Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Quotes of Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Deacon met my glare with an impish grin. "Anyway, did you celebrate Valentine's Day when you were slumming with the mortals?"
I blinked. "Not really. Why?"
Aiden snorted and then disappeared into one of the rooms.
"Follow me," Deacon said. "You're going to love this. I just know it."
I followed him down the dimly-lit corridor that was sparsely decorated. We passed several closed doors and a spiral staircase. Deacon went through an archway and stopped, reaching along the wall. Light flooded the room. It was a typical sunroom, with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, wicker furniture, and colorful plants.
Deacon stopped by a small potted plant sitting on a ceramic coffee table. It looked like a miniature pine tree that was missing several limbs. Half the needles were scattered in and around the pot. One red Christmas bulb hung from the very top branch, causing the tree to tilt to the right.
"What do you think?" Deacon asked.
"Um… well, that's a really different Christmas tree, but I'm not sure what that has to do with Valentine's Day."
"It's sad," Aiden said, strolling into the room. "It's actually embarrassing to look at. What kind of tree is it, Deacon?"
He beamed. "It's called a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree."
Aiden rolled his eyes. "Deacon digs this thing out every year. The pine isn't even real. And he leaves it up from Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day. Which thank the gods is the day after tomorrow. That means he'll be taking it down."
I ran my fingers over the plastic needles. "I've seen the cartoon."
Deacon sprayed something from an aerosol can. "It's my MHT tree."
"MHT tree?" I questioned.
"Mortal Holiday Tree," Deacon explained, and smiled. "It covers the three major holidays. During Thanksgiving it gets a brown bulb, a green one for Christmas, and a red one for Valentine's Day."
"What about New Year's Eve?"
He lowered his chin. "Now, is that really a holiday?"
"The mortals think so." I folded my arms.
"But they're wrong. The New Year is during the summer solstice," Deacon said. "Their math is completely off, like most of their customs. For example, did you know that Valentine's Day wasn't actually about love until Geoffrey Chaucer did his whole courtly love thing in the High Middle Ages?"
"You guys are so weird." I grinned at the brothers.
"That we are," Aiden replied. "Come on, I'll show you your room."
"Hey Alex," Deacon called. "We're making cookies tomorrow, since it's Valentine's Eve."
Making cookies on Valentine's Eve? I didn't even know if there was such a thing as Valentine's Eve. I laughed as I followed Aiden out of the room. "You two really are opposites."
"I'm cooler!" Deacon yelled from his Mortal Holiday Tree room book-quoteWhat does... mean?"Rider blinked and his lips slowly parted. Surprise splashed across his face. Yeah, I'd spoken in front of Hector. I felt sort of giddy. Might've only been a handful of words, but it was the first time I spoke to him. It was the first time I'd spoken to anyone in front of Rider since we crossed paths again. He'd never been around when Jayden had.Biting down on my lip to stop from grinning, I dared a peek at Hector.His light green eyes were wide, then he smiled broadly. "Means, uh, baby girl.""Oh," I whispered, feeling my cheeks heat. That was kind of nice."It also means something he doesn't need to be calling you," Rider added, and my gaze darted back to him.Hector chuckled, and when I glanced at him, he was grinning. One arm was flung over the back of his seat. "My bad," he murmured, but nothing about the way he looked suggested he felt any guilt.My lips twitched into a small grin.Rider cocked his head to the side. "Uh-huh. book-quotetalkmallory-dodgerider-stark
