“I just closed my first case.” I smelled the burnt stench of popcorn and rushed to rescue what I could, giving me a second to compose myself. “I have eleven months and change left.”
Hands preternaturally cool, he took the pot from me. A snap of his fingers brought Ambrose running, and the POA dumped the blackened kernels into his dark maw before handwashing the pot, turning on the vent over the stove, and starting a fresh batch.
Cooking was one of his many hobbies, and he was better at it than anyone else I knew, so I wasn’t going to turn my nose up at his offer of help. My nerves had been jangled before his arrival. They were audibly jingling at this point.
“You don’t need me looking over your shoulder.” After the first kernel popped, he adjusted the heat and began shaking the pot to agitate the rest. “As you said, you closed this case on your own.”
“I didn’t picture you as the momma-bird type who shoves her baby out of the nest the second it grows a feather.”
“You have the team to rely on, and I’ll be three hours away.” He dumped the perfect popcorn into a ridiculously gigantic bowl I bought for less worthy snacks, and he managed to evenly coat it with butter and salt without leaving it a soggy mess. “This is the test.” He set the bowl aside then loaded the pot into the dishwasher. “You have to prove you can stand alone, and that will be made clear if I’m not in the city.”
“What about the coup Iliana was planning? She mentioned a coven. That means there are more of them.” Unable to resist, I savored a single buttery kernel. “Did you miss the part in my report where I mentioned they can look and smell like anyone?” Not even buttery perfection could calm me. “Did I mention her kind can hurt Ambrose?” In corgi form, she had done serious damage to Ambrose. “How can I combat their magic without exposing myself?”
“Hadley.” He rested a hip against the counter and tucked his hands into his pockets. “There will always be a faction who wants more than what they have and are willing to kill innocents to get it. I’ve never come up against witchborn fae. I’m not sure what they are, aside from what the name implies—a child born of a witch mother and fae father. You’ll have to hit the books, do your research.”
“Always with the homework.” The gripe reminded of his other potentate-in-training student, and I asked after his fiancée. “How is Grier?” The history we three shared made it awkward, but that had never stopped me. “Doing well, I hope?”
The slightest hitch in his graceful movements told me he was just as uneasy answering as I was asking.
I had tried to kill her once, after all. Ambrose would again, given the opportunity.
“She’s growing into her role,” he said at last, “a bit quicker than you, but that’s to be expected.”
Her magic was such that she had bonded with the city, which had no potentate, on her own. That connection, in fact, was what kept Savannah from burning to the ground during the siege. Even without being officially recognized by the Society, she was the Potentate of Savannah, though she had the same year of training left that I did.
The bond she shared with the city made her aware of its moods and whims. Savannah wasn’t alive, in so many words, but she was sentient, and she was nudging Grier ahead of the curve. Though I couldn’t complain when I was inheriting a crack team with resources I could never imagine, let alone fund, on my own. There was something to be said for inheriting a mantle versus stitching it yourself, piece by piece.
“Once you’ve bonded with Atlanta,” he continued, “you will grow in leaps and bounds as well.”
“You sound like it’s a done deal.” I scowled at Ambrose, who rubbed Linus’s ankles like a frakking cat. “We both know it’s not.”
“You’ve proven to me that you’re fit for this position.” High praise coming from him. “I will throw the full weight of my support behind you when the time comes.”
An ounce or two of the guilt weighing me down slid off my shoulders. “Thanks.”
“The loft will be available for occupancy within the next few weeks,” he said casually. “You’re welcome to stay here, or move in.”
The moisture left my mouth, and I couldn’t get my tongue to work. “Move? In? Move in?”
Soft laughter turned his navy eyes lighter. “Yes.”
Before I got too excited, I had to make sure of one thing. “Are you offering because of the break-in?”
“No.” He glanced around, soaking in the décor. “Consider it a vote of confidence that it will become your permanent residence within the year.”
The calculated interest he showed in our surroundings got me thinking about Midas, who I hadn’t seen since we closed the case a week ago. All the loose ends were tied, all debts paid. Including the gift card I sent Lyssa with my thanks.
“I’ll stick with my apartment.” I couldn’t look him in the eye, afraid of what he might see. “The loft will make a nice reward when I become official.”
“All right.”
From there, he walked me through the standard checklist to ensure Ambrose remained contained and cooperative. With that done, we set a date to have the ink on my ankle refreshed so the spillover from Ambrose was contained, eerie laughter and all.
The next time someone knocked on my door, it was Ford, and I found my smile again.
“Oh, hey.” He shook hands with Linus, who was on his way out. “I didn’t know you were in town.”
“I’m not,” he said. “I didn’t come to congratulate Hadley on a job well done. I’m still in Savannah.”
“Riiight.” Ford winked. “Still, it was nice not seeing you.”
Not until after Linus left did it occur to me he must have known I was expecting company. As plugged in as he was to the city, he likely knew who as well but hadn’t warned me off Ford or Midas or gwyllgi in general. He hadn’t said a word either way.
Huh.
Almost like he trusted me to make the decision for myself.
“What was that all about?” He shut the door behind him. “I saw movers in the lobby. Are they his? I spotted a portrait of a little girl who was a dead ringer for Grier, but I didn’t want to make assumptions.”
“He is stalker levels of obsessed with her,” I joked, but not really. “Good thing she’s obsessed right back.”
There was an instant of expectation where he might have wanted me to elaborate on how I knew, but I wasn’t about to tell him the truth, that I had witnessed their dark and winding courtship firsthand. Then it passed, and Ford shucked his enforcer obligations.
“I smell popcorn, but I don’t smell pizza.” He folded his arms over his chest. “The pizza was a cruel joke, wasn’t it? You were bribing me to help you with the case, and now that it’s over, so is my dream of free pizza.”
“Yes.” I took a single popped kernel and threw it at his forehead. “That’s exactly it. I lured you here with empty promises and plan to—” A third knock on the door set my stomach growling. “Hold that thought.”
I dug around in my wallet then opened the door and stalled out with a bill in my hand.
“I paid the tip,” Midas said, handing over the boxes. “Dough to Go made the mistake of sending Misha to deliver. He’s down in the lobby trying to get into Dan’s pants. I thought I would bring these up before they got cold.”