6. Acquiesce #2
It’s funny how, after all this time in Moonburrow, I’ve started to think of him as Riordan instead of Chief Deputy Lobo.
I guess it’s because of how close I’ve grown to Roxy and Honey.
Honey refers to her brother-in-law by his first name, and when Roxy isn’t poking fun at Riordan and calling him ‘Deputy Lick-My-Balls’, he’s Riordan to her, too.
Somewhere along the line, I’ve become familiar with a male I don’t actually know, but when he gives me the permission to use his name… I can’t help it.
Why does he get to be familiar and still insist on calling me Ms. Willows?
“Goes both ways.” I shrug my shoulders. “If Riordan is fine, so is Penelope.”
He thinks about it for a moment. “What about ‘Pen’? Does anyone call you that?”
My mom did. When I was little, she would call me both ‘Penny’ and ‘Pen’. By the time I had matured into my powers, I guess I matured into my full name, too. I’ve been Penelope ever since. However, my mom is gone, so it’s not a lie when I tell him, “No.”
He nods. “I’ll keep that in mind. First, though…
Max told me that you’ve moved out of the coven house, that you live over Honey’s bakery now.
Good. I would’ve suggested that if you hadn’t already moved in.
So that’s settled. But, please, if you’d stay with us for a few moments longer, I’d really like you to be a part of this chat between my brother and I. ”
I… don’t know what to say to that. I have no idea why he cares that I put some space between the Moonburrow coven and me, or why he wants me to stick around while he talks to Max, but if he thinks that I didn’t notice how careful he was to ask me instead of order me… he’d be wrong.
“Um. Okay. Sure.”
If I wasn’t watching him so closely, I also wouldn’t have noticed the tiniest way his big body relaxes. But I was, and I did, and I know then that whatever he wants me to hear, it’s going to change everything.
I’m right about that.
“I want to take point on the Frost murder,” he tells Max.
Max doesn’t look surprised. Instead, with a mild expression that only highlights the pure alpha dominance in his eyes, he says, “You took off two months ago. I went without my chief deputy and my Beta. And now you think you’re gonna waltz back into Moonburrow and take over my investigation?”
Riordan drops his gaze just enough to make it noticeable that he’s not challenging Max.
It doesn’t matter that he’s the older brother and that both of their wolves are considered to be alphas in the wolf shifters’ hierarchy.
I heard from Roxy that Riordan was supposed to be Alpha, but he stepped down years before due to this curse.
He’d been a supportive Beta to Max’s Alpha ever since, and he proves it now by submitting just the right amount.
And then he says in a softer tone, “I shouldn’t have left you with all of it. Whatever you want to say to me about that, Max, I’ll listen. But we both know you have a pack to lead, a town to run, and a mate who’s still pissed at you for hiding that we have a second dead witch.”
“He’s right,” Honey calls out cheerfully. “I might forgive, but I haven’t forgotten. Remember that, Max.”
Max is the biggest, baddest wolf in Moonburrow. All of us know that. But even he winces a little when his smaller, daintier mate reminds me of his well-intentioned fuck-up.
As for Riordan, he turns to me. “Max tells me that you’re the one who discovered that Frost was murdered. That you spoke to her.”
To be honest, I’d much rather discuss her cruel murder than remember what happened when Riordan believed I was capable of such a crime.
I nod. “Yes. I’m a seer.”
“And a cursebreaker.”
I peer at the wisps that serve as Riordan’s second shadow and very delicately do not point them out. “Yes.”
“That’s why she came to you? Because she thought you could help her?”
“More like she knew I could see her if she appeared to me, and since I’m a witch, I’d be honorbound to help her cross over if I can. She told me that she would only be able to after I figured out who killed her.”
He thinks about that. “Can you talk to her now? I have some questions I’d like to ask her.”
“I can only do that when she decides to show herself,” I answer. “Ghosts aren’t summoned like people think. If Olivia doesn’t want to appear, I can’t make her. And if I’m close to this,” I add, holding up the wormwood, “she won’t be able to.”
“Okay. We’ll table that for later. But since you’re the only one who can talk to our only witness, that means you’re going to have to work with me to solve this case.”
Excuse me?
I squeeze the potted plant. “I don’t know about that. If you have questions that we haven’t already asked her, I can pass them along. Not like I trust her. I actually don’t. But no one deserves to die like she did.”
By a wolf.
Something hits me at that moment. As nervous as I am to be so close to Riordan, I’m not as afraid as I was when we first met. I think I know why, too. In Moonburrow, every wolf shifter is technically a suspect in Olivia’s murder. But Riordan… he was locked out of the town, blocked by the words.
In fact, he’s probably the only wolf in town that I know for a fact isn’t her murderer.
But if I want to figure out who killed her so that I can send the witch to the other side, having a professional investigator with an alpha’s skillset is probably the best way to do it. And if that means I might have to spend a little time with Riordan to do so…
Part of me is curious. Another part is nothing short of relieved. When I first heard from Roxy that Riordan was back in Moonburrow, my track record with backfiring spells had me wondering if I somehow yanked him back. Why else would he show up so suddenly after staying away for so long?
And then it hit me. I finally understand.
Riordan himself told his brother that he wouldn’t return to Moonburrow while Olivia was on the loose.
Now he knows exactly where she is so he came back—and I foolishly believe that it wasn’t my twisted magic that dragged him home for a few glorious moments before he turns those gorgeous gold eyes of his on me and says, “I need a seer. You need a protector. And that’s going to be me, Pen,” and I know that something is very, very wrong.
“No, no. That’s okay. You don’t have to—”
“I do,” he says firmly, cutting me off. “I won’t leave your side until the murderer is caught.”
“Riordan—”
He turns on his brother. “Max. You told me witches are the targets. That one of our own is killing magic users like Penelope. You can be responsible for the rest of the coven. I brought her to Moonburrow to help Ash. You can’t ask me not to protect her now.”
Maybe Max can’t, but I sure can.
Except I don’t.
It’s not his fault. If the locator spell messed up and my magic made it so that Riordan not only came running back to Moonburrow, but now he has this need to be my protector?
I’ve seen something like this happen before.
Instead of just helping Honey find Riordan, the spell boo-booed and now he is finding it difficult to be separated from its caster.
Who just so happens to be me.
Does that mean I’m going to hold him to his ‘stick by your side’ promise?
No. If I want the spell to wear off, I can’t allow him to fall any further under it.
But I think he does have a point. He has his own grudge when it comes to Olivia’s machinations.
He’s also a protective alpha wolf who wants to keep his pack—and his town—safe.
Of course he’ll have this need to solve the mystery of her murder and send her packing.
And I’m his best shot at accomplishing that. As long as I act as a translator for the dead, I can help Riordan and Olivia.
More importantly, I can accomplish the one thing that’s kept me in Moonburrow for the last two months.
Which is why, to both Max and Honey’s—and, okay, probably Gus’s, too—surprise, I take a hesitant step toward the Beta and tell him, “I don’t need a constant guardian. I can protect myself. But if you want me to help you solve this crime, there’s something I want to do first.”
Riordan dips his head. “Anything.”
He might come to regret his easy acquiescence. “I want you to let me get a good look at your curse.”