“Like your sister?” Jadren asked silkily, stalking back toward Gabriel.

The volley hitting its target, Gabriel stiffened. “Selly is not in residence at the moment,” he bit out, realizing as he said it how absurd that sounded.

Jadren snickered. “Oh, I know. I was standing there when she scampered off like a wild goat escaping over the eaves like she was leaping into the mountains. Quite feral, your sister. Not at all the elegant lady of House Phel that one might expect.”

Gabriel viciously reined back the urge to throttle the snide words in the man’s throat. The worst part was, they weren’t lies. He recovered enough cool to realize the layers of insult in Jadren’s attack. House Phel obviously fell far below the elegant standards of the Convocation High Houses. Even were Selly perfectly sane and healthy, she wouldn’t meet the standards of a snob like a scion of House El-Adrel. Deciding the better part of wisdom lay in not taking the wizard’s bait, Gabriel faked a yawn. “The offer remains, Wizard Jadren. If you need to avail yourself of a familiar’s magic, I can potentially arrange that for you.”

“I won’t need it,” Jadren bit out on a low growl. “Certainly not for such a simple task.”

“I imagine the results of your work will be the deciding factor,” Gabriel observed coolly.

“Then I best get to it.” Jadren bowed, making a mockery of the gesture. “If I may be excused, Lord Phel?”

“Go, go.” Gabriel waved him on, waited for him to turn and nearly exit before he called after him once more. “Do try to work the lock without my help, if you’re able.”

Jadren slammed the door shut behind him without comment. Gabriel chuckled at his own joke, though his amusement faded immediately into a deep sense of weariness. Sometimes this endless circling felt like an exercise in futility. Making himself face the list of tasks, he looked to see what he most needed to focus on next. To his relief, a knock on the door saved him. Even better, when he called for the person to enter and it turned out to be Nic in all her fiery radiance and nourishing rose-red vivaciousness, he felt a true reprieve. He opened his arms to her, and she set down her things, coming to him eagerly, a warm smile on her face.

Enfolding her in an embrace, he held her against him, inhaling her scent and savoring the vitality of her magic. He sipped at it, just the tiniest bit, more to taste her than anything, and she hugged him tighter, arms around his waist and cheek pressed to his chest. His world righted, steadied, and all the reasons he did any of this returned to him.

Finally, Nic loosened in his grasp enough to tip her face up to his. “Bad morning?”

“Endless,” he answered, then kissed her lightly. “I missed you.”

She smiled, green eyes sparkling with affection and humor. “It’s only been a few hours.”