"Like what?"
She leaned toward him just a tad—away, Brad noted, from her son's sharp ears. "Like you're about to take a bite out of me instead of what's left of your scalloped potatoes."
>
He leaned toward her, close enough to see her flinch. "I am going to take a bite out of you, Zoe. Just not right here and now."
"I've got enough to think about without worrying about you."
"You'll have to make room." He laid a hand over hers before she could draw away. "And think about this. Flynn was part of Malory's quest.Jordan was part of Dana's. Do the math, Zoe. We're the only ones left."
"I'm really good at math." She tugged her hand free because the contact made her twitchy. "And the way I count it, I'm the one who's left."
"I guess we'll see who's better at adding and subtracting very soon."
He left it at that and finished his wine.
BACK in the parlor, where they found coffee and wedges of apple pie thick enough to make even Simon's eyes bug out, Malory rubbed a comforting hand up and down Zoe's back. "Are you ready for this?"
"I've got to be, don't I?"
"You've got us all with you. We're a good team."
"The best. It's just that I thought I'd be prepared. I've had the most time to get prepared. I didn't think I'd be this scared."
"It was easiest for me."
"How can you say that?" Baffled, Zoe shook her head. "You went into this knowing almost nothing."
"Exactly. And you've got everything we've learned and experienced in the last two months running around in your head." Her smile sympathetic, Malory gave Zoe's hand a squeeze. "Plenty of it's scary. And there's more. When we started this we weren't as involved. With each other, with Rowena and Pitte, with the daughters. Everything matters more now than it did two months ago."
Zoe let out a shaky breath. "You're not making me feel any better." "I don't mean to. You've got a big load to carry, Zoe, and sometimes you're going to have to carry it yourself, no matter how much we want to take some of it off your hands."
Malory looked up, pleased to see Dana coming toward them.
"What's up?" Dana asked.
"A quick pep talk before we get started." Malory took Zoe's hand again. "Kane will try to hurt you. He'll try to trick you. In fact—and I've thought a lot about this— because this is the last round, win or lose all, he's going to be only more determined to stop you."
Dana took Zoe's other hand. "Feeling peppy yet?"
"I've thought a lot about it, too. I'm afraid of him." Zoe squared her shoulders. "I think you're telling me I should be afraid. That if I'm really going to be prepared, I should be afraid."
"That's exactly it."
"Then I guess I'm as ready as I'm going to get. I need to talk to Rowena before she takes us into the portrait room. I've got one stipulation before we move to the next stage."
She looked over, hissed under her breath as she saw Rowena already in deep discussion with Brad. "Why is he everywhere I want to be?"
"Good question." Dana gave her a quick pat on the back.
Malory waited until Zoe started across the room. "Dana? I'm scared, too."
"Well, that makes three of us."
Zoe stopped in front of Rowena, cleared her throat. "I'm sorry to interrupt. Rowena, I need to speak to you for a minute, before we get started on the next… thing."
"Of course. I imagine it concerns what Brad and I were just discussing."