Chapter
Nineteen
ROWAN
Ishould have told her. The words repeated in my head over and over. Dread pooled in my veins as we walked, the insistent pounding of the wards indicative of Caelan’s rising temper.
He couldn’t break them; they were reinforced by Evie’s father, but he could make my life difficult if he continued trying to get in. Evie walked beside me, her fingers linked with mine. She made no move to tug her hand away—a hopeful sign, even though I felt the slight tremor in her body and could hear the pounding of her heart. She was frightened and nervous, but there was a thread of confusion running through her emotions.
The confusion might save us.
It took several minutes to reach the front. Evie let go of my hand and walked ahead, her eyes on Caelan. The other Lord straightened when he spotted her, his hands sliding into his pockets to affect a casual posture.
Caelan felt anything but casual. Wolves and bears were nothing alike, but a predator recognized another predator. His eyes glowed bright gold as he looked at her, but his face was a careful mask. Fool. If he hoped to get her back, he should be wearing his heart on his sleeve.
Evie wasn’t a woman made for blank expressions and cold hearts.
I stopped a good distance away, far enough to give her privacy, but close enough to intercede if anything went wrong. Also close enough to overhear their conversation.
I was a good man, but I was no saint.
Evie stopped a couple of feet away from Caelan, watching him carefully. Her long dark hair blew in the wind, sweeping away from her neck in a tangle of waves. She’d changed for dinner, jeans and a green cashmere quarter zip, ankle boots with thick wool socks, and a wool undershirt. This far away, Evie looked like a beautiful human woman.
“Come out and meet me,” Caelan rumbled, eyes still glowing.
“We’ll speak here,” Evie said with a steady voice.
“Afraid of me now?”
“No. I haven’t been afraid of you for a while now.”
Pride rose in me.
Caelan didn’t like those words. His eyes narrowed. “I’ve come here to bring you home.”
“I’m capable of bringing myself home when I’m ready to go.”
“You don’t want to come back with me?”
Evie snorted. “We are no longer together. You broke up with me over a month ago, or have you forgotten?”
Caelan’s nostrils flared. “I was under the influence of a god, Evie. How can you not see that?”
“I saw perfectly fine,” Evie snapped. “Do you take me for an idiot? Lugh’s magic was not foolproof. We both know how it works. Those doubts existed in you long before Lugh came to town.”
He threw his hands out. “Yes, I had doubts. Everyone has doubts. You and I are about to be married.”
“Were.”
Caelan blew out a breath. “Children have to be part of the equation. I am a Lord. You are a Queen. There has to be a succession plan.”
Wrong thing to say. Evie’s posture stiffened. “A succession plan?” she said softly.
Caelan took a step closer. “Don’t turn your nose up. We have to think about the future. What will happen if we don’t have an heir fit to take our crowns?”
I bit down the smile threatening to bloom.
“You don’t have a crown,” Evie snarled.
