Page 72 of A Thousand Lifetimes

“It doesn’t matter,” he says, and it sounds like an apology. He brackets my waist with his hands. “It’s better now.”

I turn in his embrace and drag our lips together.

“It’s better.”

“We’re home!” The front door opens and there’s a flurry of movement and familiar smells and I rest my forehead on Declan’s shoulder.

“What happened to the floor?” My mother asks, and Declan laughs quietly in my ear.

He takes my hand and drags me back to the foyer and we come face to face with my parents and Henry. I haven’t seen Diah or Elijah in days, but I have no doubt they’ll be around eventually.

“There was an accident,” Declan answers.

My father levels a look at me. “Did you go see Walter?”

“I did.”

“And how did that go?” He sets his bag down near the coatrack and closes the door, then takes my mother’s hand in his.

“It worked,” I rasp, clearing my throat. “It worked.”

“This doesn’t look like it worked.” My mother points to the fading stain on the floor.

“It was messy,” Declan elaborates with a lopsided smile. “But it worked.”

“That’s good.”

I step forward, darting my eyes between my father and brother. “We need to talk about Stregorian, and council. There’s been some changes.”

“I assumed as much.”

“Can we get situated first?” Henry shrugs out of his jacket and lays it over his arm.

“Right. Come down when you’re ready to talk.”

Declan and I pad through the dining room and into the kitchen. He bumps our hips together at the counter, and we pour glasses for everyone. He only does his halfway, and he snatches my wrist and slices me open, topping off his glass.

He presses a kiss against the spot where he nicked me and offers me another lopsided grin. “Baby steps.”

“Baby steps,” I agree.

We return to the dining room and we’re quickly joined by my father and Henry.

“I thought you wanted to get situated,” I remind them.

“We will,” my father says. “After.”

“How are Jedidiah and Elijah?” Henry asks, drawing a circle around the rim of his glass.

“They’re quiet. They were here when I left. Sullen. I’m sure they’ll be back.”

“So, what happened at the meeting?”

“Stregorian has been taken into custody, along with Wolverton and Williams.”

My father’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

“I’m told you spoke with Alejandra beforehand, so thank you for that. She apparently made some calls in regards to his behavior. As it turns out, he was responsible for Franklin being in Wildemount, but I didn’t learn that until just prior to the meeting, so how did you know?”