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Thirteen

ELSPETH

“ W hat is he doing here?” I hissed to Adelaide, tipping my head toward Draven Darkstone, water bucket in hand. I needed to go refill it in the brook, but unfortunately, Mr. Darkstone happened to be standing right near it, and I preferred to stay as far away from that unpleasant man as possible.

“I guess he accompanied Elm.” Adelaide waved at Elm, who stood with Mama.

Oh, Witch Superior. Mama was chattering away. I hoped she wasn’t embarrassing us. Whenever any eligible men came around, Mama tended to lose her senses. It wasn’t her fault. She was so desperate to see this curse broken, and she so badly wanted all of us to get married. It just had never worked out.

Auggie and Prue were still young. Yes, they were technically of marriageable age, but only in the last few years.

As for Adelaide and me... Adelaide was painfully shy and introverted, while I almost had gotten married. To Johanes. After his betrayal, I swore I’d never fall for another man—much to Mama’s disappointment. But that didn’t stop her from grabbing random men and parading them in front of us constantly, and it always ended in disaster one way or another.

Mama just wanted us to be able to use our magic, our birthright, but that also meant she became overbearing at times.

I met Draven’s glowering gaze. “Why is he just glaring at me?” I whispered to Adelaide, shooting him a scathing look right back.

We descended the steps to the marshy grass surrounding the cottage.

Adelaide leaned over. “Probably because you barged into his tavern and insulted him in front of everyone?”

“He deserved it.”

“Can you please be nice?” Adelaide asked, turning her pleading gaze on me.

“I’ll try,” I mumbled as we approached.

“Adelaide, where have you been?” Mama reached out and reeled my sister to her. “Elm is here to see you.”

Draven stood there mute, unsmiling. Being rude. It was one thing to mistreat me. But to be rude to my family for no reason at all? My fists balled at my sides, nails digging into my palms.

“Come see what we’ve done with the cottage so far!” Mama grabbed Elm’s arm and dragged him away, Adelaide following and shooting me a helpless look.

She mouthed, “Be nice,” before disappearing into the cottage. I was so tired of everyone always telling me to be nice like I was some heathen who didn’t know how to behave.

I set my bucket down by the brook and straightened. “Mr. Darkstone.”

“Ms. Moonflower,” he responded in a monotone voice.

“To what do we owe your presence?”

“I’m here with my friend.”

“Friend?” I echoed, looking between the cottage and Draven. “Elm is your friend?”

“My best friend, actually.” Draven stepped forward, his boots splashing in the water. “Which means if he’s courting your sister, you’re going to be seeing a lot of me around here.”

I mustered a strained smile. “Perfect.”

What rotten luck. It was one thing to know we’d have to see Draven around town, but to know I’d have to see him all the time was unbearable.

“And believe me.” Draven took another step forward, leaning down so that his scent of cedarwood, leather, and ale surrounded me. “I will be watching,” he whispered, his breath warm on my neck.

I inhaled deeply. It had been a long time since I’d been close enough to a man to smell him, to be enveloped by his scent. Then his words hit me, and I jolted backward. “What is that supposed to mean?”

He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Just that I’m very curious about the Moonflower witches and what brought you to Thistlegrove, what brought you to Elm.”

I scoffed, reaching down to pick up my bucket. “What are you implying, exactly?”

“Is there something I should be implying?” Draven asked.

“You’re an exhausting man. Has anyone ever told you that?”

“No, but you continue to enlighten me about my own persona. Please, tell me more about myself.”

I glared at him. “I don’t want to think any more about you. In fact, I’d be happy to never think about you again.”

He raised his brows. “Oh, so you do think about me?”

I knelt down, dipping my bucket into the little stream as water splashed inside of it. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

“Believe me, I’m not.”

“If anything, most of my thoughts revolve around that flying mug doing its job and hitting you in the head. Maybe that would knock some kindness into you. And good sense.”

His jaw ticked, and I found myself pleased that I’d gotten to him yet again.

I let the water flow into the bucket, then came to a stand, facing Draven, who was still glaring at me. The handle of my now-full bucket rested in the crook of my arm, the bucket propped against my hip.

Witch’s tits, this thing was heavy, and I was tempted to walk away, but the allure of making Draven’s jaw tick again was too tempting.

“Is there something else you’d like? Or are you going to stand here and glare at me all day? Some of us have work to do, Mr. Darkstone.”

“I own a tavern,” he gritted out .

I nodded at his clothing, as fine as Elm’s with no wear or tear, no stains, the material spider silk, which was incredibly expensive and rare.

“Yes, well your tavern must do very well,” I said.

A tavern owner shouldn’t have that much wealth that he could afford such clothing. Definitely a far cry from our simple dresses, made from cotton bugs, little insects who grew cotton on their backs, then dispelled the cotton on the ground when it got too heavy to carry. The cotton provided protection from predators, and the bugs grew large balls of it over and over throughout their lifespan. It was free to harvest but time-consuming. Nevertheless, it was our best, and cheapest, option for clothing. Auggie was actually a very talented seamstress, and she made the majority of our clothes with the guidance and help of Mama.

“What does it matter to you how well my tavern does?” Draven asked, gaze narrowing in a way that made me shift on my feet.

And this bucket was getting heavier and heavier. I grimaced, shifting it over to my other hip. “It doesn’t. You just don’t dress like a tavern owner. But it’s none of my business,” I said quickly, wishing I’d kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to notice anything about him, and I certainly didn’t want him noticing anything about me.

“Well if you need recommendations on a tailor, let me know.” His gaze trailed over my worn green dress, patches covering various rips and holes.

My cheeks turned pink at the reminder of our cheap clothing. “I think that’s enough for today,” I said quietly, the bucket weighing more heavily than ever.

Draven’s glare softened for just a moment. “I can carry the bucket.” His voice was gruff as he gestured to it.

As if I would let him do anything for me. He’d probably hold it over my head every time we ran into each other, which seemed like it would be more often than I wanted.

“No thank you,” I said, the bucket wavering so that water sloshed over the side.

He scoffed and planted his hands on his hips. “Just let me help you.” He reached for the bucket, and I stepped away from him.

“No.”

I was now leaning over, the bucket drooping more and more. Why was it so damn heavy ?

He stepped forward and grabbed the handle. “You are stubborn to a fault. I’m trying to help you so you don’t drop this water all over yourself.”

“Like you care.” I jerked away, more of the water sloshing out.

“I’m trying to be nice,” he said, his grip still tight on the handle.

“Well, I’d say it’s too late for that.”

I tried to back away but stumbled over a rock in the stream. Before I knew it, I was falling over backward, bucket flying up in the air, and Draven Darkstone was falling along with me, landing right on top of me.

Icy cold water sloshed down my back, my vision splitting as I looked up at the canopies above. Draven’s heavy body, his intoxicating scent, was once again overwhelming me.

“Why do you keep falling on me?” I murmured, not having the strength to shove him off this time as the cold paralyzed me.

“Elspeth!” Mama called. “What has gotten into you?”

A flurry of activity rushed around us, two hands hauling Draven off of me.

“Oh, Mr. Darkstone, I must apologize on behalf of my daughter.” Mama fussed over Draven as Adelaide pulled me to my feet. Mama wiped excess water from Draven’s clothes, patting down his sleeves. “I can clean your silk shirt for you, if you’d like?” Mama asked.

“That won’t be necessary,” Draven said, green eyes on me.

I raised my chin, trying to summon any dignity I could while I stood there, dress completely soaked through and plastered to my body.

“We should go,” Elm said, shooting a concerned look between me and Draven.

“Yes,” Draven said, his gaze still not leaving me. “Good day.”

With that he nodded, and he and Elm walked off, disappearing into the forest.