As we were walking out, and I was the last, Ravenna grabbed my arm.
I turned to her.
“Whatever you choose will be right, but it might not reveal the answers you seek,” she said.
“I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You will,” she replied, smiled at me, let me go and shut the door on me.
Everyone was silent on the way back to the Defender.
We all got in.
We all buckled up.
And then for some reason, we all sat there while Tempie did the same thing with her hands on the wheel, not switching on the ignition, just staring out the windshield.
Chassie, who was sitting next to her in the front (as she had on the way there), called, “Tempie?”
“I’m seeing someone, all right?” she demanded irately, like we’d been giving her shit for months about it. “And he’s a candidate, I think.”
“Can we meet him?” Chassie asked quietly.
“No,” Tempie answered.
“Why not?” Prue asked carefully.
“I don’t know,” Tempie said in a voice that made my heart squeeze.
“Leave it,” I advised quickly.
Chassie twisted in her seat to look back at me. “But?—”
“Leave it, doll,” I said gently. Then to Tempie, “But you, sister, have three people in this car who will listen to you and support you. So don’t squander those resources. Hear me?”
She pulled out if it, started the car, and drawled, “My brother has fucked some bossy into you.”
“Euw!” Chassie cried.
I rolled my eyes.
“Ulk! I love them together, and I can’t love them together if I have to think about those things!” Prue complained loudly.
Tempie just smiled smugly at me in the rearview mirror.
Obviously, this made me roll my eyes again.
Tempie set us on our way.
“Wait, there’s a possibility my sister might be a duchess?” Solène said in my ear.
I was grinning loopily when I replied, “Maybe. He’s very fond of me. And I’m likewise fond of him.”
“Am I missing something with your emphasis on fond?”
“If you’re missing that I’m falling in love with him, and he’s not hiding he’s doing the same with me, but he says he’s fond of me when he’s a sex god, thinks Elizabeth the First was the greatest politician in history, and I agree, screw all those Roman senators, though Lincoln obviously had chops. Further, he’s an amazing brother and has been since he was a kid through some pretty extreme odds. And he thinks I’m smart, talented, and has a serious fascination with my ass. Therefore, fond doesn’t cover it by a long shot for either of us. But it is very sexy and also very English. They do tend to master the understatement.”
“There was a bit of TMI in all of that, but…wow, Vivi. I don’t know what else to say but wow.”
