“Cook?” Garret said without looking over his shoulder. “Yeah. I might have gone a little overboard today, though.”
“A little?” Loch chuckled. “You could feed an army.”
“It’s Holly’s first morning since she was taken. I’m not the best with words, but I am good with a skillet.”
“Comfort food.” Loch nodded. “They barely gave us anything in the mines. Literally bread and water. Holly’s going to be thrilled when she sees all this.”
Garret’s broad shoulders drooped as he let out a sigh. He turned around, his eyes filled with apology.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ve been so freaked out over getting Holly back that I forgot you went through the same shit she did.”
“Do you believe that?” Loch asked with a wry smile. “I know there’s been some debate over where my loyalties lie.”
“There have,” Garret admitted. “But Holly wanted you here. That’s good enough for me.”
“I’m glad you see it that way. I wouldn’t want to give you any reason to tear my arms off.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
“But you could.” Loch eyed Garret’s thick arms. Loch wasn’t a small man, by any means. He was well over six feet. Years of doing manual labor to make ends meet had kept him in damn good shape, but he knew he was physically outmatched by Garret.
“Yeah.” Garret grinned. “I probably could.”
He turned back to the stove and grabbed a delicate white plate painted with pink, blue, and yellow flowers from the upper cupboard. He piled the plate high with a little bit of everything and passed it to Loch.
“Interesting flatware.” Loch smirked.
“This was Pearl’s house. She loved those plates.”
“Does she still have the matching tea set somewhere?” Loch asked.
Garret’s brows shot up.
“You think just because I don’t live here, Pearl didn’t have a soft spot for me?” Loch smirked. “She’s the reason I have an apartment now. She got the landlord to take pity on me and give me a steal of a rate.”
“You didn’t want to live here?” Garret asked.
“Nah.” Loch shook his head. “I like my space. I’m a shit roommate. You’ll find that out for yourself. Just give it a week, and you’ll boot me to the curb.”
Garret chuckled as he resumed cooking. “We can’t even if we wanted to.”
“Oh?”
“You and Holly are the only ones who know anything about the bastards who are trying to return to the dark ways. We need you both if we’re going to bring them down.”
Loch opened his mouth to speak, then paused.
Garret didn’t know about Trevor.
Loch figured Holly would’ve mentioned him by now, but she hadn’t.
“We’re all on the same team now,” he said at last.
“We were always on the same team.”
Loch didn’t look up from his plate. He quickly shoveled food into his mouth so he didn’t have to speak. He needed to talk to Holly. He wanted to know why she hadn’t said anything about Trevor.
Trevor was one of the Silver Spruce firstborns. Surely, the other firstborns had a right to know who they were up against.
Perhaps, in all the stress and confusion, Holly hadn’t had a moment to speak about it yet. She was frazzled last night, but Loch heard her walking around in the wee hours. She spoke to one of the other men, but he wasn’t sure which one. Surely, she’d tell them what she knew today.
Then again, she had deliberately left out Elise’s involvement in their escape. Something was surely going on.
“Lively bunch you are this morning.” Keller strode into the kitchen, grabbed a plate, and took a seat next to Loch at the island.
“I was held hostage for a week. He has no excuse.” Loch jerked his head toward Garret.
“Have you seen Holly yet?” Keller asked.
“No,” Garret replied.
“I couldn’t help but notice Johnny wasn’t in his studio,” Keller went on. “I went to grab him for breakfast and found it empty.”
“He’s probably up with Holly,” Garret offered. “I heard them talking on the deck last night. I think she’s having trouble sleeping.”
Jealousy gripped Loch around the throat. The thought of Johnny, of all people, curled up with Holly in bed after all Loch went through with her. It made his blood boil.
“I have some questions,” Loch said, choosing his words carefully.
“Oh, I’m sure you do.” Garret chuckled. “Fire away.”
“How does this work?” Loch asked. “Are she and Johnny together?”
Keller and Garret exchanged a look.
“How much do you know about the Prophecy of the Maiden?” Keller asked.
“Not as much as I should, obviously.”
“We don’t know as much as we should, either,” Garret offered. “What we do know is an entire clusterfuck of information, but let me boil it down for you. The Maiden will bring peace to the bear clans by choosing a King and bearing a child.”
“I knew that bit.” Loch nodded. “Only firstborns can be King.”
“Right. The Maiden, in this case, Holly, gets to choose who the King will be.”
“So, she’s selected Johnny?”
“No.” Keller shook his head.
Loch caught the annoyed glint in his eye.
“As the Maiden, or vessel of the Maiden, or—”
“Whatever of the Maiden,” Loch cut him off.
“It’s Holly’s right to…court all of the firstborn sons.”
Loch pressed his lips together. He wasn’t liking where this is going. “And you’re all just okay with sharing her?” he asked.
“It’s not always easy,” Keller admitted. “When we found out about it, we agreed not to stand in Holly’s way. She’s the one in power here, not us. It’s for her sake, and the sake of the bear clans, that we don’t make this harder for her than it has to
