He gave me a wary look, like he didn’t believe the smile was genuine.
“What?” He asked, tensed for an explosion.
“Wow, have I been that much of a bitch?” I cocked my head to the side as I spoke, keeping the smile, and keeping my tone neutral.
“Well, yes, actually, you have. We love you anyway.” He smiled back at me, realizing at last that I wasn’t going to storm out in an irrational fury.
“Good, I promise I won’t be one all the time, like I was. So, do you want to bring these over to Harley?” I pointed to the blue-prints. I was trying to avoid the warm feeling that had come over me when he had said the L word. Didn’t matter that he spoke it in the plural, encompassing everyone we knew; it made me want to hear him say it to me, which was just weird. I was making strides, to be sure, but I didn’t want to push it.
Of course, he seemed to know something besides blue prints was on my mind, and he caught my gaze. I didn’t want him to read me, so I blocked him, giving him another grin.
“Every woman has to have some secrets.”
By mutual, but silent, consent we took his truck back to Gareth and Anna’s. I swallowed whatever pride was still left, knowing I was worrying needlessly over what they would all think at what could be construed as another one of Teagan’s mental 180’s. I couldn’t explain my own behavior over the past weeks to myself, let alone try to explain it to someone else.
Parking the truck under the shade of a big birch in the side yard, we got out and made our way to the back door, coming in through the kitchen without knocking.
Harley was standing at the counter, lunchmeat spread on a plate in front of her, and rolls stacked neatly in a basket.
She glanced at us, then back to her arranging of the sandwich fixings.
“You just have to love vampires that stock the kitchen for their mortal friends.” Her voice was light and breezy, and the tension seemed to have drained out of her. Noah and I looked once at each other, and then we walked towards her, Noah affecting a stalk pose.
“Group hug!” Noah yelled loudly, then swept Harley up in a bear hug that took her off her feet. When he stopped spinning her, I joined in, wrapping them both in my arms, contentment settling over me like a warm blanket. Despite everything, the attack, the fire, I was happy again.
“Noah! I have turkey in my hand!” Harley choked out between laughs, and Noah darted his head and took a bite off the said piece of turkey, making grumbling noises as he swallowed.
“Good, I’m hungry. Fix me a sandwich, woman.” He said to me, dropping one eye in a wink. I flipped him an indelicate finger, and he laughed, moving over to the basket of rolls and selecting one.
Harley eyed me, and I just shrugged, a sheepish grin on my face.
Good?
I heard her in my thoughts, and I nodded.
Yes, very good.
“Where are the resident vampires?” I asked, choosing my own roll. Noah handed me the knife to cut it, and turned back to build his lunch, singular intent in his eye.
“I do believe they are getting their own meal.” Harley responded, laying out the rest of the lunchmeat and taking the plate from Noah. He made a grab for it, and she danced away. “We’re going to eat at the table like civilized people, not standing at the counter.”
She had already put out a plate of lettuce and tomatoes, and bottles of condiments stood like little soldiers, properly placed and facing out so labels were easy to read. I smirked, seeing that. The old Harley was back.
Seeing the additional ingredients for a far superior sandwich, Noah gladly came to the table and finished building his lunchtime masterpiece, digging into it with a passion that almost matched what he displayed last night. He caught me staring at him, and stopped mid-chew.
“What?” he queried around a mouthful of bread and meat, and I mock frowned at him.
“Don’t speak with your mouth full.”
He swallowed hugely. “What?”
“Nothing, you just looked adorably cavemanish just then.”
He was about to comment on that statement when the kitchen door flew open, making all three of us jump out of our chairs, ready to defend.
Damien skidded to a halt in the kitchen, his gaze focused on Harley.
“Damien?” Harley looked at him, puzzled, wondering like the rest of us at his entrance.
“Oh God, you’re safe.” He choked on his words, then rushed forward, sweeping her into his arms and crushing her against him. She froze, arms held straight down, a statue in his arms.
Noah relaxed his own arms, where they had been held out in front of him, hands palm out. He looked at me, one eyebrow winging up in question. I shrugged, seeing Harley finally relax into Damien’s arms. Who knew what was going on between the two of them?
Should we leave them alone?
And miss the show? Hell no! I replied, shaking my head slightly. He glared at me, but I stood my ground.
Harley finally untangled herself from Damien’s embrace and turned back to the table, motioning all of us to sit, hiding her discomfort at showing emotion in direction.
“So...what brings you here Damien?” I asked, wanting to break the tense silence at the table. I could feel the curiosity from Noah, the awkwardness from Harley, and Damien’s painful embarrassment; myself, I was insanely curious, but let it slide for now.
“I went to Written, saw what happened.” He sat down, and sent a green-eyed glare around the table. “I figured this was the best place to find you.”
“Oh no! Damien, I’m so sorry! It was just, in the chaos, I just...forgot.” Harley finished lamely, and I was amused to see her flustered again, but a twinge of guilt ran through me. We really should have called him.
Damien, not being too much on words around us, shrugged uncomfortably.
“You’re not hurt?” His voice was soft, the antithesis to the glare he had sent around the table. Now, though, he only had eyes for Harley.
“I’m fine, really. Not even a bit singed. The bookstore...well, it’ll recover.” She smiled at him, only slightly shaky.
“Whatever you need, you just let me know. I’ll get it for you.”
That made me think. What, exactly, did Damien do for a living? Independently wealthy? What kind of career allowed for someone to take three days off every month at the full moon?
“Damien, what do you do for a living?” I asked as I finally put the finishing touches on my sandwich. Harley glared at me in consternation and Noah kicked me under the table.
“What? What did I say?” I asked, incredulous. Was I being rude?
“Teagan, that was rude. You just don’t blurt out questions like that.” Harley admonished me, and I fought the urge to duck my head and apologize. I kicked Noah back, giving him a look that promised worse payback later.
“No, it’s not rude. I don’t mind the question, Teagan.” Damien replied, flashing a smile at me. He really was gorgeous, I thought, with those black curls and bright green eyes. I got another kick from under the table.
If you don’t like what you’re hearing, stay out of my head I spoke to Noah, but he looked at me blankly.
The kick was from me this time
I swiveled my head to look at Harley, shocked. She shrugged.
Damien, oblivious to this by-play, continued speaking.
“I deal in antiquities, actually. I may be able to recover some of the book collection.”
“Well, that’s handy, isn’t it Harley?” I commented, turning a smirk in her direction. Just as she was about to make what I was sure would be a patented Harley sarcastic comment, Anna and Gareth breezed in.
“Good morning. How was your night?” Anna asked with a knowing smile. Even Gareth had a slight smirk on his handsome face.
“It was relaxing, thanks.” I gave them all a bright smile, going with the flow. I could brazen out whatever they threw my way.
“Relaxing? Noah, I’m ashamed for you.” Gareth said, clapping him on the back with a laugh.
“Well, she’s really
hard to please. Telling me what to do, where to touc-” I flew across the room and clapped my hand over his mouth.
“Don’t say that!” I hissed at him.
His mouth curved into a smile under my hand and with a smirk I removed my hand.
Gareth smiled, then noticed Damien.
“Damien, how have you been?” he asked, as Anna walked over to the werewolf and planted a kiss on his cheek. After they exchanged pleasantries, Gareth got right to the point.
“Anyway, what’s the plan? Have you found out anything else? Do you have an idea of who the arsonist is? It doesn’t seem like it could be the work of Padraigan, and besides, he was probably hurting from the sting you gave him.” Gareth asked, rubbing his hands together like an excited child. He out of all of us wanted payback.
“Well, I think that Teagan has some ideas about the torching.” Noah said as he put his arms around me. I didn’t know if he was giving me the strength I needed to tell them what I knew, or if he was just letting me know he was there for support, but I was thankful for it. He knew now who it was because of our connection, but he was going to let me do the telling.
“Well, let’s start at the beginning, shall we?” I gestured for everyone to move into the great room and after everyone had sat, I told them about my visit to Padraigan and the girl on the bed. I could see Noah and Harley nodding, Noah’s forehead drawn down in a frown. I could feel his anguish at not being able to protect me, and even though I knew it was pointless for him to feel that way, it still made me feel loved, cherished.
Leaving out the part with Noah in it, I finished, looking at Anna and Gareth expectantly, as if one of them were going to jump up with an exclamation and an answer.
“Why would you astral-project unconsciously, and into Padraigan’s lair, no less?” Gareth asked, his voice thoughtful.
“I don’t know, that’s the part that we can’t figure out. That leads us through to the next part of our saga.” I replied, telling them about the visit from Gemma, the fine details of Padraigan’s visit, and the fire. As I recounted each experience, I relived it in my head, the alien feel of Gemma’s skin, the pain of Padraigan’s bite, the terror of the fire. Not to mention the pleasure at Noah’s hands and even the heat of our argument, but that was for me only. Noah, being in tune with me, knew I was thinking about that too, and gave me a little smile.
“So, she came to Written? Like as a scout maybe?” Anna speculated, a frown marring her smooth forehead. Her eyes, like jade jewels, were troubled.
“I think so.” I answered, glad that she caught my thought process.
“But what about wards on the house? Did they not stand?” Gareth asked.
“I don’t know. A counter spell from a sorcerer would take care of those, but then we’re back to where we were months ago. Does he have a sorcerer on the payroll? We never found evidence that he was working with one.” I answered, looking at Noah. He nodded agreement, his expression thoughtful.
“I can do some discreet snooping around, see if anyone in the community knows anything.”
“But would anyone tell you? Even if they knew something?” I asked.
“Maybe, maybe not, but if he has a sorcerer in his pocket, I’ll find out. My family has a lot of pull behind it.”
I cocked an eyebrow at him, but he just smiled. Cocky bastard, but I loved him.
“How do you know it was Gemma that set fire to Written?” Harley finally spoke and it warmed my heart to see her face more animated, her eyes focused.
“Well, that’s just my feeling. You didn’t talk to her, you didn’t see her, either at the store or at Padraigan’s. She’s out for revenge, and Noah’s little gift on her lover and master probably pushed her over the edge.” I shrugged my shoulders, knowing it was a weak conclusion but I knew it was her, felt it so strongly that I didn’t doubt myself.
“I take exception to the fact that you all keep calling my efforts to protect Teagan as ‘little’.” Noah remarked in a dry tone.
“You didn’t kill him, did you?” Gareth responded quickly, but there was a teasing light in his eyes.
“Just gave him a little scratch.” Anna threw in.
“Seems as though your fire wasn’t up to the challenge.” Harley snickered, which earned her a glare from Noah.
“Yeah, why didn’t he turn into a pile of ash?” I asked, half serious, half teasing.
He switched his glare from Harley to me, and instead of getting hurt, it made me smile. I loved him, but I kind of missed our sparring.
“Because it wasn’t a direct hit. I caught his arm.” Noah ground out.
“Oh, he just caught his arm.” I turned and gave a smirk to Harley, Anna, and Gareth.
“Very funny, Teagan.” Noah said, then spun me around and kissed me, effectively shutting me up. This time though, I didn’t fight him off.
Chapter Thirteen
“What do you know about past life regression?”
I popped up from behind the melted display counter at Harley’s question, my eyebrows raised.
“And you thought of this why?” I asked as I dumped a handful of melted jewelry into the garbage. We had come back to Written to meet with the insurance adjuster, who had just given us the go ahead to get back in the store to clean it up. The fire marshal had also cleared the building for us to be in it, but there were still men looking things over and places we couldn’t go.
“I’m trying to puzzle out your little night trip. What made you go to him? You’d never met him, you didn’t even know what he looked like until then. What made you go to him?” Her voice trailed off, her expression thoughtful.
I watched her work on it, turn it over in her mind and play with it.
“What does past life regression have to do with it?”
“Hmm? Oh, it’s a thought I’m working on, but it’s not fully developed yet.” She turned away and moved to the other side of the staircase, where the other display was. I stared after her, nonplussed.
“Um, Harley? Do you want to finish the conversation?” I slid out from underneath the counter and followed her to the other side, where she was looking down into a display case, her eyes troubled. I couldn’t tell if it was because of the ruined merchandise or the thoughts on past life regression, but she looked up at me and her eyes cleared.
“No, not right now.” She said with a smile.
“I hate it when you do things like that! Don’t ask me a question and then walk off without explaining.” I whined, but she just smiled at me.
“Noah is so good for you.”
I made an exaggerated show of looking around before I brought my eyes back to her.
“That came out of nowhere. What does that have to do with past life regression?”
“It doesn’t, but you have this glow about you, even through all the grime.” She waved her hand at my face, to better illustrate the fact that I was covered almost head to toe in ash and soot.
“I do not. What glow?”
She laughed at my tone, which went from indignation to curiosity in a split second.
“I don’t know, it’s hard to explain. You’re just always smiling; anyone can see that you’re in love.”
I looked down at the floor, hiding the smile that came to my face at her words. It was true. I was totally in love with Noah, and for once in my life, I ran with it. I was about to reply when the front door to Written opened and Noah and Damien strolled in. My heart performed a slow roll of happiness.
“Harley.” Damien nodded in her direction, hands shoved deep in his pockets. Harley inclined her head in his direction. "Damien."
I watched with an amused expression on my face as Noah came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me.
"Do either one of them realize it?" Noah whispered in my ear before taking my hand and heading toward the stairs. I muffled a snort in response.
When we had gained the second floor, I turned to him with a question in my eyes. He already knew what I was going to ask.
“I figure
d that he would want to come and help, after his entrance at Gareth and Anna's last night.”
I reached up and placed the palm of my hand on his cheek.
“You’re a good man, Noah Jacobs.” I leaned up on my tip toes and placed a kiss on his lips, but danced away with a laugh when he growled and leaned in to deepen the kiss.
“What’d you do that for?” He sent me a frown, but I just smiled at him.
“I have to work, Noah. I’ve got to see what’s salvageable here, and if I get caught up kissing you…well, let’s just say I wouldn’t get any work done.” I gave him a sirens smile, but kept backing away, to the pile of books in the back.
I stared down at the mess I had created, shaking my head. I didn’t know what could have been worse, leaving them on the shelves for the sprinklers to take care of, or this jumbled mess.
“The ones on the bottom may be okay. The bulk of the books on top may have sheltered them from the worst.” He came to stand beside me, sliding an arm around my shoulders. I leaned into him briefly then dropped to my knees on the sooty floor, not sure where to start.
“Just grab from the side.” Harley said as she came up the stairs, Damien close behind her. She knelt down next to me, and I looked at her, concern in my eyes.
“You going to be okay to do this? You don’t have to, you know. I can do it.”
She switched her gaze from the pile of books to me and nodded.
“I need to do this. It’ll help heal me.”
Noah and Damien moved to the other side of the pile, and began picking up books, examining them for damage.
With big sighs from both of us, Harley and I each grabbed a book. The ones on top were completely lost; water-logged and covered in ash, some started to crumble as we touched them. Harley, whose love of books eclipsed mine, had silent tears running down her cheeks at the thought of throwing away the precious volumes. As we tossed, we logged titles and authors, keeping a meticulous record of what we needed to replace. Some were irreplaceable, old tomes handed down for ages through families, books we acquired at estate sales all over the world in languages that were dead, spells that would never be recovered, histories that might be forgotten. We had some books in a fireproof safe, the exceptionally old ones, but most of these were meant to be sold, cherished.
Magick (Immortals and Magick Book 2) Page 12
