Chapter 8 #2
Beth moved fast, pulling out the sleeper, tossing pillows and blankets onto it. He laid Ann down gently, and Beth tucked her in with a soft blanket. Ann was already asleep. They moved to the bedroom in silence, the weight of the night pressing in around them.
“Call Elara,” Gael said, brushing his fingers along Beth’s cheek, exhaling softly. “Tell her what happened. And that I’m out tracking him.”
“What will you do when you find him?” Beth asked, her voice careful as she tried to mask something dark.
“I’ll detain him,” he said evenly. “And wait for the High Lord and High Lady to arrive.”
He meant it. Mostly. But if the elf was stupid enough to resist or fight, well, then...
As if she read the turn of his thoughts, Beth gave him a wry, knowing half-smile. “Don’t get yourself in trouble.”
He leaned in, cradling her face in his hands like something precious. “I never do.”
“Liar,” she said, rising onto her toes to kiss him. When she pulled back, her hands slid up his chest, her palms pressing lightly against his heartbeat.
“I need you to know,” she said softly, “I was very impressed by what you did in the forest. Seeing you like that, so in tune with your magic, with nature itself... it was breathtaking.” Her eyes searched his. “You were breathtaking.”
A slow smile curved his mouth. “Then you understand how I feel every time I look at you.”
He kissed her again, a lingering brush of mouths that tasted like both promise and goodbye. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he murmured. “Call Elara. Please.”
And with one last kiss, he slipped into the night, quiet as a shadow and twice as dangerous.
BETH CHECKED ON ANN one more time before returning to her bedroom. It was a little past six—too early to be up, too late to truly sleep. Not that she would’ve, anyway.
She slid under the covers and turned toward Gael’s side of the bed.
His pillow still carried the scent of him, earth and pine and something ancient.
She curled into it, inhaling like she could breathe him back to her.
His hoodie was still draped over the back of the chair; she could almost imagine he’d be walking back in at any moment, mud on his boots, guilt in his eyes for leaving at all but a smile because they were together again.
But he wasn’t here. He was out there, gods knew where, hunting a man Beth couldn’t believe she’d once trusted.
She’d called Elara, just as he asked. Told her everything. In all the years Beth had known the High Lady, she’d never heard her that furious. Elara’s usually upbeat voice had snapped like a whip over the line, shaking with rage.
Beth had to repeat herself several times—Ann was okay, resting, there was no need to summon Melisandre, the town doctor and Magistra of the Mystic Hollow covenant.
Elara had relented only after Beth insisted that Gael had scanned Ann himself.
If there had been anything wrong, he never would’ve left.
And now he was gone.
After Bryn.
Beth stared at the ceiling, mindfully unclenching her jaw. How could she have ever believed that snake?
It made her skin crawl to remember the way Bryn used to look at her—too long, too calm.
She wouldn’t put it past him to have nudged his emotions into her, just enough to stir doubt.
Just enough to twist her feelings toward Gael.
Without magic, she’d sensed his interest, but not his manipulation.
She would have had issues with Gael anyway at the beginning, but maybe she wouldn’t have been that set into cut him off.
But why Ann?
They barely knew each other. They’d never even had a proper conversation that Beth could remember. The only thing they had in common was her.
Beth stilled, her heart kicked hard against her ribs.
What if she were the reason Ann was attacked?
The thought landed like ice in her stomach. She and Gael had been seeing each other for a short time, but they hadn’t exactly been subtle. Word spread fast in Mystic Hollow. If Bryn had heard... if he’d noticed... Could he really be that unhinged? Would he go so far as to hurt Ann just to hurt her?
Her gaze snapped to the clock—almost 7 a.m. Gael had been gone for a little over an hour. He wouldn’t be back yet. Had Bryn run, or pulled something nasty? There were things Beth didn’t understand about magik’s darker underbelly, threads of power and politics too tangled for her to follow.
She didn’t even know how to reach him. None of the elves she knew used phones like normal people unless it was for work.
Was that a cultural thing? Or something more?
Did they have another way of communicating?
Something ancient and quiet and untraceable?
But then, why did he tell her to call Elara?
Beth sighed, long and low. Waiting was hideous.
At some point, exhaustion dragged her under. She must’ve dozed off because the next thing she heard was movement in the kitchen, the soft clatter of something shifting.
Someone was in the house.
Gael.
Beth jolted upright and ran to the kitchen, heart thudding like a drumbeat in her ears, only to find Ann standing there, barefoot and rumpled, staring down at the coffee maker like it had personally offended her.
Her friend turned with a sheepish look. “I’m so sorry I woke you up.
Again. I was just trying to make coffee. ”
“It’s okay, no worries,” Beth said, sighing as the adrenaline drained from her system. She stepped closer, eyes scanning her friend. “How are you feeling?”
“Better,” Ann said with a small smile. “The headache’s still hanging on, but it’s nothing a Tylenol won’t fix.”
“Sit. Let me finish up.”
Ann obeyed without protest, settling at the table with a soft sigh.
Beth frowned slightly. Ann never surrendered control of the coffee.
The fact that she did now was telling. Beth moved around finishing the coffee and pouring two mugs on autopilot.
She slid one across the table toward Ann and took a seat opposite her.
“Do you remember anything from last night?” she asked gently.
Ann took a slow sip, brows drawn together. “I was going home from walking Ms. Jonas’ dogs. She’s out of town visiting her sister in Portland. It was late, yeah, but I’ve done it before.” Another sip. “It was dark, and... it’s so frustrating. My memories are all... faded. Like they were smudged.”
Beth hesitated, but the question had to be asked. “Do you remember seeing anyone while you were out?”
Ann’s frown deepened. “I saw Miriam Caldwell. She was heading home and waved at me. And... I think I passed that elf you mentioned? Bryn?” Her expression tightened in concentration. “We nodded at each other, I think? After that, it’s all just a blur. Why did you just make that face?”
Beth’s hands closed the cup in a tight grip before she even realized it, but her voice was steady when she answered. “Because Gael believes Bryn used magic on you. That he took you to the forest.”
Ann’s eyes widened, and something shifted behind them.
Old memories surfaced like smoke from a long-buried fire.
Terror flickered in her expression, not fresh, but remembered.
Lived. She swallowed hard. “I’m not hurt,” she said quietly.
“Not like that.” She took another sip of coffee before adding, almost too low to hear, “I would know.”
Beth reached out instinctively, her hand halfway to Ann’s, but stopped short.
She didn’t know if Ann would welcome touch right now.
So she wrapped her hands around her mug instead, holding it like an anchor.
“Gael thinks something spooked him,” she said.
“Or maybe that was as far as he wanted to go. Scare us. Show us how easy it would be too.... Yeah...”
Ann’s lips twisted, dark understanding in her eyes. “With males like him, anything is possible.” She inhaled, deeper this time, clearly forcing herself back from the edge of whatever that thought had stirred. “Where is that elf of yours now?”
“Hunting Bryn.”
“I always liked him,” Ann said, her tone lighter. “Knew he was one of the good ones.”
“Elara and Aryon are probably with him.”
“I hope they kick his sorry elven ass when they find him.”
Oh, Gael might do something more than kick Bryn’s ass, alright. Something final. Something unforgivable, even if it was deserved. “I need to go open the pub,” she said, standing. “I don’t think the twins will show up today.”
She collected the empty mugs and set them in the sink.
“You’re welcome to stay here or come with me,” she added. “Or, y’know, do anything you want, so long as you’re really okay. And if you’re not, I’m taking you to Melisandre.”
“I’m alright, Mom,” Ann said with a weak laugh, getting to her feet. She pulled Beth into a hug, arms tight. “Thank you for saving me.”
“Any time.”
“I think I’ll just go home and take it easy for today.”
“Give me twenty minutes to get ready, and I’ll drive you.”
Ann raised a brow. “You always walk to work.”
Beth smirked. “I feel like driving.”
Ann didn’t argue. She just smiled, small but grateful. “Thank you.”