That made me laugh, and it lifted the seriousness from his expression. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me in for a kiss. After a moment I pulled back, breathless. “I want to be with you, nocturnal or not,” I said, rubbing my nose to his. “But first things first.”

“Right, yes, the Evil Eye,” he said with a heavy sigh, as if he were tired of hearing about it. “And then, wedding preparations.”

I gaped, then snapped my jaw shut, blinking at him for a moment. “Wedding preparations?”

“Of course.”

“What do you mean of course?”

“Andi,” Jember called from the top of the stairs, “come see me in your room.”

“Oh, thank God,” I murmured, rushing out of the room and up the stairs. I had been beginning to sweat. A wedding … I couldn’t even imagine it. I’d never really wanted to. Men seemed to need periodic babysitting, but women came already fully capable—unless they were unable to work or wanted children. But I was working, doing what I loved, and I could cook and defend myself. And bearing children was the furthest thing from my mind.

Our ideas for the future vastly differed, but there would be plenty of time to talk about that when he was safe and well.

Like you said, Andi. First things first.

Jember followed me into my cozy room and locked the door behind us. The door had an amulet nailed to it, one I’d never seen before. “What’s that for?”

“Extra protection,” he said, easing himself to sit on my bed. He was wearing some of the dark grey knitwear this house had chosen as its uniform. It was strange seeing him in dark colors. I’d grown up seeing him in mostly white, with rich colors as accents. The grey didn’t suit him. “Because you counteracted the temperature, the Evil Eye isn’t connected to this room, thus can’t hear us. But I added an extra shield, just in case.”

“Just in case of what?”

“The two of us are the only ones who can be in on the plan of attack. If Magnus or Saba get wind of it, it’ll get back to the Evil Eye. We need to work with the element of surprise as much as we can.”

“I understand. So what’s the plan?”

“We need to put up as much defense as possible. If we prepare a room ahead of time—the game room downstairs, which I’ve already started on—we can create barricades with amulets to keep the hyena inside.”

“But it’ll break through. We need more defense than just amulets.”

“If the hyena’s target is inside the room with it—hear me out,” he said, and I clamped my jaw shut again. “The target and someone helping to protect them in the room. An amulet shielding the doorway. And then you, outside of the room, constructing the amulet.”