Chapter 15 #2
Thorvin came in next, his eyes darting left and right before he stepped inside.
The Lord was powerful in his own right, but he preferred scholarly pursuits and leading with intellect and thoughtfulness rather than through force.
It didn’t mean he wouldn’t remind anyone who challenged him who was in charge, but Thorvin was, overall, a peaceful Lord, probably more so than any of us.
But today, a pale sheen of sweat made his face shiny under the poor artificial light, and he was jumpier than I’d ever seen him.
“Thorvin,” I said in greeting. “How goes it?”
“Fine, fine,” he said, though we could all scent the lie in his words. “And you?”
“All is well in Texas.” What in the hell had Evie and Moira done to him? They swore up and down, their shenanigans were limited to property and harmless magic. From the way Thorvin was jumping at shadows, I had to wonder if they’d lied.
As I watched, the sheen of his face turned…
Soren’s eyes narrowed. Rowan’s eyebrows went up. I stared hard at him.
Thorvin looked at us. “What?”
A horrified realization settled inside of me. If Moira had done what I thought she might have…
I asked another question. “How’s the Northeast?”
Thorvin swallowed and gave us a sickly smile. “Wonderful!” he said after an awkward pause.
“Dude,” Rowan said, his voice thick. “Are you…did you wear sunscreen today?”
Soren snorted.
Thorvin’s brow furrowed. “I’m sorry. What?”
“Sunscreen.” Rowan made a circular motion around his face with his hand. “Your face is…shiny.”
Thorvin wiped his palm across his cheek and pulled it away, but there was nothing there.
Soren sighed. “It’s not shiny. You’re glittering like a teenage vampire.”
Rowan snickered.
My lips twitched. Every time Thorvin moved, the light caught his face and shone with iridescence. And it seemed to get worse every time he told a lie. I hadn’t directly asked Moira what she’d done, but I knew she’d broken into his house.
Thorvin’s eyes widened in horror. “That’s what they did,” he murmured under his breath. “I knew someone had gotten into my house!”
Rowan carefully did not look at me. “Who?”
This was the moment of truth. If Evie’s trick with the snow had worked, Thorvin would have no idea who’d sabotaged his property.
He swore vehemently. “I don’t know! Whoever it was covered their tracks well.”
I schooled my emotions into blankness, even though I wanted to slump with relief. She’d done it. Once again, Evie had managed to slide out of the way of trouble with no permanent consequences.
I was dating a godsdamned eel. The thought of it almost made me grin.
“They put glitter in your sunscreen?” Soren asked helpfully.
I couldn’t hold my laugh in that time.
“I don’t fucking wear sunscreen, you asshole!” Thorvin snarled.
Rowan lost it.
Thorvin’s face didn’t glitter more, so at least that was the truth.
Rowan wasn’t in the mood for mercy today, either. Through his wheezing laughter, he managed to get out, “All we need is for you to say something like, you don’t understand me, Rowan. I’ll never be good enough for you, to make the picture complete.”
Even through the glitter, Thorvin’s face glowed with embarrassment. “Fuck off, garden boy.”
That only made Rowan laugh harder.
“Have you seen anyone about your…” Soren’s voice trailed off as he fought for the right word. “Situation?”
“I didn’t know I had a situation until this second,” Thorvin growled. “And who the fuck would I see to tell them I’d suddenly turned into a Cullen?”
Rowan hooted, his hand pressed against his stomach as he cracked up.
Soren’s lips twitched. “Well,” he finally got out, “if that’s all they did to you after breaking in your house, consider yourself fortunate.”
Thorvin scrubbed a hand over his light brown hair and sighed. “That’s not all they did.”
I stilled. Evie wasn’t the glitter type. That had to be Moira. Whatever this was had to be my eel.
“Do tell,” Rowan said, his cheeks creased from laughing.
“My pipes and foundation are fucked up. Seriously fucked up. The guys I called to look said my wisteria and oak were planted too close to the house, but for both of them to do that much damage all at the same time…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t seem possible.”
Rowan gently nudged my shoe under the table. He knew it was Evie. From the flicker in Soren’s eyes, he knew too.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d swear it was your Evie, Caelan.”
I snorted. “Evie was in Joy Springs yesterday. There’s no way a Floromancer could make it to your territory that quickly.”
Everything I said was true. She was in town yesterday. But she didn’t stay there. And a mundane Floromancer couldn’t travel instantaneously. Only Rowan knew of Evie’s strange, mixed heritage, though he didn’t know of her Chimera blood, something I’d never tell him.
Something so dangerous would have to come from her.
Thorvin slumped. “I know. That’s what makes this entire thing so confusing. Unless I’ve managed to piss off another Floromancer.”
Rowan choked and covered it with a cough. “Evie isn’t known for being sneaky. You’ve seen her in action.”
I could kiss Rowan right now.
Soren shrugged. “All the Lords have done something to piss Evie off, but I agree. She’s never been sneaky when it comes to revenge. This doesn’t sound like her.” His gaze flicked to me and away.
“Perhaps this is merely a terrible run of luck.”
Thorvin snorted.
“Minus the glitter,” Soren added. “You definitely pissed someone off if they’ve turned you into a teenage romantic drama.”
More footsteps from down the hall.
Thorvin’s face was almost back to normal, only a hint of the silvery glow still showing.
I lowered my voice. “If you don’t want him to know, I suggest you stick to the truth or figure out a way to talk around it.”
Thorvin nodded just as Ethan came through the door. His dark eyes studied us, lingering on me. He couldn’t know it was me and Evie who’d saved him the other night, and if he did, I needed to dig deeper into his capabilities.
“Lords,” he said in his deep, emotionless voice.
He looked none the worse for wear after his ordeal with Donovan and Nadia, but today would tell us if he was trustworthy or if we should find a way to depose him.
The last thing I wanted was an internal war, but if Nadia and Donovan were taking Lords hostage to squeeze them for information on Gianna’s body, and Ethan failed to disclose what happened, he was as untrustworthy as the Lord we all thought was dead.
“Welcome, Ethan,” Soren said. “The coffee is still fresh. We were just catching up.”
Ethan grunted and took the chair beside Soren, reaching over to take an empty mug. He said nothing while he poured his coffee, until he took a long drink and sighed.
“This has been a shit week,” he growled.
I almost laughed. “Oh? It’s nice to know my territory might be the calmest this quarter.”
“Speak for yourself,” Rowan said. He held up his index finger. “I’m the only one who hasn’t managed to make an enemy out of your Floromancer.”
A second finger. “No rogues.”
A third finger. “And I’m everyone’s favorite.”
“Fuck off, Rowan,” Soren said with a groan.
“We’re missing Ben.” He wasn’t late yet, but Ben was a stickler for being on time. I hadn’t sensed him in the hotel or around the grounds when I’d arrived, but thought nothing of it because I’d gotten here so early.
Ethan shrugged. “I haven’t heard from him, but he’s more likely to reach out to you than me.”
Rowan frowned. “You haven’t heard from him?”
I shook my head, a sense of unease unfurling deep in my stomach. “Excuse me for a moment.”
Without waiting for acknowledgment, I rose, already pulling my cell from my pocket.