I must have been too quiet because, once we were at the portal and Kipa transformed back, he turned to me. “Are you all right, love?”
I shrugged. “I’m overwhelmed. I’m still coming to terms with what Pandora did to me, then this mess with the Banra-Sheagh, then my father’s betrayal, and now, coping with Vixen’s friend. Sometimes I want to get away and forget about everything and everybody except myself, you, and Raj. And the ferrets.”
“You need a vacation,” he said.
“We all need a vacation,” I countered. “Look at Herne and Ember—and Angel, losing Rafé. The past year or so has been one big blur of stress and danger.” Letting out a sigh, I leaned against the massive oak and crossed my arms, blinking as the snowflakes drifted down to get caught in my hair and my lashes. “Maybe I do need to get away.”
“Whenever you want, love,” Kipa said. “You don’t have to solve everybody else’s problems, you know. Vixen can find someone to take care of Lenny—”
“No, they can’t. You and I both know that any typical medium wouldn’t stand a chance against the aztrophyllia. It would probably go after them as soon as it killed Lenny. How can I turn away when someone’s life is on the line and I’m the only one who has the knowledge on how to kill it? And the seal that we need to attach to him so it doesn’t come back? Maybe you could find a strong-enough witch to cast it, but chances are it would take too long and he’d end up dying, anyway. I made a promise to Vixen to help if I could. I don’t break my promises.”
Kipa pulled me into his arms and I burrowed my face against his shoulder as he hugged me to his chest. “And that’s one of the many things I love about you. You don’t flinch when it comes to doing what you feel is right.” He leaned down and kissed my nose, then my lips. “Raven…” There was a strange light in his eyes.
“What?”
He stared at me for another moment, before shaking his head. “Nothing…or rather, not now. But know that I’m so grateful Fate brought you into my life.”
“Me too—you,” I said, rising on my tiptoes for another kiss.
“Let’s go home,” he said, gently pushing me back. “Give me your hand.”
“That’s not necessary. I go through the portals pretty routinely, you know.”
“I know. But give me your hand.”
And so, hand in hand, once again we stepped through the portal, heading home.
The snow on the other side of the portal had been falling steadily as well, and it was now six inches deep, but that was a far cry from the mounds we had trudged through in Annwn. We hoofed it to my car and settled in, and I turned up the heat. Even with my enchanted jacket, the trip had left me cold inside and out.
“First things first,” I said. “We have to stop by Llew’s shop so I can pick up the ingredients to create wards against astral creatures. What time is it?”
Kipa glanced at the car clock. “It’s nearly seven—Llew closes up at five, doesn’t he?”
“Six. All right, can you call him and put him on speaker for me?”
Kipa picked up my phone from where I had placed it in the cup holder. He searched through the contacts until he found Llew and dialed, then punched the speaker option.
“Hey Raven, what’s up?” Llew asked. I could hear the sounds of people talking in the background.
“Llew, is there any chance you could meet me at the shop tonight so I can do some necessary shopping? I’d wait till tomorrow, but this is rather urgent.”
Pans clanged in the background, and I heard someone—I thought it might be Jordan, Llew’s husband—say something. And he didn’t sound happy.
“Hold on,” Llew said. “Muting for a moment.”
“Nope, it’s not going to happen tonight,” I said as Kipa continued to hold the phone out. “Put us on mute too.”
“Done, and what do you mean?”
“That was Jordan complaining in the background.”
Jordan was nice enough, but at times he had issues with me. I had the feeling he felt secretly threatened by my friendship with Llew, and he wasn’t above pointing out how much time Llew and I spent together. I had been walking a tightrope for over a year, and recently, I had discreetly pulled back, focusing on visiting more with Ember and Angel so that Llew’s marriage wouldn’t be put to the test.
“You’ve got to be kidding? Llew’s gay. You’re not a guy. What does Jordan have to be threatened by?”
“I don’t know, but for some reason, he’s insecure. I guarantee you when—”
“Raven?” Llew came back on the speaker. “Are you there?”
I unmuted. “Yeah, we’re here, Llew.”
“I don’t think I can make it down there tonight. You have a key—pop in and take what you need. Leave a note if you don’t have cash at the moment and you can pay me later.”
What I needed was Llew’s expertise about wards, but I wasn’t going to pressure him. “Never mind. I’ll see you later.”
“I’m sorry, Raven,” Llew sounded apologetic.
The last thing I wanted was for him to feel guilty. “It’s okay, everything’s fine, Llew.”
As we headed home, I decided that I could tinker around and figure out something that would work. When we pulled into the driveway, I noticed the lights were on, but figured Raj had decided to turn them on. He couldn’t work switches on lamps, but he could work a light switch on the wall. But as we headed up the sidewalk and around the corner to the walkway along the house, I paused.
“Somebody’s here.” I glanced at Kipa. “Someone’s in there. I know it.”
“I’ll check. You wait here,” he said, motioning for me to move farther down the sidewalk. “Get your keys ready.”
I nervously palmed the keys to my car and took a deep breath as I steeled myself to run. Time seemed to stretch out as he edged his way to the door and cracked it open. That was another thing—the door should have been locked, but Kipa opened it without his keys. I tried to keep my nerves in check, praying that Raj was okay.
Please, Great Cerridwen, let Raj be okay—please protect him…
All of a sudden, I heard laughter from inside and Kipa peeked around the door.
“It’s your mother—she’s home early.”
I let out an exasperated sigh. “Why couldn’t she have texted me?” I said, marching inside.
“I did,” Phasmoria said, standing near the sofa. “You didn’t answer.”
I pulled out my phone and glanced at it. “Nothing—see?” Then it hit me. “Oh, wait. I was in Annwn—of course your text wouldn’t go through while I was over there.” My irritation vanished into intense relief. “Never mind.”
She grinned. “That’s always your answer when you yell at me for no good reason. So, what were you doing over in Annwn?”
“Let me change out of these clothes and I’ll tell you. Meanwhile, would you call for a pizza? I’m hungry. Though compared to Dek’s lunch, a pizza doesn’t sound quite as appetizing.” My stomach rumbled and I rolled my eyes. “But I guess it sounds good to my empty gullet.”