13. Florence

Chapter thirteen

Florence

I feel awful for just spewing all of that out and making Adelbert feel bad, but I'm also a little proud of myself for channeling my inner Sadie and verbalizing my discomfort.

I am a little hungry, starving actually, but I felt like I couldn't bother him while he's doing such important work.

And perhaps the thought of enjoying a meal together is what also held me off from going through a stranger's kitchen cupboards by myself. I'm a guest after all, not a resident.

I spent most of the day outside just basking in the beauty of the forest, taking in all the sights and smells and sounds, memorizing it for when I'll be able to paint it with thread. But I did keep an eye on the house in case Adelbert took a break. My plan was to join him for lunch.

But he never came out of his study.

We enter the kitchen and I hang back in the doorway as I take in my new favorite room in the house.

The kitchen is cozy with a strong character that's both old and new at the same time. It has solid wood furniture that looks hand carved but modern appliances are scattered throughout. Rough, exposed beams hold up the low ceiling, making it feel almost medieval, and to one side is a large oak table with live edges I want to trace with my fingers.

"Sit." Adelbert points at a chair at the dining table before moving to the fridge. He pauses, head drooping and shoulders rising with a deep inhale before he slowly turns back to me again. "I mean, please have a seat while I prepare something for us to eat."

A grin tugs on my lips—my frustration with him all but forgotten—but I bite it back, trying not to ruin the moment by expressing how endearing that self-correction was.

"Thank you. Is there anything I can help you with?" I ask as I carefully pull back the heavy wooden chair and lower myself onto it.

Adelbert angles his head. "What do you like?"

"Oh, anything is fine."

"Any allergies?"

"Nope."

"Any dislikes?"

"Not really."

"Tell me."

"Oh, um, don't worry about it."

"Tell me."

"I don't like peanut butter," I blurt out.

"That's fine. Anything else?"

"Not that I can think of while you're interrogating me."

Adelbert scrubs a hand down his face, and his shoulders slump. "Interrogation is not my intent. I am merely trying to establish what you can and cannot eat, or what you do and do not like. You seem to be hesitant about expressing your needs, therefore, I am trying to help narrow down your preferences through various questions."

"Oh." I grimace as the truth and logical manner of his thinking hits me, and a blush creeps across my cheeks and burns my ears. "I don't mean to be a burden to you. I'm only here for a little while and I'm trying to make things as easy as possible for you."

"It would be easier if you would just tell me what you would like to eat," Adelbert sighs out.

"What are you having?" I attempt to dodge the question, not prepared to be as bold as I was in front of my room earlier.

"I was thinking about making some Kartoffelpuffer . They are German potato pancakes."

"That sounds wonderful. But please let me help you."

"I am afraid this part of the kitchen does not have enough space, and the possibility of accidentally making contact is too high. However, I appreciate your offer of assistance." Adelbert inclines his head in that gentlemanly bow he likes to make, an apology hiding beneath his frown.

My smile is a little wobbly but I let it curve my lips to show him that I understand. I'm not quite sure what to do with myself because the silence stretching between us does not feel as companionable as it was previously, so I just follow his movements with my eyes as I fiddle with the hem of my shirt.

Adelbert moves around the kitchen like he's familiar with every square inch of the space. He returns from the pantry with a few potatoes and meticulously peels them on the central counter.

Thankfully, he's first to speak as he proceeds to roughly grate the potatoes.

"Was it your sister you were talking to earlier?"

I instantly perk up. I love talking about Dede, and I'm so happy things are going well with her and Everett. I just hope she will give things between them a real chance before she self-sabotages their relationship with her own fears.

"Yeah. Sadie seems to like Vegas a lot."

"Everett called me this afternoon. I am not fully certain what transpired between them, but what he shared with me helped my understanding of the situation, and I was able to confirm a theory."

"That's great news, right?" I'm not sure how much I want to disclose about what she told me either, but it seems like a good thing if what Everett told him matches up with what Adelbert has found in his readings.

Adelbert nods as he strains the liquid out of the grated potatoes through a kitchen towel and sets the bowl aside.

"It is definitely encouraging to know that I am moving in the right direction of figuring things out."

I find myself sitting up straighter in my seat so I can follow his movements, curious about how he's making these potato pancakes. He comes back from the pantry with flour, an onion, and an egg.

Feeling like he's the most comfortable he's been around me yet—maybe due to the distance between us, or maybe because of the kitchen he seems so at home in—I try to push my luck and ask some personal questions.

"Do you like cooking?"

Adelbert's movements halt, and he looks up at me. Angling his head, a lock of his silvery hair flops onto his forehead, and my hands itch to run through the silky-looking strands that he usually keeps so perfectly styled. But right here, in this moment, he looks so at ease, like the weight of all the stress he's been carrying around is not as significant, and it makes my heart ache in a very funny way.

The lightest of grins, if one could even call it that, tugs at a corner of his mouth.

"My grandmother taught me how to cook. We spent a lot of time in this kitchen. She taught me everything I know about cooking."

"You look very comfortable there and like you know what you're doing." I grin back at him.

Adelbert picks up the onion and starts grating it too.

"This is a comfort food we made often. We may not have ‘hugged out our feelings' but she liked to cook them out."

"That sounds lovely." I don't know what he's doing with the onion, not being able to do this level of cooking myself, so I lift slightly from my seat and crane my neck to see better.

Adelbert mixes the ingredients in a bowl and squints his eyes as a memory seemingly plays through his mind.

"It was, in its own way. Don't misunderstand, she would boss me around and there was no space for emotions in her kitchen, nevertheless, one would say it was a bonding experience to cook together."

"Wow. I'm envious of that. I can only throw together the basics and call it a meal. Despite my mom trying to teach me, I've never had a real knack for it. Even Sadie is better than me and she's not especially good either." Dede and I sometimes tried our hand at cooking fancier meals, but they mostly ended up burned, so we gave up trying too many new things and stuck to salads and sandwiches.

"That is a pity. Cooking allows one to feel more connected to their food." Adelbert looks genuinely disappointed, though I'm not sure if he's pitying my lacking skills or if it's me he's disappointed in.

I want to ask him so many more questions about his grandmother, this house, how he grew up, but I don't want to push this tenuous peace that's currently between us. I shift the conversation back to Everett and Dede.

"Please don't feel obligated to tell me anything, but if you feel comfortable with it, I'd really like to know more about the theories you have about the bond."

Adelbert pauses again and looks at me from across the room. His eyes narrow for a fraction of a second, and then he nods to himself.

"I think it best that you know since this affects you too."

Adelbert puts down whatever he was mixing and plants both hands on the counter in front of him. He fixes me with an intent gaze, his eyes blazing quicksilver.

My heartbeat picks up a new rhythm and my palms become clammy at the ominous charge in the air, but I quickly stretch my lips into a smile and nod at him to continue, hoping he can't pick up on my rare spike of anxiety.

"You're safe with me. I wish you no harm," he reassures me in a tone I suspect he thinks sounds soothing.

"Okay." My voice comes out as something between a whisper and squeak, betraying the mask I tried to slip on.

Adelbert's lips thin before he continues.

"To put it bluntly, around the bonded person, we monsters seem to be reverting to our more baser beings. We have been conditioned to control ourselves and have learned to suppress our monstrous natures to a certain extent, in order for us to blend into a mostly human society. But based on what I read today, and Everett's phone call earlier, those suppressed ‘urges'—for lack of a better word—are coming to the fore. I have a hunch for why this is, but I need definitive proof before I will explain more."

I bring my hair over one shoulder and drag my fingers through the waves as I process his words.

"I hope this isn't a rude question to ask, but can I ask what this means for you specifically and how this will affect me?"

Adelbert nods like he was expecting that question.

"You need not worry. I never intend to come near you or touch you or influence you in any manner."

My eyebrows lift at that statement, now even more curious.

"Okayyy," I drag the word out. "But what does that mean?"

Adelbert clears his throat and takes a step back to lean against the counter behind him, crossing his arms over his chest.

"So you are already aware that I can create wards." He doesn't phrase it as a question, but he still waits for me to answer him, so I nod back. "That's one aspect of my magic. I can also read emotions fairly well and I have the ability to exert some influence to alter emotions."

"So you can make me happy or make me sad? Is that what you're saying?"

"Yes and no. I personally do not wish to alter anything about you. I believe in complete autonomy. However, should you feel fear or any extreme emotion, it grates against me and the need to bestow calm or to ‘fix' it becomes almost unbearable. I spend most of my time alone, thus it has certainly been quite trying to have you in my home."

A quick pang moves through my chest and my brows draw down. "I am so sorry this is happening to you. I didn't think my being here would affect you this much. I'm usually pretty happy and easy-going. How can I help you be more comfortable?"

"Honestly?" Adelbert tilts his head and looks at me like I'm a puzzle he's trying to figure out.

I nod, really wanting to ease his stress and discomfort. "This is all just temporary, right? I want you to be comfortable in your own home. So, how can I help?"

"My one request is that in order to not be disturbed by outside emotions, I remain rather isolated and can focus on my work without disruptions. I have not yet found a means to dissolve the bond, therefore, I am not certain how long you will have to remain here."

My eyes widen and a strange noise escapes from my throat. Adelbert uncrosses his arms and grabs the edge of the counter on either side of him.

"And now I have distressed you. My apologies."

"No, no. It's better to be direct and honest about such important matters."

"I agree. I told you what I need, now how about you tell me what you require? It sounds fair, does it not?"

"Sure."

I take a deep breath and square my shoulders, gathering my courage to ask for what I want, convincing myself that I'm not a burden for making requests when he's already so busy.

"I don't suppose you get delivery services here, do you?"

"Human ones, no. But I can make a request with the pixies that run Pixie Parcels. I've granted them access to pass through my wards to deliver necessities. Anything you need, they're able to get it."

"Pixies are real?" A broad smile blooms on my face and my feet bounce on the floor, my mood suddenly lifted with this new piece of information. "Are they cute and small like in the myths? What kind of magic do they have?"

Adelbert's face softens and a corner of his lips start to tug up but he blinks the expression away.

"Maybe you can meet one when they do the delivery. But let's not get distracted now. What do you need?"

"Well, it's not a need exactly."

"Florence." The way my name rolls across his lips is like a seductive caress that almost makes a whimper escape from me.

This is not the time to catch feelings, Florence. Even the horny ones, I chide myself.

"Embroidery supplies." The words just burst past my lips and I quickly bring both hands up to stifle anything else that wants to come through.

Adelbert inclines his head, and that strange quirk to his lips that can't quite be defined as a smile plays along the edges of his mouth.

"You will have to excuse me. I do not know what all entails ‘embroidery supplies.' Could you perhaps specify or show me examples?"

I keep my hands over my mouth and nod, grateful he's not dismissing the request or laughing me off as some people seem to do when they hear I do embroidery. Most people think it's only a hobby for older people but I adore thread painting.

"What else?"

"Nothing." The word comes out muffled from behind my fingers and I shake my head.

Adelbert merely stares at me with an alarming amount of patience until I drop my hands and place them on my lap.

Seemingly satisfied with this, he asks, "How do you take your coffee?"

"Oh, anything is fine."

Adelbert raises his brows.

"I prefer tea," I admit in a voice barely above a whisper, my shoulders somewhere around my ears.

Adelbert keeps staring at me with quiet determination and raises his brows a fraction higher.

"Oolong tea." My whole face heats with my confession.

Adelbert's mouth turns up a fraction of an inch. "Good girl. Now that wasn't so hard, was it?"

Did he just make a joke? Adelbert. It was a joke, wasn't it? Should I say something or would that make him uncomfortable?

Before I can make up my mind on how to respond, he moves toward the counter in front of him again and resumes making dinner. There's almost a fluidity to his movements. His actions are smooth and well practiced, and I only stare on in quiet fascination. Not drooling.

He's been so formal and distant with me until we entered this kitchen. But maybe there's something about this environment that relaxes him. Even his speech started losing that formal edge after a while, and he opened up about his grandmother.

I wonder what it will take to see more of that side of him.

Movements never ceasing, Adelbert flicks his eyes up to me. "If you need anything else, please let me know. I'll give you a couple of minutes to think about it while I finish cooking."

Should I ask for a vibrator? I might need one tonight to counter all this tension.