Silene snorts, but Laurel responds, always one to hold on to etiquette. “As much cream as there is tea, and no sugar.” I prepare the tea for her, then pass it her way. “Thank you,” she says before taking a sip, and I can’t keep my eyes from tracking her lips as they purse around the edge of the cup. The warm liquid makes them deepen in color, and she runs her tongue over her bottom lip. I’m transfixed by the movement, my mind imagining that tongue in other places, doing other things…

“So,” Silene says with a twinkle of mischief in her eyes, breaking me out of my lust-addled haze, “what are you two getting up to today?”

“Training,” we both say simultaneously, and it sounds conspicuous even to me. Fionn’s eyes widen, and he smirks, while Silene bubbles with laughter.

“Hawthorne insists my light sparring skills need work,” Laurel answers awkwardly.

“I believe I recall telling you to call me Thorne after last night,” I retort back, unable to keep the sensuous innuendo from my voice, trying to get under her skin. Laurel blushes, and intense male satisfaction puffs up in my chest. As I stare at her with a smirk, her blush deepens, and my skin heats at the way it brings out her eyes. I’m overwhelmed with a desire to make her blush again and again. My body moves toward her instinctually before I clench my fists, determined to shut down this attraction to her. There’s no need to woo her. We’re allies now, and while I haven’t admitted the full truth about my father to her yet, she’s clearly committed to helping me uncover what he might do with the thayar stores. Not to mention, at this point I’m pretty sure she doesn’t practice blood magic anyway. The plan to seduce her is no more, so I will end this incessant flirting with her.

“Last night?” Fionn asks with mock surprise. Laurel’s blush deepens, and I can sense her desire to smother the insinuation going on.

“Oh, we just shared our deepest darkest secrets. Thought it made sense for her to call me Thorne after that,” I say to relieve her distress.

“A day like yesterday will bring that out, I suppose,” Fionn says somberly. The mood instantly darkens.

“Twenty-four died in the attack,” Laurel says softly. “Hundreds more were injured.”