
She bit her lip and waited. “Well, how do you feel?”
“…dirty?”
“No, no, about me!” She said, patting her chest.
“Oh, I think we should spend the day in a rowboat surrounded by lilies and cuddling.” I glanced outside. “There’s still a few hours of daylight left. We could pack a few sandwiches and have a picnic. Though if you don’t mind, I’ll make mine cheese free.”
My lamb buried her head in her hand. “Alright, so nothing. Great.”
I brushed off the spice and grinned up at her. “I mean, if it means that much to you, I’ll eat another grilled cheese.”
Growling, Brie flipped to another page. “No more stomach Armageddon!” she hissed. “Next time, just tell me when you don’t like something. I felt terrible for feeding you something that made you sick.”
She was worried about me?
“This next page says I have to sing a chant. Don’t laugh.” She warned.
I raised my glass. “Serenade me, my sweet.” Her nose scrunched, making my heart swell. She hunched into the book, clearly trying to hide the embarrassed look on her face. Magic folly and consequences aside, there was nothing that could have pulled me away from letting her perform any manner of magic mishaps. So long as she remained adorable.
I bit the inside of my cheek. Refusing the laugh at the caterwauling that came next. If there were any birds in the area, they’d surely fled out of fear at the sound. A beautiful singer my lamb was not. Sipping my drink, I relaxed on the love seat, clapping when she finally finished. “Beautiful my darling.”
She stomped her foot and snarled. “Oh, don’t you patronize me! Are you out of love yet?”
“We should add rocking chairs to the front porch so we can watch the sunset together every evening. How do you feel about the name Rowan? That’s our first son. Hopefully, he’ll inherit your strong stomach. Most werewolves I know have issues with dairy. I imagine hybrid children will have a stronger disposition. Cheese pups, if you will.”This was too fun.
She paced back and forth, muttering angrily to herself. “Stupid magic books and their shitty spells.”
