We had human television, I knew what she was doing. I opened my mouth to rage at her further, when Jacob leaned over and dunked a slice of bread and shoved it in my mouth.
“Run while you can,” Tyson side-whispered to rabbit boy, and sure enough, true to his breed he scampered away. I glared at the grinning mage, but truth be told I was already feeling better.
Damn, this bread was fragrant … and soft … and delicious. Maybe I wouldn’t have to kill myself a rabbit after all.
Food continued to arrive after that: masses of pizza, pasta, breads, salad. I ignored the green stuff, except to dig out the cheese, but managed to sample everything else. The Compasses and Quale did me proud by demolishing every scrap of food not tied down. Mischa and Grace made pitiful attempts to keep up.
It was remarkable Italian fare, rich and authentic. Someone knew what they were doing in that kitchen. I couldn’t wait to dine at the other restaurants. Maybe being stuck here for the next month wouldn’t be too bad.
As I was stuffing my mouth, I noticed two little girls sitting at a table across from us – a different restaurant, but right in my line of sight. They looked so familiar.
I leaned in Braxton’s direction. “Are those young supes from Nash’s group in Vanguard?”
They were dead ringers for the two who had torn my heart out, hugging each other. Braxton followed my gaze and stared for about three seconds before nodding.
“Yes, they were in the room.”
He’d probably scented them from over here. Dragons were scary like that.
I examined the girls again. They were sitting with other children, and a few adult shifters. It was no wonder I didn’t immediately recognize them. In Vanguard they had been thin, dirty, and expressionless. Here they were well dressed, clean, and clearly filling their mouths with food. They looked almost content. Well, except for the shadows deep in their eyes. No matter how relaxed they appeared, their body language still screamed of fear and wariness … yeah, not a huge surprise. Those poor children had been caged their entire lives.
I just hoped they found a semblance of peace in this sanctuary. The Four needed to die. Braxton distracted me by reaching across and grasping my hand. He didn’t say anything, but the look on his face said enough. He got me.
Rabbit boy appeared again, dropping off dessert before scampering away. I was almost too full to enjoy it, but I’d push through. Braxton released my hand, allowing me to reach for the chocolatey goodness.
Just as I was about to bite into my pastry, a nervous tension filtered through the street. Followed by an excited cheer that echoed around the market square, I dropped my uneaten sweet back to the plate. Then, as we stared around, supernaturals started running along the streets. Chairs were flung free and left overturned in their place, as if no one had the time to stop even for a moment.
I locked in on Quale. “What’s happening?” This secure – and suspicious – little community didn’t strike me as the type of place where supernaturals went nuts and started running in the streets. They were a little too dark in nature, dark and damaged. So what the hell was happening?
Quale rose and the rest of us followed. “The last time it was the twins,” he said, and then he was moving. “They must have returned with the next lot of marked … I have to find the mystics.”
We were totally not missing this. I snatched up my pastry and let my feet hit the pavement.
Braxton grinned at me. “Couldn’t leave your dessert.”
My mouth was too full for speaking, so I just gave him a return smile, one which explained exactly how delicious this chocolate-filled, flaky, buttery … oh, God…
His grin broadened. “Damn, I should have grabbed mine.”
I hesitated just before I was about to shove the last of the morsel into my mouth. Instead I extended it toward him.
His blue eyes heated until they were a melted pool of liquid. Holy eff me. How the hell did he do that and what’s happening to my insides? I was, like, burning up or something.
“Thank you, Jess, but I would never take the food intended for your enjoyment.” He was growly … his tone layered with a heat that completely matched those eyes.
I had to wrench my gaze away. He’d just pulled some more mate shit on me. Male shifters don’t take food intended for their mates, not when they knew she still wanted it. Some sort of macho provide-for-all-their-female’s-needs thing.
It was odd, Braxton had definitely stolen off my plate through the years, but if I thought back, really thought about it, well … he had never taken food until I was done with it. And he always let me have any of his food … pretty much. How had I missed that he’d been acting mate-like for freaking years?
Jacob’s laughter broke through my thoughts and I was relieved to have something else to focus on. “Did Jessa just offer up her dessert? You okay, babe?” The fey reached out and gripped my chin, turning my face toward him. “Did you hit your head or something?”
I whacked his hand away, shaking my head at his stupid antics.
Our pace slowed as we neared the gathered supes. They had congregated at the edge of the town. Clearly not every marked supernatural had dashed over, but there were about two or three hundred hovering around.
Before us was the red sands of the desert, bordered on the right by the endless greenery of the forest, and on the left the blues and greens of the ocean area. The salty air was distinct and actually quite pleasant. I’d never change out my favorite forest scents, but damn, the ocean had it olfactory appeal.