Page 63 of Woods of the Raven

“Well, not me, of course. I don’t know any necromancers, and I certainly didn’t possess that power. But I would think a branded witch would.”

Both Lorne and Declan were waiting on me.

I grimaced. “Sola was consumed and, I’m betting, excreted by now, so…resurrection is not possible.”

It took them a moment to process that.

“Wait, what?” Lorne looked flummoxed.

“Eaten?” Declan shouted, going pale. “Sola was eaten?”

“By what?” Lorne sounded disgusted. “One of those wolves?”

“Why would Sola have been devoured by something he brought with him?” Declan seemed bothered by even the suggestion.

“I don’t know,” Lorne said. “I just learned about magic today, all right? Gimme a break.”

“Eaten?” Declan shouted again, clearly having trouble wrapping his brain around the information. “Are you certain?”

“What ate him, then?” Lorne seemed terribly concerned.

I chuckled. “Remember when I told you the cat was dangerous?”

“Your cat ate him? How small was this Sola?”

“That’s not the right question.” Declan was incredulous. “How big is your cat?”

“You know how it is with daemons,” I told him.

Declan clutched his chest, looking utterly terrified. “On your land?”

“In my house.” I clarified for him.

“I think I’m going to throw up,” Declan announced, and bolted from the room.

I cackled under my breath.

Lorne tapped me on the shoulder.

“Yes?”

“You have so much explaining to do.”

“Yes, but we have to go and eat at your house and then go back to mine for dessert.” His scowl took all the wind out of my sails. “No?”

“First, that was terrible and lame, but really, I can’t imagine a point in the evening where you won’t be talking,” he informed me.

The only good part was that when I leaned against Declan’s desk, Lorne put his arm around me and made sure I was tucked in close. I had really missed being hugged, and I hadn’t realized how much.

SEVEN

Dinner was amazing, and yes, the food was fantastic, but the company was even better. I missed having a family. The spaghetti was made without meat, which was lucky because I was starving and had forgotten to mention to James that I was a vegetarian. As I ate like it was going to be my last meal, James explained that he’d been taught to cook this by his college roommate’s grandmother, and she, herself, preferred it meatless.

“She said the flavors come out better this way, and I’m so glad I didn’t add sausage or meatballs. It wouldn’t be the same with you just having salad.”

“Thank you.” I mopped up sauce with the bread that was thankfully not garlic. I didn’t want Lorne to have any reason not to kiss me.

“It does feel so much better in here,” Cass said, smiling at me. “And thank you for blessing the bells when you came back.”