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“I’m going to miss you,” I said. “We did have a lot of good times. You were there for me when I needed you.”
“That’s what’s most important.” Phil fluttered her fan at me. “Now go enjoy those strapping young men of yours—and don’t forget to have some fun even when you’re running for your life, you hear.”
I blinked, and she was gone. An ache formed in my chest, but at the same time my heart felt even more full.
I got up from the chair to go tell my consorts that we didn’t have to set off alone.
* * *
I came downstairs some time later to an argument that had already started. Apparently Aunt Irene had returned early.
“This is ridiculous,” she was saying. “You can’t just run off with a bunch of fugitives.”
“I can, Aunt Irene,” Naomi said. “I’m not sure why you think you can decide that for me. I’m a witch with a kindled spark. My life is mine.”
“But you have to think about the rest of the family. The sanctions they could bring down on us. Don’t you care about your mother? Your future children?”
“Yes,” Naomi retorted. “Especially them. I don’t want them to end up having to fight for their freedom like Rose is.”
“Irene,” Ginny said pleadingly, just as I walked in. My older aunt spun toward me instead.
“You’ve dragged her into this,” Aunt Irene said. “Naomi was just settling in to consorting life, and now she’s going to charge across the country to take on some supposed conspiracy? What were you thinking?”
My hackles immediately went up. “I didn’t drag her. I didn’t evenaskher. She came to me saying she wanted to help—I even tried to talk her out of it.”
Irene gave me a skeptical look. “Not very hard, it seems.”
“Well, she’s twenty-three. She’s consorted. She can make up her own mind, can’t she?”
“Yes,” Naomi put in. “I can. Thank you.”
“You…” Irene shook her head. “I think you’d better give us time to talk this through just within the family, Miss Hallowell.”
Even though that was the name I’d had my entire life, the way she said, the way she’d used it, stung.
“Sheisfamily,” Naomi protested, but I held up my hand.
“That’s fine,” I said, my gaze fixed on Irene. “But for next time, it’sLadyHallowell.”
I turned on my heel. As I left the room, Naomi made a frustrated sound. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I’ve already made my decision, and it’s mine to make.”
She stormed off down the hall, I assumed toward the home office where Greg had been working. I headed upstairs, unsure whether we should even bother sticking around for dinner. But we still had more logistics to work out.
Seth was waiting at the top of the stairs. He must have overheard at least some of that conversation, because when I reached him, he said, “Naomi seems pretty set on coming with us.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I hope that’s a good thing. She could be a lot of help. But I wouldn’t have pushed her into it.”
“Like you said, she knows her own mind.” He paused, and his jaw worked. “There’s actually something I thought we should talk about before we leave—while we still have some privacy. Nothing bad, just…”
It was pretty normal for Seth to look serious, but now he looked even more solemn than usual. “What’s wrong?” I said.
He motioned me into one of the guest bedrooms. Then he looked at the floor for a moment as if he were trying to gather his words. His gray-green eyes were shadowed. My heart started to sink.
“It’s just…” He swallowed hard. “I want you to know that however this comes out, none of it is your fault. It was just me thinking I could handle more than maybe was really wise.”
My heart plummeted farther. “What are you talking about?”
Seth set a gentle hand on my shoulder as he raised his head to look at me. “I told you, it’s nothing bad. Not that bad, anyway. It’s just… I’ve tried to be there for you a lot in the last week. In lots of, ah, very pleasurable ways.” He managed a smile that looked genuine. “But I’m realizing that it’s taking a little more out of me than maybe is good for me. With the energy I give to your magic.”
