“That’s pretty,” he said, pointing to the dining room table as we passed by.
I glanced at the rose. Once again, it was glowing, and I thought I could hear the faint tinkling of teacups and the thinly veiled sound of laughter. The Ladies seemed to approve of him, and that—I suspected—meant a great deal.
“That’s…from a relative,” I said. “I’ll explain later.”
As he headed down the sidewalk back to his house, I glanced up at the sky. The storm had broken and we could see the stars glistening through the diminishing clouds, icy studs against the black of night. I shivered, folding my arms over my chest. Everything felt pristine, like a frozen world—so incredibly beautiful. And yet, below that beauty, I knew only too well that danger was waiting, and that tomorrow I’d be back facing an enemy that scared the hell out of me.
But we’re here now, Esmara’s voice echoed in the back of my mind. And now that we’ve summoned you, your life will change, and you’ll learn to cope with both fear—and joy. Because the two often come married together, and you can’t find your joy if you let the fear stop you.
With that, I waved at Killian one last time as he vanished into his house, and I turned back inside, feeling oddly content in a way that I hadn’t for years.
Chapter Fifteen
I had nightmares of creatures chasing me, and I could hear Tad screaming, and then everything felt muffled, and then I sensed Esmara there, soothing my nerves. I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep for the rest of the night.
When I woke, the sun was shining, though a quick check of the weather app told me it was twenty-six degrees out. Old man winter wasn’t kidding around this year.
I hopped out of bed and suddenly remembered Killian, and I began to blush as I remembered how he had kissed me. Warmth flooded my body as I headed to the shower and, even though I was in a hurry, I took some me-time to relieve the pressure that I was feeling. I brought out my friend, Mr. Big-D—what I called my very pink, very robust waterproof vibrator—and we had a high old time together. Feeling rosy cheeked and glowing, I dried my hair, put on my makeup, and then, I paused, staring at myself in the mirror.
I had big boobs and gravity wasn’t being all that kind to them. There was a perkiness that came with youth, and that ship had long sailed. But I gently rubbed my hands across my breasts, stroking the smooth skin, thinking about Killian. I was about to take a second round with Mr. Big-D when my phone beeped. Someone was texting me. Sighing, I glanced at the screen, and immediately grinned.
i loved the preview i got last night. hoping for more than kisses soon. xoxo killian.
Grinning, I texted back, you’ll just have to wait! but i want more than kisses, too.
I had no sooner texted him back than a text from Caitlin came through. meet me at the office. tad called me this morning.
will be there asap. dressing now, I texted back.
Throwing myself into high gear, I dressed in jeans and yet another V-neck sweater—I had them in a few different colors, I liked the style so much—and then pulled on ankle boots that had skid-proof rubber soles. I dashed downstairs, grabbed my purse and coat, and headed out the door.
Ten minutes later, I was pulling out of the drive-thru espresso stand with a triple-shot latte, a sausage muffin, and a bag of peppermint brownies. Another five minutes and I arrived at Conjure Ink. Caitlin was waiting for me, her own latte in hand. She was sitting at the table where we brainstormed.
“Hey, sorry it took me so long. I slept in,” I said.
“Something about you looks different today,” Caitlin said, squinting at me. “You’re positively springy.”
I suppressed the urge to tell her Killian had kissed me—I’d save that for Ari—but just shrugged and slid into a chair. “I feel good. You said Tad called you?”
“Yeah. He definitely wants us to call Rowan Firesong. He says that there’s no way we can handle clearing this out without her help, and if she says it’s a no-go, then we tell the developers to nix the idea, and we’ll talk to the cops about cordoning off the place.”
“I wonder if that creature can grow. I mean, can it absorb more land? Maybe Rowan can tell us.” I pulled out the card from my purse. “Did Tad say when he’s getting out of the hospital?”
“Today. He insists on coming to work this afternoon. Hank’s going to be fine, by the way, and he should be here, too. They’re lucky, though. They could both have ended up as dead as Arabella if we had waited much longer.” She frowned, shaking her head. “I vote to just forget about it. But Tad’s determined to see if there’s anything we can do.”
I paused, about to punch in Rowan’s number. “Caitlin…” I wanted to ask if she had talked to Tad about her feelings, but when I glanced up, she was giving me a wary look, and I could tell she wasn’t ready to talk about the matter.
“What?” she asked, her voice flat.
“Nothing, never mind.” I went back to calling Rowan.
“Hello?” The woman’s voice was gravelly, and she answered on the second ring.
“Hi, my name’s January Jaxson and I work for Conjure Ink,” I said. “Is this Rowan Firesong?”
“Yes, this is she. What can I do for you?”
“I got your number from Dr. Fairsight. She recommended you for a problem we’ve stumbled over.” I paused, wondering how to dive into the whole mess.
“Oh?”
“Would you mind coming down to our office? It would be so much simpler to explain the problem in person,” I said.
She laughed. “You want my help? You come to me. I can see you in an hour—at eleven. 3854 Whitehorse Road. I’ll see you then.” And with that, she hung up.
I stared at my phone, blinking. “Well. We apparently go to see her. She’ll see us at eleven. Where’s Whitehorse Road?”
“Let me pull it up,” Caitlin said. “It doesn’t really jog my memory either.” She typed in the address onto Map-Finder and boom, there it was. Rowan lived less than ten blocks from here, on a small side road. “We can be there in five minutes.”
I glanced outside. The sky had clouded over and it looked like snow was on the menu again. “I’d give it ten, at least. If it starts to snow, the roads are going to get very slick, very fast.”
“I hope the snow doesn’t go away before the carnival,” Caitlin said. “Though I have to admit, I’m not that excited over the dance.”
“You’ll be going with your fiancé, correct?”
She nodded, then set her coffee down and stared at me. “Can I tell you something?”
I glanced over at Tad’s desk. “I know about your feelings for Tad.”
She blushed. “How did you find out?”
I gave her a shrug. “I’m good at catching emotions. And there’s an unspoken connection between the two of you.”
Caitlin groaned. “What the hell do I do? If I break my engagement, I’ll start a feud between his family and mine and then my father will have to pay a breach of contract fee to them. But…I fell for Tad over a year ago.”
I thought about the situation for a moment. Some shifter families were very big on arranged marriages, mostly to ensure the bloodline held. “Do you think your fiancé might feel the same way you do?”