Chapter 30
Chapter
Thirty
Ethan stood next to Soren. His face went blank when he saw us pop in, and he turned away.
Hurt flickered in my stomach, but I shouldn’t have expected more. I’d wounded Ethan, and a wounded animal never responded well to the one who’d harmed them.
Magic saturated the air, none of it belonging to any of us. The witches were close.
We hunkered down in a dense wooded area. Having Evie here was a boon.
“Can you see what’s going on in their camp?” I asked quietly.
Evie nodded and kicked off her shoes, settling onto the ground a moment later. She stuck her fingers and toes into the ground and closed her eyes. A sweet floral scent rose in the air a moment later as her magic rose.
Soren watched her for a moment. “It’s always weird to watch her do that.”
A vine snapped up from the ground and slapped him in the back of the knee, making him lose his balance.
Ari let out a bark of laughter.
“She’s gotten a lot better with her magic,” I said mildly. “Evie can hear everything we’re saying right now.”
“And respond,” Evie said dryly, her eyes still closed tight.
Cernunnos stood by himself. I walked over to him. “Hey.”
He didn’t reach out and draw me closer. Neither one of us were really wired that way. His eyes warmed when he spoke to me, and that was enough. “Something isn’t right.”
Cernunnos watched the area ahead. Nothing seemed amiss to me, but it was hard to tell with all the magic floating around us.
“Do you think she’s there?”
“Difficult to say. If she is, she’s not using her magic.” Cernunnos’s lips thinned. “Probably to give us a false sense of comfort if she is.”
His gaze went to Ethan. “I’m sorry he is so angry at you.”
I glanced at the other Lord. He was handsome as usual, the gray streaks at his temples more silver than normal in the evening light. Today he wore a flannel shirt and old jeans. His boots were scuffed and worn, and he looked like we’d dragged him from outdoor chores. I rarely saw him like this.
Ethan wore a lot of suits and slacks. I liked him either way, but this rugged and casual look suited him.
“I don’t think he’s angry at me,” I whispered. “He’s angry at himself.”
Cernunnos’s eyes flickered. “A self-aware Lord. Those tend to be rare.”
“Eventually, they come around. Things are still raw. Maybe in a few more weeks, he’ll thaw a little. We still have to work together, so he can’t freeze me out forever. And to be fair, he doesn’t ignore me when I contact him for work issues.”
Cernunnos’s swirling eyes caught mine. “How are you feeling?”
I smiled. “You know I’m feeling good. Why are you asking?”
“Just checking. We’re on day five. Need a top up?”
I shook my head. “I feel just as good today as I did the first day.”
He took a step into my personal space, his voice dropping lower. “Maybe we could temporarily halt the experiment, and you can take a sip anyway.”
I grinned up at him. “You’ll mess all your calculations up, Doctor.”
“Hmm. Could be worth it.”
I swatted at him. “After this first go round, we’ll know exactly how long I can go. Then we can have all the fun we want. Deal?”
“You run a tight ship, Moira. I suppose I have to agree.”
“Good.”
I turned just as Evie’s eyes were opening. “We have a problem.”
“Of course we do,” I muttered. “What is it this time? Have all the gods congregated in one place to show us who’s boss?”
“No,” Evie said. “Every single witch in the coven, besides one outlier, is pregnant.”
No one said a word for a long moment, before I, eloquent as always, spoke. “Um. What?”
As one, we all turned to look at Soren.
He held up his hands and backed up. “What. No! I swear to you I did not sleep with all those women.”
“Again,” Cernunnos said mildly.
We were all still staring at him. What kind of reputation did you have to have for none of us to be overly surprised by Soren knocking up an entire coven who had tried to kill him at least twice?
Soren swore and scrubbed his hand over his face. “I swear to you. I did not touch those women. Not after all that!”
I wasn’t sure what to think. Ethan stepped up. “Lords don’t harm children. We call this off immediately. One of us will act as a representative and warn them off of Soren. If they return, they’ll sign their death warrant.”
“Are you sure, Evie?”
She made a little wave at herself. “I’m the new Mother Earth, so yeah. I’d know if someone was really pregnant.”
“Could you sense anything about the infant?”
Evie blinked. “I didn’t try. They’d sense my presence if I had.”
“Well shit.” I felt bamboozled. “It’s only been a few weeks. How did they all get knocked up at the same time?”
“When a man loves a woman…” Seth drawled.
“You think it’s one guy? What if they had some sort of ritual?” This was blowing my mind.
“Some witches use sex magic to enhance their magic,” Cernunnos said. “Maybe this was how they got the cloud to work.”
Soren’s nose wrinkled.
“Don’t look so grossed out,” I chided. “You’re no better.”
The Lord sighed. “Can we just stop with all the teasing on this. Yes, I have many notches on my bedpost—”
“Your bedpost looks like rats got ahold of it and had a chewing contest,” Seth drawled.
Soren shot him a dark look. “You’re supposed to be my Second,” he growled.
“Oh I am. I’ll die for you, but having to do it because you can’t control your pants snake is pretty embarrassing. How will I ever face my friends?” Seth’s smile was far too innocent for the devilry shining in his eyes.
“Regardless, they’re pregnant now, so their magic won’t be as potent, right?” I asked.
“Not necessarily,” Cernunnos said. “Pregnancy can make witches even more powerful, if they don’t care about drawing from their infant’s life force.”
I stared at him. “Witches actually do that?”
“They can. Some do. I don’t peg this coven as particularly caring of another’s needs.”
“I’ll go as a representative,” I said.
“I’ll come with you,” Ethan said.
My mouth opened to deny him, but we were on his land. “I—okay.”
I touched Cernunnos’s arm. “We’ll be back in a little while.”
“How will we know if you’re in trouble?” He didn’t seem concerned. We’d been practicing a little with my magic. We both know I should have no trouble taking on a coven.
Ethan patted his back pocket. “I brought a flare gun. We’re in the wilds out here and sometimes we need them. The ground is moist enough to prevent a fire, so it should be safe to use.”
Evie waved. “And you have me. I’ll monitor wherever it lands.”
He dipped his head in thanks. “Ready to go?”
With him? Absolutely not.