Page 64 of Consume
“Are you eating him, Pop?” I asked.
Ellison laughed. “Please don’t eat my son.”
“Just smelling.” He kissed the back of Astra’s head. “And this one, too.”
“I wouldn’t recommend smelling me.” I held up a hand to ward him off.
Ellison strolled over and thumbed my chin. “Have you eaten anything? You’ll need your strength.”
“I’ll grab something.”
“I mean actually sit down and eat a full breakfast, Abs. Don’t fight me on this, because you know I’m right.”
“I do. I will.” Always the worrier, my sister, but I loved her for it. It was a large part of why I was still alive.
“Moon cooked eggs and volanti,” Pop said. “There’s plenty.”
“Thanks.” On my way out, I slid Marissa another cross-eyed look with my tongue hanging out. Hearing her giggle always brightened the rest of my day.
Out in the hallway, Poh strode toward me. “Crispy says twenty minutes until touchdown. He’ll keep Parker’s ship in the air and lower theViciousremotely with a new contraption he rigged. You ready?”
“I will be.”
She nodded down at Astra, a sad smile pulling at her lips. “How’s the little one today?”
“Introspective. She has a lot to think about.”
Poh had never asked to hold either of the babies, though I sensed she wanted to, but that it might also stir up painful memories of her murdered family. She’d be ready when she was ready.
“We all have a lot to think about,” she said.
I gave her a secret smile at what I guessed took up most of her thoughts. She and Crispin seemed joined bone-to-titanium hip most days, and maybe other places, too, but I doubted it. Maybe eventually, if and when she was ready, there would be even more babies in our family.
Her yellow eyes narrowed into slivers. “What?”
I shook my head and shrugged. “Just thinking about making sugar cookies with frosting hearts drawn on them. Guys seem to like those.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“It’s part of how I snagged Mase.” Minus the frosting hearts, but I didn’t tell her that. “That, and having a potato nearby for him to hold.”
“A potato? Is this some kind of human mating ritual?”
“All I’m saying is that I’ll make cookies sometime and you can give one to Crispin. Guys like it when you give them stuff. Especially cookies.”
She chewed her lower lip. “With frosting hearts, you said?”
“Or not.”
“I’d rather not give him a potato.”
“That’s fine.”
“Okay, maybe a cookie with hearts...” She wandered off, her expression thoughtful.
I grinned after her and then started in the other direction for the dining room.
The light at the end of the hallway swayed in a gentle waft of air that carried the scent of river beans.
