“Have you ever wanted to do the Calling?” I can’t help but ask, thinking about Galen’s earlier warning.
“I don’t think my girlfriend would like that very much. Essos also isn’t my type—I prefer redheads,” they tease, and we all laugh, though mine rings hollow to my own ears. If Sybil has a girlfriend, then why would they want to keep a queen away from the Underworld? Galen outright told me that they are comfortable having power and possibly want more of it.
“I’m sorry, but how do you manage to have a relationship in the middle of all of this?” Cat asks.
“It helps that she also works really hard. The Callings are so few and far between that it doesn’t impact our relationship much,” Sybil responds.
We play twenty questions with Sybil, teasing more and more information out about them and how long they’ve been working with Essos.It’s hard for me to play along, and I wind up throwing in basic questions. Cat looks at me like I have seven heads when I ask Sybil what their favorite color is. It barely registers. My gut tells me that Sybil is exactly who they seem—kind, hardworking, and caring. Nothing about them screams that they’re the mastermind behind a nefarious plot.
“Do you have your own magic, beyond the parlor tricks you’ve shown us?” I ask abruptly, cutting off some story about Dave nesting in Essos’s suits.
“Rude,” Cat mutters to me under her breath, but Sybil gives me a patient smile.
“Not much. I’m afraid I’m a failed seer. My visions were always wrong in some tragic way. A woman would come to me asking what the gender of her baby would be, and I would always be wrong. Or a man would ask if his husband was faithful. Trivial things, but after, well, I offended someone I shouldn’t have with a false prediction regarding the color of the season, Essos offered me a job. He needed someone to help him. Essos said that everyone in his realm is already dead, so my predictions wouldn’t matter.”
“Hmm,” I murmur, biting on my freshly painted thumbnail as I stare into the depths of the ocean.
To break the awkward silence, Cat stands and offers me her hand. “I think you can use some more practice. Finn said he’s had at least two broken toes since this started.” She laughs.
I scowl but jump up, bowing to her the way the men do. “I resemble that remark, and I don’t like it,” I say, prompting her to laugh.
Zara stands, offering her hand to Sybil, who seems confused but delighted by the inclusion. The four of us take turns dancing the rest of the day away in the surf. It gets my mind off of wondering if Galen has deliberately misled me about Sybil and Essos, and if there is anything more he could be keeping from me.
CHAPTER23
It takes me one week to follow Zara’s advice and finally arrive early to breakfast. It’s not for a lack of trying, because I really do try, it’s just that every time my alarm goes off, Dave snuggles closer and looks so cute sleeping that I can’t bear to wake him.
Essos had a busy week taking ten girls on one-on-one dates. Cat told me that they did her date to keep up the charade, and they ended up playing a distracted game of chess in Essos’s office while he did some paperwork and she read between turns.
I almost think it’s a shame, because she would make a great Queen of the Underworld.
When I come down, I find Essos sitting at the table with Spot and Shadow at his feet. He’s looking over some documents and dropping pieces of bacon and sausage into their mouths.
“You really shouldn’t feed them from the table,” I say as I walk into the room, Dave trailing behind me.
I must have startled him, because he immediately stands, his chair almost tipping over. “I’ve been told that, but sometimes I just want to do what makes them happy, and bacon makes them happy. Is that so bad?” His cheeks are red, and for a second he seems to have a hard time meeting my eyes. An emotion flickers across his face in a blink, before his usual cool demeanor slips into place. He takes a moment, eyes surveying me for any telltale trauma. This morning, I’m in a cashmere beige sweater and snug jeans that fit perfectly but are never too tight. They are magic jeans and I love them.
I smile and scratch Dave behind his ears. “Do you think I could have a word with you alone?” I ask.
He gestures at the empty room.
“Yes, but anyone can come down, and I need to ask a favor of you.”
His expression turns serious, and he wipes his hand on a napkin while nodding.“Let’s go to the garden and talk there.” He grabs his cup of coffee and hands me one too, waiting while I prepare it to my liking before we exit. We pass Galen as we head outside. The smile on his face is forced, but he winks, like he thinks this is all part of the charade.Sybil is coming down the hall from Essos’s office but stills when they see us walking. Essos gives them a nod, and they return a knowing smile.
The walk to the gardens is long and silent. The flowers seem to brighten as we pass each hedge, waking in the presence of Essos’s magic. Stepping outside into the morning chill makes me shiver. Essos reaches for me as if to rub my bare arms but thinks better of it, rolling his wrist instead and triggering that tidal wave of warmth. I have to admire his restraint, though I wish he wasn’t always such a saint.
“You’re making this a habit,” I say.
“Only when you’re cold.” We get to a dead end and sit with the dahlias this time. I run my fingers over the gentle petals, the flowers not yet ready to bloom. Warmth spreads through me with each bud I touch. I blink as they unfurl, and when I glance at Essos’s face, he’s beaming. Doubt nags at me that it was actually he who did that. “What was it that you wanted to speak to me about?” he asks and takes a sip from his coffee.
“Cat is my best friend,” I start.
“Of this I am aware.”
I scowl. “Cat is my best friend, and she is devastated. She misses her family and wants to be with them again but understands why she can’t. Is there any way that maybe she could look in on them? Just to see how they’re doing? I know the hearing last week reminded her of all she left behind.” I realize I’m rambling but can’t stop myself. “Or if that's not possible, maybe, like, a photo of them for her room?”
Unbidden, the thought of what Galen lost pokes at me, along with the reminder that Essos may have had something to do with that. I’ve taken to avoiding Galen after what happened in the shower. I would really love to not feel like that again, and if that means being in the dark for just a little longer, I will.