She was such a hypocrite. And what was worse, she was lying to herself. If she didn’t want to see Rufsur, then why had she ordered a bunch of new clothes? And why was she wearing a new outfit today, including new shoes?
She still didn’t have any makeup on, and her hair was in its usual tight bun, but that was because she’d been fantasizing about Rufsur taking the pins out one by one and fanning it over her shoulders as he had done before.
Talk about being conflicted.
With a sigh, Edna turned away from the window. The next five minutes were spent organizing her desk, and once everything was put away, she walked out the door and headed downstairs.
As soon as she exited the office building, Amanda turned to look at her and smiled. “Edna, come join us.” She waved her over.
Theo grabbed a chair and squeezed it between Syssi’s and Amanda’s. “Here you go, judge.”
“Thank you.” Edna sat down and smiled at Jacki. “Welcome back. How is married life treating you?”
“I’m living a fairytale. Let me introduce you to Kalugal’s men.” Jacki turned around and motioned for them to approach. “This is Atzil, who runs Kalugal’s kitchen and feeds everyone.”
The guy dipped his head. “A pleasure to meet you, ma’am.”
Up close, Atzil still looked like he was straight out of a comic strip, but he had a pleasant smile, and Edna had no trouble picking up on his positive vibe.
“Same here.” She smiled at him.
“And this is Ruvon,” Jacki continued the introduction. “He is Kalugal’s William.”
Ruvon shifted from foot to foot. “From what I’ve heard, I’m nowhere near the caliber of the legendary William. I can’t wait to meet him.”
The guy was shy and anxious, but he seemed just as harmless and as pleasant as Atzil.
Was she losing her touch and everyone she met was suddenly a wonderful person?
Edna wasn’t the type to look at the world through rose-colored glasses, but apparently her outlook was changing. Hopefully, she wasn’t making a mistake by letting her guard down.
“William would love to talk to you.” She smiled at the shy immortal. “In fact, he might not let you go. It’s rare for William to find someone who is interested in the same things he is.”
Ruvon grimaced. “I know exactly how he feels. Whenever I try to explain the most basic things to the guys, their eyes gloss over, and they just nod like idiots.”
Atzil slapped his back. “Don’t talk about your friends like that. Do I call you a moron because you don’t know how to cook a sausage?”
Ruvon blushed. “I know how.”
“Without burning it?”
“I burn it on purpose. It’s tastier like that.”
Atzil rolled his eyes. “Why do I even bother.”
As the two returned to their seats next to the Guardians, Amanda put her hand on Edna’s shoulder. “I have good news, which everyone here already heard about. I’m pregnant.”
Edna’s heart skipped a beat.
Amanda had been terrified of having another child. How was she going to survive this?
Even though she seemed happy and excited, Edna could sense the anxiety rippling just underneath the surface, but the waves weren’t as violent as she would have expected given Amanda’s past.
“Congratulations.” She wrapped her arms around Amanda in a rare expression of physical affection. “When did you find out?”
“Wednesday. Naturally, I freaked out and called my mother to tell her that I’d be moving to the sanctuary until my child transitions, but Kian came up with a less drastic solution for me to keep my sanity.”
“And what’s his solution?”
“The Odus. Onidu and Okidu will take turns, so one is always around to keep an additional eye on him or her.”
“That’s an excellent idea. How is Dalhu taking it?”
Amanda grinned, her beautiful face turning radiant. “He’s walking on clouds. Dalhu always wanted to have children, but he didn’t say anything because he knew that I couldn’t even think about it without having a panic attack.”
“I’m glad that it’s all working out for you.”
Amanda took in a deep breath. “It’s a long road, and I’m going to take it one step at a time. I’m even going to talk to Vanessa because I don’t want random panic attacks to affect the baby. I want to be serene for its sake.” She cast a loving glance at Syssi. “Our children will grow up together. How awesome is that?”
Syssi patted her rounded belly. “Little Allegra will have a cousin for a playmate. It doesn’t get better than that.”
Indeed.
As the two talked about Amanda and Dalhu needing to build an addition to their house, Edna smiled and nodded, but her mind was elsewhere. If she accepted Rufsur’s offer, and if Merlin’s potions worked, she could be part of that exclusive circle of expecting mothers.
It seemed like such an impossible dream, but that was because she was used to thinking of it as unachievable. Except, it was now within her grasp, provided that she was willing to compromise.
Casting a look at Kalugal’s men, she had to admit that they seemed like nice fellows, and not murderous enemies who plotted to attack unsuspecting clan members and murder them in their sleep.
The problem was that impressions were deceptive. Those guys could be perfectly decent immortals, but when the command came from their leader, they would follow orders even without him having to use compulsion on them. That was how military organizations, or even quasi-military ones like the clans of old, operated.
Friendliness meant nothing. Clan loyalty was everything.
“Excuse me.” Edna pushed her chair back. “I would love to stay, but I forgot something in my office that I need to retrieve.”
There was nothing she needed to get back except for her sanity, but regrettably, it wasn’t waiting for her on her desk.
“Come back later,” Amanda said.
“If you are still here when I’m done, I will.”
18
Rufsur
“Would you like to see the new fence?” Kian asked. “I can take you on a tour, and from there, we can continue to the fifty new plots that I’m grading on the eastern side of the mountain.”
Rufsur stifled a groan. He’d thought they were done and that he could finally go to Edna’s. Instead, it seemed that he would be dragged on a boring tour of Kian’s new construction project.
“Perhaps tomorrow,” Kalugal said. “Jacki is waiting for me down at the café, and I’m sure that she wants to get to the house and unwind a little before dinner. We will see the fence on the way, and tomorrow, you can show me the grading project.”
Rufsur released a relieved breath. He’d already talked it over with Kalugal, and his presence at dinner was not required. Atzil and Ruvon were not going to accompany Jacki and Kalugal either. He didn’t like it that they were going without protection, but Kalugal wanted to show Kian that he trusted him in the hopes that his cousin would return the favor.
“Trust breeds trust, and mistrust breeds more mistrust,” Kalugal had said. “And it all boils down to fear. If I show Kian that I don’t fear him, I hope it will convince him that he has nothing to fear from me.”