Page 35 of Dark of Winter (Wild Haven 1)

I want to ask if they’re married, a couple, platonic roommates, but there doesn’t seem to be a good opening for that question. Unless they’re going to offer it up, I guess it will be a mystery. Maybe Davis knows and I can ask him later.

“Are you getting settled into island life?” Serafina asks as she sits down on the chair that’s a match to Anthony’s. It’s directly across from him, separated by the geometric glass table that sits in front of the couch.

“I am, thank you. Everyone has been very… welcoming.” You know, forcing dinners and barging into my house.

“That’s an awfully big house for you to be rambling around in alone.” Anthony almost sounds like he’s scolding me as he takes a drink of his wine. I give him a simpering smile and take a drink as well.

“I’m managing just fine.” His eyes flit over to Davis before returning to me.

“Yes, it seems you’re integrating with the locals easily enough.”

His tone irritates me. I don’t know why that feels like an insult to Davis, but there’s something implied in the disdain that drips from his words.

“You’re local, aren’t you?”

Davis makes a low humming sound as he settles back into the couch, his arm resting more fully over my shoulders. His fingers graze over the skin of my exposed shoulder, and for a second, I lose my train of thought. I don’t remember what Anthony and I are low-key sparing about. All I see, feel, and smell is Davis. I might as well be moving in slow motion as I turn to look at Davis, catching my lip between my teeth as need barrels through me. I don’t even care if the reason he’s touching me is to piss off Anthony. Is that why?

Davis isn’t looking at me, though. He’s smiling sardonically at Anthony while he waits for him to answer my question.

“Not originally, no. I arrived here in my twenties.” Arrived? I guess that’s one way to put it.

“How many years does it take to turn into a local? Asking for a friend.” I turn back to Anthony, who looks like he’s swallowed something that tastes like ass.

“More than twenty years.” The room goes quiet as everyone lets Anthony’s comment soak in. None of us appear to be the type that needs to fill the silence to put others at ease, so it stretches painfully. Seraphina looks like she’s taken a Valium and couldn’t give two shits about what the rest of us are talking about. After way too long Anthony finally assembles his mouth into the shape of a smile, but I swear the edges of his lips are trembling with the effort.

“Shall we adjourn to the dining room for dinner?”

I pick up my glass of wine and down the rest in two large gulps.

“I guess we have to.” I snap my mouth shut after the snark leaks out. Davis raises a brow but looks like he’s having a hard time keeping a straight face. Normally I keep the bitch to my mental rantings but there’s something about Anthony that brings out my Cee You Next Tuesday. And seriously, adjourn? Ha. I think he means, let’s walk the five feet from the couch to the table.

I wasn’t raised to be a shitty houseguest, though, so I keep the rest of my thoughts to myself and follow Anthony to the table. He pulls out a chair and motions for me to sit. The bratty part of my personality wants to plop down on any other chair around the table, but I talk her off the ledge and sit down in the offered spot.

Anthony’s hand drops to my shoulder and I stiffen, his touch making me beyond uncomfortable. His fingers land on the skin exposed by my sweater and I tense, trying not to pull away. There’s just something icky about the contact. Scooting in my chair, I use the motion to knock his hand free.

Davis settles in beside me, and his eyes roam over my face as if he can uncover all my thoughts through force of will alone. One dark brow arches up and I minutely shake my head, letting him know it’s nothing I can’t handle.

Serafina lazily moves back and forth between the kitchen and the dining room, bringing plates of food over and setting them on the table. There’s no family style food here. It’s all served up on a plate for us already, and it looks and smells delicious. There’s salmon drizzled with a creamy dill sauce on top of couscous, sautéed vegetables in nearly every color of the rainbow, and perfectly roasted potatoes. If I wasn’t so uncomfortable with the company, I might even look forward to eating it. As it is, I’m slightly afraid it’s been poisoned. Still, my mother’s voice pops up in my head, scolding me for being rude.

“This looks incredible. You must be quite the chef.” I attempt a smile in Serafina’s direction.

She’s sitting at the table, clutching her own glass of wine and looking amused and partially offended that I assumed she cooked. “I’ll pass along your compliments to our chef.”

And just like that, I don’t like her. Sorry I didn’t realize you had a personal chef. And since when is it an insult to think someone made the meal they invited you over to eat? I force my mouth into a thin-lipped smile and nod. No one else is eating and I’m beginning to wonder if we are waiting for something when I just decide, fuck it. I don’t want this dinner party to last all night. I have bamboo shoots to shove under my nails and other less painful things to sit through than this shindig.

I pick up my fork and take a bite of the salmon, and it is freaking delicious.

“Miriam—”

“—Miri, please,” I interrupt, telling Anthony again not to call me Miriam.

He clears his throat, that sour look back on his face. “Yes, so tell me a bit about your job. And the store you’re planning on opening up in town.”

I dab at my mouth with the cloth napkin embroidered with a swirling letter A. “That’s the plan. I’m just working out details on the spot and getting all my inventory built up.”

Anthony leans back, crossing his arms and disregarding his dinner, a disapproving look on his face. “Do you think that’s the best use of your alchemy skills?”

Davis stiffens beside me, his leg shifting to brush against mine. I don’t know what he’s trying to say, but I can get the gist. Alchemy isn’t a word that someone normally associates with creating bath products. Maybe if someone was joking, they’d say what I was doing was alchemy. I know Anthony was part of that Axis group that formed but are we really going to have a casual chat about magic over dinner?

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