Tully licks the crumbs of her croissant off her fingers. “I can do detailed work. I’ll keep the offer of design work in your big noggin, Bert, and get rid of the path here.”
Joaquin smiles at her until Argos raises an eyebrow and steps around the group so he’s between the shifter and Tully.
I chuckle and link arms with Laini. Spark flies over head, yipping happily at all the dragons in the sky.
“I guess Argos’s open mind only goes so far,” I whisper to Laini.
Laini grins. “I thought they were going to proposition everyone at the May Day festival after they both got all worked up during the kissing booth craziness.”
I shake my head and bat Cyrus’s hand away from my arse again. He’s following close and being quiet, but he can’t keep his hands off me. Which I love.
We tour the winding streets, then Joaquin takes us on a boat around the lake. A castle with rounded domes and flapping banners sits on the far side of the water, its reflection broken by the fins of golden fish.
“I wish Rychell could have come with us,” I say to Cyrus and Halvard. “She wants to expand her trade and bring more foreign spices to Leafshire Cove.”
“She’s a clever one, isn’t she?” Halvard is looking across the water at the castle, a funny look on his face.
Cyrus and I swap a grin. I think someone has a crush.
“She is,” I agree. “Next time, I suppose.”
“Aye,” Cyrus says and Halvard nods.
Rom beckons Laini to peer over the boat’s edge. He’s pointing at one of the fish, a much larger one than the rest.
I snuggle up to Cyrus, and we watch the sun shimmer off the castle’s roof. Halvard begins walking the starboard side, his gaze drawn to the field of poppies beyond the castle’s towering form.
“It’s so beautiful,” I say quietly to Cyrus. “If you want to move here, you know I would do it for you.”
“Not a chance.”
“Really?”
“It’s not home,” he says.
I lean back against his broad chest and exhale, incredibly relieved. “I’d miss my bakery.”
“I’d miss my pub.”
“And all of our friends.”
They’re chatting and laughing, and I know I couldn’t live without them. Cyrus is my lodestone, but they are the breath in my lungs.
“Agreed,” Cyrus says. “This is simply our new holiday location. In fact, I might be able to purchase us a villa on the lake. Would you like that?”
“I would! But do you even have any savings left after paying off our booths?”
Betilda had informed me that after ruining the remainder of the orphanage’s chances to raise money, Cyrus had bought up all the leftover tickets and filled their coffers more than full.
He curls a lock of my hair around his finger. I’ve been wearing loose styles on holiday because I love it when he touches my hair. It makes me shiver in the best way.
“I was able to do some work for this city in exchange for a hefty sum,” Cyrus says.
I twist and look up at him. He’s smirking like he does when he wins at dice.
“What did you do?”
“I taught the pub guild owners how to play Ice and Bones.”
