Page 22 of The Defiant Curse

“Honestly, once we put everything where it needed to be, the place went silent. I think we’ve solved just about everything that needed to be answered.

Oh, and he didn’t mention how the painting of Ceit hanging in the great hall looked…familiar.

As in just like her.

Or that they still didn’t get the curse removed from Ravensmire. That was always lingering in the back of his mind, lurking.

As for her, Elizabeth was glad it was calming down. The last thing she wanted was psychosis on top of a mental breakdown. She could only handle so much.

“Really?” she asked.

As they walked through the darkening evening, they talked, and Michael was so damn happy to have her there. He missed being around Elizabeth. When they were home, he would often take a walk around the grounds with her.

Elizabeth had always been someone who would listen to his problems, tell him to stop dumpster diving for sex partners, and that one day, his person would arrive.

And she’d been right.

“Yes. We put the baby’s bones with her mother in the lake, and it stopped trying to kill people. That was the worst of it, pretty much.”

Elizabeth came to a dead stop and stared at him.

“I didn’t hear about the baby bones. I absolutely heard about the rest. Gryphen and Ian told me that something was haunting the lake, but I didn’t think they meant it was really trying to kill someone.”

He laughed.

And raised his hand.

“It nearly got me and Gabby. She fell in, and I went looking for those bones. Let’s just say, I wouldn’t swim in it again. It scared me that badly.”

Oh, Jesus.

She didn’t like that.

Marines, let alone Archangels, didn’t shy away from scary things.

That he was…

That said it all.

“And it’s not doing that now, right?” she asked. “Asking for a mental case ready to breakdown. That and the fact that The President of the United States is coming here for a Halloween wedding. The Secret Service will kick my ass.”

He kissed her on the temple.

“Nope. It’s silent. We’ll find out in spring, but we haven’t heard shit from it. That’s a good thing. When Duncan and Ciarán start showing up, and appearing out of nowhere, you know it’s about to go down, or when you hear Ceit crying.”

She stared up at him.

“Michael Graves! That’s not making me want to stay here. I’m insane, but not that insane!”

He laughed.

“Don’t worry.”

She blinked.

“Uh, famous last words.”

Again, he reassured her.