Like, jaw clenched and eyes burning. For me.
No, that was crazy. He’d probably just been miserable. Neither of us was in a place in our life where a relationship was a good idea. And he was leaving. There was no question that I would break this curse on him—for the first time in my life, I was truly confident of something. And when I did, he would go join his pack. But there was no way in hell I was leaving Charming Cove. It was home. I’d been here almost two weeks, and I knew it like I knew my own face.
When I woke, still hot from dreams of Rafe, I found him in the kitchen, having made the coffee. “Ready for a big day of home reno?” he asked.
“Beyond ready.” How had this become my life? Handsome man handing me coffee while being enthusiastic about building me a custom kitchen?
Frankly, I had no idea. But I was going to lean into it. Hard.
I took the coffee he gave me, then sipped. He looked perfect leaning on the counter, his jeans slung low on his hips and his worn T-shirt hugging his shoulders. He hadn’t yet put on shoes, and even his feet were attractive. That wasn’t fair. Frankly, I was pretty sure it wasn’t even natural.
I spun on my heel and marched toward the door.
“Don’t you want breakfast?” he called after me.
I turned back. “You made breakfast?”
“Well, yes. I’m a werewolf. We eat a lot.”
I nodded. “Right.” I just hadn’t expected him to make breakfast for me. “What is it?”
“Ham and egg sandwiches.”
One of my favorites, of course. But I didn’t want to play it too easy. I couldn’t get used to cozy breakfasts around the kitchen table with him. That way be heartbreak, I told myself in my most ridiculous internal pirate voice in order to make it less serious, but it didn’t work.
“Can I take it to go?”
“One step ahead of you.” He held up paper towels, which presumably he planned to wrap the sandwiches in.
Damn. He was perfect.
“Great.” I nodded, going for my best cool girl, I don’t care expression. He looked at me like I’d just passed gas, so I probably didn’t nail it. But he brought me the sandwich all the same, and I thanked him before scurrying away like the awkward mouse I was.
I didn’t wait for him because I needed a bit of space after the dreams I’d had. And though running away wouldn’t make him forget what a weirdo I’d been, a girl could hope.
As I climbed the hill, I ate my sandwich. It was delicious, and I should have expected that after the Bolognese he’d made. I needed to stop expecting him to be anything but perfect. Even his grumpy exterior was appealing to me.
I polished off my breakfast as I stepped through the front door. As usual, the house groaned its annoyance. I tilted my head and said, “That doesn’t sound as annoyed as the first time I walked in.”
In response, the floorboards shifted under my feet.
Right. Still too irritable to get contractors in, but I clung to the idea that things were improving.
I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath, calling upon Poa. I’d need her help with this, and she hadn’t been around at the boathouse. She appeared a few moments later, grumbling indistinctly.
“If you’d woken earlier, Rafe would have made you a sandwich,” I said.
You need to lock that one down, ASAP.
“Oh, shut up. We need to get to work.”
What are we doing?
“Testing out my new power on the house. I bet I can learn more about what’s bothering it.”
Lead the way. She sounded resigned, but I’d take it. Any time she cooperated, I was grateful.
I led her to the center of the house, then sat on the bare wood floor and gestured for her to climb into my lap. She grumbled as she did so but began purring as soon as her weight settled onto my legs.
I closed my eyes and pressed my hands to the floorboards, calling upon my magic. It was so much easier to access now—I didn’t even need help from crystals or other conduits for power. The Aurora Coven untangling my magic had made all the difference in the world.
Carefully, I began to study the enchantment that had been placed on the house. It was easier than it had been with Rafe, possibly because it was an inanimate object. Or maybe because the witch who had placed the spell hadn’t been as strong.
Whatever it was, visions began to bombard me. The process was similar to what had happened with Rafe, but I could see more detail, like a woman who—very strangely—reminded me of Judith. They looked nothing alike, but there was something similar in their mannerisms.
The images shifted to show the woman placing a glowing crystal into the walls of the house. She put it right on top of a crossbeam in the wall, then watched as a workman boarded it up and painted it over. When he was done, I swore I could still see the glow of the crystal. If I focused, I thought I could feel it as well.
Was that the heart of the spell? The heart of the house?
It had to be.
I needed to find it.
The vision faded, having shown me all it was meant to.
Well, that was interesting. Poa leapt off my lap, and I rose.
“You could see it, too?”
Yes. There was something familiar about that woman.
“She looked like Judith.”
Ah, lemon tree lady. If Poa could have grinned, she would have. She has a lovely sunroom and an excellent selection of treats.
“That’s where you’ve been while I’ve worked on the house?”
Of course. But do you think she knows more about this house than she’s saying?
“I think she’s more connected than I’d realized.” Whether Judith also realized that was the question. I’d need to make some time to talk to her.
But first, I wanted to locate that crystal. I walked throughout the house, trying to spot the wall where the crystal had been hidden. I found it to the right of the hearth that had coughed up dust on me, located in the distinct square depression in the wall that I’d seen in the image.
I laid my hand on the wall, and the outer edges of the depression glowed purple. I fed some of my magic into it, imagining the wood disappearing so that I could see inside.
It didn’t exactly disappear, but I did find the pressure release latch. When I pushed just right, a small square section of the wall popped open like a door. Heart pounding, I opened it fully.
Inside, the crystal glowed. It was surrounded by all sorts of debris, probably brought in by some long-ago rodent. I could feel its magic like a second heartbeat, and the house seemed to make a noise of protest.
“Don’t worry,” I said, “I’m not going to hurt anything. I’m just going to clean away the debris in here.” I didn’t know what it was—an old mouse nest, maybe?—so I got a pair of gloves and a bin liner and carefully cleaned out the cubbyhole, leaving the crystal sitting in a nice, open space.
The house seemed to sigh in relief.
“That must feel better, huh?” I asked.