I tilted my head to one side, wondering why my idle question caused such a reaction in him. “Because you’re afraid I’ll be angry or because you’re afraid the information will somehow be used against you.”
He didn’t respond, taking another bite of his pasta.
I sighed, set my bowl to the side, and reached for the water he’d brought me. As I lifted it to my lips, he watched me closely. Never taking my eyes from his, I took a large sip.
At my overt show of trust, he relaxed slightly, but still didn’t answer my question.
I decided to clarify my reasons for asking, something I rarely did. “Will you be safe from her?” I asked.
The tension in his shoulders faded completely at my words. “Yes, I will,” he answered.
I nodded and picked up the pasta once again. Though my appetite had vanished, I forced myself to eat more. I’d channeled a tremendous amount of power through my body earlier. I needed to refuel. Spells of that magnitude could drain a witch to near death without periods to recharge both the body and mind.
“Would you tell me all your secrets?” Macgrath asked abruptly.
I stared at him in confusion. “What?”
“Right now, here, would you tell me all your secrets?” he repeated.
I shook my head. “Of course not. You haven’t earned my trust yet.”
He nodded. “Exactly.” He put the bowl to the side and moved toward me. “Trust has to be earned, at least the kind of trust that leads to the sharing of secrets. While I believe I can trust you with many things, there are some things I’m not ready to tell you. After centuries of being alone, it isn’t easy to reveal certain parts of myself.”
I studied him. I didn’t even need to consult the ring on my finger to know that he spoke the truth. It was in every line of his body, every angle of his face, and each nuance of his voice. He didn’t want to lose the tentative truce we’d established the last two days and it made me soften toward him a bit more.
“I understand,” I whispered.
I could see the relief in his expression and the way he held his body.
We stared at each other in silence as a different kind of tension took hold of us. One filled with heat and things whispered in the dark. Tighter and tighter it wound until I thought a single breath would cause it to snap. If that happened—no, when that happened—there would be nothing to stop us from devouring each other.
The doorbell rang, the low chime echoing throughout the house. Macgrath’s demeanor changed immediately as he whirled, crouched low, and snarled.
It seemed one thing could stop us and that was unexpected visitors in the middle of the night.
I hopped down from the counter and laid a hand on Macgrath’s arm. “If they meant us harm, they wouldn’t have made it past the sidewalk,” I stated softly. “Whoever they are, they’re not a threat.”
The doorbell rang again, followed by three thumps against the door, probably from a fist.
“Rhys Carey, it’s freaking cold out here! Come open the door!” a feminine voice called out, loud enough to wake the neighbors. There was more pounding. “And I have to pee!”
I bit back a laugh at the desperation in her voice because it wasn’t nice to laugh at desperate people and walked toward the front of the house.
I heard Savannah and Rhys moving around in the back of the house, but I didn’t think it would be right to make the woman outside wait when she was in such dire need.
“Wait,” Macgrath said, putting a hand on my arm. “You don’t know that they didn’t break whatever spell you put over this place.”
I patted his hand and hoped I didn’t sound patronizing when I said, “Yes, I would know.”
Okay, so I knew I sounded patronizing, but he seemed incapable of recognizing that I wasn’t a young witch with little experience. I’d survived as long as he had, during times when my kind was hunted openly. My magic might not be infallible, I might not be infallible, but I was careful.
“Let me answer the door,” he argued.
A male voice joined the female’s. “Rhys is a friend. We’re here to help. However, if you don’t answer the door, you’ll have one hell of a mess on the front porch.”
“Finn!” the woman yelped. There was the distinct sound of a smack. “I can’t believe you said that.”
I grinned and stepped forward, using magic to unlock the door before Macgrath could move. He growled behind me and I knew I wouldn’t hear the end of it later.
