Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
We’d just finished dinner when the phone rang, signaling a video call. I picked up immediately and saw Moira’s wan face smiling at me.
“Thank the gods,” I whispered. “How are you feeling?”
“Like someone beat me with a tree trunk,” she admitted. “But your daddy has some good healers in his fancy little castle. They’re taking good care of me. I’ll be home tomorrow, no matter what he says.”
“If you’re still feeling poorly, just stay another day.”
“Absolutely not.” Her hair slid against her face like a waterfall. “My magic is drained and slow to refill this time, but I won’t let you return to Joy Springs without me.” She leaned the phone against something on the nightstand and shifted so she could lie down.
Moira yawned. “Listen, I have some information. You’re looking for a witch, but the spell was mixed with fae DNA or magic or something.
” She shook her head. “Definitely fae, definitely powerful. I’m not familiar enough with your people to distinguish between male or female, but whoever this is, they’re old.
When we get back tomorrow, maybe we can have your dad take us hunting.
” She shrugged. “Or your mom. Daddy Dearest is a little intense, so I could use some girl time.”
I snorted. “Did he tell you why he was being so fussy?”
Moira waved a hand in dismissal. “Something about being needed for something important. He has no idea that I’m way too tired to save the world. Plus, the world hasn’t done right by me enough to care about it all that much.”
“Aww, Moira.” Her words saddened me.
The vampire grinned. “I’m not the only one on this planet with magic, so I don’t really believe I’m set to be its savior or anything. Since he refuses to elaborate, I’m just going to let things play out and see what happens.”
“You’re sure the magic is a spell?”
Moira shook her head. “Not quite. It’s a spell wrapped in raw magic, so it holds an odd sentience, but I can’t figure out its purpose other than to destroy whatever it touches. I didn’t find it to be evil. We’re dealing with something that just is, if that makes any sense.”
Not really, but I nodded instead. “We’ll discuss it when you get back. For now, you look like you’re about to fall asleep in the middle of a sentence. Let’s chat tomorrow. I’ll call Mom and see if she’s busy.”
She blew me a kiss. “Night, bestie.”
“Night Moira.”
We disconnected just as Rowan set a bowl of ice cream covered in hot fudge in front of me. “Oh my gosh. It’s freezing outside!”
“So?” Rowan plopped into a seat and dug in. “It’s never too cold for ice cream.”
“Umm. Spoken like a bear.”
He chuckled. “There’s whipped cream in the fridge if you want some.”
“Hell yes, I want some.” I snagged it and added an enormous dollop. “Want some?” I waved the can at him.
He pushed his bowl toward me. “Not as much as you, whipped-cream fiend.”
“The world can never have enough of this dairy delight.”
We stopped talking and enjoyed our treat. When we finished, Rowan looked at me thoughtfully. “You don’t have to go back, you know.”
“You don’t have to live alone like a Victorian widow, either. Have Hope and Declan move in and liven the place up.”
Rowan burst out laughing. “Declan would throw himself out of a window if I asked him to take one of the main rooms. He likes living in a house with all those other heathens.”
“And Hope?”
He shrugged. “She’s still dealing with things.” Rowan pushed his bowl away. “Your offer was kind. I don’t know if she’ll take you up on it, but to know the possibility exists…she will give the decision the weight it deserves.”
“It’s not your story to tell, I know, but I know she will have all the solace she needs here. I don’t know what happened to her, but I suspect, and I—” I swallowed hard. “I know how it feels to pick up those pieces and try to put a damaged puzzle back together.”
Rowan went completely still. “Evie?”
“Just tell her if she ever needs a friend, she can call me. No matter where I am.”
He nodded. “I will tell her.”
“I’m going to make a few phone calls. Mom will be here tomorrow around lunch. Are you good with getting up early to go out and check the rest of your property?”
“Six good?”
We agreed on the time, and I went to the back, ignoring the way his eyes softened when he looked at me. I was about to leave and knew I wouldn’t go if I let myself feel the things my heart wanted to.
Ash’s handsome face swam into view. “Evie! It’s so good to see you.”
“Everything good there?”
Ash’s lips twisted. “No one is actively trying to sabotage us, so that’s a positive. I suspect your father had something to do with that.”
I winced. “I’m sorry. I’ll be back in a couple of days. There’s a lot we need to discuss.”
“Caelan summoned us to his Keep.”
I froze, anger boiling in my blood. “He did what?”
Ash nodded. “We’re fine, but he’s given us notice to vacate the shop premises within sixty days unless, and this is a direct quote, ‘Evie comes to her senses.’ I told them how insane that was, but Caelan doesn’t seem like he’s in a listening mood these days.”
“That sonofabitch,” I snarled. “He can’t do that! We have a lease!”
Ash looked down and grabbed something. He held up a piece of paper and waved it at the screen.
“He can and he did. There’s a clause in the lease he dubbed as the Lord’s clause, which to be frank, makes him sound like a giant douchebag, but it basically says he can do what he wants whenever he wants.
No one in town is safe if he decides he wants their space. ”
“What a shit,” I hissed. But as I say it, a plan began unfurling in my mind. One that would make him furious, no doubt, but it would prove my point.
“I know that look,” Ash said. “Do I want to know?”
“Plausible deniability.”
“Let me guess. Evie is not going to—” he makes air quotes, “—come to her senses?”
I laughed. “Not in the way he wants me to,” I assured him. “When I get back, let’s sit down and come up with a contingency plan. There’s a lot I need to tell you.”
“Sure thing, boss. How’s everything going there?”
I filled him in on what was happening and what we were doing about it.
When I finished, Ash had a deep frown on his face.
“I’m going to call my uncle and see if he’s heard of anything like this.
I’ll be in touch if he has. In the meantime, be careful, especially when you’re in the fae lands.
You may be the queen, but not everyone is happy about it. ”
“Will do. Very few things I do these days make anyone happy, so I guess I’ll have to get used to annoying people.”
We said our goodbyes, and I kicked off my shoes and curled up in the seat by the window.
Rowan’s land really was spectacular, even during the winter.
If I didn’t need to save magic, I’d go outside and explore more.
Tomorrow might be a heavy magic day, and I’d be foolish to expend any more than I had to, so tonight I was safest going to bed early and being fresh as a daisy tomorrow.
Rowan knocked on my door at six fifteen. When I opened the door, he didn’t say a word, only shoved a steaming mug of coffee and a pastry at me.
Then he walked off like I was a rabid dog, making me laugh.
“I’ll be in the kitchen waiting for you. Take your time.”
True to his word, he sat at the kitchen table reading the newspaper. I had no idea they made those anymore, but he had the finance pages open, reading a long column of numbers that looked like nonsense to me.
I topped off my coffee and brought the pot over to do the same for him.
He gave me a distracted smile and went back to his reading, so I took the time to clear my head and get a little more caffeine in my system.
That’s what Mom should do. She’d be a damned trillionaire if she figured out how a paranormal could keep a caffeine buzz for longer than a few minutes.
Rowan neatly folded the paper and picked up his mug. “Need a heavier jacket?”
He eyed my bulky cashmere sweater.
“It’s warm,” I promised as I wiggled my fingers. “Plus, I’m wearing gloves.”
He snagged his jacket and a blanket off the hook. “We don’t need to travel very far today, but it’s colder outside in the mornings. Better safe than sorry.”
I followed the Lord outside. We walked in silence for a while until he stopped beside a copse of trees with a large bench in the middle.
“I take my coffee out here in the spring sometimes,” he said. “I’ll wait here while you do your thing. Then we can get breakfast in town since you’re leaving tomorrow. Sound good?”
His smile didn’t reach his eyes. Rowan knew I wouldn’t change my mind about returning, and this was his way of trying to deal with the decision. Caelan would never be his first choice for me.
“Of course,” I said. “I’d love to go to breakfast.”
The smile he gave me next was genuine. I wiped away a light dusting of snow and sat down, settling myself onto the ground.
Rowan spread a blanket over my shoulders and took his spot on the bench.
I shifted and looked over my shoulder. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?
I’ll have to keep a hold on the land until the threat is gone. ”
“Make your mark on my territory, Evie.” He winked at me and crossed an ankle over his knee.
I snorted and shook my head. “I’m serious. You’re the only Lord that would allow this, you know.”
“Because I trust you.”
I eyed him. There was something I’d been wanting to ask him for a while now. My conversation with Ash only solidified my decision. He was the only one I’d trust with such a thing. “What would you think about taking over Donovan’s territory?”
Rowan stilled. “Why would I do such a thing?”
“Because I’d give it to you.”
Rowan barked a laugh. “You can’t be serious.”
“Why not? I trust you too. You’re one of the only Lords I know who isn’t mad with power.”
A ring of gold outlined his irises. “Doing this would make me the most powerful Lord. You’d cement yourself to my side politically. You would forever ruin your relationship with Caelan.”