Chapter 166

“I don’t know,” Daphne says, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes a little in a challenge. “Are your Midwinter cookies any good?”

Jesse sighs sharply. “Nah, our cookies are crap.”

Daphne bursts out laughing again, and Jesse goes with her.

“Seriously,” Jesse continues, shaking his head. “Mom isn’t particularly domestic, so all our cookies are store bought, and they’re gone in like eight seconds. You have to fight to the death to get your hands on one. Chase – he’ll bite you, and Bella, she has this really pointy stick -”

“Oh, I’m sure it’s not all that bad,” Daphne murmurs, still grinning, her eyes slipping down over Jesse even though she didn’t mean them to.

“No,” he sighs, leaning against the wall and giving her a smile. “I assure you, it is. In fact, mom, dad, and I aren’t out on the town tonight – the children have staged a coup and barred us from the house. It’s chaos over there – complete child anarchy. We fear that we’re going to return home to all of the living room furniture torn to pieces, scrapped for firewood and spare parts for their tree fort.”

“And yet, something tells me that’s precisely how you like it,” Daphne says, leaning against the wall with her chin in her hand, studying him.

“Well,” he says, leaning a little closer like it’s a great secret. “Someone had to teach them what a coup was. And they let me sleep in the yard, which is more than they allow mom and dad. I get a little bowl of scraps and a torn blanket when I come begging.”

Daphne laughs again, light.

“Come on,” Jesse murmurs, his face falling into more serious lines. “Stay. It’s…good, having you here.”

“Is it?” she asks, wrinkling her nose a little bit. “I’ve barely seen you, Jess.”

“Well,” he sighs, leaning a little closer, folding his arms on the wall so that his face is level with hers. He hardly blinks as he stares at her, his eyes moving slowly over her face. “That’s not my fault, is it? Someone is letting her time be rather monopolized by one of my cousins. And not the cousin I would prefer.”

Daphne’s mouth twists a bit as she fights a smile. “And which cousin would you prefer?”

“Oh, Mark, for sure.” Jesse says, his eyebrows going up, completely honest. Daphne bursts into laughter. “Mark is a lot of fun – he knows a lot of strange animal facts.” She laughs harder. “Honestly, Daphne, its for your own edification, really! You should definitely hang out exclusively with Mark.”

Daphne laughs harder now, her eyes almost shutting as she does, and Jesse can’t help it. He leans closer, just incrementally, breathing deeply from the air between them, hoping desperately that she doesn’t notice the way that her scent – nutmeg, and fresh linen, and spicy white roses – makes his shoulders unwind, his breath echo more deeply in his chest.

But if she does notice, she doesn’t let him know. She just smiles and shakes her head a little, like she doesn’t know what to do with him.

“Come on, Daph,” he murmurs, staring into her eyes. “Stay. We so rarely get pretty girls around here, especially ones who make me laugh like that.”

“Jesse,” Daphne murmurs, hanging her head a little, her stomach tightening in a way that surprises her. And then she lifts her head, slowly meeting his eyes again. “I thought you weren’t going to hit on me anymore? Just…be my friend?”

He stares at her for a long moment before he sighs, and smiles slightly, and lets his lashes fall down over his eyes. “Apologies, Daph,” he murmurs. “You’ll have to let a man have his weaknesses, especially at Midwinter.” He raises his head again, holding her gaze steadily with his own. “And especially when the weakness itself looks very pretty in her red dress.”

Daphne can’t help it. She bites her lip, and grins, and stares into Jesse Sinclair’s brown eyes. Inside, her wolf trips over her own feet as she turns towards Jesse, shocked.

“Won’t happen again,” Jesse says softly, giving Daphne a little wink and standing up straight before he downs the rest of his drink in one go. “Because you are right. We are…friends.” He straightens his shoulders and looks down at his glass before looking back up at Daphne with a grin. “Well, I need a refill. You?” He nods towards her half-full gin and tonic.

“I think I’m okay for right now,” she says, watching him carefully.

Jesse just nods once and strides away.

And Daphne watches him go. Every step.

“That’s one hell of a dress, young lady,” dad says to me, a little bit of a growl in his voice.

“Juniper stole mine!” I say, my face the picture of innocence as I point at my little sister, completely ratting her out. My mom works very hard to hide her smirk. “This was the only thing that was left in my closet.”

Dad’s frown deepens, so I double down.

“Mom said I look pretty,” I say, quickly shifting my hand so I point at her now. Mom gasps a little in protest at my betrayal, but dad ignores it all.

“You do look pretty, Ariel,” he says, his words even and slow. I drop my hand with a grin, realizing that I’m not actually in trouble and he’s not going to send me home to get changed. “I just hope you’ve thought quite deeply about this wardrobe choice. It is…bold. And it makes a big statement about how you are not a little girl anymore. Are you ready for that?”

I straighten my shoulders, raising my chin a bit. “I can handle it.”

Dad holds my gaze for a second and then nods, the matter ended. I grin, pleased in his faith in me. Dad drops his head for a second, loosing a breath and taking a sip of his whiskey, and my heart goes out to him in this moment. Because he’s had to handle a great deal of me growing up in a very short amount of time, hasn’t he?

And he’s been so good about it.

Impulsive, I take a few steps forward and wiggle myself in between my parents, slipping an arm around my dad’s waist and leaning into him. My mom smiles, and moves a step aside, letting me wedge myself between them as dad wraps an arm around me, accepting my gesture of warm thanks for being such a good dad.

He gives me a little smile, and then kisses me quickly on the forehead before looking around at the four of us. He glances over at Markie and Juniper, who are chatting with grandpa, I think wondering for a second if he should include them. But then he decides against it.

“The Atalaxians will be coming in soon,” dad says, dropping his voice low so as not to be overheard. I perk up a little, interested in this change of conversation. “It’s a peace delegation but…Roger and I are very curious about why they’re choosing to send one at this point in the war.”

“Why this point?” mom asks, her voice likewise low. “What’s special about it?”

“What’s special is that they’re winning,” dad says, his voice full of dread as he confesses something which is certainly not public knowledge. My eyes move to Rafe, and by the way he stands up a little straighter, his mouth tightening, I can see that this is news to him as well.

Dad nods, looking steadily around at all of us before he continues. “It doesn’t make sense that they’d send a peace delegation when they’ve got the upper hand. So,” he glances now to the set of stadium seating which is still clearly empty, which has been set aside for them. “I’d appreciate it if you kept your eyes on them tonight. I know we’ll be distracted – and especially you, Ariel,” he nods to me in particular here, “but…we’re not just here for fun tonight. We have a duty to our nation. Please keep your eyes peeled and be ready to report anything of note. Yes?”

As one, the three of us nod, agreeing to be vigilant.

And then dad stands a little straighter, lifting his glass towards us in a clear end to the conversation. “Go have fun,” he says softly, his voice rumbling a little. Mom, of course, stays close to his side, turning worried eyes up to him, but Rafe and I take the dismissal seriously, turning away.

Rafe glances down at me for a moment, but when I look steadily up at him – letting him know I’m all right with it – he just nods and we move back to where Daphne now stands alone.

“Hey,” she says, grinning at us as we come over. Rafe moves to her side and my mouth falls open a little bit when he slides an arm around her waist. She looks between us, either not noticing my shock or pretending not to. “Am I going to be banished? Has the decree landed?”

“For the dress?” Rafe asks, raising his eyebrows and smirking at her. “No, actually, mom wants three just like it – in a variety of colors. Can you do pastels, for spring?”

Daphne laughs, grinning up into his face, and I still just stare between them realizing that – that they’re on a date. That it’s not just that Daphne came as part of our party – that she’s here tonight with Rafe.

Oh my god, my brother is actually dating my friend!