I thought about it. The store could use me there, especially with what happened with Marie. Things with Mom were heating up again. Sending Marie to blow up her store was probably not the most level-headed decision I could have made.
But the bitch deserved it.
“Please,” Ethan said quietly.
Ah shit. I could never refuse him much. So I took a lesson from Evie’s book. “Double pay and you’ll send a vetted and qualified temp to the shop to help out.”
Ethan’s eyes warmed. “Done and done.”
“Will I be staying in the same place?”
“A new shifter has taken residence there. I took the liberty of having a small cottage built closer to the Keep.”
His voice was bland, but there was something in his expression that made me suspicious.
“How close?”
“You’ll see,” was all he said. Ethan rose and brought his dishes to the kitchen. Once he rinsed and put them in the dishwasher, he turned. “I’m spending the night here. I’d like to return to my Keep tomorrow morning. With you.”
My heartbeat sped up. “Two days to start, Ethan. That’s all. And I’ll have to speak to Cernunnos to let him know where I’ll be. If it turns out he’s behind this, you may not need me at all.”
Ethan grunted. “I bet you’ll find he approves wholeheartedly. He wants us together, Moira, at least until you sip my blood. After that is anyone’s guess.”
“I’ll call him tonight.”
He walked to the door. “I will see you in the morning. Sweet dreams.”
I didn’t say anything as Ethan slipped out, only closed my eyes and focused on the god who might be causing mischief.
Cernunnos popped into my living room seconds later, a wary look on his face.
I didn’t greet him with a hello or a hug and certainly not a kiss. “Why in the world would you visit Ethan? This is blood, not a matter of life or death. At least not now. My source does not have to be Ethan, and you being so insistent on this is making me hella suspicious.”
He blinked. “Well hello to you, too, Moira.”
“Don’t be an ass. Why are you meddling all of a sudden?”
He settled into the recliner, his eyes lingering on the almost empty plate of cookie bars. “I never ‘all of a sudden’ meddle. Such is a constant in my life.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
He was still eyeing that plate and too polite to take one without me offering. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited. He could have one when he answered me.
Cernunnos let out a small sigh. “It’s important.”
“Important for whom?”
He waved his hand in a careless gesture. “Everything. Everyone.”
“Will the world get hit by a nuke if I don’t suck on Ethan’s neck?”
His dark look answered that question.
“Something’s going on over at the Keep. He’s asked me to come for a couple of days to check it out.”
His interest sharpened. “What kind of something?”
“You don’t already know?” I said. Being close to Cernunnos was easier in a way, at least on my emotions. He was always shifty as hell, so there were no surprises there, and I could never tell if he was lying to me.
