I didn’t know how to absorb that. “My grandfather never said anything about that.”
“Could be he didn’t have much mentoring, like me,” Rowan said.
“How will I know if I am or not?”
Briar tilted his head. “We could be wrong. Maybe you aren’t the Keeper of Shearwater. Maybe that’s someone else’s responsibility, and all this is a curse. It can’t hurt to drink the cure. But if you are, the forest will know. We can take you to it, but, ah, I can’t tonight or I’ll miss Ciara’s ballet recital, so tomorrow morning?”
Rowan rumbled an agreement. “The forest is a sight better at getting down to the root of the matter.”
Kessian laughed at the pun, but it seemed Rowan hadn’t made it intentionally. He looked befuddled by the laughter.
“And if it turns out you’re not the Keeper, you’re welcome to call Coill Darragh your home,” Briar finished.
“I have work tomorrow, but this is important,” Kessian said. “I can come with you.”
“You don’t have to. I could enchant a portal for you to go home,” I said.
Kessian traced the rim of his whiskey glass with a finger, studying the contents before meeting my eyes. “I’m connected to the strid’s magic, too. I should go.”
I didn’t object to the idea immediately. While I found all this talk of wild magic and Keepers unsettling, it would be a relief to get some answers. But …
It meant Kessian would stay the night.
Lunaris could provide a guest room, but I’d still be in close proximity to a man I’d tried and failed to get out of my head. What’s more, every encounter with the wraith thus far had happened around him.
I gave him a questioning look, hoping he’d take the decision out of my hands. “Are you sure?”
He smiled. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
I gritted my teeth, took my glass from the table, and knocked it back.
Briar said, “We’ll see you in the morning, then.”
I used the bathroom before we left. As I emerged, I overheard Briar saying to Kessian, “I know someone who could make you one, too. There’s no shame in it.”
And Kessian responded, “No, it’s fine. I’m fine. Really.”
But he didn’t sound fine. He sounded annoyed.
For the second time, I wondered how Kessian had come to be so well-acquainted with Briar Wyngrave.
Chapter 11
Lunaris greeted us with low lights, lit candles, a faux fireplace on the mini television mounted to the wall, and the smell of spaghetti Bolognese simmering on the hob.
Not terribly subtle. If she’d put rose petals in the guest bedroom, I’d have taken my chances and slept in the woods. I did not need her exposing how much I liked Kessian, for three reasons.
The first, it was embarrassing. Kessian made no attempts to disguise his attraction to me, but he’d given me the impression those feelings were solely sexual. No strings attached. And I really couldn’t afford to garrote myself with the strings I’d invariably tie myself up in.
The second reason was, given the wraith, the strid, and the general direction my life always took, I could end up killing him. Not directly, but the visions from the spring weren’t terribly subtle.
And third, based on the fragment of conversation I overheard between him and Briar, Kessian was hiding something.
“Cozy,” Kessian said, turning a circle in the doorway. “Is there a reason for the romantic atmosphere?”
“Lunaris is a meddler,” I said, turning my back to him so I could open the cupboard and make tea. A calming activity that might distract from Lunaris’s intentions.
I jumped as Kessian ran a finger down my spine. “That wasn’t a complaint.”
