Chapter 8
Chapter
Eight
Waking up before Alice did and getting to watch her sleep peacefully in my arms was rapidly turning into my new favorite way to start my day.
I wasn’t the same man who’d woken up next to her after our first night together and spent an hour planning second and third dates, though. I understood the situation much better now.
There was nothing about the future that was certain except it would be on her terms and not mine. And I was willing to do that for her. For a chance.
When her phone rang just before ten a.m., I started to reach for it to silence it. But Alice was already halfway out of my embrace and fumbling to grab it from her nightstand.
I opened my mouth to tell her she needed more sleep, then shut it again.
Her terms, Sean Theodore Maclin.
She found her phone, looked at the screen, and answered with the phone to her ear. “Morning, Natalie.” She sounded sleepy but alert.
I heard Alice’s client sobbing. My wolf let out a quiet whine. Apparently he no longer held a grudge about the accident.
“Alice, I’m so sorry,” Natalie wailed. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Alice said, her tone soothing. “I got a little singed, but I’m okay.”
I’m okay. There it was again: a phrase designed to dismiss concern about her well-being and minimize the severity of her injuries. My wolf’s quiet growl escaped my mouth before I could rein it in.
To my surprise, Alice dug her elbow not-at-all gently into my ribs. I deserved that for the growl. I grunted, more startled than in pain.
Natalie sniffled loudly. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” With a little groan, Alice turned onto her back and bent her knees, trying to find a more comfortable position. Apparently it wasn’t working because she rolled to her side to face me and tucked one arm under her head while holding the phone with her other hand.
I tried not to let on that I was watching for her to wince or flinch or rest her hand on her abdomen to signal pain. I probably hadn’t hidden my worry very well because she eyed me before staring into the middle distance behind me.
“How do you feel?” she asked Natalie.
Natalie let out a little laugh edged with a sob. “Like I’ve got the worst hangover I’ve had since college. I could barely get out of bed.”
“You’ll probably feel a little weak for a day or two,” Alice said.
Her tone was kind, but also matter-of-fact in a way that made me think she was trying to focus Natalie’s attention away from the accident and more toward what needed to be done next.
“We bound your magic again, so you’re safe.
I do have some good news on that front. You have fire and air magic, like your grandmother, but your power is low-to-mid-range, which is easier to learn to control.
Also, it keeps you off the cabals’ radar. ”
When Alice paused, her lips pursed, Natalie said, “What else?”
Alice took a deep breath and said, “You have an additional ability that’s unusual. Do you remember what I told you about nulls?”
“Mages who can drain other people’s magic?”
“Yes. You’re a null.”
“What’s unusual about that? You said there are lots of them.”
“It’s unusual because you can do it so quickly. A lot of mages can drain someone else’s energy, but it takes a while. Your ability is lightning fast and you do it instinctually. You drained me just by touching me.”
Natalie gasped. My wolf growled low again, but this time it didn’t go any farther than my mind.
“It’s fine—I’m recovering well enough,” Alice said, clearly still trying to reassure Natalie that she was all right. “But it’s one more thing that you’ll need to learn to control. If you decide to learn, that is.”
While Natalie thought about what Alice had said, I rubbed Alice’s back. Rather than shrug me off, her lips turned up at the corners and she leaned into my touch.
“Don’t make a decision right now when you’re upset,” Alice said when the silence stretched out. “We’ve got time. Your binding spell will hold for as long as you need to decide what to do. You can do something for me, though.”
Natalie inhaled, exhaled, and seemed to gather herself. “What can I do?”
“If it’s okay with you, I’ll swing by your house with Malcolm,” Alice said.
“We’ll double-check to make sure there aren’t any more spells in the library, and then I’d like you to look through your grandmother’s papers and books to see if she has anything that might indicate what was in that hidden compartment.
In the meantime, I’m going to track down your aunts and uncle and try to figure out which one of them has been in your house.
I’ll need whatever information you have on them, like addresses, phone numbers, work info, photos, et cetera. ”
I really wanted Alice to rest more, and I worried about her working while she had no magic, but I liked hearing her making plans and outlining for her client how her investigation would progress.
And really, her color was good, I saw no signs of pain, and her voice was strong. The swelling in her hands was gone.
“I can do that,” Natalie said. She sounded much better too. “I’ll have it for you when you get here.”
“Great,” Alice said warmly. “I’ll head over in about an hour.”
After a quick goodbye, Alice ended the call, put her phone back on the nightstand, and lay on her back next to me, her gaze on the ceiling. I could almost hear the gears turning in her head as she planned out her day.
I lay on my side facing her, my head propped on my hand. “Sounds like a busy day.”
Her lips turned up again. Even that little smile made my wolf roll to his side and expose his belly.
“It’ll be nice to do some actual investigating today,” she said. “I don’t want to tempt fate, but I sincerely hope I’m done with the near-death experiences for a while.”
I very much hoped so too.
“Knock on wood.” I tapped the side of her head very lightly with my knuckles.
She rolled her eyes. “Ha-ha.”
The morning light sneaking in through a gap in the curtains let me enjoy the sight of her unburned skin and relaxed expression.
She seemed comfortable beside me in a way she hadn’t been before.
And I was more contented and relaxed next to her than I could remember being except when my pack lay together in wolf form under the full moon.
Wherever her mind had wandered, I watched her lips turn up at the corners, a little crease appear between her brows, and her hands move restlessly at her sides.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked.
She slid a glance at me. After a beat, she said, “You.”
Was that a good thing, or bad? Her little frown hadn’t faded. “What about me?”
“Well, for one thing….” She sighed. “You got your wish.”
Puzzled, I said, “What wish?”
Her mouth quirked. “To see me again.”
I shook my head. “This was about as far from what I was hoping for as it can get.” To put it mildly.
Her frown had vanished, and she was smiling. So I took my shot.
“Having said that,” I said, “Do I get a date?”
Her smile widened, and she chuckled. “You don’t give up, do you?”
She didn’t say no. She didn’t tell me to grab my boots and go.
I couldn’t help it; I grinned. “No. How about tonight?”
Rather than laugh, Alice sat up and leaned back against the headboard, her knees drawn up to her chest and forearms draped over them. And she studied me, her gaze locked on mine.
“Do you think I owe you a date?” she asked.
After the events of the past day, I knew that question would be coming—either in her head or out loud. I was glad she’d asked outright so I could answer.
“I don’t think you owe me anything,” I said emphatically. “But I was hoping you might think it was at least worth considering.”
“I told you yesterday I would think about it,” she countered.
I would have been very surprised if she’d really thought I’d believed her.
I raised my eyebrows, daring her to disagree when I said, “You and I both know you’d already decided.”
The wry twist of her lips and her silence told me she knew I was right.
She wasn’t closed off from me like yesterday when she’d shot me down about a date. Her gaze was cautious, not flinty. No doors had slammed in my face, verbally or otherwise.
Yet.
What I said from this moment on would determine where we’d go from here. The more I thought about what I should say, the more I returned to my thought from last night about needing to meet Alice where she was. I wasn’t sure about much in this moment, but I was sure about that.
I see you, Alice Worth. I’m willing to accept your terms, whatever they are.
“I get that you’re cautious,” I said. “I’m sure I would be too if I’d been through whatever you’ve been through. I’d like to know what I need to do or say for you to give me a chance.”
The faintest smile touched her lips and her shoulders relaxed as if she liked what I’d said and how I’d said it.
She went quiet for a long, long time. I stayed where I was and let her think, and tried not to watch too closely while she weighed how to answer. Her microexpressions indicated her thoughts were all over the place. It wasn’t an easy decision for her, clearly. I hadn’t thought it would be.
Mate hurts, my wolf said, his head on his paws.
Alice did hurt. My instincts told me she hurt so deeply I couldn’t begin to fathom the depths of that pain.
When her lips compressed into a thin line and her eyes met mine, my heart squeezed like it was in a vise.
What else could I say besides what I’d already said? If that wasn’t enough, what would be?
Her gaze went to my ear. The shape of her eyes changed and she stared.
The blood I’d forgotten to wash off was a physical reminder of what I’d endured to get through Natalie’s house wards.
I’d meant to clean up once we got into Alice’s home but forgot with all my focus on caring for her.
There was little smear of it on one of the pillows too, where I’d slept after the healing spell. And of course she’d noticed that too.