Chapter 22
Chapter
Twenty-Two
By the time the earth freed me, I hated Thorvin with the fire of a thousand suns and wanted to punch him in the face over and over again. I lay on my side, completely drained of magic, the first time I could remember this ever happening.
Moira’s cool hand rested on my back. “You’re safe,” she promised.
“Why are you wearing cashmere?” I croaked, spitting out a clod of dirt that had gotten lodged in my teeth. Moira was a thrifter, but the scarf and cap she wore looked unfamiliar and brand new. Very high quality from the look of it, and I made a point of knowing my cashmere.
Moira grimaced. “Long story.”
“Is Thorvin awake?”
“Not yet.”
“Then I have time before I have to punch him in the face. Spill.”
She gave me an exasperated look. “Ethan stopped by.”
Alarm rattled through me. I tried to rise and couldn’t.
“Shh,” Moira said, rubbing my bare back in comforting circles. “Everything is fine.”
“What does he have to do with that scarf?” I must have spent too much time in the dirt. My thoughts were completely scrambled. Moira couldn’t possibly be saying…
“Holy shit,” I wheezed. “Ethan gave those to you?”
She closed her eyes and sighed. “Yes.”
I rolled onto my back and let out a cackle.
“Shut up,” she begged. “That’s not all.”
I squinted at her. “Did you sleep with him?”
Moira squawked. “Evie! No! Gods.”
“But you wanted to, didn’t you?”
Two spots of high color rose on Moira’s cheeks. “I am obsessed with him,” she admitted in a quiet voice.
Even though I was lying on the cold ground butt ass naked, it didn’t stop me from yanking Moira down to wrap her in a hug.
“Gross,” Moira said with a rasping chuckle. “Get off me, you perv.”
I laid a smacking kiss on her cheek. “You have a crush. This is wonderful news!”
“You hate Ethan.” Moira pushed me away and sat up, brushing herself off.
“Hate is a strong word. If it helps, I hate Thorvin more right now.”
She rolled her eyes. “There’s something about him. He’s wounded, damaged, and yet, he makes me want to know more about him.”
Moira told me about the cookies and Ethan’s teasing when he left.
I could see she was horrified, not only by her reaction but by Ethan’s reaction, too.
The way she spoke about him made my heart hurt.
I thought for a while she and Soren had a thing going, but after this, I knew whatever it was had been nothing compared to this.
But Ethan? Gods. The man was a walking pair of heavily starched pants.
He was uptight, rigid, and he clung to his ideals like a Remora to a shark.
Yes, he was hot. All the Lords were, but Ethan was older or appeared that way, at least. My mind ran through a dozen things about Ethan that I didn’t like until I suddenly stopped.
I didn’t know Ethan. At all. He and I had never said a non-angry word to each other. I had no idea what colors he liked or if he watched television, or if he had a girlfriend or had ever been married. But Moira…
Moira knew he loved shortbread and ate it with the slow ferocity of a starving man in the desert. She also knew he liked feeding people and keeping them warm.
Ethan would have left my ass in a frozen tundra and tried to steal my clothing to boot, so Moira was already far ahead of me in the getting Ethan’s approval category.
I ran a muddy hand down Moira’s cheek. Her nose wrinkled but she laughed. “Asshole,” she said fondly.
“I can’t claim to know a single thing about Ethan, but I know he isn’t evil. He’s been surprisingly reasonable lately.” I lifted a shoulder in a muddy shrug. “If you want him, go after him.”
She shook her head. “No. I want to sleep with him. That’s all.”
My best friend in the entire world was lying to herself. Super hard. The same way I had for so, so long. I yanked her down again and curled my arm around her waist.
“You’re getting my new scarf dirty.”
“Rowan has a great dry cleaner. She’ll make it look brand new. Now shut up and let me hug you.”
Moira sighed. “You’re naked. This is weird.”
“This is the way the gods brought us into the world, Moira. Don’t be such a prude.”
She patted my bare thigh. “I love you, you fucking weirdo.”
“Love you too, you delusional vampiric swan.”
Moira’s bark of laughter made me grin.
I sobered, worry for her simmering inside my gut.
“If all you want is sex, you can get that from anyone. You’re smart and gorgeous and sometimes even more unhinged than I am.
If you want to pursue him, you should. But I don’t think Ethan is the kind to go for short-term dalliances.
I don’t know his situation, but I’ve never seen him with anyone.
Thorvin might be the most secluded Lord, but Ethan is the most private.
You’re in for a challenge. Soren is a good candidate for a one-time thing.
Or four or five times. Whatever. I expect Ethan might not be that kind of man. ”
Moira lay still underneath me. “Evie?”
“Hmm?”
She let out a soft breath. “I want you to stay out of this one, okay?”
Hurt speared my heart. Tears pricked the back of my eyes. I opened my mouth to say something I knew I might regret, but closed it a moment later. Then I did the thing I might not have done a few months ago.
I took a deep breath and said, “Alright. I’m here if you ever need to talk.”
The drop in her shoulders told me how relieved she was. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“Of course,” I said back, my throat thick with unshed tears.
Things were changing. Such was life, but I didn’t have to like it.
A shrill, panicked scream of horror shattered the quiet.
“Thorvin’s awake,” I growled, sensing the rumble of earth below us. “He’ll be up in a minute.”
Moira rolled away and rose. “You should get dressed.”
“I dunno,” I mused. “Getting your ass kicked by a naked woman is a little more embarrassing than if she were clothed, isn’t it?”
She shook her head. “Yes, but I’m sure Rowan doesn’t want all the Lords seeing his mate in all her glory.”
“Fine,” I grumbled, rolling to my feet to grab my pants. My well of magic was slowly refilling, but I needed at least a day’s worth of sleep before I recovered all the way.
Thorvin was still rising through the ground a few minutes after I got dressed.
“Danu must have dragged him down pretty far if he still hasn’t surfaced,” Moira mused.
“Be prepared,” I warned her. “Danu is not known as one of the kinder goddesses.”
Moira glanced at me. “She’s literally Mother Earth, isn’t she?”
“No idea. I assumed so until I met her. She’s…a lot.”
Moira laughed. “As long as he comes up alive, we’re in the clear.”
A few seconds later, the earth spit up a naked Thorvin. He was curled in the fetal position, completely nude. I winced. Probably should have warned him about that beforehand.
Moira had her cell out, typing a message.
I strode over to Thorvin and nudged him with my toe. The Lord’s body held a fine tremor. His hands were clasped together, and silent tears rolled down his face.
Thorvin cracked open an eye and flinched. His mouth worked, opening and closing like a fish gasping for air.
“Evie?” he croaked.
I punched him right in the face, the satisfying crunch of cartilage beneath my fist enough to soothe the violent urge to kill him.
A choked scream rang from the Lord. His hands flew up to cover his face. Blood spurted through his fingers and flowed down his neck.
Moira whistled low. “Ouch.”
“Hello, Thorvin,” I said.
The Lord broke into soft gasping sounds.
“I—I’m sorry, Evie. I didn’t realize. How could I?
I do not have your sensitivity to the land.
There was no way for me to know the damage I was doing until…
” His voice trailed off. “There’s no way I can ever apologize for what I allowed to happen on my territory.
I can promise you it will never happen again. ”
He went to rise and stumbled, jerking in surprise when he realized his clothes were gone.
I let out a sigh and gripped him by the arm. “Come on. You need to see a medic.”
Thorvin let me pull him along, but he shook his head. “I don’t keep medics on staff. The Keep is empty.”
I shot him a disbelieving glance. “What the hell, Thorvin?”
He let out a heavy sigh. “I like privacy.”
“So do I, but you must have someone you can trust.”
His lips thinned. “You wouldn’t understand.”
I let out a crack of laughter. Even Moira chuckled.
“Out of everyone you know, Evie would understand the most,” my best friend said dryly. “We had to damn near bully her to get to know anything about her. She was the most untrusting person on the planet.”
“She’s not wrong,” I agreed. “The question is why don’t you trust anyone?”
Thorvin stayed silent. “My nose will heal overnight. Danu did not physically injure me, Evie. I will be fine.” But there was a haunted look in his eyes I didn’t like.
“How about you show me and Moira to the kitchen, and we’ll make you a sandwich?”
Thorvin’s brow furrowed. “You literally just punched me in the face and now you want to feed me?”
I shrugged. “I never said I was easy to figure out. Just hard to get to know.”
Thorvin let out an aggrieved sigh but didn’t deny us. We trudged in silence to what I assumed was his main house and let us in.
I blinked in surprise. Thorvin’s place looked like dark academia had knocked on the door, stamped the dirt off its boots on the front stoop, then moved in and decided to make a few changes.
Everything was deliciously dark, but not in a depressing way, more in a dark and stormy night spent reading by the fireplace way.
Bookshelves were everywhere. The walls and ceiling were color-drenched in the most beautiful jewel tones. Deep, forested green living room walls. Purple-burgundy walls in the kitchen. Copper pots hung neatly on a rack above an island made out of—
“Holy shit,” I said as I ran my fingers over the cool stone. “Is this a labradorite slab?”
He looked at me in surprise. “Yes. I had to source it from—”
“Madagascar,” I murmured. The stone whispered to me, a new trick I had no idea I had. It…missed Thorvin. Was I going mad?
Thorvin blinked. “Err. Yes. How did you know?”
“The stone told me,” I murmured.
Moira shot me a concerned glance.
I shook off the strangeness and went to the fridge. “Any preference?”
Thorvin shook his head and sank onto one of the kitchen chairs with a soft groan. He sighed and crossed his arms on top of the table, then laid his head down.
Moira stared at him for a moment. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Thorvin took a shuddering breath. “No.”
Danu was true to her word. The Lord was physically whole, minus the broken nose, and seemed to still have all his faculties. A successful mission, all in all.
Thorvin lifted his head. “You healed my land.”
“Yes,” I added a large chunk of ham to the sandwich. “That is why I came.”
His shoulders slumped. “I wasn’t sure you would. After…” Thorvin lifted light brown eyes to mine. “I’m sorry again, Evie.”
“You’re lucky,” I told him, adding a large slice of Butterleaf lettuce. “Any later and it might have been too late.”
Thorvin’s eyes squeezed shut. “Any chance that poison will come back?”
I pushed the sandwich over to him. Thorvin eyed it for a moment, so long I snorted. “If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t have bargained with Danu for your life.”
Thorvin flinched, then nodded in thanks.
“No,” I said, answering his question. “Not until I drop my claim on your borders.”
Thorvin’s hands stilled in the act of picking up his sandwich. “Just the borders?”
I passed Moira the second sandwich I made. “Unlike you, Lord, I keep my word.”
Anger at the situation rode me once more, and magic colored the sound of my voice when I next spoke. “You’ve angered the fae today, Lord Thorvin. This is not a slight we will soon forget.”
Thorvin went white as a sheet. Moira gave me a curious look and rose, taking her sandwich with her. “I think it’s time we head home.” She took me by the arm and tugged.
I glanced at the sandwich stuff in mourning.
“We’ll be there in a hurry. I’ve already told Rowan to heat something up for you.”
I swayed and pressed a hand to my temples. “Thank you.”
Moira nodded to Thorvin. “We will leave you now. Take care nothing like this ever occurs again. Evie will not be so magnanimous next time.”
Thorvin’s lips thinned, but he nodded. Moira was the only one who believed I’d been magnanimous today.
Once we were outside, Moira paused. A tall, lean male sauntered toward us, hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans. My friend’s breathing patterns changed and her scent went sharper.
Oh gods. This…I did not want to know certain things.
“Moira,” I hissed through my teeth. “Get it together.”
She shot me a sharp glance, horror widening her eyes when she realized. Her desire drained immediately.
“Better.”
Ethan nodded to me, but his eyes changed when he looked at Moira. “Thank you for contacting me.”
Moira shrugged. “Thank you for the delivery yesterday.”
Ethan stared at her for too long.
Whoo boy. Was this how Caelan and I were in the beginning? Because I could light a match off Moira’s arm right now.
“It is the least I could do,” he said after a moment. “Thorvin’s inside?”
I nodded. His land was healed, far greener than it should be for the season. The air was fresh once more, and life bloomed under my feet.
“You’ve done him a great service, Evie.” He touched his hand to his heart. “You have our thanks.”
I inclined my head. “I can visit your property at your convenience.”
Ethan’s eyes burned. “I’m managing,” he said.
I straightened, power blooming along my skin. “Do not make Thorvin’s mistake,” I warned.
His teeth pulled away from his lips in a smile very close to a snarl. “And do not assume I take orders from the fae.” Ethan said the word with ill-concealed disgust.
“Ethan.” Moira watched him, anger sparking in her dark eyes.
His strange gaze flicked to Moira. A muscle in his jaw feathered.
“Thorvin is one of the younger Lords. He’s still prone to mistakes.
” He turned his attention to me. “I am not. If I need your assistance, rest assured I will contact you. Until then, you will not enter my territory unless you have my permission.” With a nod, he strode past us and jogged up the stairs to Thorvin’s front door.
Moira let out a slow breath.
“I think that’s the friendliest he’s ever been to me.”
Moira snorted a laugh. “He won’t ever get an award for his personality, that’s for sure.”
I eyed the door Ethan went into. “Soooo,” I drawled, “he’s the kind of man who gets you all hot and bothered.”
Moira shoved a bottle in my hand. “Drink that and shut up. We’re going home.”
I grinned at her and downed the potion in one go.
Time to see my guy.