Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
Of course the witch was a stunner. Long auburn hair fell to her waist and swayed with every step she took.
Her nose was pert and had a slight tilt at the end, reminding me of those popular filters some of the so-called influencers used when they were hocking their newest brand deal.
Her eyes were wide and green, a telltale sign of a pure-blood witch.
No one knew why pure bloods had green eyes, though I heard it had something to do with the type of magic running through the firstborn witch’s bloodline. Whoever this was could be powerful—probably was powerful.
She looked harmless, which instantly put me on edge.
The woman was short, hitting five feet tall if she were lucky, and petite, looking like a bite-sized snack next to Soren.
Something ugly twisted in my stomach. Not jealousy.
Closer to self-loathing if I was being completely self-aware. I did not look like her.
Not even a little.
I was tall and pale and too thin and had eyes so dark they were almost black, with the long hair to match. I had the accessories of an Italian woman with the complexion of a Swedish milkmaid.
This witch’s skin had a tinge of a golden glow to her skin and a perfectly poreless face.
Hmm. I squinted, seeking the edges of a spell or something to—Ha. A glamour.
I wanted to crow to the heavens. So she wasn’t perfect. I wondered if that was her real face. Soren recognized her, so either it was, or this was a glamour she rarely removed.
The idiotic Lord allowed the woman to bring him in for an embrace.
I tensed as I searched for the flash of a knife or the telltale hint of a spell.
But the hug was just a hug, and Soren pulled away, smiling at the witch.
A tinge of pink touched the witch’s cheeks. “I’m surprised you called.”
Her voice was breathy and sweet, and she twisted her fingers together—a nervous gesture that didn’t seem feigned.
Soren bowed his head. “I wanted to come and personally apologize.”
The witch blinked. “What?”
“I know we left things…open.”
Oh gods. What a moron. If I wasn’t concealed high up in a tree right above them, I’d let out a groan.
“Open?” she echoed, a small furrow appearing between her brows. “You ghosted me.”
Soren’s jaw tightened just a hair. “And for that, I’m sorry.”
Oh man. He was lying. I could smell it in the air. This SOB wasn’t sorry at all. I closed my eyes for a brief second, close to feeling empathy for the witch. Maybe she should stab him.
I might even look the other way and let her get in a few licks.
“You’re sorry,” the witch said slowly, her eyes narrowing. She crossed her arms over her chest.
If I wasn’t worried about Soren dying a horrible death and me getting blamed for it, I might have laughed. He was in deep shit, and I don’t think he even knew it.
Even if the witch wasn’t full of murderous rage, she was full of the feminine kind, and sometimes, that was just as dangerous.
Soren rubbed a hand through his hair. “Yeah, Lily. I mean, I was going through some stuff, you know?”
The way he sounded was so…
Ugh.
Had I truly fallen for this act? Soren never spoke to me like that, not with that shitty, condescending tone, but that slight wheedle in his tone sounded familiar.
I was such an idiot. My heart hardened as I listened to the bullshit pouring from his mouth. From the look on her face, Lily felt the same way.
Her foot started tapping. “Everyone is going through some stuff, Soren.”
The witch scoffed.
As I sat there listening, I had a horrible realization. Lily had no idea Soren was involved with seven of her coven mates. There was no way she knew. She was far too calm.
No one was that good of an actress.
“Was there someone else? Did you have a girlfriend or something?”
I closed my eyes and wondered what kind of bad karma I’d racked up to get stuck in this moment.
Soren rubbed the back of his neck. “Not when we met. I was still hung up on my ex, though. And after the intense night we shared—”
I let out a silent gag.
Lily made a sympathetic click of her tongue. “Oh, Soren. I had no idea.”
I rolled my eyes, grinning as I thought about what Seth was thinking from two trees over.
The witch ran her hands over Soren’s chest, smoothing down the nonexistent wrinkles on his pullover. “Well, you’re here now. Can’t we make up for lost time?”
I swear to the gods if he pulled that witch into a bush, I’d kill him myself.
“I almost brought flowers,” Soren murmured. “But I realized how foolish it was to haul them through all that terrain.”
Idiot. No he didn’t.
My ass was starting to hurt from the hard, rough tree bark. I pulled out my cell, hid the telltale light of the screen in my jacket, and sent a text.
Move it along. I want to get closer to the wards to see what we’re dealing with.
He murmured excuses and pulled his phone out.
There’s no one else around. Go and check them out while I’m here with Lily.
He definitely wanted to pull that poor witch into a bush.
Fine.
I gently eased myself into a standing position and peered overhead. The wards were quite a way ahead, but it would only take me a moment to get there.
Stay with Soren. I’m going ahead to check out their wards.
Can you believe this fucking guy? came the almost immediate response.
I grinned and tucked my phone into my jacket pocket.
A moment later, I leapt from the tree limb clear across the area, silently landing atop a tree several feet away, the slight rustle of leaves the only sound to give away my presence. Lily didn’t tense or look away, caught up in Soren’s intense gaze.
Shaking my head, I made one more leap before landing on the soft earth. With one more look back, I turned and headed toward the wards.
Soren was a Lord. If he couldn’t handle a single witch, he shouldn’t hold his title. Seth would back him up if need be, but the guy might get an eye and an earful if things progressed much farther.
Grinning at Seth’s predicament, I continued walking until the soft glow of magic stopped me in my tracks.
I was still far enough away from the wards to avoid detection, but a hint of magic swirling through the air gave me pause. Stopping right at the edge of the odd glimmer, I studied the soft pink, blue, and purple shimmer, wondering if I was seeing this because of my odd magic.
I felt nothing—a complete absence of magic. Hmm. Touching the shimmer seemed like a bad idea. I sent a message to Evie.
Less than a minute later, Cernunnos, Evie’s father, stood right next to me.
“Shit.” I jerked away in surprise. “A little warning next time?”
He merely smiled, his ancient swirling eyes giving off a multi-colored glow as he watched me. “Jumpy, Moira?”
“Only when gods sneak up on me,” I muttered.
“I am the most equipped to help you, and I must admit, you intrigue me.”
I frowned. “Please don’t start with the gods touched stuff again.”
He’d started calling me that after the battle at Caelan’s Keep when I was exposed to multiple forms of magic.
The incident had changed me, giving me some uncomfortable powers I still didn’t really know how to use.
Unlike Evie, I wasn’t actively trying to suppress my magic.
Not knowing how to use the power was a deterrent, but I was slowly figuring things out.
A flash of a smile. “You still are, but you’re hiding one more thing, aren’t you?”
Evie had kicked him and all the other fae out after Rowan’s death, but before Fee made her sacrifice. Neither one of us told him what Fee had done, but I wasn’t surprised to know he either knew or suspected what lived inside me.
I debated what to say. Cernunnos and I had an odd relationship.
Sometimes I thought he was flirting with me, but then I’d knock myself back down to earth.
Did an ancient creature who had to work hard to pretend to be less other know how to flirt?
Sometimes, when I caught him studying me like an interesting insect, I suspected he wanted to kill me or at least take me apart and examine my pieces.
And every once in a great moon, I caught him staring at me with a little more interest than a male should have in his daughter’s best friend.
Men, as a general rule, confused the hell out of me. Cernunnos was on an entirely different level. I treated him with deference because he was a god, and I was a peon, and I wasn’t stupid enough to think I could ever stand against him.
Not that I’d need to. Cernunnos might be an odd duck, but I think he knew his daughter well enough to know if he came after me, Evie would never forgive him. Considering her power level now, even if he was thinking about taking me out, his daughter’s wrath would give him pause.
“Why are you looking at me so?” he asked.
“I can’t quite figure you out.”
He tilted his head in that uncanny valley way he had about him. Cernunnos was the type of male who never, no matter how much he tried, would appear human.
To be fair, he didn’t try all that hard. For Evie’s sake, he did, and he’d relaxed a little about some things. Like tonight, for example, he wore his ever-popular choice of joggers and a long-sleeved t-shirt, and tennis shoes with no-show socks. Very Gen-X and elder millennial.
His hair was a shaggy mess around his head. No mossy antlers or buckskin in sight.
“Do you need to figure me out?” he asked.
“Suppose not,” I said with a grunt.
His gaze lingered on my profile. “You’re concerned about this magic, I take it?”
Cernunnos lifted his hand, less than a quarter of an inch from the magic, a slight furrow on his handsome face. “Evangeline said this was of witch make?”
I nodded. “Odd, isn’t it?”
“Indeed.”
Like me, Cernunnos chose not to touch the strange magic. Instead, he walked along the border, his fingers tracing just above the surface. I followed behind him on silent feet, watching to see what he would do.
“The ward they want you to believe is the main one is farther out,” he mused. “This is the true one.” He glanced back at me. “You shouldn’t be able to see this, little vampire.”