Leaving Val and Khent alone.
They studied each other.
“You are well?” Khent asked.
“Better than you, I think. What happened with Vladimir? You met him face to face, right? What did you think?”
He sighed. “I think this is a conversation best held in private. Come with me.”
To her pleased surprise, he led her to his laboratory in the basement. They didn’t pass anyone, the house feeling empty yet not. Something was off about the area outside his lab, as if the energy she felt didn’t match the emptiness she saw.
Inside his lab, he closed the door, considered her, then said, “I’ll be right back.”
He left, and she looked around, fascinated with his equipment and subjects. He had a host of dead creatures in stasis. A lot like the garage where she housed her dead magir, soldiers in her coming war with Vladimir. Khent had a vault against the wall for cold storage, much like a coroner’s office or mortuary.
As she looked at the various specimens labeled in jars, she felt a familiar presence and glanced down.
The little salamander sat at her feet, waiting for acknowledgment. As soon as she saw him, she smiled, and he clambered up her body to rest on her shoulder, tucking into the crook of her neck, blanketed by her hair.
“Don’t set my hair on fire the way you did Rolf.”
He chirped. She hoped that meant “okay.”
Studying Khent’s lab, she noticed a pattern. Everything had its place, his sense of organization akin to hers. She could see herself working in the place, pleased with his sense of order.There, a tray for instruments kept no doubt sharp. Another area for mixing potions, a clean sink where beakers and bowls had been washed and now dried on a rack.
The library of books by the far wall looked extensive, and she found several in other languages, all magical tomes welcoming her to read. Attuned to death magic, she was about to reach for one when Khent returned.
He settled a tray of food and some bottled drinks on a counter with two stools, away from his experimental station. “You must eat.”
She blinked. “You brought me food?”
He frowned. “Eat.”
How…sweet. She joined him, noting his goblet of blood but feeling no disgust toward it. Val had long since stopped judging the way anyone lived. As long as they didn’t hurt others, she didn’t mind.
“Um, where does the blood come from?”
“Hecate provides for us. I don’t much care as long as it’s not goblin or druid.”
“No to druids?”
“They’re too earthy.” He moved her plate closer, folding the napkin into a triangle then setting her utensils out for her. “I brought you several drinks, not sure which you’d prefer with your meal.”
Soda, grape juice, chocolate milk, and water. All her favorite flavors, and the water had exactly three ice cubes, the way she drank it.
The food looked delicious and smelled even better—steak, fries, and salad along with a cheesecake for dessert. Before she could ask how he knew what she liked, he shoved a fork of steak into her mouth.
She chewed, staring at him.
He didn’t seem bothered at all to be feeding a mere human.
So she didn’t question him, letting the intimate meal continue until she had nothing left but dessert. He’d fed her with such care and attention, she’d been helpless to do anything but obey his soft commands to chew and swallow.
“You can finish?”
She nodded, not wanting to break the spell by saying something that would cause him to turn icy once more. Not that he’d been too cold, but this kindness mattered. So sweet yet bizarre.
Unless he was under a spell.
