“Eamon, what are you not telling me?”
“Why do you think I’m not telling you something?”
“Because I can read the look on your face,” she told him, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms over her chest. “It’s not surprising to me that you, a human without magical powers, can’t face a group of immensely powerful you-know-whats without help, but something about the way you said you can’t defeat them on your own…I can just tell. There’s more than what you’ve told me, and if it’s something that puts my family in further danger, then I need to know what it is.”
Eamon reached for his beer again, taking a sip. “There’s nothing that’s putting your family in danger that I haven’t told you about. I promise. I’m just not used to needing outside help for a case. That’s all.”
“You swear to me?”
He looked her dead in the eye. “There is nothing that puts you in danger that you don’t know about.”
It still wasn’t entirely the answer that she wanted, but for the moment at least, she let the subject drop. “Then can we please find this woman that theoretically is here and can help us save the world from the you-know-whats?”
“What’s a you-know-what, Momma?” Rachel asked, tuning back into the adult conversation. “Is it an animal?”
“It’s a surprise,” Autumn said, ruffling the girl’s hair. “Come on, you two. It’s time to go walk around and see more of Sete Cidades!”
“Yay!” Anna and Rachel both got up excitedly, helping to carry their dishes back to the counter. There were very few other people in the little café, but those who were eating their own lunches smiled at the foursome, and Autumn knew that they likely thought they were all a family.
One big, happy family.
It had been a long time since she’d had that feeling, and enjoying it briefly brought her a sudden pang in her chest over Robert. It had only been a few years. Didn’t her marriage deserve more time in mourning than that?
Chapter Twenty-One
Eamon
It was as though both Eamon and Autumn sensed together that the vacation part of their whirlwind trip was over. They’d had a few hours of fun that morning, but now the pressure of their mission and the jetlag were combining to change the mood entirely. As they walked through the streets of Sete Cidades, trying to get their bearings and locate some of the places that American visitors might visit, it was only the girls whose spirits were still high, despite their sleeplessness.
“Check in there?” Autumn pointed to a small grocer’s coming up on their left as they walked. “Everyone needs groceries, right? Are we going to need groceries while we’re here? Where are we staying? I’m concerned that the girls are going to hit the wall of exhaustion without warning, and sooner rather than later. Maybe it makes sense for me to take them somewhere they can get some sleep, while you keep looking around. It’s just—it’s been an hour and we haven’t found any leads yet.”
Eamon pulled out his phone and texted her the information for the bed and breakfast that he’d booked for them. “Go ahead. I got us a place here in town. It can’t be far. Take care of the girls, and I’ll keep looking.”
“Mommy, I’m tired,” Rachel said, as though right on cue. She gave a big yawn, stretching her arms out. “Can I have my new doll back when we get to the hotel?”
“No, sweetie. The doll was broken. I’ll get you a different one when we get back, okay?” Autumn looked up at Eamon, scanning his face as she often did when she was checking in on him. “I know you must be exhausted. I don’t want to just abandon you here, but the girls…”
“I’m fine,” he assured her. “I’ll keep looking for a while longer and join you later. You and the girls have your own room, so I won’t disturb you when I come in.”
Their eyes held for another long moment, and Eamon had to hold back the powerful urge that he had to draw her slight body to him and kiss away the circles under her eyes and the worried frown that curved her perfect lips downward. His fingers itched to reach for her, but he took a purposeful step back, trying to put enough distance between them that the constant sizzle of desire would recede into the background.
It never worked, though, and he had to just force himself to turn away, looking around the small town again. He pointed to the left. “The bed and breakfast should be right down that way. It’s paid for. Just give them my name.”
“Thank you,” Autumn said, reaching out to touch his arm.
That sizzle moved through him again, and he gripped her hand hard, glancing at the girls to make sure they were thoroughly distracted with the flowers they had found on the side of the street before turning Autumn’s hand over, brushing his thumb against her palm, and then pressing a kiss to the same spot.
He didn’t meet her eyes as he dropped her hand and nodded in the direction he’d pointed out to her. “Off you go then.”
Autumn hurried the girls off toward the bed and breakfast, and Eamon stood where he was, purposefully not watching them walk away. He blew out a breath, dragged his hand over his hair, and scanned the town for some sort of inspiration as to where to go next.
“I think you’re looking for me.”
The voice came from behind him, where Autumn and the girls had just been, and Eamon didn’t turn immediately. Given his experience in the forest, he wasn’t sure there would be an actual person standing behind him if he did turn.
“This isn’t a trick.”
That’s what someone who was tricking him would say, but Eamon did turn around, not reacting as he came face to face with the owner of the voice, despite the fact that she was utterly gorgeous, by anybody’s standards. Though clearly older than Eamon, she radiated beauty, with long, wavy blonde hair that fell to her waist, perfectly symmetrical features, a delicate nose, plump lips, wide, luminous blue eyes, and a perfectly curvaceous body. She had an ethereal look about her, which made her seem almost out of place in her dark-wash skinny jeans and burgundy button-down blouse. She looked as though she would be more natural in a medieval gown of silken material brocaded with gold thread, and perhaps a crown sitting atop those waves of hair.
“Nova Oliveira.”
“Eamon Cleary.”
“How did you know I was looking for you?”
She lifted a shoulder, sliding her hands into the front pockets of her jeans, though Eamon wasn’t sure how there was any extra room there for even her tiny hands. “I have people who keep me informed of such things. And I sensed you the moment you landed. You didn’t come alone though.”
“No.”
“Your companions are human. The woman knows very little about the world we live in, and the children nothing at all,” Nova said, tilting her head as she watched him. “I can be a shock to those who aren’t prepared.”
“I’m a little shocked.”
Nova laughed slightly, a faint, tinkling sound. “Thank you.”
“Don’t take it as a compliment,” Eamon said, getting a strange feeling that if he was believed to be complimenting Nova, it was somehow a betrayal or undercutting of Autumn. “I mean that you look more supernatural than anyone I’ve ever seen. How do you pass for a human?”
“I am human.”
“You know what I mean.”
Nova smiled, lifting one delicate shoulder. “I am considered beautiful. People who don’t want to see more, or who don’t know to see more, don’t. They interpret what they feel radiating from me strictly as beauty.”
“Well, they couldn’t mistake it for humility.”
This time when Nova laughed, it was a full, rich sound. “I like your bluntness, Eamon Cleary. I’ve been keeping an eye on you today. I wasn’t sure that I would help you, when I first heard that you were flying across an ocean to seek me out. You see, I’m on vacation here.”
“I have a family at risk.”
“Yes,” Nova mused. “And I like the looks of your family. That’s why I’ve decided to hear you out about what it is you need from me. But on my terms. On my t
erritory.”
“And where is that?” Eamon asked. For whatever reason, Eamon didn’t entirely trust this woman. It could just be that he didn’t know her, that the beauty radiating from her was so strong that it seemed to be masking something, or that she had been loitering around him all day, watching to see if he measured up to her standards. None of those things, in and of themselves, were legitimate reasons not to trust her, but they were each a reason to be cautious, and wherever her territory was, he wasn’t going there blind.
“My in-laws’ house,” Nova said, and it sounded like the most normal answer in the world. “My husband and I visit them here every summer. What do you think of Sao Miguel so far?”
“It’s otherworldly.”
“A perfect place for me then,” she said, still smiling.
Eamon realized what he was picking up on—or at least part of it. The way her eyes lingered on him, the slight tilt of her head, the slowness of her smile. If he hadn’t known better, he’d have thought that she was trying to be enticing.
And there she went—her teeth catching the fullness of her bottom lip as she kept her eyes trained on his face, her hands sliding further into her pockets to emphasize the long stretch of her legs and the curve of her hips.
Why the hell was she being seductive? Was that just how she behaved because she knew how beautiful she was and how most men would react to her? Or was she specifically attracted to him?
Eamon was a man, and he couldn’t miss the fact that Nova was incredibly attractive.
He just wasn’t attracted to her.
When he looked at the woman standing in front of him, all he could picture was Autumn’s petite figure, her dark pixie-cut framing her face with her little upturned nose and her kissable lips that could change so easily from a smile to a frown.
“Where can we go to talk?” Eamon asked, bypassing her otherworldly comment and ignoring the way she was looking at him. He was an attractive man himself, and he’d had plenty of experience with women who were being overly obvious about their desire for him. It was no trouble for him to send a clear message by pointedly ignoring any attempt the woman made to entice him.
Nova looked a little put out by his brusque manner, but she shrugged a shoulder and nodded toward the right. “Follow me then.”
She began to walk across the street and down a smaller, more winding road, and Eamon followed behind her, noting the accentuated sway of her hips but feeling no impact. He could only hope that once they got to her in-laws’ house that her husband would be there and her come-hither routine would end.
The house she led to him looked no different from the others in the village, with its white, stucco exterior, yard filled with flower bushes, and cute brick chimney sitting atop it to round out the quaintness factor. They walked through the gate together and up the front steps, and then Nova looked back at Eamon as she reached out for the doorknob, her slender fingers curving around it and turning slowly.
The door swung open, and the house that Eamon stepped into in no way matched the outside that he had observed walking up the lane. He had literally stepped into another world, and as the door closed behind him, he had no idea if this new world was a safe one.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Autumn
Though the girls were thrilled to be in a different country, Autumn had no trouble getting them tucked into bed. By the time they got into their cozy room with its plush bed, flowered curtains, and traditionally-tiled Portuguese walls, both of her daughters were utterly exhausted. There was barely time for cuddles, stories, and kisses before both girls were fast asleep, and then Autumn found herself alone, more rested than any of the others because she had slept for five hours on the plane, and too worried to fall asleep again.
Besides, Anna loved to sprawl out when she was in bed, and there wouldn’t have been room for Autumn even if she had tried to lie down and get some rest.
So she sat for a while in a chair by the window, looking out at the incredible view of the lake, but her thoughts were too turbulent, and she eventually got up in search of something to keep her busy.
Eamon’s room adjoined theirs, and Autumn hesitated for only a moment before picking up the set of keys that got them into both rooms and unlocking the adjoining door. She walked into Eamon’s room, noting that it looked very much like her own, decorated in blues and whites, the tiled artistry clearly featured on the wall and even in the fabric design of the bedspread.
Sitting down on the bed, Autumn lay back, staring up at the ceiling. Tears that she had rarely cried until recently once again formed at the corners of her eyes, sliding down into her hair. They weren’t tears of exhaustion and frustration this time, but tears of lingering grief over the illness that had taken her husband of seven years. Until Eamon had walked into her life and begun spending so much time with her and the girls, she hadn’t realized just how much she missed having a man around to talk to, plan with, and laugh with. She hadn’t realized how much the girls would benefit from having a father figure back in their lives. Eamon was good with the girls—patient and attentive, and even though he wasn’t overly verbose or anywhere as expressive as either child, he somehow connected with them.
It was a beautiful thing for Autumn to see, and yet it brought back a lot of old feelings as well. She had loved her husband deeply when she married him, and she had been so sure that he was the only one for her. But it hadn’t been long after Rachel’s birth that Robert had been diagnosed with the cancer that would slowly take him from her.
The truth was, she had lost him to pancreatic cancer long before he had actually died. His last years he had just been a shell of the person he’d once been, and while she had never stopped loving him, her love for him had changed. He hadn’t been her partner and her friend anymore. She couldn’t rely on him when she needed someone to be strong for her. She couldn’t go out to dinner with him and talk about life and loss and love. She couldn’t share with him her secret fears or desires or act on a whim. She couldn’t make love to him, or do anything besides take care of him, sit with him, and try to make his passing years as comfortable as possible.
She didn’t resent any of that time. She had loved Robert and wouldn’t have chosen to be anywhere but by his side while he suffered through his final months.
But she had been lonely for more years than he had been dead, and she was only just realizing how much she wished for a partner again. How much she wanted to love again. How much she wanted the girls to have a whole family again.
And when she had those thoughts, they were centered on Eamon.
It was insanity, because she barely knew the man. But it was more than lust too. Lust was certainly a part of it, given that he was beginning to wake parts of her that had long been dormant—the womanly parts of her that desired to be touched and kissed and stroked. But there was more than that. She liked the way they made plans together, the way he looked at her, the way she felt as though he was always looking out for her, and the way that he seemed to sense when she needed him to step in for a minute and take over, even with the girls.
The chemistry between them was there on all levels: physical, emotional, and mental.
But she could tell that, while he felt it too, he was keeping his distance from her. And she didn’t blame him. She was keeping him at a distance too, because things were just too complicated to add that layer on top of everything else. She had kids, and he had a career and they both had this looming sense of dread hanging over them because there were things like witchcraft in the world, and somehow she was a target.
The tears that slid down Autumn’s cheeks settled into the thick fabric of the bedspread, but they didn’t soak it, because she wasn’t truly crying. The few tears that escaped her were tears of acceptance of what had happened with Robert and realization that she was ready to move on from that. They were tears of sadness, yes, but they were also tears of hope for what might come next—maybe even with Eamon, if things changed for them.
Autumn l
ay there for a long time, listening to and accepting her feelings, and she eventually began to drift off, her eyelids growing heavy with the exhaustion that never left her for very long.
But just as she was beginning to sink into a peaceful sleep, the room exploded with light, jolting her from her prone position on the bed and bringing her all the way to her feet.
Autumn gasped at the glowing light that surrounded her, trying to back up, but only hitting her legs against the bed she had just been lying on. She knew without question that this light wasn’t natural and that it wasn’t friendly. Never before had she stopped to consider whether light was friendly or dangerous before, but she somehow just knew that this light could only bring evil into her world—more evil than was already there.
“Show yourself!” Autumn said, trying to keep her voice low so that the girls wouldn’t wake. “Who are you? Show yourself!”
There was no response, but the light grew stronger and seemed to move closer around her, encircling her in a way that made it hard to breathe.
“I’m not afraid of you,” Autumn said forcefully, moving away from the center of the light only to find that it followed her around the room, wherever she went.
“I’m not,” she insisted, her back up against the door that would lead her into the hallway. “You can’t do anything to me. I don’t know anything! Whatever you’re afraid I’ll do to you, I won’t. Just leave me alone. Leave me and my girls alone! Please!”
“That sounds like fear.”
The voice, female, came out of nowhere, and it sent shivers down Autumn’s spine.
“It’s not,” she spat. “I’m not afraid. If you could hurt me, you would have by now. You may have a lot of flashy powers, but I’m still here, aren’t I?”
Celtic Dragons Page 60
