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“Yes.”
To which Baptiste quickly added, “But not the gentle kind you’re familiar with. Daphne isn’t kidding when she says she’s the Earth Mother’s protector.”
“A fighting dryad? Hunh. They never taught us about that at the academy,” Marissa mused aloud.
“Because I am the only one. Mother says the storms I weathered made me stronger than the others.” Spoken with pride.
“How old are you? If you don’t mind me asking.” Marissa remained twisted in her seat to face Daphne.
“I was nearing a hundred when I went into the seed. That was four hundred years ago.”
Baptiste just about ran them into a pole in surprise. He’d known about the four-hundred-year curse, but he’d never expected her to be that much older.
It’s called experienced. Seasoned. Mature and aged like a fine wine and good steak. Garou approved strongly.
“When you say went into a seed…” Marissa trailed off.
“I was severely injured in a battle and required time to heal. The best way for a dryad is to enter a tree and let it cocoon her in a seed. Usually, I would have been in it a few weeks to months, depending on the injury. However, the same witch that harmed me cast a curse that wouldn’t allow the tree to expel me.”
“Damn. That sucks.”
“What is most annoying is I didn’t get a chance to kill the witch myself,” Daphne grumbled. “I just hope something more horrible than old age got to her.”
“We’re almost to my place.” From the passenger seat, Marissa had guided them a few blocks to a brownstone with on-street parking. As they piled out, Baptiste headed for the cargo bed to grab the bag Clive had assembled for him. He snared the one for Daphne as well. They followed Marissa inside a place that made him shiver as he crossed the threshold.
He frowned. “What the fuck was that?”
Marissa waved a hand. “House ward. It scans for malicious spells. You’re both clean.”
Told you I wasn’t an evil curse. Garou remained salty about the time Baptiste ranted about hating the fact he wasn’t just a normal werewolf.
“There’s a shower upstairs in the master suite and another bath in the guest room.” Marissa indicated the staircase. “I’ve got a large hot water tank so you can both sluice off at the same time. I’ll be in the kitchen when you’re done.”
As he and Daphne headed to the second level, he couldn’t help casting a glance back down.
“Why are you acting as if you expect an attack?” Daphne asked point blank.
“Because she’s being too nice.” The agent had gone from holding a weapon on them and threatening them to inviting them into her home.
“The Mother says Hekate has told this witch of hers to give us any aid we require. She can be trusted.”
“Hekate is the goddess of magic,” he stated, trying to recollect his lessons on the gods of Earth. There were many. Too many for a man with a piece of one inside to really bother about.
“It’s a misnomer as all the gods have magic. But Hekate’s disciples tend to have access to more types of it as opposed to being restricted to just one element. From what I’ve sensed thus far, Hekate must favor Marissa as the wards on her home are strong. We can rest easy here. My enemies won’t be able to track us.”
They reached the top of the stairs, and he pointed her to the double doors. Mostly likely the master suite. “You can use the bathroom in Marissa’s room. I’ll use the guest one.”
It didn’t take him long to shed the ruined clothes and bathe the stink from his skin. Once dressed, he headed downstairs with his ruined garments and had to apologize as he entered the kitchen redolent with yummy smells. “Sorry for bringing the smelly stuff in here. I didn’t know where to toss them since they’re garbage.”
Marissa pointed to a door with a spatula. “Garbage can is outside. Just be sure to lock the lid. The raccoons keep bypassing my repelling spells.”
“Are you sure it’s raccoons?” he asked after he’d disposed of the soiled items and returned inside. “Smells like goblins to me.”
“Those little buggers.” She waved her flipping implement. “That must be why my spell isn’t working.”
“A friend of mine deals with their goblins by giving them scraps and buying the occasional treats.”
Marissa’s nose wrinkled. “Why would they feed goblins?”
