Chapter 7 #2
I focused on his words and the tone behind them, searching for any hint of deception. Ethan wasn’t a liar, but he had a way of tiptoeing around the truth to suit his needs. He’d made no secret about wanting me back on his lands. But no matter which way I turned it, I sensed only sincerity.
“Any progress on getting a new council together?”
Ethan eyed the plate of bars.
“Take it,” I said. There were still three left.
He snagged another bar. “I didn’t run this one by the council. If this is Cernunnos, I don’t want the Lords involved in a personal matter. If we find out it’s something else, I’ll revisit.”
“Aren’t you the one who’s always bitching about the other Lords going rogue?”
Ethan’s lips twitched. “Yes, well, I’m the one in charge, so if I want to go rogue, I can.”
He polished off the bar and sighed. “What do you say, Moira? You in?”
I thought about it. The store could use me there, especially with what happened with Marie. Things with Mom were heating up again. Sending Marie to blow up her store was probably not the most level-headed decision I could have made.
But the bitch deserved it.
“Please,” Ethan said quietly.
Ah shit. I could never refuse him much. So I took a lesson from Evie’s book. “Double pay and you’ll send a vetted and qualified temp to the shop to help out.”
Ethan’s eyes warmed. “Done and done.”
“Will I be staying in the same place?”
“A new shifter has taken residence there. I took the liberty of having a small cottage built closer to the Keep.”
His voice was bland, but there was something in his expression that made me suspicious.
“How close?”
“You’ll see,” was all he said. Ethan rose and brought his dishes to the kitchen. Once he rinsed and put them in the dishwasher, he turned. “I’m spending the night here. I’d like to return to my Keep tomorrow morning. With you.”
My heartbeat sped up. “Two days to start, Ethan. That’s all. And I’ll have to speak to Cernunnos to let him know where I’ll be. If it turns out he’s behind this, you may not need me at all.”
Ethan grunted. “I bet you’ll find he approves wholeheartedly. He wants us together, Moira, at least until you sip my blood. After that is anyone’s guess.”
“I’ll call him tonight.”
He walked to the door. “I will see you in the morning. Sweet dreams.”
I didn’t say anything as Ethan slipped out, only closed my eyes and focused on the god who might be causing mischief.
Cernunnos popped into my living room seconds later, a wary look on his face.
I didn’t greet him with a hello or a hug and certainly not a kiss. “Why in the world would you visit Ethan? This is blood, not a matter of life or death. At least not now. My source does not have to be Ethan, and you being so insistent on this is making me hella suspicious.”
He blinked. “Well hello to you, too, Moira.”
“Don’t be an ass. Why are you meddling all of a sudden?”
He settled into the recliner, his eyes lingering on the almost empty plate of cookie bars. “I never ‘all of a sudden’ meddle. Such is a constant in my life.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
He was still eyeing that plate and too polite to take one without me offering. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited. He could have one when he answered me.
Cernunnos let out a small sigh. “It’s important.”
“Important for whom?”
He waved his hand in a careless gesture. “Everything. Everyone.”
“Will the world get hit by a nuke if I don’t suck on Ethan’s neck?”
His dark look answered that question.
“Something’s going on over at the Keep. He’s asked me to come for a couple of days to check it out.”
His interest sharpened. “What kind of something?”
“You don’t already know?” I said. Being close to Cernunnos was easier in a way, at least on my emotions. He was always shifty as hell, so there were no surprises there, and I could never tell if he was lying to me.
In many ways it was worse to know someone lied to you when their face and their words said something else than it was to be met by a brick wall.
He spread his hands out. “I will not deny I went there to talk some reason into him. Ethan refused. I left soon after.”
There was no way it was that easy. Ethan and Cernunnos were both hardheaded as senior goats.
“Alright. Say I believe you. Are you telling me you aren’t responsible for what’s going on over there right now?”
“Again, Moira, what is going on?” His multi-colored eyes swirled with annoyance. “I have not returned to Ethan’s Keep since the day he asked me to leave.”
“If I find out this is your doing, I’ll be back to kick your ass,” I said softly.
Cernunnos grinned, making my breath catch. I was super pissed at him, but man, he was difficult to resist when he smiled at me like that.
“You can have a bar if you want,” I grumbled.
Cernunnos snatched one up like it was his preciousssss.
“Are you okay with me being at Ethan’s Keep for a couple of days?”
Cernunnos eyed me from over the top of his bar. “Should I be any other way?”
“No. Ethan knows my boundaries. I won’t break my promise to you.”
His face softened. “I never worried you would. If you need my aid, call for me, and I will come.”
He licked chocolate from his thumbs, his tongue darting out to swirl around his finger. My mouth went dry. A slow grin curved his mouth.
“I’m still mad at you,” I muttered. “Don’t be all sexy right now. It’s only making me angrier.”
Cernunnos laughed. “Very well. I shall refrain from sexiness until you return then.”
He came over and bent to brush a soft kiss over my lips. “It’s important,” he said again. “In this, you must trust.”
“I don’t know why you have to be so cryptic. You’ve seen all my bits and bobs in Technicolor. Kinda seems like we’re past the stage of keeping secrets from each other.”
He smiled against my lips. “I like your bits and bobs, but we are still sort of new to this, aren’t we? No one can sort out thousands of years of secrets in only a few short months. Perhaps in time, I will learn not to be so…cryptic.”
“Dammit, Cernunnos! You’re being cryptic right now!”
He stood, winked, and disappeared in a flash of emerald and gold magic.
I picked up the last bar and shoved it into my mouth.