“Cassian, it’s fine. You’re like family. I want to help you, and I shouldn’t have asked for payment.”
“Don’t be silly,” I said, calling out for Jasmine. “I’ll get the rest for you right now.” I headed for the door as Jasmine started walking over, but Willo caught my arm.
“No, Cassian. I need your help with this enchantment. Let me do this for you. It’s not a big deal,” she said, looking me in the eye.
My face warmed, embarrassed that I had let her down so badly.
“Good morning, Willorunia,” Sterling said, stepping out from the office door. The doorways to Jasmine’s room and my room were inside the office, so for Sterling to emerge with his mug of coffee saying good morning was a clear sign he had slept with one of us. Willo looked at me with raised eyebrows. I didn’t want to know how scarlet I was.
“Good morning, Sterling. Sleep well?” Willo asked.
“He gave up his room for a very pregnant woman, so he slept in my room,” I explained. “I’m sure it was awful since I’m such a blanket hog.”
“He was perfectly generous,” Sterling said, taking a sip of his coffee. “Is everything all right out here?” He gestured to where Willo held me by the arm.
Willo released me. “Just fine, Officer. This is no business of yours.”
Sterling’s eyebrows rose. “Really?” He said it so calmly that it almost didn’t feel like an accusation.
I explained the situation to him, since Willo clearly wouldn’t.
Sterling nodded as I explained, but his expression didn’t change. “I’ll finish collecting cateyes for you while you two work on the enchantment. I just need to see it when you’re done for evidence.”
“You would do that?” I asked. It was so hard to keep cool around him when he insisted on being so thoughtful.
“Of course, Cassian. Whatever you need,” he said. “You’ll have to cast that warming spell on me again, though.”
“Thank you so much, Sterling,” I said, hurrying around the counter to grab the half-filled jar of blue stones.
“Please, call me Turnip,” he joked.
I set the jar on the counter across from him and returned to Willo’s side, hating the way I giggled. He was still flirting with me, damn him. Was it really that difficult? Gods, he must have liked me as much as I liked him.
“I appreciate that, Sterling. We should get started,” Willo said.
Willo and I cast the warming spell on ourselves, and then I turned to cast it on Sterling. He watched me the entire time, and his gaze flustered me. “Be careful, Turnip. Like I said yesterday, this spell only lasts an hour. It’s dangerous to be in icy water without it, so try to keep track of the time, all right?” I said.
“Sure thing, Fiddlesip,” he replied, setting his coffee mug on the counter to grab the jar of stones.
“It’sFibbersnap,” Willo said.
I pushed her toward the door. “He’s joking.”
“It’s not very funny,” she said, frowning at him over her shoulder as he followed us outside.
The three of us got to work, and I soon understood why Willo wanted my help. It wasn’t difficult, but it was tedious. We had to tie a long piece of twine around the property’s fence posts to create a perimeter. It went faster with my help, but it still took a while. Every time I felt my own warming spell fade, I ran to the river to refresh Sterling’s. It was awkward to pull his sexy ass out of the river and cast a hot spell on him while he stood shirtless, dripping, and flushed from the warmth of the spell. Every visit I made to him made me rethink my decision, and by afternoon I was hoping we’d have a full house again tonight.
When we finally tied off the twine on the last post, Willo said, “Now, we’ll each grab one end of the twine and meet at the middle, chanting the diagnosis spell.”
She recited the enchantment to me, and then we got to work. I held the thread carefully between my thumb and forefinger, eyeing the glowing trail left behind in the fibers.
About halfway through the enchantment, my energy dwindled fast. The enchantment took more magic from me than I had anticipated, and I didn’t think I’d make it to Willorunia. The energy I had spent protecting Sterling and myself from the cold was more than I thought.
I tried to make it another ten feet, but the magic running out of my fingers stopped completely. The snow falling on my face stung harshly, and the winter air blew right through my clothing. My warming spell was gone.
My heart nearly stopped when I realized what else that meant.
Sterling’s spell was gone too, and he was still in the river.
