“If memory serves me correctly, you shouted at me.”
His lips twitched. “Did I?”
“You also had just destroyed my home.”
His face grew more severe now, and I wondered if it was too soon to tease him about that. “I’m sorry. I know you loved that tower.”
I thought about it, about the books and the walls and the safety. “I did love it, but I should never have stayed. I’d convinced myself that tower was the best thing for me, that without my parents and Princess Ashami, without Bergenay, I was defenseless, couldn’t survive. You destroying my tower was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
He pulled me tighter against him, and I yawned, a wave of tiredness washing over me. Wolfe lay on his back, and I curled into him, eyes growing heavy.
“Sleep now,” he said, pressing a kiss to my hair, “and tomorrow, we return to Fairwitch.”
CHAPTER 38
Wolfe
Sun shone through our rock shelter the following morning as Niamh and I sat at the table eating the potatoes and eggs that had appeared on new plates for us, the remnants of the broken dishes magically gone. We went hunting for wildflowers and left another offering to the hearth godwitch for providing all that she had.
Niamh looked around and sighed as she trailed her fork over the plate. Our clothes had dried overnight, but a selfish part of me had woken up this morning hoping they were still soaking wet, that I’d have an excuse to stay in this hidden shelter with Niamh a little longer.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“I’m not ready to go back,” she said.
“Then let’s stay.”
She gave me a look. “Morton will be back by now and will have told everyone about the attack from the brotherhood. Cillian might very well be assembling the royal guard to search for us.”
I grimaced, knowing she was right. As much as I wanted to stayhere with her and forget about everything else, we needed to let everyone know we were safe.
“We’ll leave right after we finish eating,” I assured her, and she gave me a small smile.
“I have to admit, I am excited to get back to the library and my books. Morton temporarily closed it before we left, and I hope no one’s been disappointed. I also hope the library doesn’t lock me out in anger.”
“It won’t,” I told her, reaching over and laying my hand on hers. “The library showed itself to you for a reason. It wouldn’t do that if it was going to just disappear again. You brought something important back to Fairwitch Castle, and it only responded to you.” Much like my cock.
She looked at the place where my key was inked on my chest, frowning. “Why don’t I have my key yet? Morton got his, so the castle clearly wants him to stay.”
“You’ll get it,” I said.
“And if I don’t?” She bit her lip.
“Then we’ll find somewhere else to live.”
“We?” Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I would never ask you to leave Fairwitch for me.”
“You’d never have to. Did I not convince you last night? I’d follow you anywhere, Niamh Merridon. Besides, we wouldn’t have to go far, and I could still visit my family anytime I wanted.”
“But what about being a guard?”
I licked my lips, hesitating before saying, “I don’t think I want to be a guard anymore.”
Her mouth formed a perfect O in surprise that instantly made me think of her mouth around my cock.
I cleared my throat. “I think that when Lor died, part of me died as well.” She looked like she was ready to argue, but I held up my hand. “But that’s okay, because I think other parts of me have awoken instead. I like strategizing, planning. I always have. I think I might talk to Cillian about being on his council. If we stay. If not, well”—I shrugged—“then we’ll find something else.”
She bit her lip, suddenly looking unsure. “You’re not using me as an excuse to run away from them, are you?” she asked.
