“No one can see your sparkles.” He looks around as if he needs to confirm we’re alone.
I am sparkling, but that’s not what I’m worried about. “Mysummermagic. Am I flooding the house with joy? Will someone wake up and notice?”
Rowan looks like he wants to argue, and then his forehead creases. He presses his lips together, wincing a little, and then reaches for me again. But this time, he lies next to me and tugs me into his arms. “Maybe we should go to sleep.”
Horrified, I laugh. Rolling over, I burrow against him, tucking my cheek to his chest. “Shifters are lucky they don’t have emotion magic. It makes this bond business far more complicated.”
When he doesn’t answer right away, I lift my head to look at him. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing,” he says immediately.
But his nothing is definitely something.
“Tell me.”
“My mind wandered to the day’s research, that’s all. Don’t worry about it.”
“Did you learn something?”
“Maybe.” He chases his frown away with a tired smile. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow. It’s late.”
“Okay.” Yawning, I close my eyes, shamelessly cuddled up next to him, my magic and my heart content. “Night, Rowan.”
For the secondtime in less than twelve hours, I wake to a quiet knocking—but this time, it’s coming from my bedroom door.
“Kit,” Mom calls. “It’s getting late, and we were starting to get worried. You need to open the tea shop in an hour. Are you okay? Can I come in?”
My eyes snap open. Rowan must wake at the same time because we stare at each other, frozen in place, not daring to move.
We forgot to set an alarm.
“I’m fine,” I call, widening my eyes to ask him what we’re going to do. “I just slept in.”
The doorknob turns, and Rowan rolls off the side of the bed—and not a moment too soon. Just as he hits the floor, Mom opens the door and pokes her head in.
“Have you heard from Rowan yet?” she asks. “You seemed out of sorts yesterday while he was gone.”
“Oh, yeah.” I brush my fingers through my hair, trying to act normal. “He texted last night.”
She comes into the room and sits next to me. “Did he make it back from the college okay?”
“I think so?” I nearly squeak, realizing his waistcoat is at the end of the bed. Right there.
She notices it seconds after I do. “Is this yours—” A strange noise cuts her off, like the sudden rush of wind, and she forgets about the vest. “What was that?”
“Chester, probably.”
“Chester is outside.”
“No, wait!” I exclaim as she crawls over the bed and peers down.
I freeze, eyes clenched shut. This is going to bereallyawkward,reallysoon.
“Huh,” she says, her tone far too calm. “I don’t see anything. Is the wind blowing? We might need Dad to weather-proof the cottage. If you’re getting gusts in summer, imagine how cold you’ll be in winter.”
Whereis Rowan?
The bedframe sits too low for him to roll under the bed, and his wand is on the dresser near the window, all incriminating-like, so he couldn’t have worked a quick charm.
