“In the kitchen!” she called back.
I followed the smell of bacon and something sweet and found her making French toast.
“Hungry?” she asked as Liam stepped up behind me.
“Starved.” I grabbed a piece of French toast and started to munch on it.
“You?” Mara went to hand Liam some bacon.
He just shook his head. “I already ate.”
A pang of regret sliced through me but then it was gone. He’d said his piece. He thought I grew up privileged and now we were business partners. Nothing more.
Mara gave me a knowing look and then started to walk to her office. “Where to?”
“Seattle,” we said in unison.
She nodded. “I’ll stop and get Elle first.”
Liam shook his head at me.
“Actually, I’m going to leave Elle back for this one. We can grab her before we get the next crystal,” I told Mara.
The keeper of the blue door raised an eyebrow. “Not going to Seattle to get a crystal?”
Liam cleared his throat. “You ask a lot of questions.”
Mara pinned him with a glare. “And you don’t answer many.”
I stepped between them and held my hands up. “We’re going to speak to someone who knows things about crystals. Take us to Seattle … please?”
She stared Liam down for a full twenty seconds before opening her office door and we slipped inside.
* * *
Five minuteslater we were in Seattle, throwing Mara’s back door wide open and stepping out into the gloomy light. Liam stepped outside and stretched his wings while Mara pulled on my arm, keeping me back.
“What?” I looked at her with concern.
She looked at Liam, who stood just out of earshot. “I know how enchanting they can be, but you need to be careful with this one. He’s lying about something. I can smell it.”
I frowned, unsure if she was being literal or not. “Mara … I know he’s not full of rainbows and sunshine but he’s—”
Her jaw clenched. “He’s the enemy. He’s after the crystals for himself. Never forget that.”
My lips turned into a frown. “But you took us to that cabin last night … all but gave me your blessing.”
Mara nodded. “I did what had to be done to get that soul light from revealing what you two are every time you get close. I knew what you would do.” She paused and my cheeks reddened. “Now it’s done and you can both move on.”
What the hell? Did Mara send me to that cabin to sleep with Liam and … get it over with? The shock must have been evident on my face, because hers softened.
“Look, I promised your mother that if anything ever happened to you, I would take care of you. That’s what I’m doing.”
Hadn’t my mother told me that Mara was the one person I could trust? Maybe I needed to do that now. I nodded.
“Fine. I’ll see this guy about the crystal and then be back in an hour,” I told her as sadness crept into my heart. It seemed both Liam and Mara had seen last night as a one-time thing. I guess it was time I saw it as the same.
She nodded. “Be safe. I’m sending Bashur with you.”
