“If you say so.”
“We’re here.”
Chapter Seventeen
As I waited for Rufus to get out of the car, I let my eyes roam over the house I’d called home for over five years. Even though it hadn’t been long since we’d move to Peder’s, it felt like I hadn’t seen it in years. It looked the same as always with genuine stone walls rising three stories to the Dutch gabled roof.
The Fey prefer to be as close to nature as possible. Hence, the floor to ceiling windows and glass doors surrounding the house. The front doors were not glass though. They were solid oak French doors with antique Celtic knot doorknobs and knockers. There were slender windows on either side, each with a topiary tree in a large terra cotta pot in front of it.
The newel posts for the stairs leading to the front doors were phoenixes carved from oak. The one on the left had its head raised to the sky, its eyes closed as though it was enjoying the feel of the sun warming its feathers. I had a strong affinity for phoenixes, always had, and these two were special to me, especially the one on the right. It rose from the ashes, its wings spread wide in all its glory.
It had been the first thing I saw when we pulled up to the house that first night five years ago. I’d always thought of my coming to this house as a new beginning, as permission to be myself without fear of being an outcast. I had, in my way, risen from the ashes that night and made a fresh start of things.
Rufus emerged from the vehicle as I started jogging up the stairs, running my hand over my phoenix as I went. When I reached for the doorknob, I found myself facing the driveway again.
“What the hell, man?” I asked Rufus, who had picked me up and spun me away from the door. I smacked at his hands that were still gripping my waist.
“I will enter first. Something feels off.”
He stiffened after stepping over the threshold and held a hand up for me to stay where I was. He had much to learn about me.
“What’s up?” I whispered as I moved to stand beside him.
He gave me a sidelong glance and sighed. “I haven’t yet figured out if you’re brave, or just thickheaded. What’s up is that there’s magic here.”
“Magic?” Why couldn’t I feel it?
“The air is thick with it. Open yourself to it,” he said as he moved toward the staircase.
My stomach clenched. Had something happened to Ian? Rufus’ perpetual smirk was gone, instead his lips pressed in a tight line showing concern.
I closed my eyes and focused on the sensations in the air around me. Suddenly, my heartbeat quickened, and my vision wavered. The vertigo was so strong I grabbed Rufus’ arm to stop myself from falling to the floor. It was over quickly, leaving my senses heightened. It was like a hit of banshee essence, but without the euphoria. My skin pulsated with an energy that was not my own. Energy I did not recognize.
“What the hell?” I looked up the stairs. I could see the air flowing through the hallway leading to Ian’s bedroom.
“It’s the power. You sense it now. You’ll have to learn to open to it, otherwise it will sneak up on you like that every time.”
“This feels different than when Bryce is working a spell.”
“Yes, well, this is the dark energy. Your Bryce does not spin dark spells. He’s a good witch,” he added with that smirk of his.
“Not funny.”
He chuckled. “Come on, sugar, let’s go get our Ian.”
I stopped arguing about his nickname for me. Not everything had to be a fight.
As we started up the stairs the sensations grew causing me to trip over a step. I recovered and braced myself for more as we moved closer to Ian’s room.
Rufus held his finger up to his mouth telling me to be quiet. I grimaced and mouthed ‘bite me’, earning one of his enigmatic smirks.
There was a voice coming from Ian’s room. A female voice I did not recognize. Rufus put his hand on my arm. His grip was light, but I knew it was a warning not to enter hastily. We weren’t — at least, I wasn’t — sure who was in there with Ian. Better to wait, than be sorry.
“Mmm, Ian, it’s been too long,” the voice said, silky and seductive.
“Yes, it has,” Ian replied. His voice was husky, but a tad mechanical.
The fire flared inside me before I could stop it. All reason left me, and I made a move to open the door. Despite the pain it must have caused him, Rufus tightened his hold on my arm and shook me to turn my attention to him.
“Calm yourself.”
“Who is she?”
“An old acquaintance of Ian’s.”
“Acquaintance? That’s how he is with acquaintances? I don’t want to know how he is with old friends!” I hissed, still whispering.
“I am going in. You are staying here,” Rufus said believing I would obey.
“Nope.”
“Listen to me, I know her. She is trouble, I only want to keep you safe.”
“I can take care of myself,” I said.
“Yes, I know. However, you do not know her. Please just wait here and let me defuse the situation before you enter.”
“You mean you want to warn Ian that I’m here.”
He shook his head and shot me that smirk of his. “Ian will explain his relationship with her. I will not. I will only say that when it comes to her, Ian has no control over what he does.”
“What the hell does that even mean?”
“You will soon find out.”
“Whatever. You have five minutes, then I’m coming in… whether you’ve ‘defused the situation’ or not.”
With an exasperated sigh he opened the door just wide enough for him to slip inside. I paced the hallway. Who was this mystery woman? Why was she here? Has Ian been seeing her behind my back? And what did Rufus mean by Ian not having control around her? Was she so beautiful, or skilled, that Ian found himself incapable of resisting her? I couldn’t contend with that kind of competition. She may have had years upon years to get to know what Ian liked, and… UGH!
I groaned in frustration and stopped pacing. I stood and stared at the door as if I’d find the answers there, when I didn’t, I decided Rufus had been in there long enough. Taking a deep breath, I grabbed the handle and threw the door open.
“Okay, Rufu—” I froze when I saw what was going on behind the door.
A gorgeous woman had her arms around Ian’s neck as they kissed. A jolt of pain sliced through me. She was tall, curvy in the right places, and wore a killer emerald-green gown. She looked like a runway model. Standing beside Ian, they made a striking couple, indeed.
Ian’s head suddenly jerked up, looking at me as if he’d just come out of a trance.
“Goldie?” he said after blinking a few times. He growled and faced Rufus. “Why did you bring her here?”
Rufus, nonchalant as ever, shrugged before replying. “I was not aware the hag would be here.”
At the insult to his friend, Ian’s face turned beet red. The woman’s face had turned to ice. I’d found Rufus’s little jab was funny and had to bite back a laugh. To be fair though, I was a little biased.
“Oh, don’t be mad at Rufus because you’ve been caught. This isn’t his fault,” I said.