“I’m okay. I’ve got it. You’re right. He’s right. Knowing’s a weapon. And nothing’s going to happen tonight, or until Samhain.”
Except Odran would finally push Nan’s curtain aside and see her. She wasn’t sure how she’d handle that when the time came.
“Hell, I wasn’t thinking. We’re going to have to walk back through all those woods in the dark.”
“It’s all right. I can bring light.”
“She can bring light,” Marco mumbled as they climbed the seven steps. Then laughed when she tossed out all the pretty little balls of it. “You’re a wonder, girl. I’ve got so much to tell you. Just a whole crapload. But I gotta ask…”
Distracted, he climbed onto the tree and through without thinking about it. Then stopped, stared. “If I wake up and this is all a dream, I’m going to be pissed. Anyway, I was going to ask before we walked through freaking worlds, what am I baking and why?”
She explained on the walk back to the cottage, and listened to Marco talk about his day. Learning to ride—his favorite part of it—and through to his visit to Morena’s grandparents’ cottage—his second favorite.
“Is every day over there this wild?” he asked as Bollocks headed straight to the bay.
“At first, I guess so. You just never know what you’re going to see or do.” She started the fire before heading toward the kitchen.
“Like that. Like watching my best girl start the fire from across the room. Let’s have really big glasses of wine.”
“Yes, let’s.”
“Enough leftover pasta for dinner. Good thing,” he decided while Breen poured generous glasses. “Since I’m going to be baking for Doc and Sneezy.”
“I’ll help. I’m completely on cleanup.”
“First things first. I’m going to take a long, hot shower, get me some pj’s on—you do the same. Then we’re going to drink more wine, eat pasta. Then we bake.”
“A shower and pj’s. Best idea ever. As soon as I fill Bollocks’s bowls.” But she leaned against the counter first, let the day drain away as much as it could. “How’s your ass?”
He turned, wiggled it. “High and tight and proud.”
“I meant from the saddle.”
“A little sore here and there, but nothing much.”
“God, I could barely walk after my first lesson. I could hate you if I didn’t love you so much.”
She pushed off to fill the dog’s bowls. Let Bollocks know his dinner waited.
“You and Keegan went at it hard. And hot.”
“The fire-to-water trick was my secret weapon—at first.”
“I don’t mean that, girl. I mean…” Rolling his eyes, Marco waved a hand in front of his face. “Hot.”
“Honestly.” When Bollocks raced in, she walked over to shut the door and saw the pixies had come to guard. “It’s not about sex.”
“I know hot when I see hot. And if you don’t tap that man again, I feel sorry for you, girl.”
“We’ve got a lot more to think about than sex.”
Another eye roll. “That’s why you gotta grab the good stuff when you have the chance.” He swung an arm around her as they started for the stairs. “And I’d bet my new harp that man brings the good stuff.”
“Maybe. Yes. But we’re focused on saving worlds here.”
“Not much point if you don’t grab that good stuff. I’m maybe going to need a cold shower now.”
She pushed him toward his room and split off to her own.
CHAPTER SIX
Always an early riser, Breen started her day before the sun. She watched the pixies flicker and flutter outside the garden door while she squeezed in a predawn workout. She expected Keegan to put her through her paces—in his unrelenting style—so she’d damn well be prepared for it.
By the time the sun streamed through the glass, she’d posted a blog and made some solid progress on Bollocks’s next adventure.
Taking what she deemed a well-earned break, she went out to greet Marco.
“You were up early,” she said as he guarded a pot of water on the stove. “I heard you puttering around out here on and off, but I was in the groove.”
“Me, too.” He reached into the pot with a slotted spoon, turned something. “I’m making bagels, baby.”
“I think you’re supposed to toast bagels, Marco.”