His expression cycles through several emotions at once: joy, relief, and something that might be grief. “Poppy, that’s incredible. We need to celebrate.”
“Maybe later, but right now…” I gesture toward the others filing into the kitchen. Rowan, Orion, and then Wylder bringing up the rear. I have no idea where he came from. I thought he had stormed off. Apparently not. “Things are a mess. The ley lines that make Emberwood a supernatural mecca are unstable and apparently there’s some worry it might be the demon rift thing happening again.”
Asher’s expression shifts to business mode. “Sebastian said it was happening again. Dude’s got his finger on the pulse.”
He does.I gesture for everyone to come deeper into the kitchen. “So, Rowan, this is Asher, my best friend and soul brother. Asher, Rowan was one of my roomies in Arcana. She saved my ass when someone ambushed me, and she’s come to help us with shadows and hexes and all the dark and dirty.”
Asher grins and extends a hand. “Thanks for saving my girl. Welcome to the mayhem of our lives.”
Rowan accepts the greeting and smiles. “It’s certainly never boring.”
“And you might remember Orion. Tiger shifter, childhood best friend, and an absolute god if you get the pleasure of seeing him wearing only a pair of gray track pants.”
Orion snorts. “Wow, that’s quite an intro, Popstar.”
“And he’s single,” I add.
“Excellent to see you again.” Asher looks him up and down and waggles his brows. “Looking forward to seeing even more of you.”
I laugh as the two of them clasp hands and turn back to Rowan. “Come on. I’ll take you upstairs to the guest room so you can drop your bag. Fair warning, the house is enchanted and has opinions.” With that in mind, I smile and extend the intro. “Casita, this is my friend, Rowan. She saved my butt a few nights ago, and she is our guest. Please be nice to her and make her feel welcome.”
Rowan chuckles, looking around. “It’s good to be here. Thanks for having me.”
Asher gives Rowan a nod and holds out his hand. “Let me take her up. You look hungry. When was the last time you ate?”
I slide the strap of my bag off my shoulder and hand it to him. “Too long ago. Okay, I’ll get some food set up and meet you both back here.”
Asher gestures toward the hall that leads to the stairs. “Try not to judge the decor too harshly. Poppy’s mom seems to have had a thing for floral wallpaper and mystical tchotchkes.”
As they head upstairs, Nobuddy and Somebuddy trail after them in an excited scramble. I can’t help but giggle. They are little furry bundles of happy.
My stomach growls, and I get back on task and check what we’ve got to eat. “Microwave pizza?”
Orion scoffs. “Sacrilege. I’ll order from Tony’s and have it delivered. Are you still into ham and pineapple?”
I stride over to the small sofa table across the room and pull my phone from the docking station where I left it almost two weeks ago. “You know it.”
“Meat lover good for you, Wylder?”
“Fine.” Only, when he says the word, it doesn’t sound fine.
I turn and straighten under the weight of his dark stare. Having lived through the devastating aftermath of my mom’s ritual gone wrong, I understand Wylder’s anger and self-isolation better than anyone else ever could.
And now that I’m whole and feel the strength of my ancestors feeding my cells, I have enough emotional bandwidth to offer him forgiveness and compassion.
“I’m sorry about your mother. You were right. I didn’t know about her because I was so wrapped up in my anger and loss, I didn’t care about anyone else’s pain. I wasn’t the only casualty left in the wake of what happened. I’m sorry you suffered.”
No emotion shows on his face, so I keep going. “I’d like to think that over the past weeks, we’ve gotten past the worst of our impulses toward one another. While we may not be friends, I hope we’re no longer enemies. I get why you were angry I came back, but I hope that from now on you can take me out of the tragedy that stole both our families.”
He stares at me, stern-faced and stoic, for a long time before he dips his chin. “It was unfair to blame you for my mother’s death. And though I still think what your mother did was reckless and caused irreparable harm, she wasn’t alone in bearing the responsibility.”
That’s progress, I suppose.
Well, as long as he means the coven members hold some of the responsibility and he’s not just putting the rest of the blame on Sebastian.
Thinking about Sebastian brings my attention back to my phone in my hand. “I need to call Sebastian to see if he can come over and fill us in on what we’ve missed.”
Wylder scratches his jaw. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? We still don’t know if we can trust him.”
