Let Me Find Your Omega - Ashe Moon Page 0,45

the university level. She was curious about my relationships and why I’d never been in one, and I found myself telling her about the vow I took.

“So, you really haven’t been with anyone,” she said. “And that’s why you’re so good?”

“It helps keep my abilities strong,” I said, though I realized that because I’d never known anything different, I didn’t actually know how my abstinence had affected my abilities. Had it made me more sensitive? Or had it only maintained my abilities?

Or had it done nothing at all?

“So, no relationships at all, huh?” Markos asked.

I immediately felt my face get hot again. “Well, no,” I said. “I can’t be mated. But, um, after some research I believe that it is okay for me to experiment… I just can’t be mated.”

“Experimenting is okay,” he said like he was making note of it. “Got it.”

I couldn't tell if he sounded disappointed, or if I was imagining it. Or projecting it…

Ivan and Jillian returned with a tray of roasted vegetables and a bottle of wine just as Markos announced he was finished. He pulled a gorgeous sirloin roast out of the oven and brought it over to the table, along with a pot of gravy and vegetables. My mouth immediately started watering—since meeting Markos I’d been treated to the most incredible meals I’d ever eaten in my life, and I was admittedly starting to enjoy being cooked for.

He cut off a slice, and glistening juices ran down and pooled on the platter. He forked the piece onto my plate and winked at me.

“The ends are the best,” he said. “I want you to try them.”

“Markos giving away the end piece on a roast he cooked?” Ivan exclaimed. “Hounds of hell! He must like you.”

“I’m a good friend,” Markos said. “And an even better brother. Here, Ivan, you can get the other end piece.”

“I’ll be damned.”

“Here, take some vegetables, Kole,” Jillian said, offering to serve me.

I gratefully took a bit of everything and took my seat between Markos and Elise. She’d already started wolfing down her food, and she paused to look up at me and smile. “I hope you come over for dinner more,” she said. “This is fun.”

“Your office is so close,” said Markos. “You should.”

“That’s very kind of you,” I said, touching my glasses self-consciously.

It’d been a long time since I’d eaten in such company. My parents lived far away, and because of my schooling and the business, I saw them very infrequently. I had no family in Mir or anywhere close, either, so I was used to being on my own. It truly was very nice to have such a warm family dinner. It was strange—I felt an unfamiliar comfort being here with them, a feeling of love, safety, and closeness…and it was yet another brand-new experience that Markos had unknowingly given to me.

“We’ve been trying to get Markos to get a reading done,” Jillian told me. “Maybe you can finally talk him into it.”

“He has spoken to me about it,” I said.

“It’s on my list,” said Markos, ladling sauce over his meat. “Been meaning to do it, but we keep seeming to run into obstacles.” He exchanged a private glance with me, and my heart skipped a beat.

“You’ve gotta do it, Dad,” Elise said, her cheeks full. “Trust me, it’ll be so worth it. And it’ll help me! I can study your divination sheet.”

“I don’t know if I want you knowing my future,” he said to her in a teasing voice. “But, yeah, as soon as Kole has time, I’ll do it. Hopefully, we can find a time when we won’t get distracted.”

“Of course,” I said. “From my preliminary examinations, I’ve observed Markos to have an extra vigorous spectral force.”

“Extra vigorous, huh?” Ivan asked as he took a bite of sirloin.

I nodded and stole Markos’s gaze. “I’m very much looking forward to finally reading his fortune.”

12 Markos

The dishes had half of my attention as I stood over the kitchen sink. The other half was focused on Kole, who was sitting at the dining table and helping Elise with her homework—her normal homework. Poor guy had gotten roped into it through her usual charms, and I had to admit that seeing the both of them huddled over a notebook, the kitchen light reflecting off both of their glasses as Kole sipped on a tea and Elise a hot chocolate, was pretty damn heartwarming.

The whole evening had felt that way. I didn’t want to put any meaning on it, but for