Page 109 of The Other Omega

I caught cedar and smoke, and when I looked at Eira, she was already smiling.

“For Master Alaric?”

“How do you keep guessing it right?”

“It is part of my role to know your Pack’s habits and preferences. I could not assist you properly otherwise.”

“So you know what all of them like? That’s going to be incredibly useful.”

“That is also why companion positions in the Great Houses are so sought after. We’re trusted with a great deal of private information, and families are careful about whom they appoint. Your Pack is particularly selective.”

I looked back at the coffee. “So I’ve been given someone who knows all my husbands’ secrets.”

“Preferences,” she corrected.

I smiled. “Even better.”

Darius’s present was in a stationer’s shop: a slim black pen with a pale-blue crystal set into it. It was simple and neat, and I could easily imagine him holding it.

“That one,” I said, pointing.

“An excellent choice. I believe he’ll like it very much.”

“It’s very Darius, isn’t it?”

I picked it up and turned it so the little streak of blue in the crystal caught the light, then paid with my bracelet, still enjoying being able to do that.

While the shopkeeper wrapped it, I realised how badly I needed the bathroom after all that coffee.

“Do you have a bathroom?”

“Of course, my lady. Through there, first door on the right.”

He pointed towards a narrow passage at the back of the shop.

“Thank you.”

I noticed gift boxes on the shelves behind him and turned to Eira.

“Could you get some of those while I’m gone? The ones we’ve got won’t fit everything.”

She stayed at the counter while one of the guards followed me down the passage.

“I’ll wait here, my lady,” he said outside the door.

I slipped inside and closed it behind me.

“Lady Stormforge?”

A young woman stood near the far wall.

She looked about my age, perhaps a little older, with a sweet, open face.

“Oh. Hi.”

I gave her an awkward smile.

I really needed the bathroom, so this wasn’t ideal.