“Neither did I,” Flynn frowned.
Blake sighed. “You’re going to get all dramatic about this, I know it. You didn’t see because Maeve and I discussed it spiritually. You know,insideour heads.”
“Mother Mary,” Flynn murmured.
“You can’t just decide things without any discussion or input from the coven,” Corbin growled. “What if something went wrong? What if?—”
“See? You got all dramatic.“ Blake shrugged again. “You’ve got to relax or you’ll pop a testicle and Maeve will have no use for you. It was just an idea, a deduction, as Sherlock Holmes would say. Nothing went wrong. Our wards got strengthened. Maeve and I now understand how to combine our powers. You should be throwing me a revel.”
“But—”
Blake grabbed the edge of his towel. “I’m having a shower and I plan to use an entire bottle of Rowan’s strawberry body wash. I’m going to be in there for a while. You’d better have that revel ready when I’m done. And I want a cake. A cake made of curry!” He slammed the bathroom door behind him.
The latch slid into place.
Corbin’s face was so red, I worried he’d explode. He stormed across the courtyard and slammed the front door behind him.
I glanced at the locked bathroom door. Everything Blake said made perfect sense. He and Maeve had solved our problems for the immediate future.
And yet…I remembered the huge stack of curry Blake purchased this morning, his sudden desire to return to nature, and the empty sleeping draught jar Maeve pulled out of the recycling the other day. I knew I hadn’t placed it there. Even if I’d emptied the jar – which I hadn’t – I would have washed it for reuse.
Did all this mean anything? Was Blake up to something?
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
MAEVE
“Strike!” Arthur yelled, swinging his sword at my head.
We were outside in our favourite spot at the bottom of the apple orchard, slipping back into our old pattern of master and student as though yesterday hadn’t happened. I’d found Arthur as he slipped into the bathroom this morning and had to fold my hands across my chest so he couldn’t see how turned on I was by his shirtless self. I told him I needed to practise my sword fighting, which was true. But really, I needed to make things right with Arthur.
After the fivesome and my mother’s portrait changing again, a day by myself was exactly what I needed. I’d curled up in my room, pored over photographs of my parents and Kelly on Facebook, cried until my eyes ran dry, and realised that I’d freaked myself out yesterday because I was afraid about what I’d started with the guys, with us all together. It wasn’t about the sex, although that was amazing, but about how I’d opened my heart to them. I wasn’t just trusting one guy, I was trusting five. That had been a little overwhelming, especially when I realised I couldn’t even trust that the paint on a canvas would stay where it had been put.
A late-night snack of Blake’s leftover curry and a good night’s sleep did wonders to ease my fears. I didn’t have any filthy dreams. Perhaps I’d got it all out of my system earlier.
At Arthur’s command, I lifted my weapon from its guard at my waist, throwing my weight behind the strike as my steel slammed into Arthur’s sword. My strike caught his sword too near the tip at the wrong angle, and he wound it under mine, easily shoving my blade to the side and thrusting the tip of his sword at my face.
“What did you do wrong?” Arthur’s blade hovered an inch from my throat.
“I…” My heart thudded in my ears. “I lifted my sword, instead of swinging it.”
“And why is that bad?”
“Because of timing.” I struggled to recall the tenets Arthur had taught me. “I don’t have time to lift my arms up to meet your blade before you get to me. That’s why my sword caught yours too close to the tip.”’
“You got it,” Arthur grinned, sliding his sword back.
I dropped my arms, my muscles trembling from the workout. God, it was good to see him grin.
Arthur tossed me a bottle of water. “Let’s take a break. We’ve been practising for two hours.”
“Only two hours?” I plonked down next to him in the grass. “I could go for four, easy.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “That so?”
“Admit it, Aragorn. I’m a fast learner.”
“You are. I didn’t think you’d take to this. None of the other guys are interested. Corbin gets all tangled up trying to think his way through every movement, and Flynn just wants to run around yelling quotes fromThe Three Musketeers.”
