“Exactly. What can they send me that I don’t already have?”
The arrangement was wrapped in pretty white and gold tissue paper. A card in a heavy vellum envelope lay on top. I opened it and read the message.
“It might be cheesy to send flowers to a florist, but a little birdie told me it would be a great idea!”
“Noooo,” Ash said, voice laced with horror. He put a hand over his chest and closed his eyes.
The note was signedYour Secret Admirer.
“If those are carnations, we’re taking everything outside, including the box, and burning it.” He shuddered. “Then we’re going to sage the shop.”
I snorted. “Anyone who knows me wouldn’t dare send me carnations.”
“A peasant flower.”
“Ash!” I snickered. “Carnations get a bad rap, but they’re a versatile flower and perfect for spring arrangements.”
“This announcement brought to you by Big Carnation.”
Shaking my head at his antics, I unwrapped the tissue paper.
To our mutual horror, a large bouquet of wilted roses and dyed carnations lay before us.
Ash’s chest rumbled with laughter. “You should put this online and shame the poor bastard who thought this was a good idea.”
I sighed and took the poor arrangement from the box. “It’s not the flower’s fault.”
Holding them up to the light, I frowned. “These guys are in rough shape. I’ll put them in some water and let them live out their natural life cycle.”
“In the back, I hope?”
I laughed. “In the back. I might be a Floromancer, but I do have taste.”
Once the arrangement was heavily watered and resting in a vase, I grabbed the rest of my stuff and headed out.
“Don’t stay too late,” I called to Ash as I was about to walk out. “There’s more to life than work.”
He waved me away, not even looking up from his bonsai.
Sympathy rolled through me. Tess had broken something within him. While I didn’t think the two were ever end game, this might have been his first real heartbreak. Though I didn’t fault Tess for not being as broken up as he was about the situation. Ash couldn’t accept her as she was, and she had every right to move on as she saw fit.
I just hoped he’d stop beating himself up over how he’d handled things and move on, too.
A strange carsat in my driveway. Rowan’s guard, a young shifter, was long gone, pulled back by the Lord after my disappearance and never restored to duty. He was a good kid, but I liked keeping my private life private. In times like this, though, I missed having my own personal alarm.
The car was sleek and silver, the windows tinted too dark to see inside. While my senses were better than average, in human form I was somewhat limited. I could smell nothing but gravel from the driveway and the coolant dripping from the bottom of the vehicle.
Carefully pulling my magic taut in anticipation of a strike, I slid out of my vehicle and leaned against the driver’s side door, waiting for the stranger to show themselves.
I didn’t have to wait long. The top of a dark head revealed itself moments later, coalescing into a handsome but dangerous stranger.
A shifter of some kind, based upon the golden tinge ringing his eyes, but no Lord I’d seen before. Caelan would have told me if they’d replaced Donovan. But since we’d found out he was still alive, would they have done that already?
I crossed my arms over my chest and stayed silent.
A slight tug of the man’s lips as he came around the car from the passenger’s side.
Having a driver pegged him as either important or wealthy, the two not always related. I withheld judgment.
