“Not funny,” Aurora quipped.
“Eh,” he shrugged. “I thought it was.”
Stripping off his bloody shirt, Aurora took a second to rub a finger over the angry, healing scars on his chest, grateful for the magic Tiffany had worked.
“Those should fade in a few days,” Tiffany said. “I’ll make up a balm to put on them.”
“Maybe I’ll keep them,” he grinned. “They make me look kinda badass. Is there a robe or anything? If we go downstairs, I don’t want Nathan to think I’m trying to infringe on his shirtless territory.”
The only one they had was Aurora’s lavender lacy one, and she took great relish in draping it over him. Hollow House chipped in, shortening the stairs so the slow trip to the first floor was easier. The trio slipped into the kitchen, and Kelly smiled at them from the table.
“Oh, shit, thank god!”
“Language.”
“Yeah, yeah, sorry. And, Dane? Sorry I couldn’t stay in there with you guys, but the sight of blood really freaks me out.”
“It’s all good,” he said, wincing his way into a chair.
“Is it too soon to start giving you crap? Because I really like your new look. It’s so encouraging to see a man in touch with his feminine side.”
Dane laughed at her joke, furrowing his brow and pressing his hand to his scars.
“Yeah, I’m thinking about making this my new thing,” he said with a light cough. “That is if Aurora will let me out of the house.”
“I think it’s very fetching,” Tiffany said in her typical impish tone. “You’ll get all the ladies dressed like that.”
“The heck he will,” Aurora chimed in.
“Oh, for sure!” Kelly laughed. “And some of the boys too.”
They all had a good chuckle. Dane betrayed how sore it made him, but he was clearly happy at the good humor of it all.
“By the way,” Kelly said, pointing toward Aurora’s phone on the countertop. “I know it’s been a big night, but you’ve been blowing up over there.”
“Thanks.” Aurora unlocked it to find texts from her brothers. The last one was from Rhys.
Paul is in custody, but he’s not talking. I’ll let you know if there are any developments.
She texted her thanks and joined the others at the table. The whole house breathed a sigh of relief, and Aurora felt a tiny pang of guilt. If she had just waited until her brothers got there, maybe they wouldn’t have had such a close call. It was a lesson in not letting her anger get the better of her.
That was the danger of keeping so many things pent up inside. When they finally cut loose, she got reckless, and that was no way to be. The fireworks when she first saw Dane were another reflection of that. It was a lesson she kept learning. Hopefully it would stick one of these days.
“Hey, guys,” Ronun said as he stepped into the kitchen. “Looking good, Dane. Very chic.” He made his way around the table to kiss Kelly, and she kept a hand on his arm.
“What are you doing home so early, lover?”
“I had to make sure everyone was okay. The news is all over the place.”
“Already?” Aurora was slightly stunned, but she had been too preoccupied to consider the waves such a scandal would generate.
“Oh, yeah,” Ronun said, sitting down. “And I can tell you something else. Before it all went down, I went over to the Treasury to see what I could find out.”
“Good idea.” Why hadn’t she thought of that?
“All the guards are gargoyles, you know. I was their king for a hot second, so I figured I’d be able to get the full story. Turns out, I was right.”
“Anything useful?” Dane asked.
“Oh yeah. They said whoever tried to break in had come shaded, which is no surprise really. It’s not a tough spell, but it does seem a little odd that Paul was able to work it out.”
“Why’s that?” Tiffany asked.
“He’s a shifter, not a warlock. Witches and fae would also be able to make it happen, but a shifter?” He shook his head.
“What about the knife spell he almost killed you with?” Ronun pointed out.
Tiffany sniffed. “Psh, they teach basic conjuring spells to freshmen at OCU. It’s harder for shifters, but not out of the realm of possibility.”
“What about the portal then?”
She didn’t have an answer for that, but Aurora did. “He threw something that opened the portal. He must have bought a charm on the black market. I can’t explain the shade he cast at the Treasury though.”
Kelly leaned in. “If he hired someone to steal the potion and create a portal charm, he probably hired someone to cast a shade over him too.”
Everyone agreed it made sense, but somehow the explanation sat wrong in Aurora’s gut. However, she dismissed it when Ronun picked the story back up.
“Anyway, even with the shade, they could tell whoever it was had to be pretty powerful. Like, he had an aura of power around him.”
“That sounds about right,” Aurora said, thinking back to their encounter. Paul was certainly powerful.
“It appears he used Abernathy’s potion, but didn’t use a fog spell to spread it, so he only managed to knock out a couple of the guards, nowhere close to all twenty of them. When that didn’t work, the guy took off.”
“See?” Dane said, looking at Aurora. “You were right.”
“About what?” Kelly asked.
Aurora’s cheeks heated at Dane’s adoring stare. “I thought the cases were connected. It just seemed to me that whoever wanted that potion was probably the same person who tried to break into the Treasury. Finch was just some guy Paul hired to get it for him.”
“Paul was at the bottom of it all,” Dane explained. “She’s got a real noggin, this one.” He reached over and squeezed her knee.
“You got that right,” Ronun said. “Well done.”
Aurora was never one to toot her own horn, but it felt really good to be the point of praise. She blushed and tucked her chin, as was her way.
“You know something,” Kelly said, slapping her palms to the table. “I think we should celebrate. Dane pulled through, Tiffany made that happen, and Aurora broke open maybe the biggest case Othercross has seen in a thousand years.”
In answer, all the cabinets swung open of their own volition, and inside were rows and rows of glistening bottles. It was as if the house had been waiting for someone to make the call, and the whole place sprang to festive life.
“Now you’re talking!” Kelly was on her feet in a flash, uncorking bottles and spilling generous helpings of booze into glasses. She may not have been one for the sight of blood, but she knew her way around red wine. Everyone raised their glasses and the party started in earnest.
It was funny. Aurora had never been a drinker, but the last week had seen her shedding her prim and proper façade a bit. Not that she would ever become a party girl, but living with these two marvelous young witches was getting her to come out of her shell.
And she liked it.
“Are you sure I should be drinking?” Dane asked Tiff, looking askance at his glass. “I mean, after losing half my blood?”