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Rowan’s temper flared. “You ever going to let that go?”

“It was not a slight but an honor to receive the offer to join us.” Cherry hissed as she snatched a bundle of lavender from a collection of dried herbs dangling from an overhead rack with a little more force than strictly required.

Rowan rolled her eyes, seeing this conversation going nowhere. With her end of the bargain fulfilled, she turned on her heel.

“Wait!” The witch called, her voice breaking.

Rowan turned with horror.

Cherry’s arms were shaking on the counter as if she was bracing all her weight on her palms.

Her gaze locked deep into the steaming cauldron.

Nothing about the witch before Rowan was solid. She was on the verge of falling apart.

Rowan’s shoulders relaxed, and she sat on a stool at the counter, waiting for Cherry to get it together.

“Thank you.” The whispered gratitude made Rowan feel uncomfortable; she didn’t know how to handle this version of the witch. “For saving me.”

“Oh.” Rowan shook her head, “You would’ve never been that hurt if it hadn’t been for my mouth.”

“He sped up the process, but in the end, Barros was going to kill me. I was one reason he ended up turning to that cursed tool.” She hissed.

“Oh?” Rowan got comfortable in the seat.

Cherry glanced up and shock made her take a step away from the counter. “Your eye… is that Odin’s Eye?”

“Yes. It is.” Rowan said softly, “Is that a problem?”

Cherry took her in for the first time and her eye snagged on the mark over Rowan’s collar bone. She’d taken to wearing low cut shirts in order to show it off. An unexpected sense of pride didn’t allow her to do anything less

“You really are the Dragon King’s mate, aren’t you?”

Rowan couldn’t help but smile at the sentence, “Yes. Yes, I am.”

Cherry’s shoulders sagged as she reached for a shaker to sprinkle sugar into her concoction.

“There was a reason Barros targeted the shifters.” Cherry spoke slowly, as if she was unconvinced she really wanted to divulge this information.

Answers. Rowan loved straight answers, and it seemed the witch would give them.

“About four years before the first attack, Barros was trying to get attention brought onto a rise in rage lust cases.”

Rowan relaxed into her seat. “Oh.”

Cherry raised an eyebrow. “Were you also aware of the issue?”

“My company works on accidents brought about by wayward magic. We got more than a few cases called in that year.” Rowan admitted.

“Well, the Coven was also aware, but used this information as leverage to build a compound on territory that the shifters disputed was theirs.”

Rowan snorted. “Of course, put the Coven infrastructure over the safety of everyone else.”

“That compound has helped over a thousand low-income Coven members get out of dangerous situations. And I didn’t hear you kicking up a storm to do anything about it.” Cherry hissed.

Rowan raised an eyebrow. “What would the words of an elf only slightly above average in terms of magical capability have done? I only had the option of actions, Cherry. Exactly how did you think the rise ended? ”

Other than the bubbling of the cauldron, there was silence in the kitchen for the most tense of moments.