Chapter 14
Chapter
Fourteen
Simone, usually so unflappable, gaped like a fish. “I—uh. Lord, with your leave, I’ll head back to the Keep, to start damage control.”
He waved a hand at her, not bothering to respond.
With a final wide-eyed look at me, Simone spun on her heel and hurried away, leaving me and the Shifter Lord in the street.
“No one saw Finn leave,” I said quietly. “The street went empty after you broke Finn’s nose.”
“Would you like to talk here or in your office?” Caelan said in a toneless voice.
His eyes still glowed that perfect, golden hue, telling me I was in deep shit.
“Um. Let’s go…elsewhere.”
“Lead the way,” Caelan said.
I poked my head into the shop to tell them I’d be back in a little while, but everyone waved me away the instant they spotted Caelan looming behind me.
“Be careful,” Moira mouthed before tossing me my purse.
I dug out my car keys and was about to click the lock when Caelan snatched them from my fingers.
“I’ll drive. Your house?”
“Sure.”
We drove the entire way in silence, Caelan’s eyes glowing the entire time. He unlocked the door, held it open, and didn’t slam it shut.
Even when furious, Caelan was a gentleman.
I, on the other hand, felt like I had four feet and five arms. I tripped on the steps going inside my house, dropped a coffee mug on the kitchen floor, shattering it into a hundred pieces, sliced my finger on one of the glass shards, and was about to slice another when Caelan gripped my hand firmly in his own and crouched down beside me.
“Evie.” Quiet words laced with tension. “Go sit down.”
“But I have to clean it,” I protested.
“Sit. I’ll make the coffee.” He reached up for the roll of paper towels and tore one off, pressing it to my bleeding finger. “Hold pressure there.”
He helped me up and took me over to the couch where he sat me down.
I stared at him open mouthed. “You don’t have to—”
Caelan’s shoulders stiffened. “Can’t you stop arguing with me for one second, please?”
“I—” Shit. He was right. “Fine,” I said with a sigh.
His chuckle was soft, almost silent.
Why was I always an idiot around him?
“You need a better coffee pot,” Caelan grumbled as he filled the cheap glass carafe. “With all the money you charge me, you could afford to buy a damn coffee shop, and yet you keep this cheap monstrosity and drink whatever terrible swill it produces.”
“It works,” I said simply.
“Lead pipes work inside old homes, yet the water still poisons you.”
“That’s a massive leap from cheap coffee to lead poisoning.”
“Cheap coffee is poison,” Caelan pointed out.
“No. It might taste like shit, but it’s not poisonous.”
“It’s poisonous to my sensibilities,” Caelan grumbled.
“That’s because you’re rich as Croesus and sleep in a bed made of gold where servants wearing pristine white offer turn down service and leave expensive candies on your freshly fluffed pillows.”
Caelan laughed. “Don’t knock turn down service. Besides, you’re rich, too. Or you will be, if you charge every Lord the same way you charge me.”
“I don’t do work for other Lords.”
He turned but not before I missed the pleased smile on his face.
I rolled my eyes. Men.
Once the coffee finished brewing, he poured us both mugs and brought them over to the coffee table, setting mine before me.
Instead of taking the chair opposite, he kicked off his shoes and sat right beside me, turned to face me, one leg propped sideways on the couch. It was the most relaxed I’d ever seen him.
But…his eyes were still golden. He might look calm and composed on the outside, but the Shifter Lord still fumed.
I kept my eye on him as I picked up my coffee.
“Is she dead?” he asked.
Coffee sloshed over the edge of the mug and burned my fingers. I hissed in pain and set the mug down with a loud clack. Caelan reached over and took my fingers, lifting them to his lips.
Cool breath washed over them, golden eyes locked onto mine. My blood thickened, pulse slowed to a thud.
“Is. She. Dead.” Each word clipped at the end, my face awash in golden light. Caelan’s power rumbled through the room.
I swallowed and considered lying, but he’d smell it on me. We were in close quarters and would scent the untruth on me before I finished telling it. “Yes.”
Caelan’s eyes shut for a long moment. He still held my hand, his warm calloused thumb stroking the back of my hand, sending tingles down my spine with every touch. “How?”
His behavior was weirding me out. Was he pissed? Was he about to kill me? Happy about her death? Sad? The glowing said one thing, him rubbing on me said something completely different.
And men talked about women giving mixed signals!
“I don’t know,” I said finally.
Caelan’s brow furrowed as he digested that. “You aren’t the one who killed her,” he murmured after a moment, his expression clearing.
I blinked. “What? No!” I yanked my hand away. “You thought I murdered your fiancée? What the hell, Caelan?”
He sipped his coffee and studied me. “I thought it was a romantic gesture. Violent and unexpected. Just like you.”
What was happening right now? “I’ve never killed anyone! That’s not how my power works. Murder is the antithesis of Floromancy.” I shook my head. “And you’re the only one who makes me violent!”
If I had a pillow, I’d strongly consider smothering myself to get out of this bizarre, maddening conversation.
“Finn makes you violent,” he said, the glow in his eyes turning deeper, a warmer molten gold.
“Because Finn is trying to murder me. You just…piss me off.”
Caelan’s delighted grin made me want to smack him. “Can we please be done with this conversation?” I begged.
His rumbling laugh made my lips tug into a hesitant smile.
“Where is she?” he asked.
That I could answer truthfully with zero hesitation. “I gave her back to the earth.”
Caelan’s head tilted in curiosity. “Explain.”
“Floromancy is magic deeply rooted in the natural world. If you follow the lore, we were created from dust and when we die, to dust we return. My powers are inherent with life, but death is just as much a part of the cycle as life.”
“You turned Gianna to dust.” No judgment in his tone, just a thoughtful note.
“I did. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about the way this ended.” I left Cernunnos out of the conversation. We were dancing far too close to the truth on many things concerning my life, and he already knew about my mother. The king of the fae was another ballgown.
“How did you discover her?”
“Magic,” I said, careful to toe the line of the truth. “When I found her, she had been gone for a while.”
He sat back; tanned fingers curled around his mug. “You could have called me.”
“We don’t seem to have the kind of strong relationship bond where we’ll hide bodies for each other.” I softened the words with a sad smile. “I couldn’t have done anything for her, nor was I willing to risk being framed for murder.”
I frowned. “Because that’s exactly what Finn would do. Nor did I want the Lord to find out, so I sent her back to the earth.”
Caelan rubbed his face. “This complicates things. Her family is looking for her and has been for a while.” He tilted the rest of his coffee back and rose. “Can you show me where you found her?”
“Let me get another cup of coffee.”
Caelan stared down at the spot where Gianna once lay and said nothing for a long time. I ran my hands over my arms to shake off the chill. Coming out here creeped me out. Gianna was no longer here, but a residue lingered around the space, silently screaming something terrible happened there.
“I’m going to shift,” Caelan said.
Before I could say anything, a flash of light cracked in the woods and a large wolf stood before me.
His coloring could best be described as dark, not quite black, not quite gray.
Deep charcoal, the color of roiling smoke from an out-of-control fire, Caelan leaned forward, dropping his massive chest to the ground.
He dug his nose into the leaf litter around the tree that rose from the spot and sniffed around for a while before standing and walking around her hasty grave, nose still to the ground.
I didn’t interrupt, only went to the ground in a cross-legged position, watching Caelan as he investigated.
Finding something, even a hint of a scent trail would surprise me, but maybe he’d pick up something other than Gianna’s.
There was no doubt in my mind Rhona was the one who took her out, but I had zero solid proof.
A shitty personality wouldn’t get someone convicted in court, so if Caelan needed real proof, he’d have to find it the old-fashioned way now that I’d destroyed every shred of evidence Gianna was ever here.
When he went for several minutes with no signs of stopping, I decided to connect with the land to see if I could wash away the dark feeling in the area.
It shouldn’t disturb Caelan, and it’d give me something to do while he investigated.
Once my feet were bare, I dug my toes and fingers into the cool soil and closed my eyes.