“Your mother is on duty at the portal. She should be back in a couple more hours,” Grandpa said with a soft smile. He pointed to the kitchen counter where several dozen cupcakes were lined up, each with a heavy dose of chocolate frosting and chocolate shavings. “Annette has been baking for you, I see.”
“Chocolate,” my cousin said, training his eyes on my shoes. “I like chocolate.”
I didn’t know much about autism, but it seemed to me my cousin was on the spectrum or something like it.
“I like chocolate, too,” I said, glancing at the cupcakes. Lona used to make cupcakes like that; she called them death by chocolate. Shaking myself from my reverie, I offered Donovan my hand. “I’m glad to meet you.”
Grandpa Geoff beamed at me and then turned his smile on Donovan, who was staring at the ground and hadn’t taken my offered hand. I let it fall to my side and cleared my throat. Grandpa slowly raised his hand and set it on Donovan’s arm, giving the young man plenty of time to move if he’d wanted to avoid contact.
“Nai is here for training,” Grandpa said, crouching to look Donovan in the eye. “Will you be a nice cousin to her while she adjusts at school? Help her out?”
The weight of what I was doing here settled on my shoulders, and I nearly groaned. “I’ll take all the help I can get.”
At my declaration, Donovan raised his chin and glanced at my nose, but if he saw my smile, he gave no indication—nor did he meet my gaze. “I can be helpful.”
Gramps squeezed his shoulder lightly. “Yes, you can!”
I kept my smile firmly fixed. “I’d love a cupcake if you’re willing to share. I missed dinner.”
Donovan shook his bowed head and mumbled, “That’s not healthy.”
Geoff snorted with laughter, and he looked ten years younger, beaming at the boy. “That’s very true, but she’s had a bad day.”
My cousin pursed his lips and looked down at his half-eaten chocolate cupcake. He took a deep breath and then, raising his gaze to mine, he thrust the remaining portion out to me. “Nai,” he said, nodding at me gravely. “Family.”
My heart pinched, and my throat clogged up with emotion. In my peripheral vision, I saw Grandpa step deeper into the kitchen, moving toward the other cupcakes as if he knew I wouldn’t want the half-eaten one Donovan offered.
“Oh, dear one,” Gramps said to my cousin, moving toward the counter where the fresh cakes were lined up. “Nai might want a fresh—”
Was I going to eat a half-slobbered-on cupcake so that I wouldn’t hurt my sweet new cousin’s feelings? You bet your ass I was.
With tears in my eyes, I took the half-eaten cupcake and shoved the entire thing into my mouth. The sweet chocolate kissed my tastebuds, and the cake’s tender crumb was probably the best thing I’d had since I left Montana. “Mmm,” I moaned with my mouth full. “Delish! It’s so goo—”
Donovan burst into laughter, a fully free I-don’t-care-what-people-think laugh, and the sound was like liquid sunshine. It warmed my heart, causing me to grin as well.
“Shouldn’t talk with your mouth full,” he admonished with a side-eyed look at our grandfather. “Don’t tell on her, okay, Pappy? She didn’t know.”
Geoff rolled his eyes, but his lips twitched as if he were trying to suppress his own laughter. “I suspect it won’t matter this once.” Grandpa looked at me. “Annette is very kind, and she does her best to teach manners to everyone in the house—including me and your aunt.”
I swallowed the cake and then licked the remaining frosting from my fingers rather than wipe them on my dress.
“Well, I’ll try to remember any scrap of etiquette I can,” I said, raising my eyebrows before I turned my attention back to my cousin. “Thank you, that cupcake was really yummy.” I winked at him.
“Family,” he grinned, nodding his head, like seeing me happy made him happy. Truthfully, seeing him happy made my own heart float in my chest.
“More cupcakes?” he asked, turning to Grandpa Geoff.
Geoff rolled his eyes. “Oh, all right.” Holding up his pointer finger, he said, “You may have one more because you shared with Nai.”
Donovan waved for me to join him. “Let’s have more chocolate.”
“Sorry,” Grandpa said, stepping to my side. “Nai and I have work to do.”
My cousin nodded somberly. “Be safe.” He stared at my feet. “When you come back, we’ll have chocolate.”
My eyes welled with tears. “Thanks.”
I instantly loved him. I loved everything about him and this place. For the first time since leaving Montana, I felt like I’d come home.
Gramps led us back out into the hallway we’d been walking down before Donovan had called out for him.
“He’s so sweet,” I said, running to catch up.
Gramps nodded. “Seeing the world through Donovan’s eyes has been one of the greatest joys of my long life. His mind might not make connections like yours or mine, but he has the best heart: loyal, honest, and kind.”
His eyes grew misty, and I swallowed hard to contain my own emotions as my heart squeezed.
Shifters didn’t get diseases—and we rarely developed disabilities. With our rapidly healing genetics, physical or mental disabilities were just really rare.
“He’s three-quarters human, one-quarter high mage,” Gramps said as if reading my mind. “With being raised in the mortal world, you’d be familiar with autism. That’s the closest thing I can think of to relate this to.”
“He’s perfect,” I assured my grandfather, but the sadness in his expression remained. The only knowledge I had about autism was what I’d read in school, but I could imagine that Donovan wasn’t all chocolate and smiles all of the time.
“We love him very much,” Geoff assured me. “In fact, I’m confident we’ve learned more from him than he has from us.”
Before I could fully digest that last statement, Gramps stopped in front of a set of wooden double doors, smaller than the ones in the foyer, but the wood was polished and smooth. He then turned to face me. “Before I declare you my heir, you’ll need to meet our ancestors and get their blessing. Considering the circumstances, they’ll manage much of your spirit training.”
Okay. My brain was on overload, and his words made no sense. At this point, I’d just roll with it. I forced a smile.
“Whatever I can do to help so that Kian and the others don’t get your power…” I told him.
Gramps smiled tightly. “Once I start your initiation as my heir, Kian cannot refuse your entrance to High Mage Academy, assuming you pass your initiation test. Then you’ll be allowed to attend school for training with the other high mage students and then become my rightful heir.”
Initiation test?
I shook my head. Best to not even touch that one right now.
“Great. Let’s get started.” The sooner I passed this part, the sooner I could get back and make things right with Rage.
He nodded but didn’t move to open the door, his eyes reflecting some sort of unease. There was something else there, a look I couldn’t interpret.