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“No, I guess I’m not. So, how are you doing?”
Kiara took a deep breath. “I don’t know. I intend to book some time with your resident therapist. Some serious time. I think all the women you brought out of that place will need help recovering.”
“I’ll see what I can do to add to my staff for the time-being.”
“Hey. I didn’t mean to complicate your to-do list.”
Maeve turned and met her gaze dead on. “You, and the women we rescued, are not part of a to-do list. Ever. You’re people I care about. You’re my priority.”
Kiara smiled but tears filled her eyes. She shifted her gaze to the throng of revelers. “Speaking of priorities, is Braden now yours as well?”
Maeve glanced sideways at him. He’d shaken up a bottle of beer and sprayed it over Greg. The latter set to howling anew. Two of the shifters had gone full-on fur and were racing around the large patio. Maeve knew she would never shift, not like a true wolf, but she felt the instincts inside her now, a result of being with Braden and of having alpha capacity. “I suspect he’s headed back to Savage now that he’s fulfilled his mission.”
“Somehow, I doubt that. The Landing wolves are about an inch away from bonding with him.”
She turned back to Kiara. “Do you think so?”
“I do.”
“So, you’re saying you think he’s not going back.”
“I would be surprised if he did. No, I’d be shocked. There’s something else you should know. Laura was here tonight. In my hospital room.”
A shiver traveled over Maeve, head-to-toe, and a gasp left her throat. “She was?”
“Braden was there when she appeared. She talked to him, telepathically, but she included me in the conversation. She said something I think you should know. She told Braden that when you took her life, her spirit had already gone to the other side. The poison had entered her bones as well as her blood-stream. She still had to endure the physical separation, but nothing could have saved her. You did the right thing and Braden knows it.”
At that, Maeve leaned forward and planted her elbow on her thigh, then her forehead in her hand. “I had no memory of what I’d done until tonight. I remembered it all when I was talking to you in your hospital room.” She told Kiara about using the poison paste on Braden so he would have some understanding of what Laura had endured.
“That was smart. Very smart. He would never have accepted what happened otherwise.”
“But can he forgive me? No, that’s not even the right question. How can he ever forgive me? I was the instrument that separated him forever from the woman who meant the world to him.”
“You know, I don’t think this is about Braden at all. You have a very different question to answer: Can you forgive yourself?”
At that, Maeve rose to a sitting position. “I didn’t mind killing those witches, not after the torture they’d put Laura through. But I hate that my hands took her life, even though I know it was necessary.”
“Well, tell you what. When you add to your staff, set up a few appointments with a therapist yourself. Otherwise, you’ll never get over this.”
“I will do just that.” After a moment, she said, “You know what’s funny?”
“What?”
“How much I complained about all the little things before I became an alter witch. If the day was too hot or too cold. Or if I didn’t like the meal I just ate. I fretted about my weight and worried about what other people thought of me. I worked hard to make money, but never paid the smallest attention to those in need in my community.
“Coming to live here didn’t just change my life. It’s changed my view of life. I would be a different person now, if I could return magically to the human world.”
“We all would. Ah, here comes Braden.” She was silent and Maeve could tell she was communicating telepathically with someone, probably Alfonso since he left the group he was chatting with and headed back to her as well.
Kiara turned to Maeve. “I’m ready for my bed and you need some time with Braden.”
Kiara caught her hand then sent the words straight into Maeve’s mind. Don’t let him go. You need each other and you’re good for each other.
At the same moment Braden drew close to Maeve, Alfonso slid behind Kiara’s wheelchair and started to push. Kiara caught Braden’s hand as well. “Good job tonight.”
“Thanks. Get some rest.”
“I will.”
