Page 64 of From the Edge

“Of course. Grandma taught me.”

Eleanor eased the baby back into her arms. “He’s so sweet.”

Mell nodded. “I am really glad that they got me back to myself before Rowan let him start growing.”

Rowan winced.

Eleanor said. “What?”

“She can bend time a little or freeze a person while the rest of the world moves on.”

Rowan said, “I remove the effect of time. Time still moves on.”

Eleanor asked, “How?”

“I had to figure it out. I just do it.” She shrugged.

Her grandmother had a soft opal glow as she took Rowan’s hand. “You always knew how to do what was needed. So who are these ladies?”

Rowan explained Ted and Lucia as victims of the same kind of curse that affected Mell and Aspen. From there, the ladies gave details as to their own situations.

Rowan passed her aunt a cup of tea and just listened. She lifted her head and sought out the guys. They were sitting and talking near the carriage house. She prepared a tray and sent it over, watching it disappear from the counter and reappear across the yard on the table.

Regis blinked. “You can do that?”

“I have had so many couples here in the last two days that I have been able to collect a lot of the magic that makes it possible.”

“How is it that you remembered both Mell and Aspen?”

Everyone was looking at her.

“They were both attacked on my property, and that is something I cannot forget. So I kept them in areas that I controlled and that let me keep them safe and together.”

Eleanor looked at her. “You joined the property?”

“Yes. It’s way bigger but still the registered historical building, Grandma.”

“We would like to stay in the main house for a night, near you.”

“Ask Grandpa. If you both agree, I am making a room for you.”

Eleanor blinked. “Making a room?”

“Yes. You and Grandpa require special shielding.”

Her grandmother looked at her and pink became one of the brightest colours under her skin. “You know about that?”

“I do. It’s how I got good at protective wards to begin with.”

“Can I see where you are building the room?”

Rowan blinked. “Um, Regis, you are going to get desserts and hamburger buns?”

Regis nodded. “Yes, but I will be here when you get back. Avor is a bit of a gossipy bitch with his old friends. There is a surprising amount of them around. I had always thought that the guys in the Stronghold were the only ones, but there are a few hundred of the others running around loose for the last eight hundred years. Some got married and passed along their genetics, and others remained single as long as possible.”

Rowan got up, and Eleanor took her hand. Rowan looked at it and waited for the pain, but it didn’t manifest. Mell held the baby up and waved a little hand at her. “Bye-bye, Auntie. Come back soon.”

Rowan snorted. She walked into the dining room and then led her grandmother up the stairs.