Gray Witch (Black Hat Bureau 5)

“What I’m hearing is, I made a fool of myself for no good reason.”

“You’re in fascination, so you’re allowed.” He ordered a scoop of every flavor to be served in waffle cone bowls still warm from the press. “You do understand mating is the end goal?” He hesitated. “If you can’t see yourself crossing that finish line at some point, you need to let Ace know you can’t make that type of commitment.”

Arms loaded with his plethora of treats, we backed out of the shop and claimed an empty table outside.

“I’m not saying I won’t cross that line, but I’m not sprinting toward it.” I set down my half of the goods, plopped into a seat, and promptly stole a waffle bowl from him. “There’s a tiny problem that will have to be addressed first.”

“Colby?” He spooned a glob into his mouth. “Oh.” He dribbled when it hit him. “The bond.”

“She and I are already bound for life. It’s my duty to protect her.” I poked the ice cream with a spoon. “Asa is stuck in a loop of endless challenges. It’s not that I doubt his ability to hold his own, but I can’t make that choice for Colby. It wouldn’t be fair of me.”

Attending my first challenge cemented the hazards of Asa’s station and his tenuous grasp on his crown. Someone was always smarter, stronger, meaner. We were lucky the daemon hadn’t met them yet.

“I’m sorry.” He flicked a sprinkle at my forehead. “I shouldn’t have pushed.”

“You’re used to me needing it.” I couldn’t fault him for that. “Before Asa, I wasn’t exactly in touch with my feelings.”

“That’s not true. You beat them into submission on the regular.” He was quick to defend me. “Locked ’em in chokeholds then slit their throats after they passed out. All very humane.”

The look I cut him would have cowed a lesser man, but Clay was not one to moo.

“Seriously, you’re getting there.” He picked out a gummy worm and held it out as a peace offering. “Look how much progress you’ve made in Samford. You have a life. A good life. Friends. A business. You have it all.”

The list he rattled off felt more like attributes belonging to someone else. The life of a different Rue Hollis. The apothecary owner had collided with the Black Hat agent, and the resulting crash had broken some things, like my bucolic paradise, and dented others, like Camber and Arden’s innocence.

“For a long time,” I said, eating the worm, even though I didn’t like them, “I didn’t have you.”

That was the easier route, the one less likely to earn me a cheering up I wasn’t sure I deserved yet.

“Or Ace.” He made kissy noises. “We both know he’s the real prize.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” I kicked his foot under the table. “True friends are rarer than boyfriends.”

“But not rarer than mates.” He held up his spoon to forestall my argument. “Potential mates.”

“Would you believe me if I told you I loved you both equally, but in different ways?”

“Not for a minute.” He polished off another bowl. “But I’ll leave it there.”

Ten minutes, and at least as many waffle bowls later (for Clay), the wind blew the mingled scents of juicy green apples and cherry tobacco to me, causing my heart to squeeze.

Asa borrowed a chair from another table to join us, and I pushed my cookie dough cup at him out of habit. His tiny little smile as he picked it up told me he missed the overwhelming tug in his gut too. But it was redundant, I supposed, as much spit as we swapped the old-fashioned way these days.

“Well?” I selected a deep crimson one next, hoping for red velvet cake. “Get anything out of him?”

Twirling his spoon, he watched me as if expecting me to bolt. “I’m sorry I called you my mate.”

Goddess bless, what a mess.

“Clay explained it was in our best interests.” I regretted my first bite was fruity rather than cakey. “I overreacted.” I shoveled in another spoonful, certain this was cherry cordial. “I won’t next time.”

Probably.

Leaning in, Asa pressed his lips to the underside of my jaw. “Thank you for understanding.”

“Just so you know,” I demurred, “if we have kids, and you hire a nanny, I will end you.”

Hidden in the kiss, he sank his teeth into the tender skin of my throat. “That will never be an issue.”