“Have you guys read them?” Cort inquired. “They’re great.”
“I bought one.” Wiley picked up his mug of coffee. “I haven’t started it yet because I had my own deadlines, but I’m looking forward to it. Haven’t read a good mystery in ages.”
“You’ll love it. The main character is so real, and the action is exciting. I’ve already bought the third book in the series.” Cort chuckled as Grey’s neck turned red. “Don’t tell me you’re embarrassed that we’re reading your books.”
“Of course I am. I’ve never actually had to face people as they’ve read. But you don’t have to buy my books. I can give you free copies.”
“Can’t argue with that. You’ve never done book signings?” Cort asked.
Grey shook his head. “I’ve always preferred to keep the mystery of the author alive.”
“Once the battle with the pestilents is over, you’ll have to set up something in town. Make your fans happy.” Wiley sounded absolutely positive that they were all going to come out of this intact.
Cort appreciated his strong belief, because he couldn’t help but worry now that he’d found this great love. Worry that the past would repeat itself and they’d face their ends again. But they’d never found soul mates in the past, and he could only hope that this time, that would end things in their favor.
Clay’s chair scraped on the floor as he pushed it back. “I’ll clean up. It’s only fair since you cooked.”
“I’ll help,” Dane said as he got to his feet and started gathering empty plates. “That was a fantastic breakfast. Thanks again for making it.”
“Anytime,” Cort replied. “I don’t mind taking on some of the meals.” No, he’d love it. Love contributing to the group. What he didn’t say was how worried he was about his job. He couldn’t stay on a leave of absence forever, and he couldn’t put anyone in danger either. He knew he’d have to take a Weaver with him when visiting his clients.
Grey touched his arm, and he looked at him and realized that some of his emotions were leaking to Grey. “It’s going to be okay,” Grey reassured him softly.
“It has to be,” Cort said as he leaned over and kissed Grey. “It just has to be.”Chapter 23Grey accepted the plate Cort had rinsed under the faucet and placed it into the last open spot in the dishwasher. They’d drawn the short straw when it came to cleaning up from lunch, and Grey wasn’t complaining. It was nice to be able to do many of the things he’d simply taken for granted before with such ease. And it didn’t hurt that he was now sharing so many of these little domestic chores with Cort.
He’d had his sight back for three days now, and everything had been quiet. He was spending time exercising in the practice field with the others, making sure he still had a solid hold on his powers. There was some additional fight training, and Grey had been working with Cort in feeling comfortable using a gun.
His heart broke a little for his lover. Cort was a tender spirit. A healer like Dane. It wasn’t part of his natural makeup to hurt another living creature, but he didn’t doubt that Cort would squeeze the trigger if it came to protecting his new family. Grey just planned on doing everything within his power to keep Cort from being in that situation in the first place.
Right now, Grey’s big concern was Cort and his job. The man loved what he did, and Grey didn’t want to take him from it. But he was not willing to risk Cort’s life. His employer was perfectly fine with Cort’s leave of absence and had even offered to give him two weeks off rather than risk losing Cort. The problem was that Cort didn’t want to take the time away from his patients. They were going to be lucky if they kept him at the house for the full two weeks. As it was, Cort had been off for barely more than a week, and his man was already becoming twitchy.
There was no avoiding it. They needed to take care of John and the pestilents so Cort could resume something of his normal life.
But right at that second, Grey was determined to simply enjoy the time he had with his mate. Even if they were just doing the dishes.
“You know…I was thinking. We really need to decorate for the holidays,” Cort murmured. He grabbed a dish towel and dried off his hands while staring toward the family room.
“Yeah, Wiley was saying something about that last night. It’s our first Christmas together.” Grey grabbed the detergent and dropped two green-and-purple pods in before shutting the door to the dishwasher. He started the machine and leaned against the counter with Cort. “I think with my injury and all the craziness with the pestilents, no one has given much thought to the time of the year.”