Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
On the subject of the coven . . . ‘You ready for the meeting tomorrow?’
‘Yup. Clarence seems certain that Gill’s fighting a losing battle. I agree with him. The question is what my family will try after that little plot fails, because I highly doubt they’ll drop the whole thing so soon. Especially when it’ll infuriate them that their case went nowhere.’
Pausing, she added two pinches of sea salt into the potion. ‘But enough of them – they’ll be taking up plenty of our attention tomorrow. Want to tell me why you had a face like thunder when you first arrived?’
Not really. But he heard himself say, ‘I just had to break up a fight between Logan and Neal.’
‘Ah. Your brother didn’t take the relationship well, then,’ she assumed, sympathy washing over her face.
‘It made him decide that he was done pining for CeCe. He would have let her and Neal be. But tonight, they both went to our clan’s bar knowing that Logan would be there. Things devolved fast. My brother is pissed that she’d want to hurt him that way. While I’m glad he isn’t going to keep pushing for a triad, I don’t like seeing him so wrecked.’
‘It must be disillusioning to realize someone that you love would resort to those measures to manipulate people into dancing to their tune.’ Jamming a stopper back into a bottle, she regarded him carefully. ‘You feel guilty. Why?’
Ripper felt his shoulders stiffen.
‘You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but don’t bother denying that I’m right.’
Ripper grunted. ‘The night we shared CeCe . . . I was hesitant. I didn’t think it’d be a good idea. We only ever shared women we didn’t care for. But I let myself get talked into it.’
‘And you feel that your brother wouldn’t be hurting right now if you’d just stuck to your guns.’ Pursing her lips, she placed the bottle back down. ‘I don’t know if that’s true. I mean, she didn’t just run the idea by you. She nagged you to agree. And when you didn’t, she tried some underhanded stuff to get her way. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s had the triad idea in her mind for a while. If that’s true, this might have happened in any case.’
Ripper licked his front teeth, mentally chewing over that. ‘You could be right. She said she’s accepted that a triad won’t happen. I’m not sure I believe that, though.’
‘And you came here hoping I’d cook you up a potion that would make her leave you alone? Well, I could. Though Paisley uses a non-magick method and swears by it. She’ll hold a photo of an ex tightly while sending a Leave me alone vibe at it, and then she sticks it in the freezer.’
‘The freezer?’
‘Uh-huh. She says it works, so I guess you could try it.’
‘I might.’ He cocked his head. ‘Did Michael share you with anyone?’
She double-blinked, apparently taken off-guard by the question. ‘He pushed for it once. He was annoyed that I wouldn’t agree to it, but when the effects of the full moon wore off he was glad that it hadn’t happened.’
‘Who did he have in mind?’
‘One of his cousins.’ Staring into the cauldron, she waved her hand, and the potion stopped bubbling. She gave it one last stir and then nodded, satisfied. ‘All done. I just need to cool it down.’ A ribbon of magick swished around the pot, presumably cooling it.
As she grabbed several elixir bottles from a cupboard behind her, he said, ‘Generally, potions have a shelf-life. Millicent’s never did. Do yours?’
‘No. There are magickal hacks.’ She turned back to the altar and set down the bottles. ‘Anyone can use them if they know what they’re doing.’
‘Why doesn’t the coven use them?’
‘They probably could. But how are they going to keep their customers coming back regularly if they sell no-shelf-life potions?’
Huh. He hadn’t thought of it that way.
‘You can still make theirs effective for longer if you stick them in the freezer, but the coven would never admit as much.’ She fell silent as she deftly filled each elixir bottle before placing them all in a carrier box, which she then handed to him.
‘You lied.’
Her brows dipped. ‘About what?’
‘You told Kerr that this process is boring to watch.’ He fished the correct amount of cash out of his pocket and held it out. ‘You lied.’
She took payment from him. ‘Or you just found it entertaining when others wouldn’t.’
Possibly. He sure hadn’t been entertained when observing Millicent work. More like uncomfortable.
But Emberlyn? She fascinated him. Bewitched him. He looked at her, and he wanted.
And he knew he wasn’t going to leave without having her.
Just the idea had lust slamming into his system. She had slammed into his system. She’d hit him like a bus fucking years ago, and he’d been an idiot to think he could spend his life ignoring it. Acknowledging that to himself brought him something close to relief.