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Miri
“Miri,” Davis bellows from outside, and my shoulders slump in relief. My entire body sags and I lean on the wall while I take one deep breath before leaving my hidden hideaway.
I hurry to the front door and stop. “Davis?” I question, probably too softly for him to hear.
“It’s me. Open the door.”
I unlock the door. Not that locks matter much around here, and find Davis just as tense as he’d been when he left not more than an hour ago. When he raises a brow in question, I shake my head, realizing I’ve been staring at his guarded face for way too long.
“Come in.” I step to the side and wave him in.
A soft sound of surprise escapes Davis’s throat. “The house looks exactly the same.”
“You’ve been here before?” I don’t know why that surprises me. Davis grew up in Wild Haven and our families were friends. Why wouldn’t he have been here before?
“My mom used to bring me over to check on the place. After your grandparents passed away. No one was taking care of the cottage any longer, but she’d stop over at least once a week to make sure everything was okay. Looks like the spells on the house kept everything in order.”
“We’re they your mom’s?” I gape at him, wide-eyed.
Davis’s eyes cloud over with old memories as he scans the room.
“Some of them, yeah. I can still identify remnants of her magic.”
“How old were you when she died?” I know I’m pressing my luck. It’s a personal question and Davis doesn’t do those very well, so I’m surprised when he answers.
“I was eight.”
“I’m sorry. I know that sounds dumb since it was so long ago, but…” I shrug, “It’s been ten years since my mom died and I still miss her every day.” I take a step back, walking further into the large entry room. “So, um, thanks for coming over. I thought you could help me with a spell. Something to keep this asshole from letting himself into my house again.”
Davis blinks, slowly coming back from wherever his thoughts have taken him. “Spell?”
“Yes, I thought you said you knew how to keep someone from entering uninvited?”
That snaps him out of his fog, and he frowns at me. “I don’t know that it will keep them from entering. There’s probably something that does that, but I don’t know how to do it. The spell I know is more of an alarm. You’ll know if anyone uninvited comes to your house.”
“How does it work?”
“The person who enters your house will be branded with a mark. You’ll also be alerted on your end. We can set it up, so you hear a noise, like a chime. That way if you’re not here, or even if you are, you’ll know as soon as someone uninvited crosses the threshold.”
“Yes. That is exactly what I need. How do we do this?”
We set up in the kitchen, needing a variety of herbs and ingredients from my vast stores. Davis throws his leather jacket over the back of a chair, on top of my own that I’d tossed there earlier. He settles into my kitchen with an ease that makes me feel all swoony. So not the time.
“Holy shit, you’ve got an entire apothecary in here.”
“Well, I am opening up a store that sells lotions, shampoos, tonics, ointments. I need all of this stuff.”
The signature grunt is his only response.
“You mix the pepper, cinnamon, cassia and saffron while I work on grinding these.” He pushes the pile of ingredients toward me and then pulls frankincense resin, mustard and fennel seeds toward himself. After doing as instructed, I set my mixture aside and watch as Davis grinds the seeds into dust, the muscles in his arm flexing with the move.
“You need to keep stirring.” Davis’s deep, rough voice jolts me from my stare, and I jerk my head down, hoping to hide the flush that’s creeping up my cheeks. They’re just arms, not magical, sparkly dicks. How can they possibly be so fascinating?
“As you’re working with the ingredients, keep the objective in mind. You want to protect your home. To keep out any trespassers.”
“Are potions your specialty too?” He seems pretty familiar with the ingredients and the steps in this process.
His beguiling arms still and I look up, catching his brown eyes wandering over my face. We’re so close that I can see the gold and green flecks that surround his irises like a flame. I’ve never seen such faceted color in someone’s eyes before.
