“Good plan,” Kylan agreed.
“Oh, I’ll prep snacks. Who wants to help?!” Quinn asked.
“I’ll help,” I offered. “Tea isn’t my thing.”
“Ha. I’ll change your mind on that!” Jude said excitedly.
“Come on. Let’s go before he gets too excited and forces you to sample some,” Quinn said, reaching for my hand to pull me along. The moment her hand touched my skin, she froze.
“Shit, she forgot,” Kylan gasped, stepping up behind her, but she’d frozen, eyes going blank. Then I remembered what she was—a death witch. My heart sank into my stomach at the thought. There was no part of me that wanted to know when I’d die. “Don’t worry, the future is tangible. We altered ours. We were supposed to die when our High Priestess attacked, but here we are.”
“Oh,” Levi squeaked. “Reassuring.”
Kylan chuckled. “I was trying to be, sorry. It’s been a rough few weeks, and I just wanted you to be prepared. It freaked Quinn out at first.”
She slumped into her mate, her hand loosening as he scooped her up. Her eyes were back to normal as she blinked over at me.
“You aren’t alone. We’ll be here for you,” she promised firmly. “Let’s go get some coffee and cookies or something before I relive that.”
“Here, tea is done,” Jude said hurriedly, shoving a cup at Niko before rushing to his mate. They all reached out, giving her calming touches, a quiet, soothing purr coming from her mates. It felt like an intimate moment we shouldn't be witnessing, but we couldn’t exactly back away now.
My mates were all behind me, offering silent support at the building anxiety in my chest. Her words had derailed me, and if we needed her alliance… then what exactly would be coming our way?
We followed them outside and down a path to the other house. The mountains rose behind it, giving them an amazing view. I was a bit jealous of their small slice of heaven, but I doubted we’d ever leave the hotel. We worked there and had crazy hours. It made more sense to be on site.
Quinn regained her strength by the time she got back, and she reached for me again, pausing just before touching me.
“It won’t happen again. Come with me?” Her eyes were full of hope and longing, and I felt an instant camaraderie there. I had never truly had a friend, and from the look on her face, she hadn’t either.
“Sure,” I offered, taking her hand. The moment I did, she dragged me through the archway into their huge kitchen. A stack of boxes still rested to the side, but they seemed to be nearly done with it. “Wow, you guys work fast.
“Benefits of having five mates,” she laughed. “It’s tiring and amazing all at once.”
“I’m learning that,” I agreed. “I was too used to being independent.”
“They saved me, so I can’t complain,” she said gently, casting a lovey dovey look into the other room before shaking it off. “But really, what’s your favorite snack?”
“That’s a hard one. Sweet and salty always wins though.'“
“Love it,” she said excitedly. She managed to throw together a cookie dough in minutes, which was amazing since it would have taken me an hour or more.
“That was impressive,” I said as she started forming balls from the dough. I wasn’t a baker, but I could be a good assistant with some easy directions. I washed my hands before diving in to help.
“These are my favorite, but everyone always judges them before trying,” she said. “But how do you go wrong with pretzels, caramel bites, and dark chocolate?”
“You can’t! Their loss,” I exclaimed, popping a bit of dough in my mouth and sighing happily. “These are heavenly.”
She beamed at the praise. “Thanks. It’s my specialty. Jude is our baker, but cookies are my thing. That and homemade pizzas. You’ll have to come over more, and we can have dinner.”
“I’d love that. It’s so nice to have some more supes in town,” I said honestly. “I love Emberwood, but it’s…”
“Full of older people and small town charm?” she supplied. “I noticed we were the youngest we’ve seen, and I haven’t really seen any families.”
“Not a lot of people survive the constant snow,” I said. “We used to be bigger, but not everyone loves the supernaturals in town either.”
She shrugged. “A little extra snow never hurt me. And it’s kind of nice to have an assortment of supes in town. It feels welcoming and homey. Nothing like my old town. Hell, I was raised human, so I know how awful and judgmental humans can be.”
“We get a lot of human guests at the hotel, but thankfully, it’s pretty uneventful overall,” I agreed. “West has to kick the occasional one out.”