“Oh!” Realization hit me. He wanted me to take them into the dining room. I scooped them up, one for each hand and smiled at the guy before carrying them to the massive table.
People were already seated around it, Di being one of them. However, Irna was nowhere to be seen.
I gave Di a weak smile as I put a pitcher down on each end of the table before sliding into an empty seat next to Xander. He was already filling up his plate, but I wasn’t hungry.
He scooped up a forkful of eggs and stopped it halfway to his mouth when he saw I made no effort to add food to my plate.
“Eat, Emi,” he told me in a low voice. “You’ll need your strength in case we have to jet out of here quickly.”
I rolled my eyes, but leaned forward and took an orange out of one of the fruit bowls. I hated to admit it, but he could be right. There was a fifty-fifty chance it could all go completely sideways if Irna continued with her need to study me, or if the others in the house didn’t accept me.
Not wanting to think about it, I robotically began peeling the orange and I let my mind drift. I began to think about Ronan and what he’d said the last time I saw him. I thought about him a lot along with the messed up situation we were in.
Pieces of orange peel dropped gently to the plate while I played his words over and over in my head. Was he really on my side? Would he choose me over the Council? His life’s aspirations? My heart hurt, like it did every time I thought about my caster mate.
I stared off absently and realized there was nothing left to peel. I looked back at Xan and saw he was watching me with a somber expression. I smiled up at him, trying to convince him I was okay, even though I wasn’t. I would never be whole without both of my mates beside me. I knew it was unfair to him, so I kept it to myself. At least, I tried to. Sometimes I felt like Xan understood my feelings almost better than I did, by the way he always seemed to be attuned to them. Especially in those moments when I wanted to keep them to myself.
I nudged him with my elbow and broke eye contact, my attention shifting to the orange in my hands as I peeled off a piece and popped it into my mouth. I ate every bite of my orange, as well as the food that somehow magically appeared on my plate when I wasn’t looking, thanks to the giant dragon sitting to my left.
Unlike dinner the night before, breakfast was a quiet ordeal. Even Di seemed to keep her mouth shut while we all gained our energy for the morning. It was as if everyone knew I was already at my limit for the day, even though it had just gotten started.
But I knew the peace brought by the first meal of the day wouldn’t last. After all, I hadn’t had a single peaceful day since becoming myself again. What would make me think this day would be any different?
Chapter Six
Breakfast clean up was just as awful as I imagined it would be. I mean, it could have been worse, but no one enjoys washing a bunch of dirty dishes, especially when they only dirty one or two, at the most, themselves. But until my path became more clear, I’d have to live with the dishes and the constant pruny hands that came with doing the stupid chore.
Xan thought the whole thing was pretty funny, chuckling and smirking at me as I groaned every time someone brought me another dish to wash. Since he helped put breakfast together, he didn’t have to clean up, but it didn’t mean he didn’t want to park himself on a stool by the kitchen island and watch me suffer through it.
After what seemed like an endless supply of dishes washed, my mate and I walked out to the backyard to try and explore. We didn’t get much of a chance the day before, and we both wanted to get the lay of the land, so to speak. You know, in case we needed to make a quick exit.
“Xander! Emelia!”
We had only gotten a few feet off of the patio when we heard our names called out. Xan and I both turned around to see Grayson come out of the back door followed by two others. Shifters. But what they were exactly, I couldn’t tell.
“This is Benson and Trey,” he told us, motioning to the two shifters behind him.
“Hey guys,” I smiled, trying to play nice. Xan just nodded his hello to both men but otherwise stayed silent.
Sensing the uncomfortable situation, Grayson cleared his throat. “Uh, how are you guys settling in?”
I held up my hands to show him my pruny fingers and he and his friends all chuckled.
“It does get better,” Benson smiled. “I promise.” He almost purred as his eyes raked over me in a more than friendly way.
Xan slid in front of me and growled menacingly, making the three in front of us back up.
“Easy, man,” Grayson held up his hands in surrender, then elbowed his friend behind him. “Ben, knock it off! They’re a mated pair, dumbass!”
“What? How? I thought you said she was Devlin’s niece!”
Grayson turned his attention back to me as I stepped out from behind Xan. He was silently asking me what he should do. I shook my head toward him, because I didn’t want someone else telling others about me when they didn’t know the whole story. I
