Again.
Maribel smiled.
“Good.”
Maeve looked up at him.
Cassian looked down.
Too close.
His eyes were darker today.
Almost brown.
He smelled faintly like cedar and coffee.
Maeve hated knowing that.
She stepped away carefully.
The ribbon allowed six inches.
Maeve groaned.
For twenty minutes, they had to move together.
Cassian made coffee.
Maeve followed.
Maeve went to find her phone.
Cassian followed.
Pepper watched like this was the best entertainment she had ever seen.
At one point Maeve bent to pick up a dropped spoon.
Cassian didn’t.
The tether jerked.
He fell over her.
Maeve screamed.
Cassian caught himself on the counter.
Their faces were inches apart.
Maribel whispered, “Excellent.”
Maeve turned her head.
“Stop enjoying this.”
“I have a boring job.”
Cassian slowly stood.
His hand remained at Maeve’s waist one second longer than necessary.
Maeve noticed.
He noticed her noticing.
Neither spoke.
The ribbon turned pinker.
Moonridge made a sound suspiciously like giggling.
Day Five was their first public date.
It was not supposed to be a date.
It was officially classified as a “domestic bonding community appearance.”
Unfortunately, Willowmere had a weekly night market.
Moonridge selected it.
Maeve suspected Mrs. Davenport bribed the building.
The market filled three streets with lanterns, food stands, enchanted crafts, and music.
Maeve wore a green dress because Pepper had sat on her black one.
Cassian wore black because apparently color frightened him.
They walked side by side.
Not touching.
Moonridge’s tracking charm around Maeve’s wrist flashed red.
She groaned.
“We have to hold hands.”
Cassian looked at the charm.
“Apparently.”
Maeve held out her hand.
“Don’t make it strange.”
He looked at her hand.
Then her.
“You are the one announcing conditions.”
“Take it.”
He did.
His hand was cold.
Not unpleasantly.
Just different.
Maeve’s fingers automatically tightened.
The tracking charm turned gold.
“See?” she said. “Administrative affection.”
Cassian looked ahead.
“Of course.”
Ten minutes later, Maeve forgot they were pretending.
They ate cinnamon pastries.
Cassian claimed he didn’t like sweets.
Then ate half of hers.
They watched a fire mage accidentally set his own hat on fire.
Maeve laughed.
Cassian actually smiled.
She stopped.
There it was again.
That smile.
Smaller than most people’s.
But on Cassian it changed everything.
His face looked younger.
Softer.
Human.
He caught her staring.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You were looking at me.”
“Your face did something.”
“My face often does things.”
“Not like that.”
Cassian’s smile faded.
Maeve immediately missed it.
Dangerous.
She looked away.
At the end of the street, Daniel Pike approached.
Maeve considered running.
Daniel smiled.
“Maeve.”
Cassian’s hand tightened around hers.
Maeve noticed.
Interesting.
“Daniel.”
“I heard about the relationship.”
The word relationship sounded accusatory.
Maeve smiled too brightly.
“Yes.”
Daniel looked at Cassian.
“You moved quickly.”
Cassian answered.
“We’re efficient.”
Maeve bit the inside of her cheek.
Daniel frowned.
“I didn’t realize you were seeing anyone.”
“I wasn’t.”
Cassian turned slightly toward her.
Maeve felt him looking.
Daniel laughed.
“So this is recent.”
“Very.”
“Then maybe there’s still time.”
Cassian became perfectly still.
Maeve frowned.
“Time for what?”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Dinner. Like we talked about.”
“We did not talk about dinner.”
“We discussed reconnecting.”
“You sent me a thumbs-up emoji in May.”
“I thought it implied interest.”
“It implied you have a thumb.”
Cassian coughed.
Maeve looked at him.
He was hiding a laugh.
Daniel’s expression tightened.
“I’m serious.”
Maeve suddenly became tired.
“Daniel.”
“I liked you.”
“You liked explaining things to me.”
“That’s unfair.”
“You spent twenty minutes explaining my own potion pricing.”
“I was trying to help.”
“I didn’t ask.”
Daniel’s gaze hardened.
“Maybe I just thought you deserved someone stable.”
Cassian’s hand went cold around hers.
Maeve’s spine straightened.
Daniel looked toward him.
“Someone alive.”
Silence.
Maeve stopped breathing.
Cassian’s expression did not change.
Which was worse.
Maeve dropped his hand.
Daniel’s face relaxed slightly.
Then Maeve stepped directly in front of him.
“What did you say?”
Daniel hesitated.
“I didn’t mean—”
“You absolutely did.”
“Maeve.”
“No.”
Her magic sparked.
Street lanterns flickered green.
“You do not get to insult him because I didn’t want a second date.”
Cassian said quietly, “Maeve.”
She ignored him.
Daniel raised both hands.
“I’m just saying vampires aren’t exactly known for long-term emotional availability.”
Maeve laughed.
“You spent our one date checking your investments.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“I’m human.”
Maeve’s eyes narrowed.
“And apparently still struggling with it.”
Several people nearby laughed.
Daniel flushed.
Maeve turned away.
Cassian followed.
They walked half a block before he spoke.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
Maeve looked ahead.
“Yes, I did.”
“I can defend myself.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
She stopped.
Cassian stopped too.
Maeve looked at him.
“Because he was cruel.”
Cassian’s expression shifted.
Something vulnerable appeared.
Gone almost immediately.
Maeve’s stomach tightened.
“Thank you,” he said.
She shrugged.
“Don’t make it emotional.”
His left eyebrow twitched.
Maeve smiled.
“There it is.”
He shook his head.
Then took her hand again.
This time no tracking charm required it.
Maeve noticed that too.
So did Moonridge.
The streetlight above them turned pink.
Maeve looked up.
“Don’t.”
The light formed a heart.
Cassian sighed.
“Subtle building.”
Day Eight began with Maeve’s potion shop losing electricity.
Technically, Holloway Remedies did not use electricity.
It used a miniature storm cloud trapped inside a copper sphere.
The storm cloud went on strike.
Maeve stood behind the counter staring at a handwritten sign floating above it.
UNFAIR WORK CONDITIONS.
“You are a cloud.”
The cloud rumbled.
“You work four hours a day.”
Lightning snapped.
Pepper hid beneath a shelf.
Maeve crossed her arms.
“Fine. What do you want?”
Rain spelled letters in the air.
WINDOW.
Maeve stared.
“You want a window?”
Thunder.
Maeve rubbed her forehead.
“Clouds do not need windows.”
The front door opened.
Cassian entered.
He wore a black coat and carried two coffees.
Maeve looked at him.
Then the coffee.
“Is one for me?”
“No.”
She stared.
Cassian handed it over.
“You’re a terrible liar.”
“I know.”
Maeve drank.
Vanilla.
Exactly how she liked it.
She looked at him.
He was examining the cloud.
“What happened?”
“Labor dispute.”
Cassian nodded as though this were normal.
“What are the demands?”
“Window.”
“Reasonable.”
Maeve stared.
“Do not side with weather.”
Cassian set down his coffee.
“Where is the power sphere mounted?”
She pointed.
He inspected it.
Then the wall.
“You could install a reflective illusion panel.”
Maeve blinked.
“A what?”
“Simulated window. Light, sky movement, seasonal changes.”