Page 21 of Roaring Spell

“I wasn’t mooning⁠—”

“He was mooning.” Veren sets down a spring, examines it, decides it’s not interesting enough, and pockets it anyway. “I have it on good authority from at least four separate sources. Sunny alone counts as two.”

“Since when do you have sources in the town square?”

“Since always, darling. Foxes hear everything.” He starts on the next pen. “Also, I bet Rhodes twenty gold you’d last a week before volunteering for something humiliating. You’ve made me a very wealthy fox.”

“I’m not humiliated.”

“You reorganized her supply closet. That’s not monitoring, that’s courtship with extra steps.”

“Her coffee order.” Aslan holds up his phone, showing a text chain I don’t want to examine. “Oat milk latte, two sugars, extra hot. Marcus has been updating us daily.”

“Marcus needs a hobby.”

“Marcus has a hobby. It’s you.” Elio shifts in his seat, managing to look elegant while sitting on uncomfortable stone. “So. The witch. How’s that going?”

“It’s going professionally.”

“Professionally.” Rhodes finally looks up. “Is that why you’ve volunteered for extra patrols near her studio? Or why you show up two hours before your shift actually starts?”

“I’m thorough.”

“You’re smitten.” Aslan grins with the confidence of someone who’s been through this and come out the other side. “It’s fine. Natural, even. When Leire first⁠—”

“We’re not discussing Leire.”

“We’re absolutely discussing Leire. She’s relevant context.” Aslan leans forward.

“Okay. How?”

“Before, I was existing. Now, I’m living. I can’t remember what my life felt like before her.” His voice softens in a way that makes my chest ache.

Elio makes a gagging sound. “Very poetic. Did you rehearse that?”

“Shut up.”

“I’m just saying—” Elio spreads his hands. “—not all of us need flowery declarations. Some of us prefer action to words.”

“Speak for yourself.” Veren finally looks up, all sharp amusement. “I fully intend to write sonnets about whoever finally traps me. Terrible ones. I’ll read them aloud at Network meetings until everyone begs for mercy.”

“That’s a threat, not a romantic gesture.”

“With me, darling, it’s rarely a meaningful distinction.”

“Some of us prefer both.” Rhodes sighs. “Can we discuss actual Network business now, or shall we continue exploring Torin’s romantic incompetence?”

“Both,” Elio, Aslan, and Veren say in unison.

I sink into my stone chair and accept that this is my life now.

I try to focus on the meeting. Fail completely. Keep thinking about dark eyes and silver-streaked hair and the way she said “we both know it.”

“—listening?”

I blink. “What?”

“The weather witch.” Rhodes taps his notebook. “Her episode locations. They overlap with the Warding Line weak points.”