Page 33 of Wicching Hour (The Sea Wicche Chronicles #3)

THIRTY-THREE

You’re Shopping?

“T he other six could be black wicches or some other type of supernatural,” Bracken said.

Ugh. He was right. Sorcerers and black wicches would read as dark. Black magic fed on blood and pain to power spells. Sorcerers added demons to the mix. As for other supernaturals, who knew?

“Wait.” I pointed at one of the dots on her map. “Is that an address?”

Orla nodded. “That was a normal house with an address. I memorized it so I could write it down when I shifted. Four of them were structures I could almost see. The warding was strong. The last two were hidden completely. I couldn’t see anything but felt nauseated when I flew near. I had to pass over multiple times before I realized what I was feeling was a ward that didn’t just hide, it shoved me away.”

“These two?” I pointed at her map. When she nodded, I compared them to the queen’s map. “The queen’s scout picked those two spots as well.” I grabbed Declan’s wrist and squeezed. “We have two locations.”

“And five more to keep on eye on,” Bracken warned.

I nodded. “I’ll text Osso and ask him to find out who owns that one property we have an address for.”

“He’ll do that?” he asked.

“With all the work I do for them for free? They can look up addresses for me.” I turned back to Orla. “Thank you so much. This is amazing.” I glanced at the kitchen. “Can I get you something to eat? I know this is normally your sleeping time, but I’m sure you’re hungry. Maybe some tea?”

She was feeling overwhelmed, and I wasn’t making it easier for her. “Declan, can you show Jake and Tyler the gallery while I get Orla something to eat?”

“Refreshments,” Orla muttered with a nod.

“Sure.” Declan waved the men with him and then went through the door into the gallery.

“Holy shit!” Tyler breathed as the door closed.

“I’m sorry, Orla. I didn’t mean to bombard you. I just wanted to thank you, and I often do that through my baking. I brew an excellent cup of tea too. If you want to sit down with Bracken, I’ll pull together some food.”

I couldn’t see what was going on behind the dark glasses, but she finally nodded and sat. While they spoke quietly about the maps, Bracken holding all three in his hand, I went through the refrigerator and freezer, pulling out muffins and brownies, sourdough rolls and pecan lace cookies. I had no idea what she liked and wanted her to be happy.

I placed the heaping platter of warmed baked goods and napkins on the coffee table before going back to brew tea. When I returned with three mugs, I was happy to see them both eating.

Orla took the mug with a nod of thanks. “Your baking is far superior to my local bakery. Perhaps I should come buy from you instead.”

“Nope,” I said. “Your money is no good here. After what you’ve done for us? You can come by for baked goods any time you feel like it.”

She sat stiffly a moment and then nodded with a shy smile. “I’d like that very much.”

“So it shall be written. So it shall be done,” I proclaimed.

“Is that a spell?” she asked.

Bracken tapped his chin. “I believe she’s quoting Yul Brynner in The Ten Commandments .” At Orla’s blank look, he explained, “It’s an old movie. He was Pharaoh Rameses.” He waited for an expression of understanding. “Arwyn meant that the offer of baked goods was decided.”

Orla nodded. “I see. I’m afraid I’m quite tired. I’ve been going to bed late so I could scout. The food and tea have helped, but I should get going. I don’t want to fall asleep on the drive home.”

“Oh, let me,” Bracken said. “I just purchased a new vehicle and would be happy to drive you home. We wouldn’t want you to get hurt.” He stood and looked around, patting his pockets. He handed me the two accurate maps, folding his back into his journal. “You should hold on to those, safe behind your wards.”

“Good idea,” I said, slipping them into my pocket. “Orla, let me get you some food to take with you.” I filled up a container and snapped it shut. “These are fine in the freezer for a bit. You don’t have to worry about eating it all right away—unless you want to.”

I handed her the container. Bracken led her out and down the deck to his Bronco. Deciding werewolves were always up for more food, I took what was left on the platter and brought it into the gallery.

The men appeared to be shopping. Tyler held up a vase and Jake nodded. Tyler handed it off to Declan, who added it to a collection of pieces at the cash wrap.

“Jake, you were too busy being grumpy earlier. Would you like something to eat now?” I held up the platter.

Declan walked over and snagged a muffin. “I saw Bracken and Orla walk by. Everything okay?”

I nodded. “Yep. The poor thing has been missing sleep to scout for us. This is way past an owl’s bedtime. Bracken is driving her home so she doesn’t fall asleep behind the wheel.”

“Good.” He finished the muffin in two bites.

Jake and Tyler walked over, Jake holding one of my big wave bowls. The glaze on the inside was an iridescent blue-green. The outside of the bowl base was a matte black, so the wave appeared to be hanging in space.

“Okay,” Tyler said, “I thought you were an adorable little badass before, but now? Holy crap. You’re an artistic genius! Everywhere I look, I see something I desperately want in my home so I can marvel at it for decades to come.”

“Thank you.” I held out the platter, embarrassed by the praise. “Muffin?”

Grinning, he took two in his large hand and gave Jake one.

I looked again at what they had accumulated on the counter. “Um, you guys know my stuff is expensive, right?” I grimaced, feeling like an idiot. This is why other people needed to handle selling my stuff.

“We have money,” Jake growled, taking a bite and pausing, his eyes closing.

Tyler noticed Jake’s reaction too and said, “I told you,” to him before winking at me. He picked up one of the pecan lace cookies. “Ooh, pretty.” He took a bite and then grabbed a handful off my platter, passing one to Jake.

“I was thinking,” I said to Declan. “I’m going to need more chairs for tonight. Do you have any or should I find a party rental—no. Mom has chairs. If I tell her about the dinner and the planning, though, she’ll want to be involved. Which, now that I think about it, makes sense. I got the feeling, though, that Aunt Elizabeth wanted it to just be her family at this, like there are some things she’s not comfortable sharing with the whole class.”

“You’re a member of the Council,” Declan said, “so that’s covered. Your Gran basically put you in charge of hunting down a sorcerer, which is…” He shook his head. “I say go with the original plan and if we decide on something tonight, you can tell your Mom and Gran afterward. You can’t tell someone it’s their job and then expect a say every step of the way.”

“Maybe you can’t,” I said, patting his arm, “but they definitely can.” I started preparing excuses in my head as to why they were left out. “Okay, just us. So, chairs?”

Declan nodded. “Some are folding chairs, but I should be able to find—what—seven, right?”

I nodded. “You, me, Aunt Elizabeth, Uncle Robert, Frank, Faith, and Great-Uncle Bracken.”

“Do you want us patrolling the gallery?” Tyler asked.

Jake gave him a sharp look, but Tyler just grinned. Jake glared at his partner for a count of three and then relaxed into a nod.

“Fine,” Jake grumbled.

Declan wrapped an arm around me. “Thank you.”

“That’d be great,” I said, “but it’s pretty short notice. Are you available to be here tonight?”

Tyler nodded. “I even packed us a bag so we can stay down here for a few days.”

Jake’s brows drew together again. “When did you do that?”

“While you were showering. There’s a duffle in the truck box.” Tyler looked over at Declan. “I had a good feeling about you. You’re not Alexander, but that’s not all bad. Your dad was a good man and a powerful wolf, but there’s no way he would have mated himself to a wicche. He basically disowned his son Michael, who should have succeeded him as Alpha, for marrying a wicche.” He paused, eyes widening. “Wait.” He pointed at me. “Your aunt?”

I nodded. “My Aunt Bridget. Apparently, when I was about three-ish, I went up to them at their engagement party to tell them they’d have a daughter and that I was sad they’d both die.”

Tyler put his hand over his mouth. “Oh, no.”

“Oh, yes,” I said. “That was my first prophesy. Afterward, I asked my mom for gloves. I didn’t like seeing my poor Aunt Bridget being torn apart by a demon. Let’s just say it put a damper on the party. It also became clear that I was in fact a Cassandra wicche.”

“Wow,” Tyler said, shaking his head. “Anyway, back to my point.” He looked at Declan. “Alexander appreciated our strength and loyalty to him. We were pack. Personally, though, he didn’t want to know about us as a mated pair.” He glanced at Jake and then back. “I could be wrong, but you seem to have his strength without his closed-minded arrogance.”

Declan didn’t say anything for a moment. “You know more about him than I do. They were both killed when I was small. I have feelings of warmth and love at the thought of them, but I don’t have any specific memories of either of them.”

“Let me look through albums,” Jake said. “I’m sure we have pictures we can give you.”

I felt Declan’s heart race.

“Do you?” He swallowed. “Thank you very much.”

Jake nodded.

“We can go to my place and look for chairs. Jake, Tyler, I have an apartment over my workshop and retail space. I’m still mid-construction, so it isn’t furnished, but it’s all yours until the bodyguarding job is done. It’ll save you time driving up and back to the Big Sur mountains.”

“Sounds good,” Tyler said, nodding at his partner.

“Well, wait until you see it before you decide.” Declan turned back to me and my empty platter. “Are you good to go?”

“Yup.” I went back through the studio door. “Let me put this down and grab my backpack.”

Declan’s property was quite literally across the road and down maybe three hundred yards.

Tyler pointed to their loot. “What about?”

“I can get it when we come back. It all needs a lot of wrapping so nothing breaks on the way home. And the gallery is only open on the weekends, so no one will be in to move your things.”

We filed onto the deck and I flicked my fingers to lock the gallery up. Leaning over the railing, I called, “You’re in charge, Cecil. I’m going over to Declan’s for a bit.”

Tyler waited to see if anything happened. Sure enough, Cecil’s orange tentacle slapped the surface. Shaking his head and grinning, Tyler followed me to the parking lot. Already, Jake and Tyler had split up, one in front of me and one behind.

I really hoped we’d be able to come up with a plan tonight. As much as I liked Jake and Tyler, I didn’t want them following me around all the time. A girl needs to have some secrets.