Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
Evie was waiting on my porch when I got home. Her hair was longer than she’d ever worn it before, and her style had morphed from comfort to quiet luxury. She looked soft and well-loved.
When she spotted me, she pushed off from her wall lean and walked over, opening her arms without a word.
My best friend always knew when I needed a hug. I stepped into her arms and put my arms around her.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hey.”
Evie held me tight for a long moment. She’d perfected the art of never letting go of a hug until the other person did first, just in case the other person needed one more than you did.
I sighed into her hair.
“That kind of a day, huh?”
“You have no idea.”
“Want a French martini?”
“I have no idea what that is, but yes, please.”
Evie snorted. “You got it.”
I let her go and led her into the apartment.
She kicked off her shoes and headed straight into my kitchen.
“Rowan is building a house deeper into his territory,” she said as she dug through the cabinets searching for liquor.
I kept my cabinets thoroughly stocked with just about everything. Now that Evie’s mom had cornered the market on magical booze, all I needed was the extra fixings to come up with delicious concoctions.
“Oh?” I asked as I plopped down onto my couch and tugged Ethan’s gloves off. I examined them and almost smiled when I realized they were women’s gloves. Cashmere lined, leather outer. I put one of them to my nose and only smelled myself and Ethan.
He’d bought these especially for me.
Ethan always made it hard to stay mad at him.
“Yep.” Evie crowed with delight when she found the Chambord. “He wants you to pop by the house and give him some feedback.”
I set my gloves down and turned to her. “Why would he want me to do that?”
Evie made a tutting sound as she poured an overly generous amount of Cliona’s special vodka into a rocks glass. “Don’t play dumb. You know why.”
My heart softened. “Evie.”
“You got any pineapple juice?”
“Fridge. Glass jar. Fresh squeezed, you deviant little weirdo.”
A maniacal grin appeared on my friend’s face.
She loved coming over here because I had all the things she’d forget to buy.
I don’t think she realized I only bought them for her.
So far there’d been no purchase she hadn’t used.
Every once in a while, I’d come into a handful of money on the counter or something random—like a bundle of pineapples.
While Evie bent over the bottles like a mad scientist, she spoke. “You know I want you close. We have a ton of land. If you want the house and you don’t want a freebie, you can set up a payment plan with Rowan. With a hefty family discount.”
She added a shot glass of Chambord to each glass, frowned, then turned to dig in the fridge again, letting out a shout of delight when she found the jar of cherries.
“Even better,” she said, a sly look sliding over her face, “the house is on the border to Ethan’s lands. Just in case things progress on that front.”
I stared at her. Not only was she deviant, she was devious.
“I’m dating your dad.”
Evie grimaced. “I’m well aware,” she said dryly. “And even though I make this face, it’s only because it’s my dad, and I don’t want to think about what the rest of that means. Buuuuuut,” she drawled, “even an idiot can see there’s something brewing between you and Ethan.”
I sighed. “You almost finished with that drink?”
Evie snorted and topped it off with the cherries. She handed me one and sat beside me, scooting over to lounge against the couch arm. “Now. Let’s talk this out. You want the house or no?” Her eyes narrowed. “And don’t say no.”
I took a sip of the drink and almost moaned. “Holy gods. What is in this thing?”
“Vodka, pineapple juice, Chambord, and a touch of cherry juice.” She sipped and did a little wiggle. “It’s my new favorite thing. Rowan has a pastry chef he’s trying out, and she showed me how to make one.”
“Why didn’t he just ask me to make him something?”
Evie rolled her eyes. “This is for the entire Keep. With all the new children running around, all the moms are tired, and we’ve bought out the local grocery store’s cookie supplies two months running. The humans are annoyed.”
I laughed. What a joyful problem to have. “Well, I’ll have a few requests, though it seems like you might need to hire a full staff if you’re trying to feed everyone.”
“She comes with one,” Evie grumbled. “We’re having to build a new kitchen.” She let out a chuckle. “Rowan is both ecstatic and frantic. No Keep has ever had this many children at one time, and they are running everyone ragged.”
“I’ve seen them. They’re like little bear cubs when they shift. How’s Misty taking it not being the only baby anymore?”
Evie’s face softened at the mention of the Chimera baby she’d taken under her wing. The child was dropped off in the hopes Evie and Rowan could protect her, and they had. As sad as it was, the mother had never returned.
Evie said it was for the best, and Misty was as happy as a clam. She was adorable and content, and she’d taken to life inside the Keep like a duck to water.
“Oh my gods,” Evie said. “She has all these new friends now. They play and tumble and get absolutely filthy. Misty comes back inside, covered in scratches and bumps, grinning from ear to ear. It’s wonderful.”
I reached over and patted her calf. “She’s happy.”
“We’re all happy.” Evie covered my hand with hers. “We’re just waiting for you to get there.”
I tossed back my drink and wiggled it for Evie to pour me another. She rolled her eyes and got up to bring the extra over. “Tess and Ash are all shacked up. I still don’t know if they’ll last, but they’re happy for now, and that’s what matters.”
“Thalia and Garrett?”
At the mention of Evie’s sister, her face fell. “Garrett moved on. As he should. Thalia stays holed up in her home. I hope one day she comes around, but the least I can do is keep her safe.”
“And Cernunnos?”
She shook her head. “Oil and water, those two. Neither of them is happy with the other.”
Evie opened her mouth but shut it just as fast.
“Ask,” I said with a sigh.
“I noticed Dad left quickly this evening, and he didn’t look happy. Everything okay?”
“Are you sure you want to talk about this?”
Her nose wrinkled. “As long as we don’t get into the squishy bits, I think I’m good.”
“This might take another drink.”
Evie held up her finger and popped up from the couch. “Then wait a minute, and we shall be all set to lock in and dissect this.”
I lived on the same land as my friend but missed her all the same.
She was back in a flash to refill my glass. Once she was curled up on the couch again, she motioned for me to go on. “Tell me everything.”
When I finished, Evie’s face was blank, but her eyes were burning with anger. “My father epitomizes the saying about a leopard not changing its spots, doesn’t he?”
I wouldn’t say anything negative about Cernunnos. Again, he had never pretended to be anything other than what he was. He had wonderful qualities. But some, like his inability to leave things alone, would probably never change. “I knew who he was when this started.”
Evie nodded. “I wasn’t surprised exactly. More curious why you chose him.”
I shrugged. “Because he’s kind in the way I need. He wanted to help me figure out what was going on with me.”
Evie’s slight grimace solidified the thought I already had in my head. “You think there’s a reason he wants to know why I need certain blood?”
“Maybe?” Evie shook her head. “No one can claim he’s altruistic. He’s not. Dad helps when there’s something in it for him, even if the payoff is easing his curiosity about something.” She sighed and shook her head. “Most of the more powerful fae are like that.”
I thought of Ari, the fae weapons maker. She seemed different, but I still didn’t know her all that well. “Cliona and Cernunnos protected you.”
Evie nodded. “They did and look where I am now.”
We both laughed. Evie was the current fae queen and not all that happy about it. Things had settled down, but she had to travel back and forth from our land to theirs pretty often.
“There’s something about me he’s curious about. And he wants me to taste Ethan so he can figure out what he is too.”
Evie shrugged. “I wouldn’t put it past him.” She sipped her drink. “Kind of a shame, really. Dad has wonderful qualities, but they aren’t innate. Each is driven by a goal.”
She pointed at me. “Take you, for example. You stayed with me when you could have gone and done wonderful things for yourself. You could have started your tea shop years earlier, figured out your food thing, and probably been a billionaire model or something. But you didn’t.
You stayed close and risked your life a number of times for me. ”
“Because I love you.”
Evie snapped her fingers. “Exactly. You sacrificed for me when there was nothing in it for you. Dad has an infinite amount of power, and he could do so much good in the world, but he has two speeds. He’s either out, or he’s meddling.”
As much as that hurt, she wasn’t wrong. “Why is he so curious about Ethan?”
“He’s curious about all the Lords. Rowan wouldn’t play his game, and I doubt your Lord will either.”
“He’s not my Lord,” I grumbled.
Evie scoffed. “Ethan obviously has some things to work out, but that man has eyes only for you. Don’t fool yourself about him.
Whatever he’s going through has nothing to do with you.
He has to work out his own shit.” She reached over and clinked our glasses together.
“And you are doing a phenomenal job with your boundaries.”
Evie paused. “I saw him follow you into the woods, and all I could do was pray you wouldn’t get pounded against a tree as I did.”
I burst out laughing. Evie grinned. Her finally embracing her full Chimera and going on a bloody spree, only to end it by having outdoor sex with Caelan, would go down in legend. We still teased her about it sometimes. But only when Rowan wasn’t around.
“It’s a good memory,” she said when she finally stopped laughing. “But if I could have seen just a little further into the future, I might not have made the same decision.”
“That’s part of the fun of life, isn’t it?”
Evie snorted. “Yes, well, let’s send thanks to the gods I didn’t get knocked up.”
I studied her over the rim of my glass. “And how are things now? You change your mind about babies?”
A pink blush colored her cheeks. “We’re taking it one day at a time. Fae fertility is notoriously slow, but there’s never been a match like ours. Neither of us is opposed to a little one running around, especially now that we have all the other kids causing chaos wherever they go.”
My heart warmed. “I’m glad. You’ll make incredible parents.”
Evie uncurled herself from the couch. “And you’ll be the kind of aunt every kid dreams of.” She bent over and dropped a kiss atop my head. “I gotta get back. Don’t let Dad bully you, okay?”
She was at the door when I spoke again. “If Ethan shared his blood with me, would your father know?”
Evie’s brow furrowed. “I’m not sure. He has a sensitive nose, but not like a shifter. I’ll ask Rowan if he can tell when you’ve drunk from Cernunnos. If he can, then I’d venture yes.”
Rowan was half fae, something only a select few knew. “Can you ask Declan, too?”
Evie’s face brightened. “Great idea! If Declan can’t and Rowan can, maybe my guy is sensing a magic fluctuation. But if they both can, maybe they’re just using their shifter noses.” She scratched her chin. “I’m going to ask Hope, too. Just to be sure.”
“Thanks, Evie.”
My friend blew me a kiss. “I’ll text you.”
She shut the door behind her, leaving silence in her wake.
Seems I had a lot to think about these days.