It made them antsy and reluctant to leave me alone.
I smiled at him when he lingered. “Statistically, the odds of me getting kidnapped and drained by a fae tree for a second time are nil.”
Ash scoffed. “Don’t joke about such things. With your luck, I wouldn’t be surprised if a comet not seen in 10,000 years hit the shop because you somehow affected the earth’s orbit.”
“Funny.” I shooed him away. “Go have fun in your naked grove.”
If Moira were here, she’d have a field day. She was the one who assumed every time Ash went off for “tree time” that it was code for a three-day orgy in hippie territory.
Ash trying to dissuade her had only made her double down.
“Tess is still in the back. Don’t forget about her.”
He was only warning me because we had forgotten about her a few times over the years. Tess was so quiet and unobtrusive that if she wasn’t in the front with me, it was easy to forget she still lingered about when it was closing time.
“Got it.” I lowered my voice. “How are things with you two?”
He shrugged. “They’ll never be back to normal, but we’re figuring out how to set a new normal.”
My heart warmed. “That’s really good, Ash. She cares about you.”
His eyes flickered. “I still feel like such an idiot over everything.”
I shook my head. “You’ve made your amends with her. Don’t keep punishing yourself.”
“Easy for you to say.” He sighed and straightened his shoulders. “But I’ll try.”
“See you next week,” I said as he grabbed his tote bag from the hook.
He lifted a hand in farewell and headed out of the shop.
An hour later, Tess had left, and I was finishing the sweeping when my phone rang.
Caelan.
“Hey. I’m just finishing up. Did your meeting end early?”
“Ben is missing.”
I stilled. “How long?”
“No idea. He was supposed to attend our meeting and didn’t show up. We’ve been here for two hours trying to track him down. He’s not answering his phone, and he’s not at any of the places anyone thought to look.”
“Can you send someone into his territory to check his home?” With all the sensitive hearing around, I didn’t mention Ethan or Donovan. Was it possible the same thing had happened to Ben?
The new Lord had replaced Halvar after Finn had murdered him and took his form to infiltrate the Lord’s inner sanctums. Ben and I had a tangled history, but I didn’t want him dead. Or harmed.
“How can I help?”
“Is there any way you can get your hands on one of those…”
His voice trailed off, and the murmur of another voice came through.
“I’ll have to ask Moira. I might be able to get one, though it’s a longshot. Two is probably asking too much.”
“See what you can do, please.” He sighed. “I love you.”
“Love you back. Give me a bit. I’ll let you know.”
