Page 77

She hummed. Her gaze was back on her desk again, looking over the bottle, the knife, and the herbs crushed at the bottom of the golden bowl.

Oliver swallowed. “Grandmother. Showing me all of this. Does this mean youstill?—”

The warmth in his chest pulsed, and he cut off as the door swung open.

“Found you,” Luna trilled, with a bright grin that said she’d been playing Hot and Cold with the bond to locate Oliver. “Do you know—oh! You’re doing secret ritual stuff!”

Her hands flew up to cover her eyes. Her nails were covered in bumpy blue nail polish. She’d let Darren or Leo at them last night, one child on each hand as they watched I Love Lucy reruns in the common room.

“I can’t see,” she announced. “I’m blind.”

“It’s fine,” Oliver said as Grandmother Musgrove draped a nearby dressing gown over the table. “What’s up?”

Luna dropped her hands and broke into another bright grin. “Aunt Althea says you know where the drill is. Joshua needs it for her fair stall!”

Oliver deadpanned, “We’re loaning drills to Joshua Haberdash now?”

Luna nodded. She clasped her hands under her chin, rocking side to side in a way that Oliver would deny was cute until the end of time.

He sighed. “It’s in the basement. I’ll show you.”

“Oh, you can keep…” Luna waved a hand at the cloth-covered table. She looked anxious, and he didn’t blame her. The last time she’d been in here, Grandmother was burning her only ticket out.

“We’re finished for now,” Grandmother said. “Give Joshua my best.”

She patted Oliver’s back, light and fleeting.

Luna looked at Grandmother’s hand. Then she looked at Oliver, eyes widening pointedly. The bond in his chest flared hopefully, a distant echo of what she was feeling as she watched them.

Oliver clenched his jaw. Then he turned, catching Grandmother’s hand and squeezing—the first time he’d reached out to her in a year.

“Will do,” he said, leaving before he could catch her surprised expression turn soft with warmth.

Luna didn’t stop grinning all the way down the hallway.

“Quit it,” he told her.

She butted her head against his shoulder, wolf-style. “That was socute! She gotsohappy, oh my god. You should hug your whole family tonight; I want to see their faces—especially Uncle Roy’s.”

“He’ll think you talked me into it as a part of your secret plan to take down the family,” he reminded her.

“Probably,” she agreed, still bouncing along happily beside him. She even twirled.

He stood back so she didn’t crash into him. “You’rein a good mood. You know Ben and Sabine aren’t back yet, right? They might’ve gotten kidnapped. Or fallen off a cliff. Don’t count your un-bonding chickens before they hatch.”

She shook her head. “I just got great news from a sponsor! They’re giving me all the money I asked for,andthey’re promoting us all over Alaska! This fair is going to be amazing!”

She twirled again. He didn’t step away this time, letting her elbow graze his chest. It sent a spark of heat into his ribcage, and Oliver tried not to wonder how many more times he’d get to have this. He still wasn’t used to the bond flourishing inside of him, sending out pulses of warmth whenever she got close. But it would be strange to never feel it again.

Luna yelped, foot skidding on the carpet. Her twirl turned into a fall, and Oliver reached out automatically to catch her. “Careful!”

She blinked up at him. She was pressed up against his chest, her hands splayed on his stomach where they’d flown out to catch herself. In the last few weeks, she’d touched him more than anyone had in a full year.

Oliver stepped back, nodding at the door at the end of the guest hallway. “Uh… basement’s down here.”

“Right,” Luna said. Her cheeks were flushed again. She’d been blushing more lately, which was odd. She’d touched his chest often enough. She’d touched his bare skin, touched it sweaty and heaving, touched him while he was inside her. There was no reason for her to stand there blushing after he did something so innocent as stopping her from stumbling.

“Don’t fall,” he called behind him as he headed down the basement ramp.