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There were plenty of things I couldn't yet understand about what he'd done. But he hadn't tried to prevent me from leaving.

"Taryn, I don't want to pretend Saturday was terrible," I said. "It wasn't. I had a wonderful time with him, and I wanted everything that happened. I'm furious that he knew something important and kept it from me, but that doesn't change how I felt about him."

"I wouldn't expect it to. You were already attracted to Cillian before Halloween, and you certainly weren't subtle about finding the stranger attractive."

"Was I really that obvious?"

"Everly, you spent yesterday describing those wings as though you'd discovered the eighth wonder of the world."

I laughed, remembering how patiently she'd listened while I tried to explain the extraordinary costume.

"If only you knew."

"What's that?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking how ridiculous the whole thing is."

Taryn was quiet for a moment, then asked whether there was anything else I needed to tell her. I considered the question carefully.

There was a great deal more, but the supernatural truth belonged to Cillian as much as it belonged to me now. Taryn would be fascinated by it, and I wasn't sure either of us was prepared for the consequences of telling her.

"No," I said. "Not tonight. I'm still trying to understand what happened."

"Fair enough. You don't have to explain everything to me."

I took a few bites of pasta while she asked about the confrontation at work. I told her enough to make clear that Cillian had admitted what he'd done, apologized without making excuses, and understood why I was angry.

When I finished, Taryn sounded thoughtful.

"You know, I've never seen you like this over a man. You've dated some perfectly lovely people, but when those relationships ended, you always seemed to take it in stride."

"They were lovely men."

"I know. Some of them were even interesting. But I remember you telling me that you wanted something more than comfortable companionship."

I set my fork against the edge of the bowl.

She was right. I'd been telling her variations of that for years.

"That's part of what's bothering me," I admitted. "Cillian makes me feel things I haven't felt before, and I don't know whether I can trust him yet."

"You don't have to decide whether you trust him forever tonight. But I'd be careful about giving him another chance until you're satisfied he understands what went wrong."

"I think he does."

"Then you have some thinking to do."

I smiled faintly. That was precisely the problem. I'd already done enough thinking to develop a headache.

Taryn must have heard my sigh, because her tone gentled.

"Listen, I love you, and I'll support whatever you decide. But I'm not going to tell you that you should forgive him just because he's handsome and apparently very good at making an impression."

"An impression?"

"Everly, you called me on Sunday and spent fifteen minutes describing how he kissed you. I'm trying to be discreet."

I laughed again, this time hard enough that I had to put my bowl aside.