“Sounds good.” It had been over a week since he had chased the society away, and he had spent those days fixing the mess they had made. He pulled off all his clothes and tossed them in the hamper. “Anything else?”
“It’s the big day.” Naia held his hand in case he slipped, then wrapped her arms around his waist once he was in. “Beth will be here any minute to make it final.”
“Excellent.” He closed his eyes, and the water in the tub surged around him. It took only a few seconds, the powerful vortex of water scrubbing his skin clean. The water fell back down with a splash, and Naia lathered his hair with shampoo. “I’m hoping things slow down soon,” he said. “It’s been a little hectic.”
“At least nobody is trying to kill you today.” She pressed herself against him again, her breasts squishing into his chest. The water vortex worked its magic to rinse his hair, and Mike opened his eyes. Naia gave him a kiss on the nose.
“Thanks,” he told her and got out of the tub, instantly dry. He put on some clean clothes and left his room, closing the door behind him. The smell of fresh food made his mouth water, and he jogged quietly down the stairs, ducking at the bottom to avoid the sudden swirl of fairy lights over his head. As far as he could tell, Cerulea had run off with a piece of bacon, and Carmina and Olivia had given chase.
“It’s about time,” Sofia said, then set an extra plate on the table. She wore an apron over her gown. “I figured you were going to sleep through breakfast.”
Tink was already at the table, his laptop just to the left of her plate. She opened her mouth wide to shove in syrup-covered waffles.
“Do I smell bacon?” he asked.
“Cerulea took the last piece. She was the early bird, so she got the worm.” Sofia handed him a cup of coffee. “You’ll have to settle for sausage and toast.”
“I feel so punished.” He smiled at her, but she didn’t return it. He took a sip of the coffee. “Tastes good.”
“Of course it does.” She rolled her eye. “Everything I make tastes great.”
“I think you taste great.” He reached around her and gave her ass a pinch. Her cheeks turned red. “Even if you are a little sour at first.”
Sofia stayed quiet, but he saw the slight smile on her lips just before he looked away.
“Today’s the big day, Tink. Are we ready?” Mike asked.
“Think so,” Tink replied. At least, he thought that’s what she’d said. It was hard to hear around the mouthful of waffles. He patted her on the head and sat down next to her. She was busy filling up his online shopping cart with decorative wood.
“Has anybody seen Dana?” Mike asked. Even though she didn’t eat, she’d been at the table every morning.
“She said she left you a note.” Sofia pushed some sausages from her skillet onto his plate. “On the table by the front door.”
“Okay, thank you.” He put some butter on his toast. “Hey, do we have any—”
Sofia slid some scrambled eggs onto his plate.
“Thank you.” He ate quietly, watching Tink scroll through six different websites to find what she needed. He cringed at the amount of syrup she was getting on his keyboard but stayed quiet. He barely had time to use the laptop anymore, and he had passed on several of his clients to other web developers already. Mike’s days of working a normal job were nearly over.
“Mmm!” Tink licked her fingers clean, then slid off her chair and disappeared around the corner. He figured she was off to go fix something important.
He slid his laptop over and gave it a quick wipe down with a damp paper towel before doing some shopping of his own.
His phone rang on the counter. Sofia handed it to him.
“Hey,” he said.
It was Beth. “I’m on my way back right now,” she told him. “I will probably be there in just over an hour.”
“How did it go?”
“We had some trouble but nothing we couldn’t handle.” He could hear the smile in her voice. “I got everything I needed, so we are headed your way now.”
“Stay out of trouble.” He hung up the phone, then finished his eggs.
He helped Sofia with the dishes, then walked out into the front room. He noticed immediately that the grandfather clock was gone. He looked around and saw that a large white envelope with his name had appeared on the mantle.
“Uh-oh.” He approached the mantle and opened the note to read its contents. He let out a sigh, then tucked it in his back pocket. It was a note from Dana. She was leaving the house in an attempt to pursue a potential cure that Ratu had told her about.
There was nothing he could do about it now. He walked to the back door to see that Zel and Tink stood by the fountain, scrutinizing a diagram that Zel had drawn. He didn’t feel like getting involved yet so walked out the front door of the house to be alone.
Well, almost alone. Cecilia was on her swing, watching the front yard. He gave her a wave, then walked down the steps to the sundial. He gave it another twist, setting the defenses in place for twenty-four more hours. He didn’t feel the need to wait until it was almost done before resetting it.
“Did you sleep well?” Cecilia asked him when he stepped back onto the porch.
He shrugged, then sat down next to her. “I did but not enough.”
“I have always wondered what it would be like to sleep. Sometimes, if I sit long enough, my mind wanders to old memories. Is it like that?”
“It can be. I used to dream a lot about my childhood.”
“You don’t anymore?”
“Since moving in here, no. Dreams are a place where our greatest desires or
