Page 27 of Toadstools and Vampire Kisses

That might actually make me feel better if it were all a matter of instinct rather than genuine preference. The fact that his instinct would compel him to choose her over me would still sting, but not as much as him intentionally doing so.

“Of course not,” he growls, dashing my tentative hopes. He glances over at me, his jaw tightening. “That was all Jack’s doing. I needed to test something, and he stupidly thought he was helping.”

I frown. “Testing something that I couldn’t be part of?”

“You were, in a way,” he hedges. “But it required distance, yes, but only for as long as it was necessary. The moment my results were conclusive, I hunted you out immediately… and came across Jack.”

My lips tug up in a faint smirk as I resume walking. When Reynard falls into step with me this time, I can’t help but notice the tiny shiver of pleasure that races through me. “I hope that he wasn’t too upset.”

Reynard gives a bark of laughter and shakes his head. “Other than being trapped, he seemed to be enjoying making himself sick on human fare. He was certainly in no hurry to be released, though I for one would have liked him to suffer at least a little considering the pain I had to go through in the company of Sarah Goodwin.”

I laugh at that in spite of myself, and he smiles down at me in a way that I interpret as warm on his inhuman features.

“That bad, huh?” I tease.

He inches closer, his smile widening. “Excruciating. Unfortunately, I am terrible at pretense with social niceties. I ended up getting blasted off my feet for offending her, but it was worth it to make my escape.”

I stifle a chuckle. Sarah is actually known to be very nice and helpful within the coven, so I feel a little bad at laughing but for the mental image I have of Reynard using the opportunity to scamper away like the fox he was dressed as.

“You realize that everyone was going on and on about how great you and Sarah looked together.”

He grimaces. “Appearances can be deceiving.” He looks down at me intently. “I may have danced with her for a time, but it was you I wanted to be with, and it was for you that I did that absurd dance,” he adds with a small smile. “Surely everyone would have seen that as well.”

I shift uncomfortably. “There was a lot of gossiping. It was embarrassing.”

He purses his lips, and to my surprise he reaches out and takes my hand in his large, shockingly warm one. “I did not mean to embarrass you. It is the last thing I would wish.” He hesitates for a moment, uncertainty in his eyes. “I would like to escort you into the maze, if that is agreeable to you?”

“I promised my mother I would join her.”

“Then we can together. As long as we are together, it is all I desire. There is no one else I would rather spend this evening with.”

Biting my lip, I thread my fingers with his and nod. “Let’s hurry then. I think everyone is getting impatient to get started.”

ChapterSeventeen

FRAN

My mother raises her eyebrow when we finally arrive, her gaze straying to Reynard. I battle down my blush, but she smiles at me and loops her arm with Adeon.

“All right, witches, it looks like we are all present and accounted for.”

“Finally,” Eleanor sighs, giving me a relieved look.

The tour through the maze hasn’t even begun yet, and she is already looking frazzled from all the work she’s been doing. Of course, Eleanor being Eleanor, she just appears happy to see me there and ready to get the whole thing going rather than any sort of resentment when I should be there shouldering more of the weight. Guilt snaps its teeth at me, and I wince.

Just great.

To my surprise, I feel Reynard squeeze my hand and glance over at him beneath my lashes. He gives me an encouraging smile, and it soaks through me, warming me. Facing forward, I try not to smile as my mother opens the large iron gate that leads to the maze and the greater part of the garden contained within it. The spell I set on the hedges made them creak as branches rattle, but I nearly jump when a large billow of fog suddenly blasts out of the maze and rises like a threatening specter in front of us before settling over the ground like a dense soup. A nervous laugh runs through the coven, and my mother grins back at all of us, her hand still gripping the gate.

She gives a delicate little shiver. “Well, that was creepy, wasn’t it?”

Eleanor, who I swear reached out as if to some invisible presence just seconds before, snorts out a laugh but grins gamely. “I should have known that you would have some tricks up your sleeve, but I think that just outdid all expectations.”

My mother’s smile widens. “And more awaits us in the garden. Proceed, my lovelies, into the netherworld.” With a flourish of her gloved hand, she steps back, pulling the gate open further, giving admittance to those waiting to enter.

A murmur of voices rises as people whisper and giggle to each other as they begin to file in. As the crowd thins, I make my way over to my mother, Reynard in step at my side. Already the last of the stragglers are disappearing into the maze as we join her.

Blue eyes twinkle up at me, she adjusts her gloves as Adeon hovers over her like a hulking shadow, his harsh features softened by a fond smile curling his lips as he looks down at her. I take a moment to watch the interplay as my mother’s fingertips brush his arm in a light caress as she directs him toward the maze entrance. Definitely more going on there than she said—or perhaps than she wants to admit. I smile, happy for her though I know she will stubbornly ignore whatever this is between them every step of the way. I hope Adeon is prepared, though I suspect that he knows exactly what he’s gotten himself into and is relishing it.

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