Page 131 of Fallen Stars
“Thank you, ladies. I owe you.”
Elara tutted. “Don’t forget to thank us when she’s putty in your hands,” she mocked, slapping the dough onto a tray.
Isra and Merissa were still giggling as Adrian left the room.
Elara felt whole, for the first time in a long time as her and her two honorary sisters gossiped and prepared food together in the small kitchen. The hearth was perfect, coloured terracotta, warm, and inviting—the oven providing comforting warmth against the chills of the south-east coast.
Smells that reminded her of home and Sofia wafted to her—rosemary and basil from the stew she was simmering, lavender and honey from the cakes that Merissa was currently frosting.
Elara rested against the back of the furnace, feeling its warmth through her as she looked at Isra and Merissa, bickering over the colour of the frosting of the cakes.
“They wouldobviouslyprefer blue. They’re Neptunan. Blue is their colour.”
“But lilac will match thelavenderwithin,” Merissa replied.
Elara smiled to herself, hearing the deep timbre of Enzo’s voice above as he laughed at something Leo was murmuring to him.
Her family. Herpride.
She hadn’t allowed herself to dare that the day would come, all of them united and safe, performing mundane tasks that anyone else may have taken for granted.
Still smiling to herself, she brought her spoon to the sauce before her, thick with red wine, and scooped some up, calling Isra and Merissa to taste it.
The women both moaned.
“Definitely ready,” Merissa said, and without thinking, Elara yanked them both to her, hugging them tightly.
Merissa and Isra held her back, Elara breathing in their intertwining scents—Isra’s smoky incense and Merissa’s sweet rose.
Finally, she pulled away, her two friends looking a little bewildered.
“What was that for?” Isra asked.
“Nothing. It’s just, you both make me believe that soul-ties aren’t limited to just lovers.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
Adrian walked along the deck,the moon full above him, and his stomach full—a contented feeling blooming in his heart. He didn’t know what kind of magick Elara possessed, but it was doing something to bring him and her friends closer together. The group was able to sit together for the first time without an awkward silence as she’d filled everyone’s plates and forced at minimum two glasses of wine down each of their throats.
The meal she had prepared with Isra and Merissa had been delicious, but it was the thought behind it that had touched Adrian.
What was the saying? The quickest way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. Well, Elara had definitely chipped off a piece of his closed, sea-battered heart with that stew. He carried a bowl of it now, along with a cake that Merissa had made.
“For your mermaid,” she’d winked before going back to jesting with Leo about his inability to handle a drink. Adrian felt a bit tipsy himself. He could tell by the way the net swayed a little under his feet as he stepped upon it.
“Well,” he said to the sea as he settled onto the makeshift hammock, carefully placing the bowl and plate in the crab cage, “you’ve been back on my ship.”
“Very observant, Captain,” a familiar and beautiful voice floated up.
He grinned, turning the pearl over in his hand. The bribe of food had seemed to win her over.
“And how was your day?” she ventured.
Adrian sighed. “Better than the others. My guests and I are getting along much better. How was yours?”
He heard a sigh. “Yours sounds better. I would love a day free from my responsibilities, free to do as I please.”
“And why can’t you?” Adrian frowned, content to just listen to the sound of her voice.