My heart squeezes, and I lean down, pressing a kiss to her forehead, even though I know I shouldn’t. A forehead kiss is more than a friends-with-benefits situation. A forehead kiss is more than I should do when I know she’s leaving right after the next wedding.
“No,” I say, even though I should know better. “Stay right here and wait for me to come back.”
She gives in immediately, sighing contentedly and snuggling into her pillow, giving me one last pitying glance before I go.
“Have fun,” she whispers into the room, and I blow her a kiss she can’t see before I turn and walk out the door.
***
It isnotfun.
Realistically, considering the scale of the daemon fires we’ve fought in the past, this one is something of a piece of cake. The blue flames lick up a copse of newly planted trees on the outside of town, trying to bite into them but not finding a hold because of the fire-resistant coating Xeran’s had us spray on all the trees.
I was starting to think of it as overkill. Now, I douse the flames with an extinguisher, glad these brand-new trees weren’t another casualty of the daemon fire. Not just another reduction of new growth down to nothing.
“This fucking sucks,” Lachlan mutters when he comes to stand next to me, blue light flickering around his face. Kalen and Soren are on the other side, dousing one of the last trees with extinguisher from their packs.
There’s soot over Lachlan’s eyebrows, and he looks just like everyone else does tonight—completely dejected.
It’s not that the firefighting itself is hard.
It’s the fact that we thought the fires were over. To go so many months without even the whispering of a daemon fire, then to have one finally hit—it feels like a bad omen.
A reminder that there could always be more to come.
We work through the night, containing the flames but moving sluggishly, no matter how many times Xeran waves his arms and tells us to hurry up.
“We’re lucky the fire was lazy tonight,” Xeran says as we make our way back to the engine, his brow furrowed as he glares at us. “Because if it had been anything like the fire on the ridge that night, we’d be toasted right now.”
“The only reason that fire didn’t toast us was Phina,” Lachlan fires back, raising an eyebrow at Xeran. They share a long look, and I know it’s something they’ve been talking about.
Their two wives, capable magic wielders.
The night they’re talking about is when Declan took Nora, Xeran’s daughter, and we were nearly suffocated by the flames. Only for Xeran’s daughter and mate to save our asses, putting out the fires and keeping us safe.
For the first time since that night, I wonder why we’re not having the magic wielders do more for us with the fires.
There are the obvious reasons—the stigma against magic. The fact that most people believe it’s their magic that started all this in the first place. And Xeran, not wanting to put his mate at risk, even if it means saving the town.
But maybe there’s something they can do to stop the fires for good. And if there is, wouldn’t that be worth it?
Wouldn’t it be worth it for us to sleep through the night? For people to confidently rebuild their houses, rather than putting up walls they assume are just going to go down again?
“Speaking of mates,” Soren says, slinging his arm around my neck when we reach the bottom of the hill. “When can we expect an invitation to your wedding? I’ve seen your bike over at Maeve’s basically every night this week.”
I throw his arm off me as they all laugh. But this time, unlike in high school, it’s not a laugh at Maeve or me. It’s good-natured teasing.
Back then, I thought it would end my life if anyone thought, even for a second, that I was interested in her. Maybe this proves that it wouldn’t have been as bad as I thought.
“No wedding,” I say, but stop myself, glancing at Xeran. Maeve and I still need him to sanction our pairing if she’s going to get the rest of her inheritance money.
And she deserves it. As reparations for her grandmother being such a bitch, Maeve’s entire life.
“No wedding?” Kalen asks, raising his eyebrows. “That’s surprising to me.”
“Why is that?”
“Seems like you’d take any chance to throw a party,” he says, and the guys laugh.
