34. Chapter 34

Chapter thirty-four

“ L et’s go through it one more time,” I say.

Mabon rolls his eyes. “Go to the camping shop across the road from the chocolate shop. Buy one lightweight tent, two sleeping bags and two rucksacks. And a baseball cap and sunglasses for you.”

I stare at him. He looks so very vulnerable in his human form. His hood is up and his blue eyes are impossibly guileless. An innocent young man.

I swallow. “Maybe you should just get me the sunglasses and hat, and then I can do the rest.”

Mabon slowly crosses his arms over his chest. “It’s going to be a terrible disguise. You are too much of a beefcake.”

Butterflies invade my stomach at his praise. But there isn’t any time for that. He is right, a hat and glasses are going to do nothing to hide my height and build, and while it is better than nothing, it would be stupid for me to go out unnecessarily.

“Are you sure you can manage?” I say weakly.

Something flashes deep in his blue eyes. “I’m not as dumb as you think I am.”

Oof. Okay. I deserved that. I know he is clever, I do. But he is so strangely innocent about some things. Combined with his childlike wonder, and I underestimate him far too much.

“I’m fey. I comprehend things that would explode your tiny human brain,” he says haughtily.

A smile tugs at the corner of my lips. He is so obvious to me now, I don’t know how I ever missed it. He said something honest and expressed his hurt, so now he has to cover it up by saying something obnoxious.

“I know,” I agree easily.

His eyes narrow in suspicion.

“I’m worried because you are new to the human world, and you don’t have a translator.”

A soft look flows over his beautiful face. A ghost of an answering smile. His eyes light up. He is like a flower and my concern for him is like sunlight.

He tilts his chin up and extinguishes his soft look. “I’m excellent at English! Jamie has been teaching me.”

I nod my agreement as I smile helplessly. He is so utterly adorable. And he is quite right, his English is very good. And since he said my translator won’t work for him, I’m just going to have to trust that he is going to be okay without one. It would only help with listening and not speaking, anyway.

He steps towards the door, and my heart races. I cannot delay this any longer. Mabon really is going to have to go out there in the big bad world without me.

“Maybe flirt a little, so you get a good price!” I blurt.

Mabon pauses and raises an eyebrow at me.

I’m squirming now. I hate that I suggested it, but as well as stalling for time, it is a good idea. Five hundred pounds isn’t going to go very far. Camping stuff is expensive. Nevermind all the food we are going to have to buy on our long walk to London.

“But no nudes or anything else!” I clarify hastily before he gets ideas.

“Because you will be jealous?” he smirks.

I cough awkwardly. Then sigh. What is the point in denying it?

“Yes,” I say, and oh lord do I sound sulky.

Mabon beams in delight. “What if the shopkeeper is a woman?”

“Hell no!” I snap.

Mabon giggles, but then his expression grows sombre. His eyes are shining with some deep emotion that I cannot hope to name.

“Because I am yours?” he whispers softly.

My heart is trying to climb up my throat. My soul is doing cartwheels. I can’t breathe. But I can nod. Slowly and decisively.

A huge smile lights up Mabon’s face. Complete with dimples. Oh lord, it has been far too long since I’ve seen those.

And now I really want to kiss him, but I have to find some self-restraint. We actually need to get to the running part of being on the run. We can’t just roll around in bed all the time. As lovely as that would be.

“So flirting, but no touching?” asks Mabon almost sweetly.

I nod.

His eyes grow wide with sudden excitement. “Oh! What about deals? May I make a deal?”

I groan in defeat. “Fine. But if it is for their first-born, make sure they don’t have one yet. The last thing we need is to have to drag a baby with us.”

Mabon laughs, and then he turns. He walks to the door, and then out of it. As if it is no big deal. Like it doesn’t feel like the end of the world. The door swings shut behind him and I stare at the wood in horror.

Oh lord. This is a terrible plan. What was I thinking? So very many things could go wrong. What if that was the last time I’m ever going to see Mabon?

My feet start pacing. My stomach churns. I’ve never felt anxiety like this. What has come over me? Mabon is clever and capable and while he may be shit at magic by fey standards, he is far better than any human is going to be. He is avoiding using it because he doesn’t want his fey enemies to sense him, but in an emergency, he still could.

It’s fine. Everything is fine. It’s perfectly normal to be this worried about someone you are having a passionate fling with. Because it is a stressful situation and we have been through a lot.

I suck in a breath and run my hands through my hair. Do passionate flings say not to touch anyone else? Do they agree to declarations of ownership?

My groan echoes around the empty room. I have no fucking clue what I am doing. I haven’t for a long time. I’ve just been making it up as I go. One step at a time. I just need to keep doing that.

Get Mabon to Buckingham Palace. That’s the next step. That’s all I need to think about.

Walking there is a good plan. The Resistance doesn’t have eyes in the woods, and Mabon was very at home there. I am doing the right thing, I’m pretty sure. Oh for fuck’s sake, I’m not spiralling down this path again. It’s a good plan. It is the best option. I’ve already decided on it and Mabon is in danger right now, as he enacts the first steps of it. I’m not changing my mind now.

My feet continue to pace. My heart keeps racing. Long, long minutes pass like hours. The first hour feels like all of eternity. At one hour and thirty-seven minutes, I’m just about to run out the door and go frantically searching for him, when Mabon steps calmly into the hotel room.

He has a large rucksack on his back and another one in his arms. The door snaps shut behind him. He drops the rucksack he is carrying and I pounce. I push him back against the closed door. My arms cage him in and my lips claim his.

He gives a little squeak of surprise but then sets about kissing me back very earnestly. He is here. He came back. He is unharmed. He is kissing me. It is all far too wonderful for words.

Reluctantly, I break away. Mabon stares at me with shining eyes.

“Everything okay?” I check, even though I know it is. I felt it in our kiss.

He nods.

“Are you sure you can find the way?” Seems like I’m checking everything.

He gives me another nod.

“There will be fences and rivers and roads and cities,” I say.

“And cows,” he adds solemnly.

My eyebrows rise. “Cows?” I mean, clearly there are going to be cows. We are walking cross-country, all the way from Scotland to London. But I don’t understand why they warrant a mention.

“Cows get angry,” he says with wide eyes.

Right. Okay. I still have my feather earring to translate for me. Is he speaking fey and the translator is glitching again?

I shake my head. It doesn’t matter, and we really need to get a move on. Half of what Mabon says to me never makes any sense. I should be used to it by now.

“Ready to go?” I ask.

“Nearly!”

He slips past me and retrieves a sachet of instant coffee from the table. I did kind of scoop up the debris from the container he threw, and I’ve piled it neatly on the side, but it still looks terrible and I feel bad for the cleaning staff.

I watch in bemusement as he slips the sachet into his pocket. Then he steals a teaspoon. I shake my head in weary resignation.

“Why the coffee?” I ask.

The teaspoon is shiny, so I kind of understand that.

“The gold writing is pretty,” he says as if it’s blindingly obvious and I’m an idiot for not noticing.

I shake my head again and pick up the rucksack.

“The sunglasses and hat are in the front pocket.”

“Thanks,” I say as I fish them out.

Wow, they are really nice ones. I was not expecting this. I assumed he’d simply grab whatever cheap ones were at hand, but it looks like he took the effort to find me a hat and a pair of glasses of good quality. Ones that are going to suit me, and I’m stupidly touched by it.

I flash him a grin and hold the door open for him.

“Ready now?”

He smiles, nods, and glides past me, out into the hallway. As I follow him, there is a spring in my step. Almost as if I’m looking forward to this.