Garrett’s expression darkened. “He’s playing dirty pool.”
“Your shop is your dream,” Rowan said quietly. “I—I can step in if you’d like.”
I shot him a sad smile. As much as I longed for it to be forever, I’d been living and dreaming on borrowed time. “No. I knew I’d never be able to stay forever. Not only because of Caelan. I didn’t even know him until last year. My Chimera heritage makes it difficult to stay in one place. The tattoos helped the power fluctuations but…” I trailed off.
Everyone’s eyes drifted to my arm. My sweater covered the damaged tattoos, destroyed by Lugh in an effort to get me to shift and reveal myself. Hazel could have fixed them, but they were there to help me control my Chimera, something I’d already learned to do for the most part. In the past, I used the tattoos to suppress my other form because I was terrified.
Things were different now. After everything happened, everyone knew what I was by now, so there was no use suppressing anything anymore. Only a few people knew where I’d gone. I suspected Caelan knew exactly where I was. Rowan hadn’t been circumspect in carrying me away from Joy Springs, but so far, no one had tried to destroy the peace I’d so desperately needed.
“You can fix them,” Rowan said with a nod to the tattoo. “It would buy you more time in a new place.”
Simone smiled sadly. “About that…Moira suggested moving the shop.”
Rowan stilled. “Did she now.”
“Her exact words were, ‘The PNW is a nice place this time of year, and flowers are the universal love language’.”
“She wants to move the shop to my territory,” Rowan mused.
I blinked in surprise. Moira never had a problem with asking for exactly what she wanted. “Oh, Rowan. I’m sorry. I’ll let her know?—”
The Lord held up a hand. “Hold on. This is not something I haven’t already thought of, but you will have to upend your life. And who knows if you’d want to stay here anyway. This territory is vastly different from where you came from.”
Simone’s lips twitched. We both knew Caelan had run a thorough background check on me. Knowing Rowan hadn’t was refreshing.
“Not quite,” I told him.
At Rowan’s raised eyebrows, I laughed. “I’m from here. Sort of. As much as someone like me can be from anywhere in this realm. Well, not here exactly, but a couple of hours away.”
Rowan stared at me for a long moment. “How did I not know someone of your power level was living in my territory?”
He didn’t sound angry, more thoughtful than anything.
“Mom had her ways, but I was young and never made waves. Why would you have concerned yourself with a lone Floromancer?”
“I like to know everyone living in my territory,” Rowan grumbled.
“I wasn’t even in high school,” I said with a laugh. “And don’t tell me you know every single person living in the population of four states and part of another country. You’re just upset you let me slip into Joy Springs.”
Rowan pinned me with those hazel eyes. I never realized how much green his eyes held, and how they sometimes glitteredlike pieces of emerald. “I could have stopped much of your heartache.”
My chest tightened. I opened my mouth to speak but snapped it shut when I couldn’t find the words.
Garrett cleared his throat, shattering the moment. “It’s not a bad idea if Rowan approves. His land has always been peaceful, and you’d be shielded by another Lord.”
“I don’t need a Lord’s protection,” I said automatically.
“No one said you do,” Rowan said, still watching me. “Consider me an added shield in place. The Lords will hesitate to strike at you here, and so will anyone else. I’ve always been on good terms with the fae, even if I find your father to be mostly insufferable.”
Garrett snorted.
Moving. I hadn’t thought of moving back here since I left all those years ago. But the land called to my power. Every piece of earth called to me, but there was something about the PNW that made my soul feel rested. “You’d allow me to move into your territory?”
Rowan grinned. “Move back apparently. Since you were here once and I had no idea.”
“Are there rules for shop owners?”
His brow furrowed. “Rules?”
