“What if I could… give youthat?” Prospero looked incredibly uncomfortable, and Ellie had to remind herself that she was from another time, one where women’s lives were different, one where women like them typically couldn’t have everything they wanted.
“My family? Hestia?” Ellie lowered her voice and sat up straighter, noticing how many people were watching them now.
Prospero looked pained. “No. Theotherpart.”
“Love?” Ellie stared at her.
“Yes. That.” Prospero’s voice sounded strained, as if she’d tossed back a harsh drink too quickly. “Hestia is a grown woman, Ellie. She could live her life without you. You know what she’d tell you to do. I do, too. I remember her spirit. So, what if you could have the love you want by staying here with me? Am I worth the risk?”
Ellie was at a loss as to the right words to say.Do I want that? Want her?This felt a lot more serious than a simple date or kiss. How had they gone from talking about a drink to talking about love?
“Bartender says these are on you,” Maggie announced as she placed three stone mugs on the table with athunk.
The liquid in them was sloshing over the edge, but Prospero still took one and lifted it to her mouth. In a far from delicate gesture, she emptied half the glass.
Maybe she was as nervous about her offer as Ellie was stunned.
The thought of Prospero’s nervousness was strangely charming. Ellie had never been the sort of woman to enchant beautiful strangers, but the way Prospero was acting had Ellie doubting everything she thought she knew.
Maybe it’s not just about saving her town.
Either way, Prospero stood abruptly. “Enjoy your escape from the castle.” She looked at Maggie and nodded. “It was good to meet you, Ms. Lynch.”
Then she lifted Ellie’s hand, turned it over, and brushed a kiss over the inside of her wrist. “I’ll be here if you are willing to give this a fair try… givemea fair chance. I live in Crenshaw, Elleanor. Sacrificing my magic would mean dying, so I cannot move to your world even though you are remarkably tempting. I’d be dead within a month there. So if I am to have a chance at this, you would need to choose me. I’d very much like that chance. Stay with me, Ellie. Let me show you what we could be together.”
Ellie’s mouth gaped open, but she had nothing close to intelligible to say. She needed to ask if the accident with the cows was magically prompted. A person who would put her in the hospital wasn’t high on the list of “good ideas to date,” even if there was a prophecy.
But Prospero pivoted and left before Ellie could ask her anything.
Ellie stared as she strode out of the bar. The Victorian witch was moving with the sort of authority that made the people in the room part for her as if a tiger stalked toward them. More than a few of those people were staring at Ellie now, assessing her with looks that said she’d gone from average to fascinating in those few moments.
“Well,” Maggie drawled. “She moves fast, and you seem genuinely tempted.”
Ellie couldn’t explain that it wasn’t as quick as it looked, that they’d had an unexpectedly magical kiss, that Prospero had found Ellie when she’d arrived here and steadily wormed her way past Ellie’s defenses. To say any of that was to expose Prospero’s crimes—and the lovely witch had made it quite clear that her lawbreaking came with serious consequences.
All Ellie could do was meet Maggie’s gaze and say, “Did you ever meet someone who felt like the answer to a question you had never been willing to ask?”
Maggie raised her brows.
“She was the one to stop me when I arrived in Crenshaw and was attacking everyone near me in my panic. She was the one at my side when I opened my eyes at the infirmary…” Ellie paused, weighing the next words. “I thought I knew her when I woke, and I kissed her.”
“And…?”
Ellie sighed. “I’d fight small nations to do that more often, but I have aplan. Over there, I have a home. A career. Everything I want is back home.”
“Except her,” Maggie added.
“Yeah, except her.” Ellie looked toward the door. “Honestly, I’m not sure if it’s better to knock on her door and say, ‘Ravish me, please?’ or just steer clear of her. I thought I knew, but she shows up here talking about wanting to take care of me, love me, and…Argh!”
“You’ll forget her, though, so what’s the harm?”
Ellie wished she could answer that truthfully. Instead, she said only, “I think a part of me would always long for her even if I forget.”
“Damn. That’s no good at all,” Maggie murmured. She patted Ellie’s hand consolingly. “The sooner we get out of here, the better.”
And Ellie nodded, despite the little voice whispering,We could stay.
35Sondre
