Chapter 25
Chapter
Twenty-Five
CAELAN
Ijerked awake after the strangest dream I’d ever had. The scent of fresh roses and jasmine flooded my bedroom. Odd dreams weren’t out of the ordinary for me, but this one felt all too real.
My skin was sweat-soaked and cool, my legs tangled in damp sheets. A memory of feminine laughter and vines wrapping around my wrists tangled in my mind, sending my heartbeat racing.
I felt like I was going mad. Laying back against my pillow, I kicked the blankets off and swung my legs over the side of the bed.
My hands gripped the edge of the mattress.
I stared blankly at the wall, allowing remnants of the dream to sift through my thoughts before shaking my head.
Dreams rarely rattled me, but this one felt like Evie.
“Fuck,” I growled, scratching my jaw as I brushed the thought away. One odd dream did not mean the Floromancer was suddenly invading my mind.
“Get a grip,” I muttered. Shaking my head, I rose and stretched. The clock blinked to 4 a.m.
Guess my day was getting started early.
I arrived at the meeting spot three hours early, calling ahead to let Rowan know. The other Lord had chosen the local botanical gardens. No surprise there. He was the most like Evie and skilled in natural magic.
Rowan waited for me at the front, his back pressed against the stone wall, one leg hitched up. A casual wave when he saw me, and he sauntered down the steps.
“Trouble sleeping?” Rowan quipped when he got closer.
“Shut it,” I snarled.
Rowan’s soft laughter made my shoulders slump. “Come inside. They have great coffee here.”
All the Lords gathered a couple of hours later, but my mood hadn’t improved much. When Ben walked in, I damn near bit his head off. The Healer merely laughed and slapped me on the back.
“Evie still giving you fits, Caelan?”
I sent the new Lord a dark look. Ben was one of my closest friends, but I knew in my heart, if Evie would have given anyone a chance, it’d be him. So I’d acted like a huge asshole and made him a Lord. In everyone else’s eyes, this was a huge promotion. In Ben and Evie’s it was a betrayal.
“Evie is fine,” I said, the words a harsh growl.
“I didn’t ask about her,” Ben said, giving me an amused look.
“But you wanted to.”
Ben sighed. “You got what you wanted. No need to rub it in my face.”
A bark of laughter escaped me. “I’d be in a much better mood if I got what I wanted.”
Shaking my head, I took my seat. “Let’s get this over with.”
Hours later, I had the beginning of a pounding headache, and we were no closer to agreeing on anything.
Border incursions continued despite the best efforts of all the Lords. Pockets of rogue magic continued to appear in random spots. Divine magic grew in wild areas.
Even with everything going on, all the Lords were more curious about Evie than anything else.
“You haven’t landed her yet?” Soren asked, amusement making his lips twitch.
“She’s not a fish, asshole,” I snarled.
Donovan had said little today, but in this, he spoke up. “It’s a shame Cernunnos outlawed forced marriage. Evie would be a prime candidate.”
Claws slid from my fingertips.
A strong hand gripped the top of my shoulder, warning me not to react. “No need to be a dick, Donovan. We all know you like your women short, pretty, and unable to vote.”
Surprised by Thorvin’s words, my breathing settled. The Northeast Lord spoke very little, but when he opened his mouth, people listened. Thorvin was highly intelligent and highly logical and seemed more in tune with magic resonance than most of us.
Donovan’s jaw tightened. “She’s still a problem and will be until we bring her under our control.”
“The Floromancer has brought no trouble to our doors,” Rowan interjected.
“Said by a man just as enamored with her as Caelan,” Ethan, Lord of the Rocky Mountains, drawled.
I knew Ethan the least, but he’d made no move against me.
Rowan turned on the charm. “How can I not be enamored with a woman whose magic is similar to mine? Someone who loves the earth and all its gifts as much as I do?” He shrugged and glanced at me, dark amusement in his eyes.
“Evie is easy on the eyes, too. She’s intelligent, magically gifted, and has a rack—”
My claws scraped down the table making deep gouges in the wood, the sound of pine cracking overriding his words.
Rowan laughed out loud. “You’re merely proving their point.”
“Be that as it may,” Ethan said, “the Floromancer still has autonomy in your lands, Caelan.”
I bit down the urge to tear him apart. “What’s your point?”
“My point,” Ethan said, leaning forward, “is the proof of divine magic saturating your territory. Your Floromancer must be linked.”
Boy was she. For the first time in my life, when it came to the Council, I danced around the truth. “Evangeline Quinn is a Floromancer. She has never admitted to being divine, nor has anything in her file revealed any heritage other than mundane parentage.”
All true. Evie’s file wasn’t remarkable, though there wasn’t much on her until she was a teenager.
She was raised in Seattle by two human parents, graduated toward the top of her class, went to college and did the same, married, divorced, and disappeared off the map until she set foot in Joy Springs seven years later.
My intel was top notch. There was no way the other Lords had anything on her I didn’t.
They had no reason to dig as deeply as I had on her.
“She doesn’t need to be related to be in league with them,” Donovan said.
“What does she stand to gain?” Rowan asked.
Donovan snorted. “Everything.” His tone dripped with disdain. “She’s dealing with the gods. They have the capability to give her everything she’s ever wanted.”
“Evie wants to run her flower shop and be left in peace.” I rose and paced back and forth, the urge to shed my skin and run overwhelming. “She has nothing to do with this.”
Rowan’s eyes narrowed.
Shit. He knew me better than everyone and must scent the lie.
I backtracked. “The gods have always been interested in Joy Springs. There’s been no indication Evie has ever met with any divine being other than a single guest at her shop who left without buying anything.”
Donovan’s attention sharpened. “So she has been in contact with the divine.” His eyes gleamed with satisfaction.
“Let it go, Donovan,” Soren snapped. “The girl has done nothing to any of us. As far as I’m concerned, if Caelan wants to have the risk in his territory, let the chips fall where they may.”
Rowan nodded. “I’m inclined to agree.”
Ethan studied me, his dark, flat eyes missing nothing. “And if she becomes a risk to us all?”
“She already is a risk,” Donovan said. “A Chimera breached our defenses and overtook one of our Lords. One far too interested in your Floromancer.”
I stifled my rage and turned on the cold mask of a Lord. “Just like you are?”
Thorvin cleared his throat. “I’m all for allowing a Lord to run his own territory and believe in allowing one to fail, if need be, but there are too many incidents swirling around your Floromancer.” He lifted his eyes to me. “I know a shifter in the first throes of a mating when I see one, Caelan.”
Dammit. Power crackled along my palms.
Thorvin smiled, looking good natured.
My hackles rose.
“On this one, I fall with Donovan. Bring the Floromancer in line in whatever manner you wish. If the Lords have to get involved, your precious Evie will suffer.” He laid a hand over his heart. “I don’t agree she is evil or out for power, but no one who consorts with the gods is up to any good.”
The situation was laughable. If they had an inkling of what Evie’s potential was, they’d know she could wipe us all off the map with merely a thought. She wasn’t a Floromancer or a demigod or anything of the sort.
She was a full-blown goddess, the daughter of the fae freaking king. If they thought anyone could bring her in line… Well, I had a bridge to Hawaii to sell them.
“Agreed,” was all I said.
Rowan’s attention was rapt on my face. He gave a slow nod.
“You have sixty days,” Donovan said. “Get her under your Pack or neutralize her.”
“Agreed,” added Thorvin.
Ethan merely nodded.
“Soren?” I said.
The bastard grinned. “I like the idea of seeing Caelan attempt to get his Floromancer in line in sixty days. Agreed.”
Outnumbered and overruled.
Ethan struck the gavel. “Meeting adjourned.” He nodded. “Good luck, Caelan.”
“Fuck off,” I snarled.