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“The initial attack is our weakest point. We have only hearsay. At best, we have circumstantial evidence of his involvement with Elaine. Apparently, a coffee shop downtown caught them on camera when they got coffee together once.” Terra scowled.

“If we can get Cherry Young to testify, we think her story will include more details to further condemn him, but she won’t speak.

Dae Kang agreed to testify only if Cherry Young does and if he does, maybe his brother can fill in the gaps even further. ”

Anya leaned against the island as she sipped her coffee. “Well, he tortured her for weeks. It’s surprising she’s gaining as much traction as she has over the last couple of days.”

Terra nodded her acknowledgement. “At least we have the alphas testifying, Stone will give our story since Alessandro wasn’t present when it happened, your father will give his when Hye iced his whole kingdom and you’re still giving your account of every time you showed up, right?”

The note of trepidation in Terra’s voice surprised Rowan. “Of course.”

Terra winced at Alessandro’s growl of disapproval. “I don’t mean to doubt you, but—we’ve never had to rely on anyone outside of the Thunder to take care of our issues. It’s….”

“Humbling.” Phineas stared up at Rowan through thick, dark eyelashes. “But you’re part of the Thunder now, so if we go down, you go down with us.”

Anya gave him a swift slap on the back of the head. “Why don’t you just fall back to sleep, old man?”

Phineas rubbed the back of his head, pouting up at his mate.

“He’s not wrong, Terra, I won’t let you down,” Rowan said softly, reaching a hand out to her.

Terra smiled and was about to reach out before Alessandro, who had Rowan perched on his lap as she conversed with his family, pulled her away.

Terra rolled her eyes. “Look, when the hard part is over, why don’t you two leave for a week or two? Let Stone try to handle things solo and you two can focus on settling the mark?”

Rowan grinned. “I think a month is more realistic.”

Alessandro let out a sound that reminded Rowan of a purr as he stabbed a few sausages on his fork and brought them to her lips.

“Please, I’m already feeling ill,” Terra groaned, taking another whiff of her coffee to settle her stomach.

Rowan could hardly believe she was sick of them as she’d caught her staring at them more than once with an incredible softness that confirmed Terra loved Alessandro only as a brother.

Anya tsked and brought out a bottle of dark brown liquid with a hint of maroon at its center that Rowan recognized as ambrosia laced whiskey.

“Dear. Have mercy.” Phineas groaned from his daughter’s side, still unable to lift his head from the island.

“The only way to clear a hangover is with the hair of the dog. You two overindulged, so now you must pay the price for not knowing your limit.” Anya’s voice was nearly singing as she poured five shot glasses.

“I knew I liked you.” Rowan beamed as Anya passed her two servings.

“Remind me to never leave you two alone.” Alessandro reached for his glass before Rowan could take both of them for herself. “You’ll drink the kingdom dry.”

Anya’s laugh was joy as she shoved her husband’s and daughter’s share in front of them. “To our new queen consort and our king.”

Terra and Phineas groaned as they raised their glasses, nearly sobbing.

Chapter 23

“I only need twenty minutes.” Rowan tried to reassure an irate Alessandro, who was glaring at her through the mirror.

“I can go.” He tried to state rather than ask.

It was really such a shame that Rowan, a professional at getting her way, knew how to curb this attempt.

“If you wait, I will take you on a proper date.”

His irritation fizzled out to fresh incredulity. “A date?”

Rowan turned on her vanity stool and raised an eyebrow. “Yes. You know we go out, get to know each other, get really lucky later on?”

He steadied his thunderous red gaze on her as he put a contemplative hand on his chin. “I’ll wait, but I want to plan the date.”

She sighed and raised her hands in surrender. “Oh, okay, if you must.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Did you just trick me?”

She grinned, standing on the tips of her toes and laying a kiss on his chin. “I’ll be back, okay?”

He growled. “Fine. But only twenty minutes. I still don’t trust the witch.”

She held a pinky up and he glanced at it, confused.

“Oh, come on! No way you don’t know what a pinky promise is!”

“I’ve never made one.” His sincerity melted her heart a little.

She shaped his pinky into a hook and connected her own to his.

When the world reformed, Rowan found herself in front of a black Victorian-style home so out of place in the middle of a cookie cutter suburb neighborhood.

She stepped forward and laid a palm against the barrier she could see as clearly as if it were solid with the aid of Odin’s Eye.

She shot a tendril of magic at it to let the witch know she stood right outside.

The door creaked open of its own volition.

There was a certain smell of moths and flame that Rowan associated with Chloe and Master Japhet’s home, but as she walked past the threshold, Rowan realized it might be all witches who carried this scent.

Her heels clicked as she walked through a cozy, dimly lit living room, past a set of curving stairs and into what she assumed was the kitchen of the home.

Cherry was lighting a cauldron when Rowan set her eyes on her.

The last time Rowan had seen the witch, she’d been a bloody mess, her face unrecognizable from Barros’ strikes.

Miasma had never failed to erase every trace of Rowan’s most troubling wounds; a deep slice that had reached bone after one of her most intense spars with Axel came to mind.

It was therefore a testament of the dire conditions the witch had been in as scars of her attack were still present even weeks after Miasma’s treatment.

To Rowan, it didn’t detract from the beauty Cherry Young held. In fact, it seemed to deepen her allure. There was now a certain air of mystery to her, a certain power.

“You’re a week late. I was wondering if I’d have to go through with my promise.” Cherry spoke without even a single glance up.

Rowan placed the leather-bound book down on the cluttered counter, “Wouldn’t want you to flex your fragile power just yet, Ms. Young. Sorry it’s later than promised. Life got in the way.”

Cherry shrugged her shoulders, “So the news reports say. Every. Single. Day. You’re making a name for yourself, Ms. Dahl. Do you know how much more powerful you could’ve been under our tutelage?”

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.

“How?” Cherry demanded.

“Confidential.” Rowan shrugged.

“So there are no more instances of rage lust occurring?” Cherry’s brows knitted together in confusion.

“We found out why there was an increase and we took care of it, but no, we didn’t stop the instances of rage lust completely. We’re working on it.”