Pierce nodded. “Of course.”
Uncle Gordon raised one bushy eyebrow. For a moment Celeste thought that he was going to keep his mouth shut, but apparently he just couldn’t help himself. “Is there a reason why you felt it proper to battle not one, buttwokrakens without donning a shirt?”
Pierce slipped an arm around Celeste’s waist, and despite everything, it was warm. She leaned into it.
“When your mate needs you, you don’t stop to deal with petty things like appearances. You come running.”
Celeste really did regret that Uncle Gordon didn’t wear a monocle, as it definitely would’ve popped off at this point. But then, he chuckled.
“Ah, young love. I can only hope that I can find somebody who makes me as happy as the two of you clearly make each other.”
Celeste felt her mouth dropping open, as if she’d lost all control over herself – she definitely would’ve poppedhermonocle at this point!
Who are you, and what have you done with Uncle Gordon?!
“Ahem.” Gordon looked almost…embarrassed. “I must admit to my own fault in this whole scenario. It’s true that the problems with the wards prompted me to more thoroughly examine some untranslated tomes from centuries ago, but I had actually intended to re-examine the texts on the kraken several weeks earlier, to go farther back into the records than anyone has delved for a good long time. But I was a little, shall we say,inconvenienced.” He pulled out a smartphone from his pocket, even as Celeste felt her jaw dropping – again. “I have been seeking romance within the world wide web.”
“Okay, today just officially got too strange,” she muttered. She could deal with beasts from the deep just fine, but Uncle Gordon’s romantic online exploits were a bridge too far.
I can’t believe I was communicating to him via letters all this time, when I could’ve been calling him! Oh my God.Tellthe custodian of the kraken when you join the twenty-first century next time, why don’t you?!
Pierce’s phone suddenly dinged. And dinged. And dinged. Celeste suddenly realized that they were up near the phone reception spot.
“What the…” he muttered. “Sorry, hold on.”
He quickly scrolled through his phone, and let out a disbelieving laugh under his breath. “For the love of…”
“What is it now?” asked Celeste. She really couldn’t deal with any more surprises right now!
“That was my boss. He said that they detected the large tremors, and that when I didn’t pick up the phone, they scrambled a team of shifters to come out and deal with it. They’ll be here within half an hour.” He sighed and started climbing farther up the rock. “I’d better try and get a message through to him now and ask him to abort the mission.”
What is it with everyone showing up after they could’ve been of use?Celeste thought, though she kept the thought to herself.
That was it – she’d officially had enough for today.
She was tired, strung out, and she knew that at some point she’d have to deal with the mixed emotions she could feel swirling within her chest. But right now, there was only one thought she could deal with – and that was that it was officially time for bed. Everything else could come later.
Muchlater.
“I need to get out of these wet clothes,” she declared. “And Pierce… needs togetsome clothes, I guess. I’m going to go upstairs and grab some things, and then we’re going over to Pierce’s accommodation, and I’m going to have a hot bath and then sleep for a year.”
“Would you mind if I stayed here for the night?” Gordon asked. “I would dearly love to examine the damaged wards, as well as the remnants of the wards you created.” His expression softened in a way she’d never seen before. “I must say, young lady, that you did an exemplary job creating those wards, especially under such pressure. I cannot be sure that I could have done a better job.”
That was high praise indeed, from Uncle Gordon. Today just kept surprising her in new and baffling ways.
Celeste forced a tired smile. “Thanks, Uncle. I’ll just go get those things.”
Clambering back up to the door of the lighthouse, she made her way inside and trudged up the stairs, her tired legs barely carrying her. Inside, she looked over everything: the curved bookshelves, the old rug, the well-worn sofa.
The lighthouse had been good to her, in many ways. And she knew that she would come back one day, at least for a visit. But right now… she didn’t want to see it again for a long, long time.
She grabbed a bag and threw some clothes inside, plus a few prize possessions and favorite books. She didn’t have a lot that washers, really.
Maybe it’s time to change that. It’s time to start doing things for me for a while.
With one last look, she exited the lighthouse and stumbled over to where Pierce was waiting for her – still shirtless, still seemingly completely unbothered by the cold, cutting winds off the ocean. She felt beyond exhausted, but still, her heart fluttered when he smiled at her. It was, right now, all she wanted to see in the world.
“Let’s get you somewhere warm,” he murmured. “And as quickly as possible.”
