Chapter 19: Come Eat With Us

“Tonight.”

Tessa stopped outside Moonglass Library. Gideon Blackwood stood beside the path, looking far too pleased with himself for someone who hadn't even said hello.

“Was that a question?”

“No.”

“Then this is a terrible invitation.”

“You already used ‘another night.’ You don't get to use it twice.”

He remembered. Of course he did. She'd turned down his dinner invitation after their training session, and Gideon had been keeping score.

“Have you considered that I might be busy?”

“Are you?”

That was an annoying question. She'd just left a room full of records that had given her more questions than answers. Zoran had taken those questions seriously, which was becoming a problem of its own. She wanted to keep looking, but staring harder at the library doors wasn't going to help.

She checked the time on her phone. It was a little after nine. If she ate and left at a sensible hour, she could reach Keeper's House well before her Mirrorroot disguise wore off at midnight.

Gideon glanced at her phone. “I'm not asking you to stay all night. Just eat.”

He wasn't asking for a secret, a favor, or an explanation of Theo Monroe. He'd invited her before any of the archive trouble, simply because he'd wanted her there.

“Fine,” she said. “But if your cooking is terrible, I'm telling everyone.”

Gideon broke into a grin. “You won't.”

“That confident?”

“I'm feeding you, Monroe. I take that seriously.”

He headed toward Blackwood residence as though he had no doubt she'd follow. She did, and the surprising part was how little convincing she'd needed.

By the time Gideon opened the kitchen door, the smell of roasted meat and garlic had made Tessa more forgiving of his manners.

The kitchen was bigger than she expected, with a long table, wide counters, and enough dishes stacked beside the sink to feed a small army. Voices drifted from elsewhere in Blackwood residence, but no one else was in the kitchen.

“Wash your hands,” Gideon said, heading for the stove.

“You invite people over so you can give them orders?”

“I invite people over so they can eat without complaining.”

“Then you've invited the wrong person.”

He laughed and stirred a pan as though he knew exactly what he was doing. After washing her hands, Tessa sat at the table and watched him check the vegetables, taste the sauce, and adjust the heat. So the man who treated training drills like competitions actually knew his way around a stove.

“You really cook.”

Gideon looked offended. “You thought I lied?”

“I thought you exaggerated.”

“In my family, if someone sits at your table, you feed them properly.” He reached for three plates. “And nobody leaves hungry.”

Why three plates? A moment later, she got her answer.

“Something smells wonderful,” Caspian announced, heading straight for the food.

Gideon caught him reaching for a piece of meat. “Touch that and lose a finger.”

“You threaten guests?”

“You're not a guest.”

“I've been coming here for years. Surely that earns me something.”

“It earns you a plate if you wait.”

Caspian noticed her at the table. His smile widened. “Monroe. If I'd known you were coming, I'd have brought you flowers.”

“You'd probably eat those before giving them to me.”

Caspian laughed instead of looking offended. “You might be right.”

That was new. Usually, flirting with Caspian felt like entering a competition whose rules he'd written himself. This time, he simply pulled out a chair, still smiling, while Gideon served dinner.

Gideon gave her a portion large enough to qualify as a challenge. She took one bite and looked up.

“Well?” he asked.

She swallowed. “I hate to admit it, but this is good.”

“Try saying that like it doesn't hurt.”

“Don't get ambitious.”

Caspian reached across the table and stole a potato from Gideon's plate.

“Get your own,” Gideon snapped.

“I did. Yours looked better.”

“You have the same food.”

“Then why are you so upset?”

“Maybe he just likes annoying you,” Tessa said.

“Finally,” Caspian said. “Someone understands.”

Gideon gave them both an exasperated look. Tessa laughed, nearly choking on her next bite. Gideon pushed a glass of water toward her without stopping his argument. Clearly, neither of them needed practice at this.

“My wolf likes you more than I do,” Gideon told her when the argument died down.

“Your wolf has excellent taste.”

“Don't encourage him.”

“You're the one who invited Monroe,” Caspian said. “Take responsibility.”

“I'm sitting right here,” Tessa reminded them.

“And eating,” Gideon said, looking pleased. “That's the important part.”

They kept arguing over whose portion was larger, whether Caspian had earned dessert, and why Gideon hadn't invited him personally. Tessa joined in without thinking. She didn't rehearse Theo's answers or worry about smiling too freely. For a few minutes, there was just warm food, ridiculous company, and an argument she could afford to lose.

Then Gideon laughed at something she said, and she remembered what she'd stopped thinking about: neither he nor Caspian knew who she really was.

They liked Theo. She liked being with them. But there was so much about her they didn't know. And she wanted to come back anyway.

Gideon offered her another helping, and Tessa let him add it to her plate. He looked so pleased that refusing would probably have insulted generations of Blackwoods.

Caspian watched the exchange. “If he keeps feeding you like this, he'll expect you to move in.”

“Is that how you ended up here?” she asked.

“I come for the company.”

“You come because you can't cook,” Gideon said.

“Both can be true.”

Her phone buzzed beside her plate.

ASHENCROFT

Caspian noticed the name before she could turn the screen over. His smile became positively unbearable.

“Not one word,” Tessa warned.

“I've said nothing.”

“Your face is saying plenty,” Gideon told him.

She should have found them irritating. Instead, she was still smiling when she picked up her phone.

ASHENCROFT: I may have found what SUBLEVEL refers to.

Zoran had taken her questions seriously in the preservation room, even when the evidence challenged what he'd been taught. He'd kept looking for answers after they parted, too.

THEO: Another archive?

ASHENCROFT: Not exactly. There's an older restricted level beneath Moonglass.

THEO: Does that mean the records went there?

ASHENCROFT: Not necessarily. But it's worth checking.

Of course he wouldn't promise more than he could prove. That was becoming one of the things she liked about him, however inconvenient.

Another message appeared.

ASHENCROFT: It's called the Undercroft.

Tessa read the name twice, and her smile faded.

Across the table, Gideon was accusing Caspian of trying to steal dessert. Their easy bickering hadn't changed, but Tessa couldn't join in anymore.

Whatever the Undercroft contained, she would have to find out. And after what she'd discovered in Moonglass, the thought of searching beneath it frightened her more than she wanted to admit.