Mom swore under her breath. “Fine, you aggravating witch. We’ll share as long as you tell us what we need to know.” She gestured for Moira to pour some in Sirena’s mug.
Moira barely poured her any.
Sirena’s brows lifted. “Meet me in an hour on Evie’s land. You’ll have to open a door to let me in.”
“A temporary door,” I said. “One-time only, and you’ll be under full guest rights. No funny business, Sirena. I’m too tired to deal with fae shenanigans tonight.” My buzz was wearing off, and that was annoying.
Sirena’s eyes flashed. “Fine. It won’t take long, but I can’t be seen with you. One hour. I’ll come in on the back side.”
“Watch for shifters. They’ve been testing the wards for weeks now.” I could feel them pinging in the middle of the night and early morning hours. Not every day and not all of the time, but enough to be annoying. Dad had gone over to shore up the wards and had assured me none but the most powerful of mages would be able to shatter them, and the last time they had a mage that powerful, Arthur was king.
If I’d ever felt confident in anything, it was that statement. So far so good. The wards were holding well with no weak spots, and Caelan could not access my land no matter how hard he and his people tried.
But Sirena asking to enter was…odd.
Once we ordered gelato and wandered away from the food truck, we walked through the town square, careful to avoid getting too close to anyone. Twenty minutes before Sirena was due, Mom motioned for us to enter the forest through a concealed path.
By then, almost everyone had gone home, and ninety percent of the shops were shut down, leaving us free from nosy small-town gossips.
With a final check to ensure we were alone, Mom gestured for us to grab hands. “We’ll pop right into the backyard.”
A tingle of magic over our skin and we stood close to the back porch. My land hummed in my senses, joyous at my presence.
I touched my fingers to the ground and sent a soft glimmer of magic into the soil. “I promise I’ll tend to you in a bit.”
I straightened and wiped my fingers on my pants. Mom walked closer to the fence and closed her eyes. “Two shifters prowling the backside of the property. They’ve sensed nothing amiss. Might be better if we went inside.”
Moira pulled out her key and opened the back door. We tiptoed inside, and I went through the house ensuring all the blinds were down. Dad had left the lamps in the living room on. The soft warm glow cast a comforting golden haze over the living room and kitchen area.
But the air inside was a little stale. Frowning, I went over to the kitchen and cracked open a window, then to the living room and opened two more.
“I’ll close them before we leave.” The place was empty of almost everything, but a few chairs, an old coffee table and some mugs left over in the cabinet. Dad had transported most of my things to Rowan’s, leaving only necessary things I might need if I ever had to come back. I walked through the rest of the house to check on everything and noticed nothing amiss.
I’d loved this house for so long, and being back here made my chest ache. I thought I’d finally found a real home, somewhere I could plant true roots and live out my days.
Funny how things could change in a heartbeat.
Caelan’s scent lingered in the bedroom and living room, a faint tinge of his presence left behind, reminding me of better days. He wasn’t a bad person or a bad Lord, though he’d certainly felt like one when I’d been in the thick of things. Everyone, given the proper fuel, could lean toward cruelty, and I, through no fault of my own, had been that fuel for him.
Seeing me opened the wounds of his own lack of self-confidence, his worry I’d somehow usurp him and steal what he’d gain or won. Instead of seeing me as a partner, he startedseeing me as an obstacle. Once that happened, everything about me became flawed.
I was no longer angry about what happened. How could I be? None of it was my fault. Not my genetics, or my power, or my inheritance. Mostly, I felt a deep sense of exhaustion and disappointment, though the second was slowly disappearing under Rowan’s careful ministrations.
The disappointment wasn’t over losing Caelan, more that I’d finally opened my heart again only to have it crushed under the weight of another’s insecurities, and that it had so effectively ended my way of life.
The possibility of something better, cleaner, purer beckoned to me if only I was brave enough to allow it to blossom.
A light hand landed on my shoulder, shaking me from my thoughts.
“It’s only a house,” Moira said quietly. “You’ll make more memories elsewhere. Better memories.”
I smiled at Moira. “Rowan asked me to build on his land.”
Her eyes were dark and solemn. “Oh Evie. What if you don’t accept the bond?”
“He will grant me the land, but I cannot step onto Keep land again. Things will become difficult for us. The friendship we have will end.”
Moira nodded. “Don’t build at all for a while. Give it some time.”
