Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“That makes sense,” Nadia said lamely. The empty chair was called Charlie?
The lines around Gail’s eyes deepened as she smiled at Nadia. “We’re so pleased you survived. How frightening to tumble into that river. I just can’t believe you were in such danger.” She motioned to the tiles. “Would you like to play?”
“I haven’t learned how,” Nadia said.
“Oh my goodness,” Lorraine said. “We’ll have to teach you.”
Bussy glanced around. “We have six of us who are good at the game. That way at least four can play. If we get a couple more, we can run two tables.”
“Of course,” Margaret said. “Once Bussy and I are finished with our lupine aunt duties.”
Lorraine rolled her eyes. “Aren’t you two special?”
“We really are,” Margaret said.
“All right,” Lorraine said. “Everybody wanted the job, and you two got it.”
Nadia’s gaze drifted toward the open pantry. She barely stopped herself from grimacing. Cereal boxes were stacked next to pasta. Cookies sat above canned beans. Nothing matched. Nothing made sense. It was chaos in wooden shelving form. She forced herself to look away. “I figured nobody really wanted the job as my lupine aunts.”
“Oh no,” Gail said, pouring tea. “We fought very hard for it, sweetheart.” She handed cups to Margaret and Bussy, then turned. “Coffee or tea?”
“Coffee, please,” Nadia said instantly. She didn’t trust tea anymore.
Gail set the mug in front of her. “All right, these are the tiles.”
Nadia tried to focus. She really did. But the pantry was right there.
Gail followed her gaze and rolled her eyes. “All right. Do what you want to do.”
“Really?” Nadia gasped.
“Yes,” Gail said. “I know you, and I appreciated what you did with my laundry room.”
“Oh. Thank you.” Nadia jumped up and crossed the kitchen in three strides, opening the pantry fully and getting to work without hesitation. Boxes were grouped. Labels turned outward. Expiration dates checked. Order restored shelf by shelf. Behind her, the elders laughed softly.
“She’s a keeper,” Lorraine said.
Nadia smiled to herself as she worked. “We’ll get you some of those healthy glass containers,” she said firmly. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you organized.”
“This really does make her happy,” Lorraine murmured.
“I know,” Bussy whispered back. “You should’ve seen her when she went to town on my husband’s closet. Oh my gosh. It was color coded, and by season, and honestly, it was beautiful. But he keeps goofing it up.”
“Don’t tell her,” Margaret added quickly.
Nadia pretended she couldn’t hear. She would’ve been more than happy to go back and fix Joel’s closet. It had been a beautiful space. Plenty of room. Great lighting. A missed opportunity, really. She finished lining up the cereal boxes and turned, brushing flour off her hands. “So anyway, I was wondering if any of you could teach me the old language.”
Gail chuckled, putting a box of apple crisps on the table. “Sure, but it’ll take time. We don’t have many textbooks anymore, but we have the grimoire.”
Nadia looked over her shoulder. “You could read it, right?”
Lorraine shook her head slowly. “Not anymore. I don’t remember enough.”
“I bet I could,” Gail said softly. “It’s been a while, but I always had a thing for languages.”
“Can you get your hands on the grimoire?” Margaret asked. “I thought the rules stated only the librarian could hold it during the trials.”
Nadia shrugged. “I could try.”
Bussy slid into Nadia’s vacated seat as Margaret pulled another chair closer. “Do you not trust Solomon?”
“No,” Nadia said, “I trust him. I just want to read it for myself.”
Gail nodded, her white hair pinned into an intricate bun. “You are a bit of a control freak, dear.”
Nadia blinked. “I am?”
All of them laughed.
“I think being organized and being a control freak are two very different things,” Margaret said.
“Fair enough,” Lorraine said. “But he’s following the laws, and I think he’s doing a good job. As are Bussy and Margie.”
Nadia was getting extremely tired of the damn laws.
Margaret took a delicate sip of her tea. She wore modern jeans and a green sweater that brought out her eyes. “Do you have any idea the trouble we’d be in if we didn’t do our job? If you and Caidrik had become intimate, we’d be laughingstocks.”
Nadia swallowed. Her stomach cramped. She hadn’t realized her actions affected anyone but herself. Yet naked against him, she wasn’t sure she could’ve said no. Maybe she should try to stay away from him for a while. Or did the old language really dictate that so firmly? She hesitated. “Do you have a primer or something for the older language?”
Gail stood. “You are stubborn,” she said fondly. “Which is something we need in our Alpha females.” She disappeared into the other room, drawers opening and closing. When she returned, she carried several journals, their covers cracked and worn. “These are what I used when I learned the old language. It was spoken a few hundred years ago. I translated most of these.”