“No arguments, Corbin. It’s a direct order from your…high priestess.” Maeve gave a cute little laugh. “That’s such a weird thing to come out of my mouth.”
“What if Arthur came instead?” Even Arthur would be a better choice than Rowan. “He’s more likely to be handy in a fight?—”
“Arthur is accompanying Jane and I to the village, per your instructions,” Maeve folded her arms. “Or are you reneging on your promise to step aside and let me take over my rightful duties?”
“Fine,” I said, through gritted teeth.
“Perhaps if you explained what you’re doing on this errand, I could make a fairer assessment of the situation.”
No way in hell was I doing that, especially not with that fae bastard around. “I said it’s fine.”
Maeve fixed me with a withering stare. “You’re right. Itisfine. Any other questions, or can we get to work?”
Blake yawned. “My only concern is, how do we get to the curry if we have to stay here all day?”
Flynn clapped his hand on Blake’s shoulder. “Friend Blake, allow me to introduce you to one of the wonders of the human realm; food delivery.”
The meeting fell apart as Flynn and Arthur started discussing their favorite local curry places and Maeve went upstairs to grab her coat.
I heaved my body up from my chair.
I wasn’t even out the door before Blake had slid into my chair, leaning it back so it scraped against the bookshelf and putting his dirty fabric boots on top of the desk. I glared at him and whirled around.
I can’t bear to watch this.
Rowan appeared beside me. I glared at him, too. “Are you happy? You got your way.”
“I didn’t do anything. Blake was the one who?—”
“You gave him the idea.” I was being a dick, but I couldn’t stop.
Rowan looked away. I could tell from the sag of his shoulders that he was crushed. Well, fuck him. He wanted to come with me, he’d have to get used to being yelled at.
“We should go,” I snapped. “It’s a long bus ride.”
Arthur maneuvered his car out of the shed and we all piled inside. Rowan had to hide in the trunk so we could fit Connor’s car seat into the back. I sat in the front seat while Maeve squeezed in the backseat beside Jane and Connor. Arthur had music blaring so loud no one could talk over it, which was just as well because the next words out of my mouth weren’t going to be pleasant.
We pulled over outside the small row of shops on the corner of Blossom and Honeysuckle roads. My friend Bianca Sinclair waved at us from where she was cleaning the window of hershop,Resurrection Ink– the tattoo parlor where Arthur, Flynn and I got most of our ink done. I couldn’t bring myself to lift my hand to wave back.
“I’ll drop you here.” Arthur pointed around the corner at Jane’s cottage. “The Jag doesn’t like turning around in that narrow lane.”
Maeve leapt out and yanked open the trunk. Rowan rolled out, rubbing his side. “I copped a stroller in my spleen,” he muttered.
Maeve leaned in the window and pressed her hand to my cheek. “I’m worried about you, grumpy face.”
“You’d be grumpy, too, if you knew where I was going.”
And if the one thing that gave your life meaning had been taken away from you.
“I wish you’dtellme where you were going. You can’t keep secrets, Corbin. You’ve already kept a huge secret from me to try and protect me, and it was the wrong decision.”
“Noted.” I pressed my cheek against her hand, the warmth of it giving me a strength I didn’t know was possible. “Iwilltell you, I promise. I just can’t deal with talking about it right now. I need all the energy I have in me to actually do the thing, especially since I’ve got Rowan tagging along.”
“What have you got against Rowan?”
“Nothing. It’s not about me. I’ll explain later.”
“But you think this could help us?”
