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Chapter Thirteen

T he college wasn’t very populated at that time of year.

Only the students who took summer courses were there.

Magic users still practiced their skills in the courtyard.

A group stood near the fountain drinking coffee and chatting.

A girl pointed to the sky. In an instant, a daisy landed in her hand as if it had always been there.

She handed the flower to another girl, who blushed and took it with a smile.

“Wow. They’re using magic out in the open. That’s pretty bold.” Marric’s hand brushed Iven’s.

Iven wondered if Marric wanted to hold his hand. Instead of asking, Iven took Marric’s. He made sure his hold was loose, so Marric pull away if he wanted. But Marric smiled and laced their fingers together.

“Dinsmore College is warded and guarded against the unsuspecting. It caters to magic users, but there are other types of people going to school here, too.” Iven thought about saying something about Marric taking magic classes, but he didn’t want to assume Marric needed them.

It was just that Iven could feel the pent-up magic within Marric waiting to get out.

He doubted Marric was aware of it. “The college has magic classes. Even those for dark magic users.”

Iven could feel Marric’s gaze on him.

“Are you implying something?” He was, but he didn’t want Marric to know it.

He didn’t want Marric to think Iven had a judgement about his magical abilities.

It was a sensitive subject for most magic users.

Some saw ability level as weakness. Prejudice ran rampant.

It was senseless and unfortunate, but prevalent.

“I’m just saying Dinsmore College is a safe space for everyone.

The acceptance bleeds into Fortune Falls.

” Iven shrugged. “We have the occasional issue, but we’re more accepting than a lot of towns. ”

Marric drew his eyebrows together. “I wonder if the same could be said for Timeston.” But it didn’t sound like Marric had to wonder. It seemed he knew the answer already.

“I know the sheriff is a magic user.” Timeston’s sheriff was a witch who belonged to the local coven in Timeston. His magic was powerful, which was why Timeston’s residents voted him as sheriff. But he had his own agenda, which impeded his ability to do his job.

“The coven has never accepted Tory, Emery, and me. But my mother was a part of it until she got with my dad.” Marric shook his head. “After her accident and Tory’s murder, the coven didn’t even give their condolences. My dad is still pissed about it.”

“I’m sorry for your mom and sister.” Iven wasn’t sure what had happened to Marric’s mother. He could find out easily and dig around, but he’d rather hear it from Marric.

He knew a bit about Tory’s murder. He suspected the crime was solvable, but Sheriff Mattson let it go cold for reasons Iven didn’t understand. It made Iven wonder if maybe the coven had something to do with it.

Marric lay his head on Iven’s shoulder. “Thanks. With my mom, I want to say it was a long time ago, but I still miss her every day. It’s been difficult without her in ways I didn’t expect.

With Tory, it’s been even harder because we don’t know who killed her.

Dad is pissed at Mattson for not doing anything, but he can’t focus on it right now. Not with Emery and me being sick.”

“I’ve heard a bit about Tory’s murder.” He probably knew more about it then Marric. He could certainly find out what the cops in Timeston knew. “After we solve Hattie’s murder and figure out the cure for the curse, I’ll look into your sister’s case.”

Marric sucked in a breath. “Really?”

Iven nodded. It was the least he could do for Marric and his family. And Tory deserved to still be walking the earth, but the best Iven could do was help her find justice.

He had a ton of questions about Victoria Ransome and her last days on earth.

He made a mental note to write them down so he wouldn’t lose the direction his thoughts were going regarding her case.

He didn’t want to change the subject, but he wanted to know about the mom too.

“Do you mind me asking what happened to your mom?”

Iven let go of Marric’s hand and wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him closer.

“It happened five years ago. She was in the field checking fences. Someone had been cutting the wire. Three of our horses got out. Houdini wandered all the way to the neighbor’s property before we found him.

It had been an ongoing problem for months, so we all took turns checking fences several times a day.

All but Emery. She was too young at the time, although she could ride better than me even then.

” Marric smiled as if the memory of his sister riding horses was a good one.

“We found my mom in the back field. The coroner said she died of a broken neck. They called it an accident, but it seems wrong. My mom was an expert rider. No one was better than her. And Ginger, that was her horse, she was a cattle horse. The get-up-and-go type, but my mom was an ace at handling her.”

Iven’s inner investigator was tingling. It told him something about Marric’s mother’s death was as suspicious as the sister’s murder. But he wanted to hear Marric’s take on it. “So you don’t think it was an accident?”

“All I know is even if something spooked Ginger, Mom would have kept her seat.” Marric shook his head. “Ginger stayed with her, never leaving her side. The grass had been tall and hid her body. We wouldn’t have found her as quickly if not for the horse staying next to her the whole time.”

Marric seemed to suck in the emotion as if he didn’t want to let them loose while in a public setting. But there were hardly any students nearby and the few people who were around weren’t paying attention to them. Still, it was better for Marric if he allowed himself to cry.

When there was a little hiccup to Marric’s breath, Iven stopped walking and drew him over to a nearby bench. He pulled Marric onto his lap. Marric lay his head on Iven’s shoulder.

Iven conjured a dome around them so no one could see them. “You can feel your feelings now, honey. No one can see us.”

Marric buried his face in the crook of Iven’s neck. “ You’ll see me.”

Iven rubbed Marric’s back. “There’s nothing wrong with crying.”

Marric tightened his hold around Iven as if wanting to get closer. “My dad is tough. He would never cry.”

“I bet he does.” Iven would bet Kinnison Ransome cried the day his mate died and especially after his daughter died. Maybe he cried with worry over Marric and his younger daughter. Iven would if he were in Kinnison’s shoes.

Iven would do everything in his power to find out what had happened to Marric and fix it before it was too late.

But he’d look into the mother and sister’s death for Marric’s whole family.

Especially for Kinnison’s sake because he’d want someone to do the same for him.

Kinnison deserved to know what happened to his family members.

Marric sniffled, so Iven pulled a travel pack of tissues out of his pocket and handed it to Marric.

Marric let out a watery chuckle. “Are you always prepared for everything?”

“You don’t want to know how often I encounter people in their most vulnerable and emotional state.

” It was a daily occurrence, especially during domestic violence calls.

“Last week Velma Horace wandered out of her house and got lost four blocks over. She was in her nightgown. I’m pretty sure she has dementia or something similar, considering that wasn’t the first time.

And two days ago, Butch McGraff was naked in his garage with the door wide open, working on his motorcycle.

I had to give a tissue to Cass after the call came in because he was laughing so hard. ”

Marric chuckled again. “Not laughing at the lady with dementia. I feel terrible for her. But the naked mechanic is hilarious.”

Iven chuckled too. “Butch doesn’t even do it because he has memory problems or he’s just old. I mean, he is old, but he just doesn’t give a shit. He says it’s too hot in his garage for clothing and bitches about how he should have put AC in a long time ago. He rubs motor oil on his body.”

Marric playfully slapped Iven’s shoulder. “He does not.”

“Hand to the gods, yes, he does.” Iven laughed even harder. “I thought Cass was going to piss himself when he saw Butch all greased up.”

Marric shook with laughter. It took a while for him to sober up. “Thank you.”

Iven wasn’t sure what Marric was thanking him for, but it didn’t matter. It was his pleasure. “You’re welcome, honey.”

Marric buried his face in Iven’s neck again. “What if we can’t fix it?”

“I’ll solve this. I promise.” It was a lofty promise, but Iven would follow through. The alternative was unthinkable.

“But what if we don’t?”

“We will.” The longer they sat there, the more Marric played the what-if game. It would get them nowhere.

Iven lifted Marric onto his feet and stood.

Marric was small enough for it to be easy for Iven to lift him.

Iven could carry Marric around if he wanted to.

He doubted Marric would like that. He had a feeling Marric was an independent and headstrong person who wouldn’t like help under normal circumstances.

Being as sick as he was, changed him a bit.

Iven took down the dome and then pulled Marric along toward the library. He kissed Marric on his temple. “We’re taking actionable steps to put the puzzle together. That’s what’s going to save you and your sister.”

Marric smiled. “I believe you.”

“We’re not sitting around, hanging onto hope here, honey. We’re figuring it out.”

“By going to the library?”

“By gathering information.” Iven had a few more questions to ask Marric and he would, but after they finished at the archives department.

“We got a call about a stolen book recently. It was a book on dark magic. One of the oldest texts in existence.” Iven wasn’t sure why he dropped that little fun fact.

“So I’m not the only one who has ever stolen a book, then?” Marric smirked.

Iven chuckled. “I didn’t want you to feel alone.”

“Shouldn’t you arrest me or something? You never really did anything, even though you know I’m the one who broke into all those houses.”

Iven raised his eyebrows and met Marric’s gaze. “Do you want me to put you in handcuffs?”

Marric grinned. “Maybe.”

Iven had never been into the handcuff kink, but he might make an exception with Marric. “You don’t look like a criminal.”

“Yeah? Well, you don’t act like a cop. And you’re too hot to be a sheriff.”

“And you’re too pretty to be a criminal.” Marric had delicate features. His dark eyes had a soft quality to them. It was in complete contrast to Marric’s criminality. He wasn’t hardened enough. If anything, he was sensitive.

Marric’s cheeks turned pink. “We’re not very good at insults.”

“Was that what we were doing?”

Marric shrugged. “The sheriff part was supposed to be one.”

Iven raised his eyebrows. “Why do you think being the sheriff would insult me?”

“Timeston’s sheriff is an old man.”

“Oh, so you’re really calling me old.” That part wasn’t insulting either. Most days Iven felt a little more than his years, but Marric made him feel young.

“You’re older than me.” Marric’s blush deepened, and he drew his eyebrows together.

“Is that a problem for you?” It wasn’t for Iven. Riley and Cass made Iven realize age was just a number.

Marric’s soul seemed older than his years suggested even though he looked younger than he was.

That might have been because he’s had it kind of rough, what with his mother and sister dying and then having to find a solution to his and his sister’s curse.

It could have been the fact he was a farm kid, too.

He’d had responsibilities his whole life, taking care of the animals and the fields.

It didn’t sound like Marric had a lot of time to get into trouble the way normal kids do.

And then his mother died, and he had to help co-parent his sister after his older sister died.

“I don’t know, honestly. You make it easy to like you and you seriously are hot. I wasn’t joking about that part. You have this silver fox thing going on that’s very…yummy.”

Iven didn’t remember the last time he blushed.

Embarrassment went out the window a long time ago, but it especially hadn’t been a thing since Griffin named his business Palmer’s Handyjobs.

Griffin even answered the phone by saying the business name and then “This is Sheriff Palmer’s kid”.

But he’d felt the heat creep up his neck when Marric called him yummy.

Marric met his gaze with a smile. “I can tell you don’t see yourself that way.”

“I don’t think about how I look that much.” Iven didn’t have time to worry about things like attractiveness. That aspect of himself had never been important.

“That makes you even hotter.”

“Iven didn’t see how it would, but he wasn’t complaining. Having an attraction to each other was necessary if they were going to mate bond. “So tell me the downside to the age difference.”

“Having things in common. And you possibly getting bored.” That was about as direct as it came. It stung a little because they were legitimate concerns. Marric, being the one to voice them, solidified how wise beyond his years he really was.

“We won’t know what we have in common until we get to know each other better. Some things transcend age.”

“Like what?” There went that smirk again.

“Like watching or playing sports, for example. Movies. Books. Walks on the beach. Sunsets.”

“I don’t watch or play sports. But I like all those other things.”

“I watch hockey. Griffin played in high school.”

“I’ve never seen a game.”

“Would you like to go? There’s a minor league team about an hour from here. We could catch a home game sometime.”

“Should I put it on my bucket list, since I’m dying?” Marric’s joke fell flat mostly because Iven didn’t want to entertain the idea of it actually happening. He’d do everything in his power to prevent the curse from taking its toll.

“I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Marric leaned into Iven, needing comfort. “Well, I still have a bucket list. But only one thing is on it.”

“What’s that, honey?” Iven pulled him closer, tucking him under his arm.

“I want a kiss from the sheriff. On the lips. Under the stars.”

Iven smiled. “What are you doing Friday evening?”

“If I’m not sick?”

“Yeah.”

“Nothing much. Why?”

“Would you go on a date with me?” It had been a long time since he’d asked anyone on a date. He fell out of practice.

“I would love that.” Marric smiled as he met Iven’s gaze.

Iven kissed his forehead. He’d made Marric happy simply by asking him out. It suddenly became Iven’s lot in life to make Marric happy every moment of every day.