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I rolled my eyes. “So, you’re going to be working for mewithoutme paying you? I’m not sure that’s better.”
He grinned and leaned in to give me a quick kiss. “I like the tinkering. I like the apartment. It’ll keep the rumors in check, right? I promise I won’t do any oil changes or engine maintenance I don’t want to.”
“I guess that’s all right then,” I grumbled.
He laughed and nuzzled my cheek. Then a shadow passed through his bright blue eyes.
“We’re not leaving things here, are we? Just spending the rest of our days relaxing around the estate and pretending we’re not in one epically big relationship? Those… demons, and all the other witches Frankford and your father and the others might be hurting because of them…”
My chest tightened. “I know,” I said. “Believe me, I haven’t really stopped thinking about that. I promised not to share the files or talk about what we learned, but there have to be other ways I can take down the families involved with the portal without breaking the contract we agreed to. I should probably start by reading through those files so I know exactly what we’re up against. You’ve still got them on your tablet.”
Gabriel nodded. “I can shoot them over to your computer whenever you need them. Probably better if we have multiple copies, just in case.”
“And we have the video you took, which they didn’t even know about to include it in the binding.” I nibbled at my lower lip. “It’ll take some maneuvering, but we’re going to keep fighting. You can count on that. I just want to take the time to do it smart, now that I have a little breathing room. We were on the run too long.”
The rumble of an engine made my shoulders tense. I peered through the gate as a small dented Ford eased up outside. It wasn’t the kind of posh vehicle I’d have expected an Assembly member to be driving, but I couldn’t take that as a guarantee.
A woman who didn’t look much older than me stepped out on the driver’s side. Her fawn-brown hair was scattered around her face, her rectangular glasses askew. She pushed them farther up her nose and caught sight of us through the bars. Her body went rigid and then relaxed, just slightly.
“Is this the Hallowell estate?” she said in a soft raspy voice.
I stepped forward, Gabriel following behind me. “It is,” I said. “I’m Ro—I mean, Lady Hallowell. Can I help you?”
She hugged herself, but a small bright smile touched her face. “I hope so,” she said. “Your cousin Naomi sent me this way? I was told this is a safe place for witches who… who can’t trust the people they thought they could.”
I blinked at the young woman. Where had Naomi come up with that? We hadn’t discussed anything like this.
Then a smile of my own curved my lips. Whatever my cousin had been thinking, she’d been right.
“Itisa safe place,” I said, moving to open the gate. “Why don’t you come in and tell us why you’re here? And then we’ll see what we can do to make everything out there safer too.”
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