Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
It took a good twenty minutes and another glass of wine for me to stop having an internal freak out. Caelan sat by me the entire time telling me stories of growing up in another Pack. Ash, Moira, and Tess crowded around as he spoke.
I didn’t tell anyone about my realization. They were smart enough to figure it out on their own eventually.
“I’m ready,” I said.
Moira shook her head. “This can wait. Your property is a safe place for one more night.”
“No.” I stood, shrugging off my cardigan. “We should do it now. The news is a shock, but what hasn’t been these last few months?”
Caelan rose beside me. For once, I found his presence comforting, soothing in a way I hadn’t before. But I wondered if he’d ramp up his efforts to pursue me now that he knew I wasn’t an ordinary Floromancer.
I’d never be one again.
Something else nagged at me. If I was the fae king’s daughter, how much more could I stretch my powers? What else could I do?
On the other hand, how much power was too much power?
And what would my mother do once she discovered I knew the truth?
“We can’t tell Cliona,” I said quietly.
“We don’t tell your mother shit,” Moira said. “Never have. Never will.”
Four pairs of eyes turned to the Shifter Lord.
He put his hand to his mouth and mimed a zipper motion.
“Caelan.” I took a step forward. “You don’t know my mother. If she finds out what I am…” My voice trailed off before it broke.
Caelan’s expression sobered. He laid a hand against his heart. “She will not find out from me. I swear it.”
“Evie can kick your ass now,” Ash said softly.
A crack of laughter escaped Moira. “Huh. I guess I hadn’t thought of all the cool shit she should be able to do now.”
My eyes twitched. “Can we please do this spell so I can sink into a coma?”
Ash searched my face. “Are you sure? Everyone’s emotions need to be calm and collected when the spell begins.”
“I’m a professional.” Unless Caelan pissed me off, then I was a crazy person. But tonight, he was being awfully agreeable, and wasn’t that suspicious? “Start the spell, Ash.”
Ash picked up the lighter and began.
A dryad’s power is unexplainable. I felt like Mother Earth wrapped me in a loving cocoon. The room was surrounded by warmth and the scent of green things. All the day’s stress fell away as Ash’s power swirled around us.
Caelan sucked in a sharp breath before releasing it in a slow shudder.
I couldn’t help myself. “Good stuff, isn’t it?”
Moira snickered.
“I’ve never felt a dryad’s power,” Caelan said in a hushed voice. “It’s like yours but softer in a way.”
“Evie’s power is soft, too,” Moira said quietly. “If she likes you.”
Ash sighed. “Can everyone please stop talking?”
“I wasn’t,” Tess said.
“You are now,” Moira whispered.
The pillar candle flared, soaking the room in a soft golden light.
“Everyone gather hands,” Ash said in a hushed voice.
Caelan’s calloused palm slid over mine, his fingers interlacing mine. My heartbeat kicked up a few notches, and from the slight tilt of his lips, I knew he noticed.
Moira took my other hand, hers cooler and smoother than Caelan’s. As soon as Ash’s hands closed the circle, every tea light ignited.
“Do you have the seed?” Ash asked.
I carefully extricated the small bead. Ash held up the pendant.
“It opens from the top,” Caelan said. “There’s a small catch at the bottom of the pendant.”
Ash frowned and turned the pendant upside down. “Clever,” he murmured after a moment. A tiny opening appeared at the top of the obsidian. “Drop the seed in, Evie.”
I was disturbed by the fact that the seed fit perfectly, dropping into the small opening like it was meant to be there. Ash clicked the lid shut and placed the pendant around the beeswax candle, careful not to get any wax on the gold.
“Everyone except Caelan should concentrate on the pendant and touch it with your magic. Only a touch and retreat. This spell is …” His voice trailed off. “Greedy.”
Caelan’s hand tightened in mine.
“Why not him?” I asked. Ash was never rude, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt.
Ash’s eyes glowed with emerald colored magic.
“Because he will serve as the anchor. The pendant belongs to him, and its magic belongs to the shifters. When we’re finished using the necklace, I will clear the spell and return it to him.
Until then, Caelan should be able to retrieve the pendant if it’s lost.”
I frowned. “You’re putting a tracking spell on the pendant?”
Ash let out a soft chuckle. “Yes, but not in the way you think. If the pendant gets farther than six feet away from you for more than three minutes, the location spell will trigger and alert Caelan.”
The distance from my shower to the sink was about four feet away, so that would work. I didn’t love it, but I understood his logic. “But not when I’m wearing it?”
“What’s the matter, flower girl? You don’t want me to know where you are twenty-four hours a day?”
“I don’t want anyone knowing where I’m at for the entire day.”
“Take it off for showers and when you’re sleeping if you want to,” Ash continued. “But keep it on your nightstand, not your dresser.”
“I don’t sleep with jewelry on.” The only thing I’d ever worn while sleeping was my wedding ring. Now I wore very little jewelry at all due to my job duties. With my hands constantly in the dirt, I didn’t want to risk losing a piece I loved in one of my floral arrangements.
Losing Caelan’s precious heirloom would be even worse.
The Shifter Lord was being too quiet. Too cooperative over the last few days.
And that made me suspicious.
“Any thoughts, Caelan?” I asked.
“You’ll be wearing a piece of our history around your neck. Shower with it, don’t shower with it. Sleep with it or don’t.” He shrugged. “I’m ready when you are, Ash.”
One of Ash’s eyebrows rose. He cleared his throat. “Of course. Tess. Are you ready to begin?”
Tess inhaled and closed her eyes. A soft silver outline formed around her body, ethereal and glittering. But instead of reaching for the pendant, Tess pursed her lips and blew out a thin thread of power.
“Cool,” Moira whispered.
Ash reached for Tess’s magic, guiding it toward the pendant. The spell caught her power and sucked it inside the obsidian, there and gone in an instant.
“Moira.”
At Ash’s urging, Moira smiled and let her eyes drift shut. The room temperature dropped by several degrees, and a swirl of crimson power flowed from Moira’s fingertip. He once again guided Moira’s power until it soaked into the obsidian.
For his turn, Ash merely touched the pendant. Emerald magic coated the pendant in a bright green glitter before sinking in and disappearing.
“Evie.”
Six months ago, I wouldn’t bat an eye at his request. Now, with my power going a little wonky, I was afraid I’d break the pendant. Caelan gave my hand a comforting squeeze.
I closed my eyes and calmed my breathing. When I was settled, I sent out a seeking tendril of watermelon tourmaline colored magic, tinged with a hint of crimson. At my touch against the pendant, my skin heated, the soft brush of fur against my mind, gentle yet inquisitive.
I sucked in a breath and opened my eyes. The pendant lifted in the air, swirling in a counterclockwise circle. My magic encased the necklace, glowing the green and pink of watermelon tourmaline.
“Ash?” My heartbeat picked up.
“Just wait,” he assured me. “There’s nothing wrong. Your magic is curious about what’s happening.”
“Tonight is not the night for curiosity,” I mumbled.
A whoosh of wind and a pop of sound and my magic soaked into the pendant. Seconds later, it fell to the earth.
Ash’s hand reached out and caught it a second before it crashed against the table.
Caelan’s breath of relief sounded in the silence.
“That would have been bad,” Moira said.
“Round two,” Tess said.
“Let’s not joke about breaking the priceless artifact,” Ash murmured. “Alright. Caelan, come closer and pick up the pendant.”
Caelan stepped forward and took the pendant in his hands. Ash leaned forward and murmured something in his ear.
At Caelan’s nod, Ash rested his hand on the Lord’s shoulder.
Power grew in the room, a heady sensation prickling the back of my neck. Caelan’s eyes turned from a stormy gray with flecks of gold into warm pyrite, casting light over us all.
Within his palms, the pendant hummed, Caelan’s power flowing into the pendant, Ash’s power keeping the link between himself and the Lord.
All the candles blew out, the smell of sulfur rising from the table.
Ash whispered something I couldn’t make out. Caelan nodded and opened his palms.
The dryad reached for the pendant and held it to his lips. A soft breath of emerald power and the pendant exploded in multi-colored light. Green for Ash. Silver for Tess. Watermelon tourmaline tinged with blood red for me, pure crimson for Moira, and a mix of forest green and gold for Caelan.
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered.
Ash smiled as the light faded away, leaving the pendant inert in his palm.
“It worked.” He motioned for me to come over.
I turned and was about to brush my hair away from my neck when Caelan spoke.
“I’ll do it.” A soft growling note in his voice made goosebumps rise on my skin.
Warm calloused fingers brushed against the side of my neck, gently moving my hair aside.
I swallowed hard as Caelan reached around and laid the pendant against the hollow of my throat. His breath was warm against my shoulder, fingers brushing against my skin as he fastened the clasp. An innocent touch that sparked the end of my nerves into flame.
“There.” Caelan’s hand wound through my hair as he moved it off my shoulder.
I turned, my fingers already playing with the pendant.
“How does it feel?” Ash asked, unable to mask the amusement in his eyes over my reaction to Caelan.
“Friendly.” That wasn’t quite the right word, but it fit. Warmth and joy spread from the obsidian, enclosing my heart in a warm cocoon of light. I smiled and placed my hand over my chest. “I sense all of you within.”
“Good.” Ash gathered the spell materials and put them inside the canvas bag he’d brought. Fine lines of weariness had gathered at his eyes. “I’m going to head out.”
Tess yawned. “Me too. I’m wiped.”
Moira sank onto the couch and groaned. “What did you do to us?”
Ash helped Tess up. The banshee swayed against him. He put a gentle arm around her shoulders. “Spell work is always hard on the body. We’ll all be fine in the morning, after a good night’s sleep.”
Caelan stretched and yawned. “Thank the gods. I have a Council meeting tomorrow and need to be clear headed.”
“I’ll see you guys in the morning. We have a lot of work to catch up on.”
All three of my friends groaned. “Now go on, get out of here,” I said with a laugh.
They piled out the door, waving as they went. Caelan followed but turned before he stepped out.
“Let me know if there are any issues with the pendant.”
“All seems well, but I’ll call if things get weird.”
He nodded and was poised to leave when I reached out and touched his arm.
“Caelan?” A question had been bothering me for the last few days.
“Hmm?”
“Why are you acting so…?” My voice trailed off as I tried to think of the right word. “Normal.”
His eyebrows flicked up. “Normal? Isn’t that what everyone wants?”
“Not necessarily. You’ve been extremely calm. Too calm.”
Amusement glittered in his eyes. “You don’t like me calm, flower girl?”
“You haven’t been calm from the second I met you, so it’s weirding me out a little, that’s all.”
“Maybe things are different now.” He turned and walked down the steps.
“Are they?” I called.
“Perhaps I’m different.”
We stared at each other.
“I’m not sure I like it,” I blurted.
Caelan’s grin was a flash of white in the darkness. “Good night, Evangeline.”
A moment later he was gone.
This really felt like one of those shoe moments, and I wondered when the other one would drop.
That night I dreamed of running through a golden forest, a beast’s glorious howl bursting from my throat. A full moon hung white and bloated in the sky, cool wind blowing against my fur as my paws pounded against the damp earth.
I awoke with a start, my heart thumping against my chest. The smell of fresh pine and cold wind surrounded the room. Unsettled, I lay there for a long time, unable to go to sleep, my fingers playing with the warm pendant around my neck.