I waited for him to come back in, to apologize, to say something to end this unbearable silence, but he didn’t. The wards tingled one more time as he passed through, and I wondered…
I wondered if maybe I wasn’t cut out for affairs of the heart.
Chapter
Eighteen
To add insult to injury, my father showed up half an hour later, as if he knew what had just happened. He didn’t bother knocking this time but did me the favor of warning me by sending the scent of wild magic through my kitchen before appearing on my couch.
I was holding the coffee pot when he appeared and debated chucking the thing at his head.
“I wouldn’t,” he said mildly.
He was dressed in the guise of a thirty-something athletic human male. White t-shirt, dark joggers, athletic shoes with ankle socks.
“You remembered the shoes today.” I poured us both a mug of coffee and brought it over.
He frowned at his feet. “Shoes are the most foolish invention humans have ever come up with. Our feet are meant to touch bare earth. Such keeps our hearts rooted to the world.”
“Pollution and litter have sort of ruined that for us.”
Dad picked up his coffee and was about to sip it when he paused and held the mug closer to his nose to take a sniff.
“Irish cream,” I answered the question in his eyes. “A healthy dose.”
“Rough day?” He sipped and made a curious noise. “This is interesting.”
“It’s delicious,” I corrected.
Dad’s lips quirked in a smile. “I heard you visited your mother.”
I sighed. “When are you going to stop spying on me?”
He lifted a shoulder. “I cannot help when my people spot you outside of your home.”
“And report back to you everything I said and did?”
“Your mother has more than adequate privacy around her home to prevent that.”
“Serves you right,” I muttered. “Why are you here?”
“Can’t a father see his daughter without such questions?”
My eyebrows went up.
“Honestly, Evie. Have you always been this…ornery?”
“Caelan just stomped out of here. You should ask him.”
His eyes flashed. “Your Lord is angry?”
“You know the answer to that since you’re the one who threw that brunette homewrecker in his path.”
My father set his mug down. “Are you so sure I’m guilty of such?”
There was an odd note in his voice. “Are you saying you aren’t the one who sent Rachel to him?”
“I’m not saying anything. While I might not approve of your Lord, I do want the best for you.”
