Page 30 of Untraceable
“Can you invite them early?”
Amori looked at her warily. “I can. Why do you want them here?”
“Just want to meet the man who would have been my brother-in-law.”
“Would have been?”
“Sure. Rage’s power is resurrection. She is killed and then rises again. If I recall, most wedding treatises are ‘until death do us part.’ Death would have parted her with that blow.”
Amori stared. “Resurrection? What is your lineage?”
“Oh, we have different fathers. Mine was my mother’s husband until she stripped his power and consumed him. Rage’s was an under-the-bed monster. A bogey man.”
“They... they don’t breed outside their own race.”
“Apparently, they do, because she is here, and she has pointy needle teeth.” She smiled. “She can also take on any form; she just needs a little blood.”
Amori rubbed his head. “This is a lot.”
Heyval wrapped up the takeout and grinned. “Time for clothing. Everything seems more reasonable while dressed.”
She got her clothing back on, and when she was wearing her cute dress, he was in trousers and a button-down shirt. He looked all businesslike.
“Well, if fun and games are off the table, I need something to do. I either need a kitchen with a lot of flour or a library. Hopefully both but not at the same time.”
He sighed. “I had hoped to spend the day with you in my arms.”
“Well, we had morning sex. That has to tick a box somewhere.”
He walked up to her, grabbed her waist, and kissed her. When she was limp, he leaned back. “You are not a list, you are my future, and I want to spend my life embracing you.”
She blinked.
“But for today and until we get the all-clear, I want to keep you safe.”
Heyval nodded. “Right. So, which way to the kitchen?”
Amori smiled, took her hand, and they left his room with her purse over her shoulder and her phone clutched in her fist.
The kitchen was a nice size, and the chef was preparing a nice, solid breakfast for them. She grinned and said, “I need to bake something, so which is the least used countertop?”
The stunned chef directed her, and one of his assistants showed her where the flour was. Heyval looked at Amori. “I am good to remain here unsupervised. What I have in mind is going to take until lunchtime.”
He grabbed her and kissed her in front of his three employees. When he lifted his head, he licked his lips and said, “I will be in my office until breakfast is ready, and then I expect you to eat with me.”
“Fine. Now shoo. This is a habit that I need to keep up.” She turned away from him and got to work, finding the yeast and starting her sponge. From there, she had to wait for it to rise, so she started a puff pastry.
When she had a minute, she got the butter and started to chop it up. She asked the chef, “Do you have anything for pie fillings? I am making some puff and need to do something with it.”
The man grinned. “I know just the thing. I will get on it after I finish breakfast.”
She stayed in her corner of the kitchen, and when the king came by, she left her work to rest and went to eat with him.
She grabbed her coffee and grinned at the high-protein meal. There was every standard breakfast food, plus a few from distant places. It was definitely enjoyable.
The king was halfway through his meal when he said, “It is the right man. The one I thought of for your sister. He was butthurt about her running from him, so I mentioned the extensive scarring that she has. His voice got tight, and he said he would take care of it.”
“Oh, so... he didn’t know.”
