[This post is from Marin’s point of view.]
Thom’s gaze settled on me for a few seconds after that. He swallowed hard, then shook his head and gulped down some more coffee. “You could’ve woken me up, Mar.”
I choked on a laugh. “At the time, letting you sleep a little longer sounded like the smarter idea. It’s not like there’s anything we can do right now, y’know? Not until we know more.”
He sighed but didn’t argue with me. There must have been a part of him that realized how right I was about that, though I knew that he’d have preferred to be able to give me moral support—such as it was, anyway. I pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“I love you,” I murmured. “You know that, right?”
“If you didn’t, you wouldn’t work so damn hard to keep me out of trouble.” The ghost of a smile curved his lips. I grinned.
“Dead-on on that.”
I stole another kiss before letting him go back to his breakfast. It was only a few more minutes before we started to hear the sound of voices—the ones Tala and I, at least, had been waiting for. Thom tensed slightly, looking up from his plate.
“That sounds like Seamus.”
It did, and that sent a shiver creeping down my spine. Leinth had gone to talk to him, but I hadn’t quite expected her to manage to get him out of bed, not the way J.T. had made his condition sound the last time we’d talked about it. But then, Seamus had been a healer for a long time before his centuries with the Wild Hunt, and I had to trust he knew what he was doing.
After all, there really wasn’t much other choice.
Thom nudged me gently. “Here,” he murmured, holding his arms out for Lin. “Go on. I know you’re worried.”
“I’m always worried,” I whispered, pressing a kiss to his jaw and transferring our son from my arms to his. “It’s just a question about what and who at any given moment.”
“Well, right now it’s about Seamus.” Thom smiled wryly. “Go on. I know you’ll be back in a minute.”
He was right about that.
I pushed to my feet and headed toward the sound of their voices, uncertain of what kind of sight might greet me when I finally reached them. I hoped it was far better than I imagined it might be.
Odds were good I’d be wrong.
