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Chapter 1
Pearl Sutton loved Broom’s Isle, but there were moments when she wished she wasn’t here—like right now. She hated that the sea breeze was about to be gone, and she could no longer enjoy the feeling of the wind on her face or the smell of sea salt in the morning. She hated that, on dry land, she had responsibilities as the eldest of her household, even though she was far from the eldest.
Most of all, she hated that she had to be greeted by none other than the Lyra clan.
“Good morning, Miss Sutton. We weren’t expecting you early.”
Ryan Lyra greeted her with cheer, perhaps the only one in that clan who didn’t hate her. But then again, Ryan was nice to everyone. She smiled at him.
“Good morning, Ryan. Didn’t I tell you to call me Pearl?”
His cheeks turned pink. “Well…”
“It’s much better sounding than Miss Sutton. Anyway, it was a seamless trip. No unruly pirates to harm me, no vagabonds to distract me, and no Fae to cause mischief to. Or with.”
Ryan looked like he was ready to ask a lot of questions, but he caught himself at the last second and nodded politely. “I’m pleased it was a seamless trip.”
“So am I.”
“The Council wants to talk to you.”
The third voice came from somewhere behind Ryan, where a sterner figure lurked before showing himself. Her smile turned into a frown. Gunther Lyra might attempt to be as polite as Ryan, but she wouldn’t return the favor.
“Tell them I will visit them later.”
His mouth opened, then closed. He frowned too. Unlike Ryan who was cheerful and fresh-faced, Gunther had the polished, pampered, and golden good looks of a prince charming—someone who didn’t need to smile to get chicks to flock his way because his stature and title were enough.
“It’s the protocol to adhere to their orders.”
This time, she smiled at him, sharp and sweet. “I’m sure it is.”
His gaze narrowed, even while he maintained his polite tone. “You can’t just talk to the Council like that.”
Pearl tilted her head, not breaking eye contact.
“I had a task. The Council added a smaller one, since I was going to leave the island, anyway, and both tasks needed that. I’m done with the Council’s task. But I’m not done with the original one and I need to get it done now.”
Silence. She waited him out until he broke the eye contact first, but didn’t feel triumph from it. Annoyance glinted, reminding her that that was what the man was all about: running away. Just like when he had dumped her sister and run away.
“Pearl—” he tried again, but she cut him off immediately.
“I will see them later. And you don’t have to be there. Bye, Ryan.”
The exchange visibly baffled Ryan, so Pearl gave him a wink before she casually walked away from them. The urge to announce what Gunther had done while her family’s reputation had been in shambles was at the tip of her tongue, but she changed her mind because of two things: one, her sister Emerald was over it and didn’t want her to be petty, and two…Emerald didn’t want her to be petty.
It wasn’t Pearl’s business that Emerald and Gunther had kept the relationship a secret, including the engagement and the eventual dumping. It wasn’t her business that the Lyra family didn’t like her family just because she was a Sutton—a name that once held glory but was now considered a disgrace by the nobler families.
“Whatever. Not my problem that these dumb assholes are assholes,” she muttered.
Ten minutes later, another asshole in the form of Lennie Serving tried very hard to point out the things Pearl had done wrong today.
“It’s not working. Why wouldn’t it be working unless you got the wrong ingredients for me? You must have gotten distracted and didn’t follow instructions. Were you with a guy on your trip or were you visiting Fae land again? I know those brutes are good at manipulation and a weak female like you would be easily susceptible.”
Client,her mind reminded before she pasted a smile on her lips.
“Those are the exact ingredients you asked for, down to the amount and shade. I didn’t miss a single ingredient.”
“But it’s not working,” Lennie insisted. The warlock was a paunchy, middle-aged man with graying hair and many wrinkles, indicating he had messed with some aging spells one too many times. “It’s supposed to be working.”
