Chapter 5

Erik

There wasa surprising collection of clothing in Adi"s guest room, which did make me wonder just how often this happened. It was clear I wasn"t the first person to end up stuck in the snow on the way down the mountain.

I pulled on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt that looked to be about my size, before searching one of the drawers for socks. A small laugh escaped me at the huge assortment in the dresser drawer. It seemed like she was very serious about her sock rule, and there were all kinds of pairs imaginable within it.

Despite my worry over my grandfather and his well-being, I stared down into the drawer and took my time selecting my socks, settling on a dark blue pair with snowflakes all over them. I could have just gone for simple black, but that didn"t feel right.

I hung my wet clothes over the rail provided, grateful that there was one. It would be better if I could get in contact with my grandfather, but I just had to hope that he"d be all right. Which he probably would, he"d lived at the bottom of the mountain for his entire life, he knew how to act in storms like this.

I dropped my car keys and wallet onto the dresser and headed back out into the other room. I wasn"t sure precisely what to do with myself now, but it seemed rude not to rejoin my host.

Adi was humming in the kitchen, stirring something in a pot that smelled of cinnamon and cloves. She looked completely different to how she had at Lofn"s party, with her ice-blonde hair up in a messy bun, and a similar outfit to what I was wearing. It made sense, it was a practical combination for going under a snowsuit if needed.

"Hey," I said.

She turned around and flashed me a smile. "Hey. Do you want some gl?gg?"

I raised an eyebrow. "You have some?"

"I mean, it"s not going to be as good as the stuff we drank before, but it"s warm, and the alcohol will have boiled off by now, so you don"t have to worry about me trying to get you drunk or anything."

"Why would I be worried about that?"

"Well, I"m guessing you were careful about how many drinks you had at Lofn"s party. Though maybe that was just because you were planning on driving down the mountain."

"Or maybe I have magic that means I can purge the alcohol from my system."

"Can you?" She poured the gl?gg into two mugs and held one out to me.

I took it from her with a smile. "Thanks. And no, I can"t. I only had a non-alcoholic beer and then the mulled wine we had together."

"Fair enough." She leaned on the counter. "I"m sorry you can"t get to your grandfather."

"He"ll probably be fine."

"Doesn"t stop you worrying about him though, does it?" she asked.

"No. But what can I do? I"m guessing the internet is a no-go too?"

She shook her head. "I tried it while you were changing, but I had no luck. You"re welcome to try it if you want."

"I don"t think I"d be any help with that," I admitted. "I"m not exactly very tech-savvy."

Adi took a sip of her wine. "I"d have thought musicians would be really good at it."

"Not really. I know my way around the basics of a recording booth, but that"s about it." Perhaps I should work on changing that but there was never any time between the recording, touring, and interviews.

"I"m sure that"s a useful talent."

"For my job, yes. For fixing the internet during a snowstorm, not so much," I joked.

She smiled.

"So, I"m guessing watching TV is out too." Not that I really had any inclination to do that either.

"Mmm. You"ll have to entertain yourself with more traditional pursuits," Adi said. "I have a substantial library if you like to read. And a couple of board games."

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you suggesting Monopoly in the middle of a snowstorm?"

"Of course not. We"d need a third person for that."

"Is it wise to play Monopoly against someone you don"t know anyway?"

"It could be a good test of character, especially for seeing how well someone takes losing."

I laughed. "So you use it as a screening process for your dates?"

"I don"t date."

"You were at a dating event," I reminded her.

"I didn"t stay long, and I didn"t really talk to many people," Adi responded.

"Then I"m honoured you talked to me. And relieved that I didn"t scare you off so you"ve offered me shelter during the storm."

"Don"t flatter yourself, I"d offer it to anyone who got stuck outside my house in the middle of a snowstorm."

"Because you"re a good person?"

"Because I don"t want to deal with an abandoned car and a dead driver," she joked.

"Has that ever been an issue?"

"Not really. Carriages? Yes. Cars, not so much."

"How often do you get carriages around here?" I asked, taking a sip of my wine.

"Never these days, but it wasn"t unheard of a couple of centuries back."

"Just how old are you?" I asked.

"Old enough to know it"s rude to ask a woman that."

"You"ve caught me," I responded. "Though when the woman is paranormal, it might not be so rude."

Adi let out an amused laugh and straightened up. "I suppose this would be the perfect place for a vampire to live, at least in the winter."

"Vampires can go out in the sun," I pointed out. "Which means you"re probably not one."

"Perhaps, I said that to lull you into a false sense of security." Her lips quirked up into a smile and I found myself looking at her teeth despite being fairly confident in my assessment.

"Mmm, I see. This is actually all a plot so that you can drain me in my sleep."

"I wouldn"t worry too much, your door has a key and it locks from the inside."

"Then maybe you should be more worried about me."

"You"re not a vampire," she responded.

"How do you know that?"

"Maybe I spiked your wine with garlic."

I let out a surprisingly loud laugh. "I like garlic."

"To be fair, so do most vampires," she responded. "But I can tell you"re not one."

"Fair enough. I"m not, I"m an alv."

"Ah. I would never have guessed."

"The lack of pointy ears?" Without meaning to, I reached up to touch them. It wasn"t something I normally thought much about other than being grateful that I didn"t have the standard hallmark of the various kinds of elves.

"I normally have a better sense of alvs."

"I see."

"But now I"m intrigued about the lack of pointy ears, if you want to tell me." She turned back to the stove and picked up the pan of wine. "Want more?"

I looked down at my mug, surprised to find it empty. "Please. Unless it has some kind of truth serum in it."

"I promise it doesn"t. Though let"s face it, I"d tell you that regardless of if it did or not."

"Ah, not true. You"ve been drinking the same wine as me, so if it did have truth serum in it, then you wouldn"t be able to lie either," I said.

"I suppose that does make things a little less risky."

I nodded. Though I couldn"t help thinking that she had a point. No one actually knew I was here. Donel was up at the other cabin spending the night with the guy he hooked up with, and grandfather was probably already asleep. People would miss me if I didn"t resurface in a couple of days, but they"d probably just think that I"d been caught up in the snowfall on the mountain.

I looked over at Adi as she split the wine between the two mugs, clearly oblivious to the thoughts racing through my mind. She set the pan down and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

"So?" she prompted.

"Oh, my ears. It"s a very boring story," I responded. "My great-grandmother was human. Half of each generation comes out with pointy ears, half with human ears. Nothing more than that."

"It sounds like it might be a more exciting story than you think. Your great-grandfather fell in love with a human," Adi pointed out.

"Hmm, true. But my great-grandfather never actually told anyone about it."

"You could ask him. If he"s an alv, he"ll still be alive, right?"

"He died not long after his wife," I responded. "I never even met him. The story is that he died of a broken heart."

Adi frowned. "I can"t imagine loving someone that much."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Can you?" Her lips parted, drawing attention to them and how the wine had brought out the rosiness of her cheeks. Even wearing casual clothing like she was, she was beautiful. Probably one of the most beautiful women I"d ever seen up close. And I"d seen a lot of beautiful women in my time in show business.

"Of course. And not just because of my ancestors either. Think of all the things that have ever happened because of love. Countries have been torn apart, peace has been made, sonnets and books written. There are so many things done in the name of love, that it"s virtually impossible to not accept that it"s real."

Adi frowned. "I guess you"re one of those people who thinks Romeo and Juliet was romantic."

"I"m more of a Hamlet fan myself," I responded, getting an amused smile for my trouble. "But no, Romeo and Juliet is tragic, but you have to admit that there is some beautiful prose in it."

"Maybe, but it only adds to the tragedy," Adi said.

"I don"t think you can give one example of a tragic romance and say that you don"t believe in love."

She raised an eyebrow. "I can give you more. Some real ones, even."

"That doesn"t mean love isn"t real, or that you can"t find someone who could be forever to you."

Adi gave me a sad smile. "Somehow, I doubt that."

From the expression on her face, it seemed as if she was thinking of something that haunted her, and from some of her responses made it seem as if there was someone in her past had hurt her. And considering I"d only known her for a few hours, it was probably best that I didn"t pry into the matter.

"All right, I"m starving. I didn"t eat nearly enough food at Lofn"s party. Are you hungry now?" Adi asked.

"I could eat."

"I make a great potato gratin. Is that okay?"

"Sounds delicious."

She smiled and set down her mug, turning back to the fridge and starting to put together the door. My stomach rumbled and I realised that I really hadn"t eaten much myself. And if I was here for the night, then it wasn"t unreasonable for me to take advantage of my hostess" hospitality.

And this time, I"d try to keep the conversation away from romance, because despite being at Lofn"s dating event, Adi had clearly been hurt by someone, and I didn"t want to prod at an open wound, especially not when she was the only reason I wasn"t freezing in my car right now.

It was only polite for me to keep the conversation away from sore subjects.