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I loved many things about my husband, but one of my favorites was he never tried to solve my problems. Of course, this one wasn’t a problem per se, more an observation about my ninny-headed friend.
Okay. That was mean.
My hard-headed, sometimes irrational, beautiful, more powerful than she ever expected friend. There. Fixed it.
“She’ll die.” I’d just voiced my biggest fear. The thought of Moira not being around anymore froze the breath in my lungs.
Rowan laughed softly. “You had the gods on your tail, and you survived.”
“I’m a goddess.”
“Technically, you weren’t able to access that part of your power, so you weren’t.” He squeezed me tighter. “You and Moira are not the same. I’ll never argue with you on that point, but Moira has something you don’t.”
I glanced up at him, eyes narrowing. “Oh?”
He brushed his lips over mine. “Moira is far meaner than you ever were.”
I gasped and punched him in the arm. “Rowan!”
He grabbed my hand and pressed a kiss to my knuckles. “I’m serious. There were so many times when you had to deal with the Lords where I wanted to scream at you to smash them into oblivion. You handled them with kid gloves and eventually won most of them over.”
“Except Ethan.”
He sighed. “He’s just as mean as Moira.”
I laughed.
“She can be diplomatic. I’ve seen her in some of her dealings with the Council. But where you take things home and ponder them, there’s a beast under Moira’s skin whispering in her ear things would be easier if she just killed the one giving her a problem.”
I never thought about that before. Moira was my best friend. She was the one who always gave me good, level-headed advice. “You think it’s not in her nature to be diplomatic.”
Rowan shrugged. “I think Moira never wants you to be disappointed with her. She’s so desperate for you to see her as good she never embraces the other, much darker side of herself.”
I shifted away and stared at him, hurt for reasons I couldn’t explain. “I never asked her to be anything other than what she is.”
“I know,” he said with a solemn nod. “So does she. Moira is at a crossroads, Evie. Few can imagine what she’s gone through, but she came back changed. Most would. She has to put herself back together again, and doing so will require she take a long hard look at who she wants to be when this is all over.”
“I forced a bargain on her.”
“I know. I felt it when it took.”
Did I regret it? How could I? “I’m an ass for doing it.”
Rowan snorted. “Tell me the terms.”
I did and when I finished, Rowan’s face looked thoughtful. “Easy enough for her to wiggle out of if she were clever.”
“And she is,” I sighed.
“Yes,” Rowan said. “The bargain requires her to call on you when she needs help. Very gray, Evie.”
He pulled me onto his lap and gave me a soul-searing kiss. “Besides, I suspect she has another goddess on her side.”
“Ari,” I growled. “You didn’t miss the silence bubble either?”
Rowan grinned. “Never a dull moment around here with all these crafty women.”
That’s exactly what I was afraid of.
