He stood and rounded the table. “Olivia, you look lovely.”
I shrugged one of my shoulders. “I feel underdressed.”
“Nonsense.” Ren took my hand and laid a quick kiss on the back of it, but his fingers lingered on mine. He held my gaze with his dancing teal eyes. “My, my. You have been busy, haven’t you, darling?”
His thumb brushed the back of my hand, and I knew he could sense the magic within me.
“Yes, I have.”
I was unsure of what exactly Ren expected this date to entail, but I was certain he didn’t want to be hammered with questions right off the bat, so I didn’t launch into that discussion just yet. I would play it out until the time was right.
After the waiter took Renathe’s drink order—wine for the both of us—I turned to him. “I have something for you.”
“Do you?” The silver streaks in his teal eyes seemed to sparkle.
I pulled the set of keys for the Bristol out of my purse and set them beside his hand resting on the table. “My father’s Bristol, as promised.”
“Two gifts in one day. Lucky me.” He winked, and I couldn’t help but smile. My presence was a gift, was it? He quickly pocketed the keys. “I have something for you, as well.”
My shoulders stiffened, and I couldn’t help but hear Kael’s grumbling voice in my head, which told me fae never give anything to anyone without expecting something in return.
I must have been wearing my uncertainty on my sleeve, because Ren chuckled. “No strings attached. I promise.”
He slid a dark blue, velvet-covered box toward me. I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously, then flipped the lid open. Inside was a crystal charm in the shape of a snowflake. I touched one of the delicate points. It was beautiful, and small enough that it wouldn’t be flashy on anything I put it on.
“Do you always give women jewelry on first dates?”
He grinned. “Not usually, but there are exceptions, especially with someone such as yourself.”
“What do you mean?”
Renathe merely smiled and opened his menu.
We fell into small talk over dinner, though I hardly touched my food or wine. I didn’t think I could stomach it with the way my insides were churning with nerves. All I wanted were answers, and I despised being patient.
Finally, Renathe threw his arm over the back of his chair. He shook some stray hairs away that had fallen over his face. “So tell me, Olivia, why were you so insistent on this date? Is it my irresistible good looks?”
I smiled. “Not that you aren’t a fine specimen, but…”
Ren laughed. “I understand. As I recall, I am not your type.” A knowing smile crept onto his face.
A brief thought of Kael flashed through my mind as the waiter stopped by to see if everything was fine. I gave a nod. After Renathe assured him the food was perfect, the fae turned his attention back to me.
“You wish to discuss something with me. I have watched you squirm on it all throughout dinner.” He didn’t seem angry. Rather, quite amused. “What is it?”
I picked at the edge of a cloth napkin, then looked over my shoulder. If people overheard me, they’d think I was nuts .
“Don’t worry, darling. No human will hear a word you say.”
I didn’t like how he said that. Did he mean some of the other patrons, or staff, were not human?
“Well, we visited the witch you told us about…” I gave an entire account of our journey, from Cordelia’s, to Scotland, the traitorous shifters in England, and finally to the showdown with the mage in the hidden and ancient abbey. “Then, I tried to bind the mage, but instead of binding him, I bound my soul to the first key. Not only that, but I feel…different. More powerful. And not in a good way.”
Ren nodded slowly and tapped the table. “You attempted to sacrifice yourself to bind the mage, didn’t you?”
“What ?”
I jolted so violently I nearly fell out of my seat. Kael rounded a corner. When he’d said he would be nearby, I didn’t think he’d meant within eavesdropping distance . He stalked up to the table, leaned onto his knuckles, and stared down at me. Looming .
“Did he just say you attempted to sacrifice yourself?” Kael’s words were stiff and clipped. “Please tell me he’s wrong.”
“This is rather rude, you know,” Renathe interjected mildly. He took a sip of his wine and watched our interaction with a calculated expression.
I could nearly feel the heat of Kael’s anger pressing on me. I tilted my chin up and turned toward him. His nostrils were flared and his brows low.
“In order to stop the mage, I had to provide a sacrifice.”
“Where did you learn that?”
“In Scotland, when I was with the druids.”
Kael’s jaw was granite. “You have known that long, and you didn’t tell me?”
I crossed my arms and considered standing so he wasn’t hovering over me so much, but we were probably making a big enough scene as it was. “I didn’t owe you any kind of explanation.”
Hurt flashed quickly over his face. It had been the wrong thing to say. I shouldn’t have snapped, and my throat tightened with guilt.
I continued with a softer tone. “Kael, it was either you...or me. What else could you expect?”
He leaned toward me, but I didn’t shrink away. Kael was so close I could catch his peculiar citrus-and-rain scent. “What else do I expect? I expect you not to try to get yourself killed , Livvie.”
“There was no other way. I didn’t want to hurt you.” I held his gaze. “I had to stop him. I tried to do what was necessary to save thousands of lives.”
The shifter fell silent. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t argue with my logic; if he had been in my position, he would have done the exact same thing, and he knew it.
“Well, this is certainly the most interesting date I have been on.” Ren smirked at me. “Aren’t we supposed to be the ones with the romantic tension?”
I sniffed, though heat crawled up my neck. Kael and I did not have ‘romantic tension.’ I glanced at my glass of wine and really wished I had something a bit stronger.
Kael pulled a chair from an empty table and scowled so viciously at the waiter who started to complain that the man quickly backed off. He sat slowly and propped his arms on the table.
“So, what’s wrong with her?” He waved his hand at me.
“It’s a common female ailment known as stubbornness,” Renathe said.
The man beside me growled. “Not her attitude .”
I shot Kael a glare. I did not have an attitude. Across from me, Ren grinned. He knew exactly what Kael had meant.
The fae finished off his wine, then said, “I would assume that when she tried to bind the mage with her own life, she missed, and hit the key instead, thus trapping her soul within.”
“Can I…get it back?”
Ren ran a finger around the lip of his empty wine glass. A waiter stepped around the corner and poured him another. “I am not certain. However, I would be willing to look into the matter for you. I am rather well-connected.”
I bit the inside of my lip and studied Ren through narrowed eyes. His face seemed open and honest enough, but I knew better.