Chapter 21
Chapter
Twenty-One
Ihad my bag slung over my shoulder, once again filled with travel potions and snacks. After Ethan left last night, I finished making the entire batch of leftover dough, so the munchies this time weren’t protein bars; they were two dozen of my finest chocolate chip cookies.
What could I say? I was in a bitchy mood and chocolate made me feel better.
I pulled the door open only to squeak in alarm. A man stood on the porch, his hand raised to knock.
“Ethan,” I breathed.
His gaze trailed to the bag I held. “Going somewhere?”
“Yes. Can I help you?”
“I’ll escort you.”
“No.” He’d made his feelings very clear last night.
“Yes,” Ethan growled. “I want to talk to you.”
“We already talked.” I brushed past him to stalk into the woods. While I could use my travel potions inside, I tried not to. Sometimes I was off balance when I popped back in, and I’d broken more than one lamp that way.
Ethan trailed me. “Moira.”
“Leave me alone.”
He jogged up beside me and kept pace, his long-legged gait easily keeping up with my shorter stride.
“Look. I’m sorry. I was an asshole last night.”
“You were.”
He snorted. “Where are you going?”
“None of your business.”
“Then it won’t matter if I come with you, will it?”
I stopped walking and spun to face him. “Go. Away.”
He smiled at me, a genuine amused smile, the one that always took my breath away. I saw the Ethan I knew, the one before our lives had fallen apart. My thoughts stuttered.
“Come on, Moira. You’re alone. I’m sure you want the company.”
He couldn’t remember that I didn’t like being alone because he didn’t remember me. “You won’t like where I’m going.”
Ethan shrugged. “Maybe I want some company, too.”
“Fine.” I dug in my purse and shoved a glowing bottle at him. “When we get to the forest, drink the entire bottle, take my hand, and do not let me go no matter what happens.”
Ethan’s brow furrowed. He held up the bottle and shook it, sending the glittering particles swirling. “It looks pretty, but I bet it tastes like shit.”
I clapped him on the back. “You’d be right about that.”
We walked in companionable silence until we reached the edge of the woods. I held out my hand. “Come on.”
Ethan’s palm slid against mine, and I had to turn my head to hide my smile. Touching him felt right.
“Bottoms up,” I said and tipped my potion back.
“Bottoms up,” Ethan repeated and did the same.
I held the picture of that place in my mind and let the magic do the work.
“What the hell, Moira?”
“Be on your guard,” I whispered.
Ethan went still. “Where did you take me?”
“To my past.” I tugged him by the hand. “Let’s go.”
We crept to the edge of the decrepit house inside the woods. This was one of many hovels my mother kept. Or it used to be. I had no idea who owned the place now, or if she still frequented here.
I cleared my senses and let my magic quest toward the inside, searching for any heartbeats that didn’t belong. When nothing came back, I crept forward, pulling Ethan with me.
The old wood cabin was still standing, but the place had seen better days. All the windows had been broken out, and the front door hung from rusted iron hinges. The smell of damp and rot wafted up, and its scent dashed my hopes for finding anything useful inside.
We were still holding hands. He hadn’t pulled away from me yet and made no move to do so as we moved. When I stopped at the threshold, Ethan came up beside me. “No one is inside,” he said.
“I know. There might be a ward or alarm set up.”
Ethan frowned. “In this place? What could anyone have in here they’d want to save?”
I glanced at him. “Elitist much? Some of us don’t have fancy mansions or private chefs.”
His jaw clenched. “You’re right. My apologies.”
I held my hand up and closed my eyes. Evie had all the skills with wards. Maybe I should have brought her with me.
“I don’t sense anything off,” Ethan said. “No wards that I can tell.”
I glanced up at him. “How would you know?”
“You’re not the only one sensitive to magic.”
“Look at you, Mr. Mysterious,” I murmured. “How come I didn’t know this about you before?”
“Didn’t you say we were friends?”
“Yes, but you didn’t believe me.”
Ethan chuckled. “And yet, you still fed me cookies.”
“Feeding you made you believe me?”
“No one feeds their enemies delicious cookies.”
“And yet, you ran away without the rest of them.”
He laid a hand over his heart. “One of the great regrets of my life.”
I snorted. “Drama queen.”
Ethan laughed.
I pushed my hand deeper into the room and still couldn’t feel a thing. “I think it’s safe but stay on your guard.”
We stepped inside at the same time.
Ethan froze. His nostrils flared. “Where are we?”
I took a step away from him. Bringing him here was a mistake. If he didn’t remember me, he shouldn’t remember Mom, but the scent permeating this place had triggered him.
I went with the truth. “Many years ago, this used to be my home.”
His attention snapped to me. “When?”
“Too many years to count,” I said softly. Our feet crunched over damp leaves and broken glass. To the left was the small spot I used to sleep in, my old, tattered blanket still lying on the floor. “I used to sleep there,” I said, pointing to the dirty corner.
Ethan glanced over. His expression went thunderous. “Did you take your bed?”
I let out a harsh laugh. “I never had a bed growing up. If I were really lucky, Mom might toss me some extra hay.”
I could sleep anywhere and in any conditions after living with her. The ground, a tree, a bed of metal spikes, it didn’t matter. If I needed rest, I could take it wherever I landed.
“You slept on the floor like a dog?” Ethan asked quietly. I turned to see his eyes glowing.
I blinked. “It was a long time ago.”
Ethan pointed to the small room on the other side. The door hung lopsided, but we could see a small wooden bed inside the room. “Your mother slept there while you were here?”
I nodded.
His fists tightened at his sides. “Why are we here?”
My gaze swept the room until I found the small knot in the floor. “There.” I went over and dug my index finger into the groove, prying up the wood to expose a rusted handle. “Mind helping me?”
Ethan strode over, bent, and jerked the handle up. The wood gave with a loud screech and puff of foul air.
We both coughed and stepped back to wait for the dust to settle.
“No electricity,” Ethan observed. “Sure you want to go down there?”
I pulled out my cell and turned my flashlight on. “Technology is amazing.”
He plucked it from my hand. “I’ll go first.”
I waited until he turned away before smiling.
The first loud creak of the ladder made me wince. Ethan wasn’t overly bulky, but this house was old as hell. So old it should be on a historical registry somewhere, but no one else knew it was here.
When he was far enough down, I followed.
Firm hands wrapped around my waist. I gasped at the feel of Ethan’s calloused fingers on my exposed skin but let him set me down. He dropped his hands and stepped away. “The last rung is rusted out. Didn’t want you to fall.”
“Thanks.”
We stared at each other awkwardly before I turned to see if Mom had left me anything useful or if this was just another dead end to this never ending road.