“Try me.”
They were almost at the cabin now, October sunlight filtering through the trees. The sight of the porch through the pines should have been a relief. He found himself slowing his pace.
The moment they reached the cabin, she was up the porch steps and through the door. Marcus followed.
“We need to discuss boundaries,” he said once they were inside.
“Boundaries?” She whirled on him. “You want to discuss boundaries? How about the boundary where I’m allowed to leave the house?”
“Not without protection.”
“I don’t need?—”
“Yes, you do!” He barked. “You have no idea what the Blackwoods are capable of. What they’ll do if they find you alone.”
“Then tell me! Stop treating me like a child and tell me exactly what they’ll do!”
“They’ll torture you. For hours. Days. They’ll break every bone in your body and heal them to break them again. They’ll tear your mind apart looking for ways to discredit yourtestimony. And when they’re done, when there’s nothing left but pain, they’ll make it look like you did it to yourself.”
Hazel paled. “How do you know this?”
“Because I’ve seen what they leave behind.”
Neither spoke. Azrael chose that moment to materialize on the kitchen counter, tail swishing.
“You found her, then,” the familiar observed.
“Where were you?” Hazel demanded.
“Scouting the perimeter. Someone had to.” He eyed the herbs in her bag. “Did you at least get the valerian root?”
“Yes.” She pulled the herbs out, her hands shaking. “Among other things.”
Marcus watched her sort through her purchases, anger fading to exhaustion. “You can’t do that again.”
“I know.” The word came out small. “I just… I needed to feel normal for an hour.”
“Normal.” He ran a hand over his face. “Hazel, nothing about this situation is normal.”
“No kidding.” She started putting herbs away, movements sharp. “But I can’t just stop living for three weeks.”
“It’s eighteen days.”
“Oh, well, that makes it so much better.”
They glared at each other across the kitchen. Azrael’s head swiveled between them like watching tennis.
“If you need ingredients,” Marcus said slowly, “we’ll go together.”
“Like you’d know wolfsbane from parsley.”
“Then you’ll teach me.”
She blinked. “What?”
“If you’re going to insist on maintaining your business, I need to understand what you’re doing. So teach me.”
“You want to learn herbology?”
