Page 77 of Of Magic and Murder

On the plus side, Delilah’s not flirting with my mate. Could be she’s heard that Riordan and I have made it official at last. For her to know to find me here so soon after our mating, odds are she stopped by Dough You Believe in Magic and Honey told her where to find me. Add that to how it seems like everyone in Moonburrow knew that I was Riordan’s fated mate before I did and I’d bet she has some clue.

Then Delilah speaks up against and she confirms that she’s well aware of who I am to Riordan.

“If you wouldn’t mind, Beta, I would like to speak to your… wife?”

“Mate,” says Riordan flatly.

“Ah, Yes. Sorry. It isn’t often that a witch finds herself in a supernatural coupling⁠—”

“Penelope did. And it’s pretty new for her. For us,” Riordan adds. “So while I appreciate you need her for something, I have to ask if it’s urgent. Because we really were in the middle of something and I’d like to get back to it.”

“I understand. But, yes, it is important.” Her pretty brown eyes dart back to me. “It’s coven business, Penelope. Witch business. I tried to get in touch with Serena, but she’s unreachable. You’re the only one from the national coven I can talk to… it has to be you. I’ll only need a few minutes of your time, but I’d like to speak to you in privacy.”

“No.”

I lay my hand on Riordan’s arm. “It’s okay,” I tell him before I address Delilah. “Serena is a very busy witch. I barely can get in touch with her half the time. But when I’m traveling, I can act as one of her representatives.” Something she knows very well because I made a point to tell Delilah that when I first arrived and was staying at the coven house… “Of course we can talk. Riordan? Why don’t you wait for me inside?”

His jaw goes tight. “I’ll stay right here.”

Of course. Welp, that’s what I get for mating an overprotective alpha wolf shifter…

“That’s fine. But I’m going to take a walk with Delilah.” And go just far enough that the witch believes we’re out of shot of my mate and his impressive shifter hearing. “I’m trusting you to stay on the porch. And you’re trusting that I’ll be right back.”

I catch a hint of the scowl before he hides it. Yeah. I know. I brought trust into it, but I meant it. He can protect me from any predators and witch killers, but this is Delilah. She’s a sister witch and the head of her coven. More importantly, something is wrong and I’d only disappoint Serena if I refused to listen to a witch because I would rather go to bed with my mate.

Finally, he nods. “Don’t go far.”

I rise up on my tiptoes. “I won’t.”

Just far enough.

As though she doesn’t want to test Riordan’s patience, we only walk for a couple of minutes before she stops. Taking the lead, Delilah led me down a path away from Riordan’s cabin, going until all of the spattering of cabins in that area of the woods were hidden behind even more trees. I can’t tell if that’s enough distance so that she has the privacy she wants, but I get the strange vibe that she picked this particular spot on purpose.

That certainty only multiplies when I take another step, trying to match her impressive pace, and something sends a mild jolt all the way through my body. It’s like a static shock on steroids, and I rub the little hairs standing up on my arms as I ask stupidly, “What was that?”

A ward, I realize a moment later. Just like the boundary spell that I drove through the first day I arrived in Moonburrow, only notably weaker. It wasn’t enough to block me. No. It recognized me and let me in, reforming after I stepped past it.

Why? Because Delilah is determined for this chat to stay between us and no one else? If that’s the case, she could’ve gotten in touch with me and invited me to the sanctuary of the coven house instead of having this discussion in the middle of pack territory.

She smiles at me. It’s not a nice smile.

In fact, she’s lost any bit of the nervousness and urgency she had while she was pleading with me to come out here with her.

What the hell is going on?

“Delilah?”

“You wouldn’t begrudge me a little protection, would you? Especially since we’re on their turf and not mine. It’s a pity that the magic insists I perform the ceremonies on wild land, but I’ve come this far… and you don’t want to hear about that. You want to know what I needed to confess to Serena and the national coven.”

I do, but I’m suddenly also very interested in what she meant by ‘magic’ and ‘ceremonies’ and the way she spat out ‘their turf’ like that…

“Um. Okay. We can start with that. What did you want to tell me?”

And then, to my surprise, she says the one thing I was never expecting:

“Garnet never made it to the other coven.”

“Excuse me?”