His face was grim and shuttered. “No, my parents didn’t tell me.”
Her heart ached for him. “Your parents should have told you, lived within the community of the Circles, sent you to the college, introduced you to the Council. It’s your parents’ fault for not giving you the knowledge that you needed—”
“No.” He shook his head, interrupting. “It’s not their fault. I was adopted. I guess my parents didn’t know.”
Damn. This was the problem with always saying what you thought. Sometimes you said the wrong bloody thing. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’ve got great parents.” He smiled as he said it, relaxing slightly for the first time since she put the puppet in his hand.
They settled into a contemplative silence, finishing their food and then ordering coffees, each lost in their own thoughts.
“Are you a hypnotist?” he asked eventually.
“No, I know nothing about hypnosis whatsoever. And it doesn’t make sense to think that anyway, since you’ve been Healing long before we met.”
“A witch then?”
“Seriously? Witches are more believable?”
“Well, at least I’ve heard of witches.”
She groaned under her breath. Damn, they were going to have to do this. “I’m not a witch. Do I look like one?”
He eyed her black jeans and dark tank top. “I don’t know. Maybe? You told me not to freak out, so I’m trying to work it out logically.”
“I’m not a witch.”
“What are you then?”
“A Shadow Weaver.”
“A Shadow Weaver? God.” He rubbed his hands down his face. “You realize that sounds insane?”
She shrugged. “None of this is insane; it’s all real. And you know, deep inside you, that I’m telling you the truth. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here.”
Ethan bowed his head for a long moment, but when he looked back up, he looked like he was starting to accept her words for the first time. “Please explain it to me.”
“Shadow Weavers are descended from the Dru-vid. You might know them as druids?”
“A druid?” he blurted, finally amused. “I was wrong. No broomsticks, just dancing naked through Stonehenge.”
Kay folded her arms over her chest. “I do not dance naked through Stonehenge. You should know that Stonehenge wasn’t even anything to do with the druids.”
As she said it, the memory of skinny dipping in the Welsh lakes flitted across her mind, taking some of the conviction out of her voice.
Which he picked up on, of course. “You do dance naked! Somewhere else then?”
She groaned, aloud this time. “No. No naked dancing. I think you have an entirely wrong idea about druids.”
The idea of dancing naked with Ethan lodged in her brain and she took a long sip of her coffee.
“Okay, no naked dancing.” He grinned slowly, his eyes flicking to her mouth and back as if, maybe, he’d been thinking the same thing. “What then? Shall we go and cut some mistletoe? Find someone to sacrifice?” he suggested.
She shook her head. “Obviously, I shouldn’t have mentioned druids.”
He leaned back and picked up his drink. “Tell me. I do actually want to know.”
She raised an eyebrow at him but he just grinned. “Seriously, please tell me.”
