Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
Caelan was a river when he walked, everyone parting around him without a conscious thought.
Tourists crowded the walkways early today.
Joy Springs was popular all throughout the year, but autumn brought more visitors than normal.
The town was a popular hotspot for fall color, relatively rare in Texas.
He held the door open for Simone, the Omega breezing inside holding her ever-trusty clipboard. She smiled when she saw me, but the gesture didn’t reach her eyes. Whatever they were here for, it wasn’t an event.
Caelan came in after her, and the store felt two sizes too small. All the plants became alert, sensing a threat in their midst. I sent out a calming pulse of magic. The Shifter Lord might be a lot of things, but he wasn’t destructive without cause, and he had a soft spot for plants.
His eyes locked on me, heat swirling in the stormy depths of his eyes. I swallowed hard, squashing the internal thrill I felt at his possessive behavior.
“Good morning. How can I help you today?” I offered a polite smile.
Simone laughed. “It’s way too early to act so weird, Evie.” She set her clipboard down on the register desk and fumbled through her purse for a pen. “We’re here to schedule you again.”
Moira coughed to cover a laugh.
“The Shifter Lord is becoming a regular social butterfly,” I observed dryly. “If this is short notice, different rates will apply.”
Simone rolled her eyes. “Caelan will pay whatever is required.”
“Caelan also owes us a check from the last event,” Moira said.
“I wired it to your business account this morning.” Simone’s attention rested on the Lord. “Caelan? Care to tell Evie what you want since you were reticent to discuss it with me?”
Her acerbic tone did enough to tell me how annoyed she was with the Lord.
But Caelan’s gaze rested on my worktable, where an unfinished boutonniere sat. I’d started messing with a new design earlier that morning before remembering I had to finish up Hattie’s arrangement.
This one was missing any sentient plants, but I’d embedded poisonous belladonna and a perfect, purple berry into the design. He stepped forward and leaned over the table to study it.
“If this one bites, I might think you’re subtly wooing me,” Caelan mused, reaching out a finger to touch it.
I slapped his hand away. Simone sucked in a breath. “Poisonous,” I snapped. “Extremely deadly. Don’t touch and don’t get too close.”
Caelan straightened, a furrow on his brow. “Why would you create something like that?”
I shrugged. “I’m immune and can deactivate the toxins in plants.” A grin touched my lips. “If I want to.”
Simone rolled her eyes and tapped her clipboard with her pen.
“Deadly and beautiful,” Caelan said. “Just like a Floromancer I know.”
Moira lay her hand over her heart and pretended to swoon.
Simone gagged behind Caelan’s back. “Can we get back to the scheduling? You have a busy schedule today, and I’m sure Evie has things she needs to get back to.”
Caelan’s thinly veiled look of annoyance made me wince, but he pulled a small piece of paper from his shirt pocket. “We have a small working dinner planned. Two seasonal centerpieces, but we’d like them similar to the first ones you created.”
“Automatons?” I asked, intrigued despite my desire to be left alone.
Caelan nodded. “Something historical and seasonally appropriate. We’ll leave it up to you.”
Simone’s pen stalled. “Are you sure? Have you forgotten about last time?” Her eyes flicked to me.
Caelan grinned. “How could I forget that glorious display of power?”
“I need a vacation,” Simone muttered to herself, but loud enough for everyone to hear. “Can you please keep it less offensive to the shifters this time?”
“I make no promises,” I said solemnly.
The Omega grumbled something and turned to leave. “Let me grab my notes. There are a couple of things I’m forgetting. We need to get on your schedule for next summer and next Christmas.”
“And one more event this year,” Caelan interjected, one dark eyebrow rising as if daring me to argue.
Contracts. He would use them against me, wouldn’t he?
Simone left her purse and clipboard on the desk and hurried outside.
Tess had disappeared when Caelan walked in as she normally did.
She did the same thing when my mother came around, and I thought it was because my mother was technically her queen, but I wondered if her disappearances had anything to do with her powers and how much violence swirled around Caelan and my mother.
Something to ask her later if I remembered.
“We’re booked for several events during December. If you need us, it’s going to depend on the size and what exactly you need as to whether we can accommodate you.”
Caelan stepped closer, heat pouring off his body like a furnace.
Moira cleared her throat. “I’m going to the back to get…something.”
“I’ll help!” Ash hurried after Moira, leaving me alone with the Lord.
Caelan shifted to lean against the desk. “You promised two events per year.”
“I did. If you’ll notice the wording of the contract, it does depend on my availability. Since we only came to an agreement a day ago and my calendar has been booked for months…”
“I see,” Caelan murmured. “How about you open your calendar and let me see your availability?”
My heart thudded against my ribs at his proximity. “Sorry,” I breathed. “Our calendar is internal and used for other things other than shop business.”
A ripple of stunning magic flooded the street, trickling in through the shop wards.
I sucked in a breath and stilled as power bloomed in the sky, culminating in the form of a tall, leanly built figure.
Tall, powerful, dark-haired and dark-eyed, the male stood on the other side of the road, the same way he had when he first appeared to me several months ago.
He wore brown armor this time instead of black, but the same crimson runes glowed on the leather and his skins. His eyes, threaded with violet power simmering in their depths.
Caelan sensed the threat in the air and spun, shifting in a heartbeat. He landed on the ground in front of me in wolf form, a snarl already forming in his throat.
One of Neit’s dark eyebrows rose as his gaze found the wolf before me.
Caelan lowered his head, his magic cracking through the air. I tried to step around him, but the Lord wouldn’t allow it.
“I know him,” I said softly, though being acquaintances with a god didn’t matter if they really wanted to kill you.
Caelan’s soft snarl made me freeze.
“Fine,” I huffed. “You overprotective oaf.”
A smile touched Neit’s full lips before he tilted his head and raised a hand. Some would think it a friendly acknowledgment, but it was impossible to miss the threat of bloodshed in the air.
Neit disappeared in a swirl of golden magic, leaving behind nothing but a kiss of power in the air.
Simone burst through the door holding a small bag. She thrust it at Caelan right as a burst of magic popped and the Lord stood before me bare-chested and …
Holy shit.
I launched my gaze to the ceiling and turned away much to Caelan’s wicked amusement.
“Cat got your tongue, Evie?” he said in a delicious drawl.
“For the love of the gods, please put some pants on.”
“Mm. And if I don’t?”
Simone snorted. “If you don’t, there’s bound to be a riot. You’ve attracted an audience.”
Caelan swore under his breath. The sound of rustling fabric reached me and moments later, Simone told me the coast was clear.
I turned to see a crowd of gawking passersby holding their hands cupped to the window, all trying to get a gander at the Shifter Lord’s backside.
An audible groan of disappointment went up as Caelan tied the drawstring on the joggers Simone had brought from the vehicle, his normal clothing in a pile on my floor.
“It must be hard being so popular,” I mused.
Caelan wiggled his eyebrows. “I never shift in public.”
“They’re less concerned by the shifting, Lord. Don’t be surprised if your bare ass goes viral,” said Simone.
Caelan’s eyes flickered with annoyance. “That’s why I have you and a team of lawyers.”
Simone’s look of ill-concealed annoyance made me press my lips together to keep from laughing. “Or you could maybe not get naked in public.”
Caelan studied her for a long moment. “You didn’t see him.”
“Who?” Simone’s eyes narrowed. “All I saw was a flash of light and your goodies on display.” She shook her head. “If the Lord continues to patronize your business, maybe we can pay for window tinting?”
“Nope. The bay window brings all the tourists to my yard. Our seasonal displays drive as many customers here as our online ads do. The Shifter Lord is going to have to learn to control himself better.”
Caelan blinked. “There was a god on the other side of the street.”
Simone’s eyebrows went up. “A what?”
“A god.” He scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “And Evie seems far less disturbed by the sight than she should be.”
Caelan’s power rumbled through the shop like an unleashed storm. “Care to share why that is?”
The way he was staring at me sent a chill down my spine. His look was reminiscent of a fox stalking a rabbit, and I didn’t like it. There was only one fox in this messed up arrangement and it was me.
“No idea why he popped in, but I try not to get too disturbed by a god’s presence considering who my mother is.
” I didn’t want or need his protection. Allowing it meant giving away a piece of myself and letting Caelan get one step closer to unearthing secrets that needed to stay buried if I was to stay alive.
Simone stared. “Wait.” She looked between me and Caelan. “My Lord is keeping secrets. Pray tell, who is your mother?”
“Cliona,” Caelan growled. “A fact I discovered by accident.”
Simone nodded slowly. “Right. Of course it is. How silly of me to assume anything about you two is normal.”
“Why was he so interested in you?” Caelan demanded.
Tess floated in, saving me from answering. She stayed far away from Caelan. “Death comes,” she intoned, her eyes glowing an unearthly silver. “The bell peals its final toll. One will fall. All will suffer.”
Ash, who’d just stepped out from the back, sucked in a breath and did an about face. Tess popped out of existence a second later.
Silence fell for an uncomfortable moment.
“Right,” Simone said. “Should we be concerned about that announcement?”
Tess had never done that before. Hopefully Ash was with her.
“Business as usual,” I said with a forced smile. “Being in close proximity with a banshee can get weird at times.”
But Caelan’s eyes lingered on the spot where Tess had appeared. “One day I’m going to figure you out, Evie Quinn. And hope we all live through the process.”
Let’s hope the hell he didn’t figure anything out.
Keeping my secrets kept us all alive.
Our gazes locked, Caelan’s stare probing in the deepest corners of my soul.
Simone cleared her throat, breaking the spell between us. “Let’s get on Evie’s schedule and get out of here before you miss your next meeting.”
She tapped her clipboard twice, and we were off to the races.