“Evie might be able to keep us from returning, but none of us are familiar enough with the bridge magic to assist you.”
Moira’s face brightened. “Evie loves puzzles!”
I tossed a piece of my roll at her. “Do I have to be touching him to send him back? Or draw people here?”
Mom frowned. “On that one, I’m not sure. We can practice this evening. When you’re ready to leave, touch Moira, and hold an image of me in the place you want to go inside your mind. If it works, you’ll have your answer.”
“You won’t get stuck in the time space continuum?”
Mom stared at me for a beat. “I have no idea what that is, so I’m going with no.” She waved her hand around the table. “Now, let’s talk about your Lord.”
I groaned. “Can we skip this part? I was doing a great job not thinking about him.”
“Lies,” Moira said. “You haven’t said a word about him all day and that means you’ve been thinking about him since the moment we met.”
“Yes, but I’m doing my best to pretend I’m not thinking about him. It’s kinda working.”
“Spill,” Mom demanded. “What happened?”
I opened my mouth, paused, then snapped it shut. “Everything feels dumb,” I admitted. “This isn’t jealousy. It feels more serious than that.”
“This is about another woman?” Mom’s eyes sparked a liquid silver color. “Would you like me to kill her?”
Moira gasped in delight. “Your mom is socool.”
Who knew my BFF would become a mom fan girl after all these years? “No,” I said slowly, “I do not want you to kill her. Caelan isn’t cheating on me. He is, however, being difficult.”
Moira leaned forward. “He’s letting the harlot stay at the Keep.”
Mom sucked in a breath. “Evie! You’re his fiancée! I don’t have to kill her, but you do.”
“Amen,” Moira said.
I needed to get these two away from each other before they decided to take over the world. “You’re a vampire. You shouldn’t be praying. You’ll combust into flames.”
Moira grinned at me with a little too many teeth. “I’ve been in plenty of churches. Fanatics are delicious.”
Mom let out a merry laugh.
I gaped at her. “Alright. You two are not allowed to hang out with each other. This is getting weird.”
“Don’t be jealous,” Moira said. “I can only have one BFF.”
The servers interrupted with a large tray of desserts.
“Thank the gods,” I breathed.
Mom chuckled. “Oh relax, Evie. This is the first chance I’ve had to be able to show you who I really am. A small part, but it’s a start, isn’t it?”
Tears sprang to my eyes. “Yes,” I agreed. “It is.”
Moira gripped my hand tightly.“Do not scatter our parts to the winds,” she warned.
“Thanks for your vote of confidence.”
We stood outside of Mom’s house, the small village quiet and calm. Thousands of stars glittered above us, so brightly we had no trouble seeing. Mom leaned against her front door, and Moira and I stood several feet away.
A thought occurred to me. “Mom! I thought you said you had to use the tree to travel.” Shehadsaid that and even went so far as to demand use of the tree on Caelan’s property.
