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“Entirely inaccurate,” the patriarch assured me. “I wouldneverwish a child on that Aristeia girl. She’d trip over and drop it every day.”

They weren’t simply similar in looks, they also had the same dry humor and manners. I remembered Gideon mentioning Cassius had trained Lucian but they were much closer than that.

“You, on the other hand, would do. I sense a lot of strength in you. And an above-average degree of intelligence, too.”

“If you go on to assess the size of her hips, I refuse to share my sweets with you.”

Cassius seemed to wrestle with the desire to do just what he’d been cautioned against—I even saw his gaze drop down to my damn lap, when he couldn’t even see my hips through the table. One would think. I couldn’t be certain with these people.

Finally, he tilted his head. “Sweets?”

“Will you behave?” Lucian challenged.

“What kind of sweets are we talking about, exactly?” his grandfather demanded, sounding as dead serious as if he were negotiating an all-important business deal.

“Brownies, pie, cookies.” Another glowing rune carried my tin into the kitchen. What was left of it—about half of the initial contents. “There’s only one cupcake left and you’renotgetting it.”

I couldn’t help it now, I was laughing to their faces. Neither seemed to care. “I can bake more cupcakes.”

Cassius reeled back toward me. “So you baked all this?”

Ah. Maybe it wasn’t the right time to mention that.

Lucian sighed.

“You have yourself a deal, child,” Cassius announced, selecting a brownie and placing it on a new plate.

I hadn’t even noticed, but the table was already cleared, all of the dishes in the sink. We now had little dessert plates and clean spoons. Was that the house, or had one of the two men performed a spell without my noticing at all?

Either feat was noteworthy. Spells didn’t have to be said out loud if the sorcerer was powerful enough, but I typicallyfeltmagic cast around me.

“Besides, my interference is irrelevant. The moment Cassiopea hears of this young woman, you’re doomed.” The sorcerer pointed his spoon straight at me. “Mark my words: if she catches wind of whatever you have going on, she’ll have you wedded before the end of the year.”

“You will not mention Kleos to Mother,” Lucian demanded. Just as serious, he turned to me next. “You, stay away from my mother. And what’sgoing onis that we’re researching who’s cursing her, Cassius.”

That did catch the old man’s curiosity. Lucian ran through my issue in quick, clinical terms, while his grandfather frowned.

“Have you seen anything like that before?” I asked, a little desperate for insight.

As I understood, he was one of the oldest creatures in this entire city. Surely, if anyone knew of a firsthand account of a ritual performed centuries back, it had to be him.

“I’m not one for runes and little spells.” Cassius grimaced in distaste.

Ah, he was one of those: a pure sorcerer, completely relying on the magic he was born with, dismissing learned magic.

“And if it happened here over the years, well, I don’t always pay attention to what’s going on.” He shrugged.

To me, Lucian explained, “Cassius has been here since Highvale was founded.”

My jaw dropped. Though it explained his ideas about magic. Sticking to one’s innate strength was an old-school view ofmagic, which, well, made complete sense for a relic of an ancient world.

“Occasionally,” Lucian continued, “he goes into a sort of hibernation for a few years—or centuries. Or he locks himself up and ignores the world.”

“People are effort,” the man summed up.

For an ancient dark creature, he was so verymodern, down to his vernacular. “You seem pretty up-to-date with the world.”

Lucian snorted. “That’s his TV addiction showing.”