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There was a pause.I don’t know. And you know what, it’d be good to see you anyway. I’ll come to you.
My pulse hiccupped. What if Cortland was still keeping an eye on the house—with his witchy friend who might be able to sense Rose’s magical protections?
No, I wrote quickly.I don’t think you coming into town is a good idea right now.But—shit, could I even go to her? What if that witch had cast some spell on me I hadn’t noticed?Better if I come to you. Is there any way I can make sure I haven’t got some kind of tracer on me or something?
I didn’t have to explain what I meant any more than that.I can make sure you’re clear of any magic,Rose said.Where are you right now?
At my apartment.
Okay. Wait a few minutes before you leave. I’ll take care of it.
Just like that. My lips curled into a grin. That was my girl.Meet you by the pond in half an hour?
I’ll be there.
She left off with a heart emoji. Damn if it didn’t make my actual heart squeeze a little.
I waited a few minutes like she’d said to. Nothing changed that I could feel, but Rose knew what she was doing. Just to be cautious, I swung around back of the house, cut through someone’s yard, and took a slightly roundabout route through town.
There was a good spot to hop the wall partway around the estate. I was ambling along the lonely country road, nose full of the smells of fresh grass and clover, when a pickup truck came into view up ahead with a growl of an engine. My first instinct was to dive for the brush along the shoulder and hide. Then I realized I recognized the truck.
It pulled over to the shoulder across from me, and Seth leaned out the open window. “Hey,” he said. “What are you doing up this way?”
I raised my eyebrows at him. “What do you think?”
His mouth twitched. Was that a smile from the killjoy? “What areyoudoing?” I added, my gaze sliding to the back of the truck. A few boards protruded from the bed.
“Just a construction job out this way,” Seth said. He hesitated. “Look, I’m sorry about the other day. The whole job thing. I still think staying mixed up with some of those guys is a bad idea, but I handled it badly.”
I nodded, my jaw working. Apparently this was a day of my former friends attempting to make amends. I hadn’t offered Gabriel anything in return, but maybe it was only fair that I admitted to Seth: “Yeah. Well. You might have had point. Just a bit of one.”
It was Seth’s turn to lift an eyebrow. I glowered at him. At the same time, I couldn’t help thinking about Silvio’s guy and his insinuating comments… About the look on Rose’s face when she’d confronted me about how I’d set up Derek for that beating… My tongue loosened.
“I don’t suppose the whole electrician assistant thing is still on offer?”
“Do you actually want to give it a shot?” Seth asked.
I looked at the ground, at my scuffed-up sneakers. It might be kind of cool, actually, learning how to channel electricity. Working with that wiring… There were a lot worse things. Was it really anybettershifting stolen crap around for Silvio?
Didn’t Rose deserve a guy with a job she could actually tell people about?
“Yeah,” I said, raising my head. “Kind of stupid to pass up an opportunity like that, right?”
The smile I’d thought I’d seen before came back. “I don’t think there’s any good way for me to answer that. I’ll talk to Mr. Lewis and let you know.”
“Thanks.” I shifted my weight from foot to foot. It felt right to extend a little more of a peace offering than that. “You know where I’m going… Do you want to come? I’m pretty sure she won’t mind the extra, ah, company.”
Seth blinked at me as if he couldn’t believe I’d been that generous. Just before I started to get annoyed, his smile widened into a grin. “Sure. I think I’ll do that.”
* * *
Rose was waiting by the pond when we made it there, the breeze ruffling her dark hair. She turned at the rasping of our feet through the brush and let out a relieved breath, seeing me. Then her gaze found Seth. She shot me a questioning look.
“I ran into this guy on the way over,” I said. “What is it Jin likes to say? The more, the merrier?”
“Fine by me,” Rose said, the corners of her lips quirking up. “Hold on.”
We stopped a few feet from the edge of the pond while she rotated on her feet there, weaving her hands through the air in that eerie dance that made the hairs on the back of my neck rise even as it sent a bolt of desire through me. What a fucking woman my consort was.
