Chapter 26
Chapter
Twenty-Six
Ileft not long after Rowan walked away, cloaked in grief and the remnants of magic I’d expended on his land. Dad brought Moira to my house instead of Rowan’s and said nothing, even though his eyes widened when he saw me.
Dad saw the bond as well. Moira and I sat on the couch, our feet touching as we sipped spiked hot chocolate.
“Damn,” she said a few moments after I finished telling her everything that had happened.
“Yeah,” I said with a sigh.
“Heavy stuff.”
“Simone and Garrett are extremely pissed at you, FYI.”
I groaned. “Totally forgot to tell them I was leaving.”
“You’re not used to having an entourage, but yes, you left them without a word, and now they have to take a flight home.”
I winced. “I may need to give them a bonus.”
“Or emotional hazard pay.” Moira grinned to soften her words. “You know,” she said thoughtfully, “I’m less surprised by this than I expected.”
My eyebrows rose. “Oh?”
She lifted a slender shoulder in a shrug. “You’ve always gotten along with him to the point where Caelan was extremely jealous. You let him through your wards and into your home, and you even let him hold you. I’ve never seen you do that with anyone else before. Not once.”
“I trust him.”
“And you let him share your territory when all of the other Lords would have showered you with gifts and titles and wifed you up to gain all those lands.”
“I would have gifted it to him,” I muttered under my breath. “He asked to share instead.”
Moira snorted. “Sounds exactly like something that sweet, loving bastard would do, doesn’t it?”
Her words made me belly laugh.
“You chose him. Not Caelan. Not Ben. Rowan. You gifted him the power of two Lords and didn’t bat an eye. He allowed you to claim all of his lands even knowing how dangerous that might be to his standing. He’s been in love with you for a while.”
I jerked my attention to her. “What?”
“A blind man could see it.” She sipped her cocoa. “Probably why Caelan gets so growly when Rowan is around. There’s always been a thread of something between you. Close proximity sent that thread into hyperdrive.”
“This is bad,” I murmured.
“Is it?” Moira asked. “Or are you worried about what Caelan will think when he sees you?”
I closed my eyes, resisting the urge to scream. “I am not sure how I feel. There’s something between us, but this is all too soon. I—I’m not ready.”
She watched me over the top of her mug. “Who said you have to be?”
My brow furrowed.
“Is Rowan pushing you to accept?
“No.” The opposite.
“Did he say it had to be now or never?”
I shook my head.
“Has he ever pushed you into accepting anything you didn’t want?”
I blew out an annoyed breath and laughed. “I know what you’re doing.”
Moira gave me an innocent look. “Me?”
“You’ve always liked him.”
“He makes it very difficult not to like him.”
“Unlike Soren,” I said, needling her a little bit.
“Soren can fall in a wolf-sized hole for all I care.”
I blinked at the vehemence in her words. “Well,” I said softly. “There’s obviously a story there.”
“A horror novel,” Moira grumbled. She flicked her fingers at me. “But we aren’t talking about me. We’re talking of wonderful Rowan.”
I grabbed the bottle of brandy and poured more in my cup, offering Moira some when I’d finished. She happily accepted. “Want my advice?” she asked.
“I’m not sure anymore.”
Moira laughed. “Take care of your affairs here. Have it out with Caelan. Get the closure you need. Then decide. Either way, I’m not sure you’ll be able to stay here if you break things off forever with him.”
“I don’t know where it all went so wrong.”
Moira sighed and nudged my thigh with her toe. “He hunted you like a predator thinking you were prey. And when you proved anything but, the thrill of a challenge ignited his blood. But when you became too powerful for even him to handle, the dynamics between you changed and it turned him bitter.”
I stared at my friend, dumbstruck. She smiled and clinked our cups together. “My dear, this was never about the children. This has always been about you and the threat you pose to his way of life. He’s making excuses to justify his own shortcomings.”
Could it be that easy? Had this always been about Caelan’s need for control? I sat there and stared at Moira until she snorted.
“For someone so smart, sometimes you can be so dumb. Especially when it comes to matters of the heart.”
“I’ve been a fool.”
Moira clicked her tongue. “No. You’ve been a woman pursued by a handsome, powerful, sexy male who made you feel cherished and beautiful.
Caelan would have always been happy in that position, content to have you by his side until you went and changed the game on him.
He’s not a man good with surprises. Or with women who outrank him.
” She sighed and snuggled deeper into the cushions. “It’s a tale as old as time.”
“Fuck,” I muttered. “I have a lot to think about.”
“Mmm hmm. You do. We should call Tess and Ash while we’re here. They’ve been hearing rumblings around town about the swans and other things.”
I closed my eyes and swore. “The swans. Shit.” The swan shifters had come in hot and heavy with plans to kidnap me and forcibly impregnate me with swan babies to alleviate their infertility curse.
Looking at things on the surface made their plan seem laughable, but they’d managed to take one of our people and we still hadn’t found him.
We’d killed one of their own and raided their Keep, but we all knew they weren’t done with me yet.
It was only a matter of when they might strike next. Not if.
Moira laughed. “The arrows are flying in all directions now.”
“I’m thinking about killing all of them.”
Surprise flashed in Moira’s eyes. “Swift and decisive. I like it.”
I loved her for never judging me no matter what harebrained shit I came up with.
“Not too bloodthirsty?”
“Those bastards want you for your womb and still have one of your people captive. You’re well within your rights to finish wiping them off the map.” A deadly grin tipped her lips up. “I’m happy to help.”
“A better person would help them conceive.”
“You and I have never been better people. We’re survivors living in a fucked-up world. The swans chose the path they’re on. Let them see what lies at the end.”
“I fucking love you, you bloodthirsty savage.”
Moira winked. “I’m glad to see you getting back to normal.”
“Let’s give Ash and Tess a call. After that, I’m paying Caelan a visit.”
“Oooh. Want us to come?”
I shook my head. “I’ll be fine. If Caelan is on the fence about my power, I’m thinking I should give him the full show to help him decide.”
We grinned at each other, and there was nothing soft in either one of our smiles.
I could have knocked, but I felt like sending a message more. After a call to my father who showed up immediately, we stood outside Caelan’s slightly tweaked wards.
“You sure about this?” he asked. There’s no judgment in his voice, but I don’t miss the sparkle in his eyes. He’s loving every second of this.
“You think I should be more diplomatic?”
Dad snorted. “Diplomacy is for people who lack power.”
I laughed. “That’s the response of a tyrant.”
“No. It’s the response of a man who knows he can pass right through these wards and stab your Lord right in the heart before he has a chance to move.
It’s the response of someone who can snap his fingers and crumble this Keep to dust. We are power made flesh, Evangeline, and if we can’t use it to save ourselves and the people we love, what good are our gifts? ”
“I loved him. I might still love him.”
“Love comes in many different forms, daughter.”
“So neutral, Dad. We both know you don’t like Caelan.”
“He, like all of the Lords, serves a purpose.”
“Do you think I should leave this alone?”
Dad spears me with a look. “Caelan will never leave you alone if you do not excise him from your life. I will take care of what needs to be taken care of away from the Keep. Once you do this, things will quickly escalate.”
“I wish things were different.”
“You cannot change a mountain.”
His face is calm and stoic, but anticipation glittered in his eyes. “He’s not a mountain, Dad. He’s a wolf. I’ve seen him try to be better.”
Dad’s eyes swirled. He cloaked us in invisibility as we stood outside, a shimmer of clear power keeping us hidden from the sight and enhanced senses of the other shifters. “I like it when you call me Dad. It’s such a quaint, human word, more pleasurable to the ear than Father.”
“Okay, weirdo.”
We grinned at each other. “It has been a pleasure getting to know you, Evangeline. I know my apology may not be worth much, but I regret every day I was not in your life.”
My eyes burned. “I wondered about you every single day. What you looked like. What foods you liked. If you would like me. For my entire life, I thought you were human.”
Dad grimaced. “Very sorry to disappoint.”
“I can’t say I’m pleased with the whole crown thing, but overall, I’m not too unhappy with how things turned out.”
His side-eye was epic. “You definitely inherited your mother’s mouth.”
“As long as I don’t inherit those creepy antlers.”
Dad barked a laugh. “Those creepy antlers are part of your great heritage, daughter.”
“They won’t match anything in my closet.” I nudged him and stepped forward.
“Once you do this, there is no going back, Evangeline.”
“Are you urging me to be cautious?”
“Me?” Dad laughed. “If you’d seen me in my youth, my dear, you’d know I used caution like the most precious spice. A little here, a little there, never too much.”
“And now?”
Dad grinned, a flash of white teeth in the night. “And now I find I tire of spice.”
We were more like each other than not, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. “You’d burn it all to the ground if you could.”
“I still could. But I won’t. It’s bad for business.”
“I’m not a businessman.”
“Exactly. The Lord owes you a pound of flesh. Go take it.”