Worse, Connor had told her not to be such a mother hen, and had taken himself off to the pub rather than—in his words—have his brain assaulted with all her fussing.
Fine for him, she thought with some bitterness. Off he goes to flirt with available women, have a pint or two, and she was left to brood alone.
If Iona didn’t walk in the door within another ten minutes, she’d—
“At last,” she muttered when she heard the front door open. Striding out, half a lecture already in mind, she stopped both her forward progress and her nagging words the minute she saw both of them.
A woman didn’t have to be a witch to realize how the pair of them had spent a portion of the last two hours.
“So.” She laid her hands on her hips as Kathel padded over to greet them both. “We’ll have some tea, and you’ll tell me what happened. You as well,” she said to Boyle, anticipating him. “I want to hear it all, so don’t think about scooting out the door again.”
“Is Connor about?”
“He’s not, no. Took himself off to the pub to flirt with whoever’s about, so you’ve no cover there. Have you had anything to eat?” she asked as she walked into the kitchen.
“Boyle fixed dinner,” Iona told her.
“Did he now?” Brow lifted, Branna sent him a sidelong look as she put the kettle on.
“I was starving after. I was hungry after the spell with the rats, but this was like eat or pass out.”
“It won’t always be so keen. You’re new at it. And you’re looking fit and fine and more than well tended to now. Oh, stop shuffling about, Boyle. A blind monkey could see the two of you have been at each other. I’ve no problem with that except instead of a good shag, I’ve been twiddling about waiting for you to come talk to me.”
“I should’ve come home sooner, instead of worrying you.”
Branna shrugged, then softened. “If I’d had a man willing to make me dinner and give me a good roll after a fright like that, I’d have taken it as well. I trust he did a good job with both.”
Iona grinned. “Exceptional.”
Heat rose up Boyle’s back like a fever. “Would you mind not batting around my sex life, at least while I’m sitting here?”
“We’ll bat it around when you’re not then.” Branna poured his tea, kissed the top of his head.
“Have you eaten?” Iona asked her.
“Not yet. I will once I hear what you have to say. From the start, Iona. And if she leaves anything out, Boyle, however slight, you fill it in.”
Iona began, trying to speak in full detail, and with calm.
Branna gripped her hand. “You’re saying you called a whirlwind? How did you know the way?”
“It’s in the books. I know it’s advanced, and it’s risky, but it was... I don’t know why or how, but I knew it was what I needed to do. I knew I could.”
“Why didn’t you call me, or Connor? Both?”
“It was so fast. When I play it back, it’s like it was hours, stage by stage, but it was so fast. I don’t think it was more than a couple minutes.”
“If that,” Boyle confirmed.
“All right, but it’s best if you call for me and Connor.”
“Or Fin,” Boyle put in.
“I’m not shutting him out.” Or only a little, Branna admitted. “But blood calls to blood, Boyle. We’ve the same blood, Connor, Iona, and I. And this is blood magicks at work. You weren’t so afraid. Connor would have sensed that, as he did before. You weren’t so afraid as before, in the woods alone.”
“A little, but no, not like before, maybe because I wasn’t alone. I could only think he’d hurt Boyle and the horses, to get to me. It helped me focus, I think.”
Branna nodded, but pushed at her hair. “I’m jumping you around. You said he didn’t bring the fog.”
