Page 34

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

“We’re causing a scene,” Allen muttered, glancing over his shoulder. “Lilac, pick that fork up, but not with your bare hands.”

“I’m not an amateur,” she clipped, snatching a wad of napkins from the table and retrieving the charm.

“Hey.” His tone forced her to look up at him. “I know that. I’m just trying for us all to be careful. Assumptions aren’t our friends here.”

Lilac tucked away a lock of hair behind her vixen mask with a short sigh. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. I-I’m just . . . beyond frazzled.” She shook herself then squared her shoulders, composed once more.

Allen wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and plant a reassuring kiss on her forehead, but Talia squirmed in his custody. He twisted her around so she was flush against his chest, her right hand wrenched up high between her shoulder blades. When his fingernails dug into the flesh of her throat, threatening her blood flow, she stilled. Barely.

Boar’s hand found his shoulder, but it didn’t clamp down like Allen expected it to. “Allen, what’s going on here? ”

“Come with me.”

To his surprise, Boar didn’t protest. To his even greater surprise, Boar said, “Lead the way.”

Wrangling Talia to the side so he could partially shield her from view, Allen frog-marched her to the cellar door. Lilac hurried after him. Boar brought up the rear, shutting the door after they’d all entered the stairwell.

“Allen,” Boar began.

“Where have you been?” Lilac interrupted. The question came out harsher than she probably meant, but that could’ve just been her maintaining their ruse. Or, she’d been that worried about him. Maybe both.

Her brother immediately rounded on her, pinning his sister against the wall. “Don’t you speak to him that way!”

“Boar!” Allen admonished. He was already at the bottom of the stairwell, and he wasn’t about to manhandle Talia back up the stairs. Unless it was entirely necessary, of course. No one put their hands on his woman, not even her brother. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Let her go!”

The witch complied immediately, ducking his head. “Sorry, handsome,” he mumbled.

“What?” Allen sputtered.

“Did you just call Allen ‘handsome?’” Lilac blustered.

“So?” Boar demanded hotly, color rushing to his cheeks.

Lilac squinted at him, then lunged forward to smell his breath and check the dilation of his pupils. He wiggled out of her grasp, casting Allen an embarrassed look and adjusting his hair.

“Enlarged pupils and sweet apple . . ..” Lilac paled. “Oh no.”

“What is it?” Allen demanded, checking the wall clock and cursing. They were running out of time.

“It appears Boar ingested a powerful love potion a-and you’re the one he’s in love with. ”

“Are you kidding me?”

“I’m not ashamed,” Boar said, exiting the stairwell and squaring his shoulders. “And neither should you be, honey.”

Allen glared at him.

“I-I don’t have to call you honey if you’d prefer something else.” He swallowed nervously. “It could be sweetheart. Babe? Dumpling?”

“Boar? Shut up,” he said, not unkindly.

“It’ll wear off,” Lilac said quickly. “Eventually.”

Allen glanced down from the woman struggling in his grip to the potions expert wringing her hands. “And how did Talia, a near-talentless practitioner, get her hands on a powerful love potion, Lilac?”

She winced. “I may or may not have made her one to get back at Boar for all the times he belittled me. B-but I didn’t give her all of it, and what I did was diluted! I don’t hate my brother that much to sic a full-octane love potion on him, a-and you kind of made me feel guilty after that talk by the fireplace for even considering it.”

“So if it’s a diluted love potion, what does that mean?”

“It’s, um, more of a ‘strong affection’ potion, maybe?”

“I don’t need a potion to tell me what my heart truly feels,” Boar assured him, reaching to run his hand through Allen’s blond hair.

Allen dodged the touch. “Boar? How about we keep our hands to ourselves until we’re done with Talia, okay?”

“Whatever you say, babe,” he said congenially, trying out a new pet name. Then Boar thrust a finger into Talia’s face, green magic sparking in his eyes. “You’re a bitch for keeping us apart, you know that?”

“Okay,” Lilac admitted. “Maybe it’s more of an ‘infatuation’ potion.”

Allen raised his voice. “Alright, Hawthornes, listen up. I need you two to come to grips with a few things very quickly. Lilac, we were wrong about Prue.”

“Evidently,” she said, hefting the napkin-wrapped charm.

“It was Talia.”

“But she’s a nobody,” Boar protested, not meanly. Apparently Lilac’s diluted love potion was messing with more than one of his inhibitions, particularly the politeness filter on his brain. “How could—”

“Eh!” Allen snapped. “No more interruptions. Zip it!” He sucked in a deep breath and continued, “She poisoned me, which was why I was missing all afternoon. Talia also has an accomplice, someone with command over fae magic. No, I don’t know where he is at the moment, and no, surprisingly that’s not the worst of our problems. The entire Cailleach Lodge is outside, ready to wage war unless we release Prue, and will commence their attack in approximately three minutes if we don’t return her right now.”

Lilac turned to the cellar suite they had all clustered beside and gestured to Boar. “Well? Open it!”

“Absolutely not,” her brother said. “Not until I have her oath that she won’t harm—”

“Do it,” Allen barked.

“Right away, sugar,” Boar spun on his heel and pressed a glowing hand to the keyhole. He yanked it open, revealing a murderous-looking hedge witch inside.

Before she could take even a breath, Allen stepped forward with Talia still in his grip. “You were right, we were wrong, and I need you not to hold a grudge right now.”

Whatever she was about to say died on her lips. Then: “Came to your senses at last, did you, caretaker?”

He gave a curt nod. “Yep. Now skedaddle. Your people are outside ready to attack and we need you to make them not do that. ”

“Why should I?” Prue looked down her nose at the Hawthornes. “You Hawthornes always think you’re better than us hedge witches simply because of the magic you practice. Perhaps this is just the slice of humble pie you need to choke on.”

“But we are better than you,” Boar said, sounding confused at how that was even a subject up for debate, and Lilac whacked him in the arm.

“Hush,” she hissed.

“You’ll tell them to back off,” Allen told Prue, “because if they attack the Hall, they’ll hurt everyone inside. All those townsfolk, their children. Innocents.”

She stalked out of the suite. “You could just let them go, then there wouldn’t be collateral damage.”

“They’re safer in here than they are out there. Talia didn’t come across a heretic’s fork on her own. Who do you think gave it to her?”

Prue’s eyes sharpened. Then she grunted, sweeping a look at the other witches. “I suppose I’ll go tell them to stand down. But we’re not done here, Hawthornes. Not even close.”

When she marched for the cellar stairway, Allen interrupted, “Use the back door here, Prue? If you please. Time is of the essence, and that ballroom is nothing but distraction.”

She smacked her lips, turned on her heel, and whisked herself out the back door, slamming it behind her.

When she was gone, Allen thrust Talia into the vacated cellar suite. The practitioner caught herself on the bedpost before she could collapse, wheezing for breath. Allen had not once let go of her throat. Shoving herself upright, she whirled around, furious tears tracking down her cheeks.

“You’ve ruined everything!” she shouted at him.

“And I’ll ruin one more thing before the night is through,” he snarled at her .

“I thought you were different, Allen.”

“And I told you, nice isn’t a compliment I normally hear. And this is the reason. You must’ve known what I’d do to you when that poison wore off. How I’d never forgive you for hurting them.”

“I wasn’t going to hurt them! Boar was going to be my lover—”

“Gross,” Boar gagged.

“And Lilac was going to be my friend.”

“I already was your friend,” Lilac snapped.

Talia shook her head, and tears darkened the stone floor at her feet. “Not like you’re Edith’s friend.”

“And Rose?” Allen prompted. “What of her?”

The practitioner hesitated.

His eyes narrowed, then he whipped around, realizing for the first time that there were only two Hawthornes with him. “ Where is Rose? ” he thundered. “Talia!”

“There’s always a price for happiness,” she whispered miserably.

“Oh my Green Mother,” Lilac whispered, hands flying to her mouth.

“I’ll run a Scouting Spell,” Boar said, shutting his eyes. “We’ll find her and—”

“Don’t go,” Talia whined. “He’s too powerful. You’ll die if you go. I was saving you!” she shouted.

“Oh Talia,” Allen said, disgust and pity lacing every syllable. “You weren’t saving Boar and Rose. You were rendering them lambs to be slaughtered later at his leisure. Now tell me where Rose is.”

When she only blubbered, Allen took one menacing step forward, filling the doorway.

“He’s a werewolf!” Talia shrieked, stabbing at him with a finger. “A shifter! He’s been lying to you this whole time. ”

Allen tensed, truly considering violence now that she had betrayed his secret. From the corner of his eye, he saw Lilac cast a fearful glance at Boar, who had snapped out of his Scouting Spell trance. Her brother merely crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes.

“By the Green Mother,” he groaned, “she’ll say anything to keep us apart, won’t she, pumpkin?”

Staring at Talia, Allen’s smile was positively savage as he removed his wolf mask. “Guess I should be thankful you dosed him.” His suit jacket and belt followed next with calm, efficient movements. Then he started unbuttoning his shirt sleeves.

Talia shrank back, shaking. “Wh-what are you doing?”

“I’m not going to shred these fine clothes when I let the wolf out,” he told her conversationally. “Now, you can either tell me where Rose and your colleague are, or you can tell him . Despite his acute hearing, I am the better listener.” He glanced down at his shirt—halfway unbuttoned—and his pants. “You have approximately thirty seconds to decide.”

Talia fainted. Her body hit the edge of the bed and bounced off the mattress, sloughing her right onto the floor.

Lilac wormed into the doorway beside him. “Are you kidding me?”

Allen’s ears confirmed the heartbeat and respiratory rate of someone in a dreamless sleep, so he stepped back and pulled Lilac along with him, shutting the door.

Lilac tried to apply the magic lock and failed with a grimace. So she had been the one to sacrifice her magic and save all those townsfolk from the sleet of shattered glass ornaments. Allen had assumed it was Boar, what with his need to be important, but of course he should’ve known better. His woman was committed to shedding her old reputation and showing the world her true colors.

Boar applied the lock and faced them with a grim expression. “ I can’t find Rose. Her magic signature is blocked, somehow. O-or . . ..”

“Don’t say it.” Lilac beat against her brother’s chest. “Don’t you dare say she’s dead.”

“I’ll find her,” Allen promised them, already striding for the cellar door. “Stay here—”

“Absolutely not,” both siblings protested, chasing him to the door.

Lilac skirted around him and braced her arm across the door, blocking his way.

“You’re not a lone wolf anymore,” she told him in a voice so quiet only he could hear. “We can help you.”

Allen risked stepping close and molding his hand over her hip. “If you leave this Hall, I won’t be able to save your sister. Because I will do anything to protect you first, Lilac, even if that means sacrificing her. That’s what it means to be my mate—you are everything. But I care about Rose too, and not just because of my mission. So, I’m begging you, sweet girl, stay here. I’ll get her back for you.”

“Do as he says, Lilac,” Boar said, his voice firm but gentle. He removed his mask, tossed it aside, and plucked his coat from where it hung on the peg by the door. “Your magic core is nearly tapped out. Stay here and watch over our guests. The Hall will protect you until we come back.”

“‘We?’” Allen echoed. “Boar, you’re staying here too.”

“As if I’m going to let the love of my life run headfirst into danger by himself?” Boar gave Allen’s cheek a patronizing pat. “Silly boy. I’m the most powerful witch here, magically and physically. You’ll need me more than you know. I’ll see if there are any tracks coming from the front.”

Then, without further discussion, Boar plunged into the night. Allen stepped past Lilac, wishing he could steal another moment just to hold her, but every second he wasted shortened Rose’s life.

Lilac seized his hand, not to wrench him back, but to propel herself forward beside him. The defiant look she challenged him with was a cool and calm as a mountain lake in the middle of winter. Her magic might be weak, but she wasn’t, and he had forgotten that.

“We’re in this together,” she told him crisply. “Our relationship isn’t going to be you telling me what I can or can’t do based on what you need. I need this too.” She poked him in the chest, hard. “I understand your instinct to protect me, but I am not a porcelain doll. Never was.”

Then she shucked her mask and beautiful dress, revealing lacy underwear in a color that matched her namesake.

Allen whipped his gaze to the ceiling. “Lilac, what are you—”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her snatch a set of thermal underwear from the cubbies beneath the coat pegs.

“And my mate ,” she continued, twisting up her long brown hair into a bun, “will not treat me like I’m something breakable to be put on a shelf and only taken down to play with when it’s convenient for him, understand?”

She zipped up a jacket next, then stuffed her satin drawstring purse into one of the pockets. Her feet stomped down into some boots, a quick yank tightening their laces. It wasn’t armor, but she was prepared to go to battle at his side.

Allen’s heart clenched. That had never been his intention, but he could see now how his actions had been interpreted that way. “Lilac, I’m s—”

“It was my love potion that got us into this mess, and I’m going to fix it. Besides”—she gave that imperious lift to her eyebrow—“who else is going to keep Boar from freaking out when you inevitably shift? ”

He yanked her in close and pressed a fierce kiss to her mouth imbued with all his apology, devotion, and more than just a little wonder at how he’d been so blessed to call her his own. “You’re absolutely right, sweet girl,” he whispered against her lips when their kiss ended. “I’m sorry. A wolf’s mate walks beside him, always . Thank you for reminding me.”

She maintained her cool demeanor, but her eyes sparkled. “You can thank me properly after we save my sister. Shall we?”