It was obvious that the bond ran deep, for under the bickering and complaining was an inescapable stream of affection.

When Morgana said to Sebastian, "Don't be such a jerk, love," Nash sensed that she meant "jerk" and "love" in equal measure. Listening to it, Nash fought back the same little stab of envy he'd felt on the beach at sunset.

They were each only children, as he was. Yet they were not, as he was, alone.

Anastasia turned to him. Something flickered in her eyes for a moment that was so much like sympathy that he felt a wave of embarrassment. Then it was gone, and she was only a lovely woman with an easy smile.

"They don't mean to be rude," she said lightly. "They can't help themselves."

"Rude?" With her hair tucked around to spill over one shoulder, Morgana swirled her glass of heavy red wine. "It isn't rude to point out Sebastian's flaws. Not when they're so obvious." She slapped his hand away from the slice of pizza on her plate. "See that?" she asked Nash. "He's always been greedy."

"Generous to a fault," Sebastian said.

"Conceited," she said, grinning at her cousin while she took a healthy bite of pizza. "Bad-tempered."

"Lies." Contenting himself with his wine, Sebastian leaned back in his chair. "I'm enviably even-tempered. It's you who have always had the tantrums. Right, Ana?"

"Well, actually, you both—"

"She never grew out of it," Sebastian interjected. "As a child, when she didn't get her way, she'd wail like a banshee, or sulk in corners. Control was never her strong point."

"I hate to point this out," Anastasia told him, "but at least half the time Morgana was driven to wails it was because you'd provoked her."

"Naturally." Unrepentant, Sebastian shrugged. "It was so easy." He winked at Morgana. "Still is."

"I should never have let you down from the ceiling all those years ago."

Nash paused over his drink. "Excuse me?"

"A particularly nasty little prank," Sebastian explained. It still annoyed him that his cousin had gotten the better of him.

"Which you richly deserved." Morgana was pouting over her wine. "I'm not sure I've forgiven you yet."

Anastasia was forced to agree. "It was lousy of you, Sebastian."

Outnumbered, Sebastian relented. He could even, with an effort, dredge up some humor along with the memory. "I was only eleven years old. Little boys are entitled to be lousy. Anyway, it wasn't a real snake."

Morgana sniffed. "It looked real."

Chuckling, Sebastian leaned forward to tell Nash the tale. "We were all over at Aunt Bryna's and Uncle Matthew's for May Day. Admittedly, I was always looking for a way to get a rise out of the brat here, and I knew she was terrified of snakes.''

"And it's just like you to exploit one small phobia," Morgana muttered.

"The thing was, the kid was fearless—except for this one thing." Sebastian's eyes, tawny as a cat's, glowed with humor. "So, seeing as boys will be boys, I plopped a rubber snake right in the center of her bed—while she was in it, of course."

Nash couldn't suppress the grin, but he did manage to turn the laugh into a cough when he saw Morgana's arch look. "It doesn't seem so terrible."

"He made it hiss and wriggle," Ana put in, biting down on her lip to keep it from curving.

Sebastian sighed nostalgically. "I'd worked on that charm for weeks. Magic's never been my strong point, so it was a pretty weak attempt, all in all. Still—" he leered at Morgana "—it worked."

Nash discovered he had absolutely no comment to make. It appeared he wasn't sitting at a table with three sensible people after all.

"So, after I got finished screaming, and saw through what was really a very pitiful spell, I sent Sebastian to the ceiling, let him hang there, upside down." Her tone was smug and satisfied. "How long was it, darling?"

"Two hideous hours."

She smiled. "You'd still be there if my mother hadn't found you and made me bring you down."

"And for the rest of the summer," Anastasia put in, "the two of you tried to outdo each other, and you both stayed in trouble."

Sebastian and Morgana grinned at each other. Then Morgana tilted her head and sent Nash a sidelong glance. She could all but hear the wheels turning. "Sure you won't have a glass of wine?"

"No, thanks, I'm driving." They were putting him on, he realized. He flicked a smile at Morgana. Why should he mind? It made him part of the little group, and it gave him new angles for the story. "So, you, ah… played a lot of tricks on each other as kids?"'

"It's difficult, when one has certain talents, to be content with ordinary games."

"Whatever we played," Sebastian said to Morgana, "you cheated."

"Of course I did." Unoffended, she passed him the rest of her pizza. "I like to win. It's getting late." She rose to kiss each of her cousins on the cheek. "Why don't you give me a ride home, Nash?"

"Sure." It was exactly what he'd had in mind.

"Be careful, Kirkland," Sebastian said lazily. "She likes to play with fire."

"So I've noticed." He took Morgana's hand and led her away.

Anastasia gave a little sigh and propped her chin on her hand. "With all the sparks popping back and forth between the two of them, I'm surprised we didn't have a blaze right here at the table."

"There'll be flames soon enough." Sebastian's eyes darkened, going fixed and nearly opaque. "Whether she likes it or not."

Instantly concerned, Ana put a hand on his. "She'll be all right?"

He wasn't seeing as clearly as he would have liked. It was always more difficult with family, and particularly with Morgana. "She'll have a few bumps and bruises." And he was sorry for it. Then his eyes cleared and the easy smile was back in place. "She'll get through it, Ana. As she said, Morgana likes to win."

Morgana wasn't thinking of battles or victories, but of how cool and silky the air felt blowing against her cheeks. With her head back, she stared up at a black sky haunted by a half-moon and dazzled by stars.