AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I reach for her hand. “To be fair, she was somewhere between off-balance and wrecked. And not in the grab-my-meds kind of way. I think it was really hard for her, just coming here in the first place. And I don’t think it had anything to do with a bruised ego or damaged optics.”
“You’re kidding, right?” She pulls free to snatch up a strawberry and bite into it. “Everything’s about optics.”
“Not this time,” I insist. “What I felt from her this time…it was about…trust. Well, a lack of it.”
“So what happened then? If she ended up not telling you, did they just blow smoke and leave?”
She chuckles. I don’t.
“Succinctly put, yes.” I’m prepared for her to treat the berry as furiously as she did the scone. I’m not wrong. “But a few hours later, Arden found a way to circle back and return on his own.”
“And Mother was okay with th—” Her gaze bugs wide. “Oh! Shedidn’tknow!”
Weirdly, I welcome the smack of her shock. It’s not a rom-com matchmaker moment filled with the gleeful recognition of the enemies turned soft on each other—nothing about Arden Prieto will ever be that way—but at least Kell knows the whole story now. That in his warped way, he’s trying to make things work. What that eventually looks like between the two of them is anyone’s guess. I wish someone around here actually had the power of premonition, but even for Hecate, the future’s a cloudy gazing ball.
“Kara?”
And speaking of our goddess leader…
“Kalimera,” Hecate says in the soothing tones that blend with her ever-present wardrobe bells. Today they’re hunter green, adorning gauzy scarves around her waist and head. A light-green tank top and a colorful skirt complete her look. “It is a good morning, indeed, to see you and your sister better rested.”
“Thank you, Goddess.” I finish my murmur by giving Kell a hard knee nudge.
“Ow!” she grates, but then, “Uh. Yes. Thank you…um…Goddess. And…calamari to you too.”
To my relief, Hecate emits a soft chortle. I bite my lip to avoid joining her. It doesn’t seem right to be so amused by Kell’s little gaffe. Thankfully, Hecate seems as ready to move on as me.
“Morgan’s made up your morning elixir,” she says gently. “So be sure to go grab it in the kitchen. We’ll start morning enlightenment at half past the hour, as Circe and I must go over some feed requisitions with Kiama. That is, if you’re feeling up to it?”
“Up…to it?” I hesitate saying anything more, wondering if I’m interpreting things wrong. But the new humor in her iridescent eyes confirms her purposeful pun, and I finally set a laugh free. “Of course, Goddess. Whateverfliesbest for the two of you.”
Hecate tosses her head back with a good-natured groan. “Oh my, diamond. How you keep me on my toes.”
She uses that as an affectionate parting shot, ensuring the sunny grin stays parked on my lips. I’m even beaming around a new bite of scone—until Kell’s bemused stare turns into a force I can’t ignore. She looks lost and found at the same time, darting her regard between Hecate’s back and my face.
“What?” I manage before sloshing down the pastry with a swig of tea.
“She calls youdiamond?”
“We’re all called that.” I shrug. “Guess it’s like being in a sorority or something.”
“Since when were you okay with being in a sorority?”
“Is that really your point?”
“No, actually.” She only picks at her scone now. “It’s just…this is so surreal. You’re awitch. And now you’re getting pointers about it from the goddess of magic herself, live and in-person at that goddess’s secret ashram.”
I can’t avoid a laugh this time. “Ashram?”
“Tell me what else you call a place where breakfast is heralded with a Tingsha chime instead of a ranch triangle, everyone chugs ‘morning elixir,’ and there’s food being ordered for the horses and goats?”
“And the fox and tiger,” I add.
She whacks a hand to her forehead. “Now how did I forget them again?”
My giggle mellows into a wide smile. I still can’t help it. It feels like I’ve lived the equivalent of a decade in the space of a week, but just for this moment, I’m the person I remember from before. A simple student just hanging out with her sarcastic sister over our morning caffeine.
“Fine. Your metaphor’s sort of valid,” I finally concede.
