Chapter 2
TWO
When Lorne left Boston, he had done it to move James, his brother, and Cassidy, his niece, away from where they had lost a wife and mother.
It had been somewhat abrupt, and there were friends of James and his late wife, Ellen, that had not seen them since their departure.
Their friends traveled together often, antiquing for fun, and after spending the holidays in Quebec, had decided to spend a long weekend, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with James and Cass.
I thought it sounded really nice and was especially touched that James had included Lorne and me for dinner the second night they were there.
“It’s thoughtful of his friends to want to see you too,” I expressed to Lorne.
“I never liked any of them. They’re all rich and conceited, all doctors and lawyers, and they’re the kind of people who ship their kids off to boarding schools. Cass was the only one who went to public school and lived year-round with her parents.”
“You can’t judge them for that. Maybe their kids love the opportunity of going to a school that’s academically rigorous.”
He groaned. “Just stop. You’ll see, they’re all so fake. They were all actually Ellen’s friends from college. They had all gone to prep school before Harvard.”
“Did Ellen come from a wealthy family?”
“Oh yeah. When Cass turns twenty-one, she’ll have quite the trust fund.”
I absorbed that information while my husband sat beside me in his Jeep, not putting it in drive, hesitant, it seemed, to leave our home. “Are we going?”
“Is it safe to leave Corvus?”
“We’re already outside, love.”
“Yeah, but we can go back inside and stay home.”
“As I told you the first year you lived here—and reminded you again this past Thanksgiving—Corvus sleeps like everything else in the winter. During the dark time of the year, it’s hibernating. The land is covered in ice and snow and frost, resting, communing in silence with the natural world.”
“But it’s still vigilant, that’s what you said.”
“To a degree, yes, and for us, certainly.”
“And Arawn’s dogs, they’re not here either.”
“No, they’re here, but they’re resting too. Best not to wake them.”
“I…I’m worried this hedge-riding ancestor of yours will hurt our home somehow.”
“Argos is asleep in front of the fire,” I reminded him.
“Which I love that we can leave roaring in the hearth, but Argos has a what’s-in-it-for-me attitude about protection.”
I chuckled. “Very true.” The daemon masquerading as a housecat was a bit of an opportunist. “But remember, even at rest, the land is powerful, and so are the wards. Giles can’t poison anything.
And again, everything I’ve read about him says he pops onto the land, stays a few days, then moves on.
Most members of my family only know he’s visited as there are odd sightings. ”
“Odd?”
“Like yours. Not quite sure if what they saw was real. When you were showering, I checked my grandfather’s journal, and he said he saw Giles when he was sixteen, at Samhain, when the veil is thin and—”
“—the dead brush gently against the living.”
I grinned at him. “You read his entry as well.”
He nodded. “Yep. Same as you, I went and found it when you were in the shower.”
“Great minds and all that,” I teased him.
“Well, your grandfather wasn’t sure if he saw the hedge-rider or something else, like a shapeshifter.”
“I read up to the part where he said he doesn’t stay long. Did you read more?”
“I did, but there wasn’t much else. Your grandfather did say that when he spoke to the land a few days later, there was no sign of Giles.”
“See?”
Deep sigh from him.
“Love, if you don’t want to go to the dinner, we can say we’re snowed in.”
“No,” he grumbled, putting the Jeep in gear and pulling away from our home.
Halfway there, he sighed again.
“Better?”
“Yeah,” he murmured. “You know I’m not a fan of things I have no control of.”
I smiled at him. “I do know.”
“Don’t make fun of me.”
“What?” I said dramatically. “Me?”
When he leaned sideways and kissed me, I was very pleased with him.
The house was, as always, beautiful, inviting, and warmly lit. And while I loved my cottage, the polished wooden floors here, the enormous steel-and-glass refrigerator, endless counter space, and the dishwasher were all things I coveted.
After Cass took my butter, garlic, and herb mashed potatoes from me, using the ancient potholders I’d brought with me, James grabbed our coats, hung them, then walked us into the living room.
There were six people there, and everyone said Lorne’s name at the same time and then laughed.
He smiled, but I noted it didn’t reach his gorgeous midnight eyes.
Over the winter, his beard had grown out, and that, as well as his mustache, were both thick.
With that, and the flannel he had on, he did, in fact, resemble a lumberjack, as James’s friend Willa suggested.
There were three couples—Brett and the aforementioned Willa, who couldn’t keep her hands off my husband, Stafford and Brooke, and Hamilton and Thessaly.
It was odd, but after being there a short time, I had the most ridiculous desire to ask James if Amanda could come over and join us.
I felt…out of place. James fit, Cass fit, and even Lorne, whom everyone hugged or kissed.
Even if he wasn’t friends with these people, he was familiar with them.
I had none of that. If my best friend were there, she would have held her own.
She was as wealthy and worldly as they all were, but I was different, small town, small life, and that was all I would ever have or ever be and—
I gasped suddenly, and the room went silent.
“Xan?” Lorne asked, walking over with a glass of water for me and an old-fashioned for him. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I rushed out. “I just need a quick minute.”
I walked slowly out of the living room. Once I was around the corner, I darted down the hall and out the back door to the porch.
The wind was whipping around, kicking up snow, dusting the air, making the trees moan.
Spreading my arms wide, I stood and let the icy gust blow all the self-doubt, insecurity, loathing, and pain off me.
It was alarming how fast the feelings had nearly eaten my heart.
After a moment, when I shivered hard, I hugged myself, and then was suddenly engulfed by strong arms and clutched tight.
“You’re gonna freeze out here,” Lorne murmured, kissing the side of my neck. “What are you doing?”
“Something happened, and I’m not sure what.”
“What do you mean?” He let me go, took my hand, and led me back into the house.
Once he closed the door behind me, I smiled up at him. “You came to find me.”
He squinted. “Of course.”
“I’m still not used to having a husband.”
His chuckle warmed me more than being inside. “Well, I’m the guy holding your hand, in case you forget.”
“Yes.”
“But you said something happened. What was it?”
“I need to figure that out. Let’s go back to the others.”
Once there, everyone was happy we returned, and Thessaly came to take my arm. “Xander, come tell us all about you. I’m dying to hear how you managed to snag our dear Lorne when I saw so many other beautiful men and women try.”
Translation: what was so great about me?
Instantly, I could feel the fear and defensiveness prickling over my skin, but this time, I brushed it off, as I did her hand, and took a seat across from her with the coffee table between us.
Everyone was watching, probably because I’d just, somewhat rudely, extricated myself from the woman’s grip.
They were probably waiting to see what Thessaly would do.
All except Lorne, whose expression showed me that he was confused.
Turning from him to the beautiful blonde woman, I studied her and saw how tired she looked, the bags under her eyes, how her smile was hiding how drawn her face was, and how frail she seemed even as she glared at me.
“Why did you do that?” Her voice sounded nearly shrill.
Studying her, I came to a quick conclusion. And while there were several possibilities of what could be attacking me, it was always best to start with the most obvious and work one’s way up.
“Thessaly,” I said gently, leaning forward, “any new vintage acquisitions on this trip?”
“Pardon?”
“I know you all go antiquing,” I said, making conversation. “Did you find any treasure?”
“Oh my goodness, yes,” she replied excitedly, forgetting she was angry, her eyes lighting up for a moment, her hand going to the emerald teardrop dangle earring in her right lobe.
“Ham got these gorgeous baubles for me in Quebec. They’re old, the stones are from Russia, the setting was created in France, and they were originally bought at auction. Aren’t they divine?”
“They are,” I agreed. “Have you been wearing them since you got them?”
“Absolutely. I couldn’t bear to take them off,” she gushed.
I held my hand out. “May I see them?”
Instant scowl. “See them?”
“I promise not to run out the door with them.”
She laughed, or tried to, but her darting eyes told me she was nervous. Her husband, Hamilton, who went by Ham, apparently—terrible—directed her to pass the pair of emerald earrings to me.
“When will Xander get another chance to look at stones like those?”
It was a bit obnoxious of him, and I felt Lorne tense beside me, the air bristling around him, but it was true, after all. Though these were not the kind of stones I cared much for. Black tourmaline, tiger’s eye, and labradorite were all of far greater value to me, and raw and unpolished was best.
As she took them out of her ears, I asked Cass if she had placed any water out under the last full moon.
“I did,” she replied, “but I doubt it’s as strong as yours.”
“I’m sure it is,” I said firmly, knowing that Cass was suffering from self-doubt as well. “Would you go get it and pour some in a bowl for me, please?”
“Right now?”
“Right now,” I insisted.
She flew out of the room, and as I held the heavy earrings in my hand, I felt the weight of the curse.