Chapter 6
Faith closed the door to the triplets’ room and yawned so hard her eyes started watering. It had been one really long day, and all she wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep for a week.
Creeping into her bedroom, she tiptoed past the bed, trying her best not to wake up Hunter, but then her little toe hit something and she let out a gasp of pain.
“Faith?” Hunter sat up and turned on the light.
“Hi,” she said sheepishly. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I was just dozing,” he said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
“Sure, you were.” She chuckled softly as she sat on the bed next to him. “Did the potion work? Are you feeling better?”
“Somewhat.” He eyed his wrists. “The bruises are still there, but the swelling has eased and they don’t ache as much as they did before.”
“That’s good. You look better. The color is back in your face.” She pressed her palm to his cheek. He also didn’t look nearly as haggard or shaken as he had earlier, but she kept those thoughts to herself.
“There’s a cheesecake in the fridge for you,” he said.
“There is?” She felt a smile tug at her lips. Cheesecake was one of her favorites. “Please tell me you didn’t go out to get that for me.”
“I didn’t.” He grimaced. “Unfortunately, Summer Thomas brought it over under the guise of trying to help.”
“Help. Sure,” she said, feeling her temper rise. “Help you out of your pants.”
“Not in this lifetime,” Hunter said and then kissed her palm. “I was pretty clear that her help wasn’t welcome.”
“Good. Someone needed to set her straight,” Faith said, trying not to snarl. That woman was good at one thing, getting under Faith’s skin. “She has zero boundaries.”
“She tried to make me tea, too.”
That made Faith laugh. Hunter wasn’t much of a tea guy. All of the stash in the house belonged to Faith and Zoey, and even then, it was a rare moment when they sat down for their afternoon tea. “I bet that didn’t go over well.”
“No, I basically told her to leave. But she left the cheesecake, so it’s there for you in the morning.”
“At least she did something right,” Faith said, running her fingers lightly over the already fading bruises on his chest. “How are you really? Did you rest at all?”
“I did. And I’m still tired, but better than I was. How about you? Did you learn anything tonight?”
Faith pulled her long blond hair up into a messy bun and shook her head.
“No, not really. I’m glad there’s no evidence of foul play, but it’s more than a little frustrating to have very little in the way of answers.
The fire appears to have been the result of a frayed wire.
Likely a mouse got to it. Or raccoon. But the jasmine vines and the emergency doors?
Nothing. There isn’t any sort of spell or curse that we could detect. ”
“Those vines were definitely spelled,” Hunter said, frowning at her. “They really didn’t detect anything?”
“Nope.” She got up and paced. “You’re right. They definitely were under some sort of spell. But there’s no trace of it now. Which is highly unusual.”
Hunter reached for her hand.
As soon as she felt the rough callouses against her skin, she paused and really looked at him. “Those vines could have killed you. I won’t be opening back up until we figure out exactly who spelled them, how they did it, and why we can’t detect it now.”
“You seem like a woman who’s already made a plan,” Hunter said, eyeing her.
“I don’t know how good it is, but my sisters are going back there with me in the morning.
We already called Harlow Thane. She and Cash are going to come by in the morning to make sure there’s no spirit activity present that could have caused it.
” The pair used to have their own ghost hunting show.
These days they were much lower profile but still available to hire for ghost-hunting services.
“Ghosts?” Hunter said, looking surprised. “I hadn’t thought of that. But that would explain why there’s no magical residue. It would also explain why the emergency doors wouldn’t open.”
Faith nodded. “That’s what I said. So they are meeting us to check for that, then we’re going to do a spell to cleanse the entire place, as well as sage it. We’re not taking any chances.”
“I can see that. As soon as I’m back on my feet, I’ll get to work on the repairs, so the spa can open as soon as you’re ready.
I’ll call our electrician in the morning and get him out there, too.
” He paused for just a moment. “It might make me feel less guilty about not jumping in to stop the fire. I just wanted to get the girls out of there as soon as possible.”
“You did the right thing,” Faith said. Her husband was a fire witch.
He could have used his own magic to try to stop it, but she’d watched the volunteers get it under control and it had taken more than one person to do it.
And that was saying something, since her sister Yvette was one of the most powerful fire witches around.
“Getting them out was the first priority. And as far as the spa goes, all I want from you at this moment is for you to get better. We’ll worry about the repairs later. ”
Hunter gave her a smirk and shook his head. “I appreciate that, but we both know I’ll be out there as soon as humanly possible.”
“A girl can try, can’t she?” Faith gave him a soft kiss and then rose. “I’ll be right back.”
Ten minutes later, in her pajamas and with her teeth freshly brushed, Faith slid into bed beside her husband.
He held his arm out to her, and she curled into him, nearly letting out a sob of relief.
She’d lived through a nightmare earlier that day, and all she wanted in that moment was to hold her husband, to reassure herself that he was okay.
That he was here and not going anywhere. Ever. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” he whispered as he lightly ran his fingertips down her arm.
Faith sighed, focused on his feathery touch, and closed her eyes, praying for sleep.
As it turned out, Faith had slept like a rock. She’d woken to the rich scent of coffee permeating the air. Her mouth watered for the delicious elixir, and she was just about to climb out of bed when the door opened and Hunter walked in with her favorite mug.
“You are a god,” Faith said, sitting up and eagerly taking the cup of coffee.
“And as much as I appreciate this, shouldn’t you still be resting?
” She glanced at the clock. It was just past seven.
Not unusually early, but after the events of the day before, Faith had wanted to sleep in a little longer.
“The triplets are up,” he said. “I made them breakfast, and now they are watching cartoons.”
“What? When did you get up?” She took a grateful sip of the coffee.
“A couple hours ago.” He held out his wrist, the one that had been severely bruised the night before. “Look. All better.”
Faith squinted at it. The skin was normal with no trace of any trauma. “And the ones on your chest?”
“They’re gone, too.” He rubbed his pecs. “Want to see?”
She grinned. “Always.”
Hunter pulled his T-shirt off, and suddenly Faith’s mouth watered for something more than coffee. “Damn, babe. You look good enough to eat.”
“No one’s stopping you.” He gave her that devilish smile that always got her heart racing.
She reached for him, giving him a long lingering kiss, but then reluctantly pulled back and said, “I wish I could pull you back into this bed with me, but I have to get a shower. My sisters will be here within the hour.”
“Don’t worry,” he said, going in for another kiss. “This will only take five minutes. Ten tops.”
She laughed, but when he dropped his shorts, she sobered and raked her gaze over his naked body. “Looks like at least one part of you is definitely feeling better.”
“It is.” Then he climbed into bed, and Faith forgot all about her commitments for the next half hour.