Her eyes twinkled with amusement as she chuckled. “Sure. If it makes you happy.” She paused for effect and then with exaggerated care, she asked, “Ethan, what are you thinking?”
He laughed too. “Well, now I’m thinking that today is not going how I expected.”
“Of course not.” She grinned. “How many people do you know who would take you to experience the misery of a Dickensian workhouse for fun?”
“And this?” He waved an arm toward the inside of the pub, with its scuffed floors and rows of ale on tap. “Is this fun?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Isn’t it?”
He leaned back and ran his hands through his dark hair, watching her. Amanda certainly had never thought that sitting quietly drinking a beer was fun. But then she didn’t think rock climbing was fun either. And nothing on this earth would have induced her to get onto a motorcycle.
Damn. Why the hell was he thinking about Amanda?
He’d told Kay that he didn’t know what this was, and he still didn’t. But he did know, despite all his best intentions, that he wasn’t ready to walk away. If anything, every second they spent together made him want more time with her.
Kay stretched her legs out, crossed at the ankles so that she had space for her boots, and leaned back. “Mmm, silence and beer: the perfect evening out.”
He snorted and raised his glass toward her in agreement. Then, more seriously, he admitted, “I’m starting to think you might not be insane.”
She laughed. “Thanks for that ringing endorsement.”
“So, what does it all mean?” he asked.
She considered for a moment. “It means you’re one of us. Beyond that, how it impacts your life, if you even want it to impact your life, is up to you. I think you need to see someone about all your options and then decide what you want to do.”
“Do you have anyone in mind?”
“Yes, I think you should meet Elizabeth, my grandmother. She’s a very experienced Seer and she pretty much knows everyone. She’s not on the Council herself, but she’ll tell us who you should talk to, and the best way to do it.”
“Didn’t you say she lives in Wales?” he asked. “Wouldn’t it be easier to see someone in London?”
Kay wrinkled her nose. “Sure, you can come into Highgate and meet David, the leader of the London Circle. But, you have to know, once you’re in, you’re in. My gran… well, she’s not that big on authority. If you decide you want to keep it all quiet, she’ll let you do it.”
Ethan nodded, pleasantly surprised, and grateful, that she would think of his privacy over and above the demands of her boss. “Okay, we’ll go and see Elizabeth.”
He took another slow sip of his beer. Had he seriously just made more plans to see Kay? And meet her family. And potentially join her Circle.
Yes, he had. And it felt right. He was going to see her again. Hewantedto see her again. And maybe more. But, if he was going to do this, there was something he had to be absolutely certain of. “So, the guy from the ambulance… he’s in this Circle?”
Kay gave him a confused look. “Yeah, Zach, James, and I are the three Guardians, and they’re my best friends. Riley also lives in the house, and David does too. Married members of the Circle generally choose to live in their own homes, and of course, there are lots of Shadow Weavers who are part of the Order but don’t want to commit to working for the Circle.”
“Your best friends are men?” He knew his voice was getting tight and he tried to lower it. It wasn’t Kay’s fault that he’d had experience with “best friends” before.
She took a relaxed sip of her beer. “Sure.”
“And you’re not dating either of them?”
“No, they’re friends from school.”
Ethan snorted. “At least one of them must want more.”
She frowned. “That’s just blatantly untrue. Plenty of men and women can be friends.”
Maybe she was right. But then, she hadn’t been there to see how that story had ended for him.
Her frown deepened as she watched him, almost as if she could see right through him. “I had a bad experience when I first came into my Shadows,” she admitted slowly. She looked away and swallowed, and once again, he sensed a hint of uncertainty. She was genuinely vulnerable.
He almost reached out to her, but before he could, she blinked a few times and lifted her chin, turning back to face him. “My Shadows arrived in an out-of-control rush that I was completely unprepared for, and I ended up vomiting all over myself at a party and then passing out. My friends thought it would be amusing to share the pictures around the school… and the internet.”
