Page 52 of Spirit Storm

A vase of poppies, lilies, and violets appear on the island. While I wait for the kettle to boil, I take a moment to close my eyes and smell them. “Thanks, that helps.”

With two mugs of chocolatey bliss set up on the tray, I add a plate of fresh cinnamon rolls, and retreat to my bedroom.

Wylder looks good lying in my bed, even though I’d much rather he be there for a dozen other reasons than needing to recuperate from a lashing wound to his soul.

“How are you feeling?”

"I'm fine, babe, honestly." He says it without hesitation. “I agreed to the Poppy Nightingale treatment more for you than me. I’m okay.”

I smile at the Poppy Nightingale comment and hand him the tray. “I don’t suppose booze and baked goods are the recommended treatment the healers would prescribe.”

"But when have you ever done things the way other people expect?”

I shuck my jeans down my thighs, let them drop to the floor, and climb in under the comforter. Then I snuggle in next to him and claim my mug. “I want to shut the world out for an hour, then I’ll be a grown-up again.”

“That’s fair. And hey, I’m not complaining, but if you want me to clear out so you can get things done, I’ll be fine at home.”

“No. I don’t want that. Too many of the people I love and worry about are gone. Having you here, in my house and in my bed, is exactly what I need to keep from losing my mind.”

He lifts his cinnamon roll and takes a bite. “Well, I can suffer through it, for you.”

I chuckle and join him. “Thank you for your sacrifice.”

"Who's up for a trip to Arcana?" I pop the last bite of my onion ring into my mouth and check in with the group around the table. Before Wylder answers, I hold up a finger and peg him with a look. “You’re not invited.”

He arches a brow. “Poppy Nightingale is very bossy.”

I grin. “If you’re a good boy, I’ll show you just how attentive I can be to my patient’s needs when I get back.”

Orion laughs. “Take the deal, man.”

Wylder chuckles. “Like I’m going to say no to that?”

Rowan shakes her head. "I love you and I would die for you, Poppy, but I’m going back upstairs to get horizontal and continue my feel-good-a-thon. As Dani Rojas says, ‘Fútbol is life!’"

She slots her dirty plate into the dishwasher and heads for the stairs.

Orion pushes himself back from the table and cleans up his place. “I wish I could, Pops, but the Carmichael clan has been invited to another alpha’s territory. It’s a whole honor thing. I gotta go.”

“No problem. That means my bestie is otherwise unengaged?”

Asher smiles at me, bright-eyed in the way that suggests he runs on some internal energy source completely unrelated to what’s happening in the world around him. "I'm in. Obviously."

"Excellent. I need to ask a teleportation favor."

He chuckles. “Just what every man yearns to hear from his girl.”

I laugh despite myself. "Don't make it weird."

"Poppy. I am a gay guardian angel with teleportation powers dating a hot male witch who turns into a white tiger. I was born to make it weird." He spreads his hands. "What do you need?"

"The Concordance mirror in the upstairs hall. I want to take it to Mica in the forge building. Can you teleport it to the standing stones so we can take it with us?"

He pauses. "Are you sure? The last time we talked about it, you were still on the fence about the whole thing."

I consider it for another second, just to check if my instincts want to weigh in. They don’t. "I don't fully trust Briar's reasons for wanting the students to use it, but I trust Mica. If it's in the forge building, it's protected, and if anyone tries to take it, they'll have to get through Mica, a supernatural forge, and a very salty cat."

"All valid points." He nods slowly. "All right. If you’re sure."