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What a strange woman she was, granting his family the benefit of the doubt even after all her sarcasm and unrestrained dislike. Again, he waited for her reason, but Pearl was already turning her body away and muttering under her breath. It rose into a curse when the loudest hiss came from the room they had abandoned and her complexion paled.
“It’s going to explode,” she said, fear rankling in her voice.
Henry was running again before she was, but she and Moon weren’t far behind. “Henry, no! It will explode!”
He didn’t listen, busting in the same way he got out and spotting the source of the hiss immediately. The cauldron’s contents had spilled to the floor, fueling the fire around it until it was swallowing the cauldron up. The mixture gushed and gushed, a large bubble forming at the center and ready to pop.
“The house—”
His hair stood on end at the energy that grew from the bubble and knew the pop would probably destroy the entire house, not just that room. He could hear the heartbreak in her voice. In a last-second attempt to prevent it, Pearl punched magic into the cauldron, a thick silvery streak crackling with strength. He did the same, the red a blinding blaze that joined hers and turned their combined energy into a faint, visceral pink. It raced toward the cauldron and disappeared. His arm reached out for Pearl and Moon, yanking them to the floor and slapping more magic into it until a bubble surrounded them.
They braced for it, but nothing came. They looked up, confused, before Pearl pushed him away and scrambled to her feet. Moon did the same, prompting him to stand up, too, and scold them for being so reckless. But the words died in his throat when his focus landed on the cauldron.
“Holy shit,” she exclaimed.
Holy shit was right, and he didn’t even have it in him to call her out for her language. The bubble was gone and the hiss was quiet. In their place was a white liquid that shimmered and sparked with life. The energy was steadier too.
“Trouble gone?” Moon asked.
“Trouble gone,” Pearl confirmed. That prompted the wolf shifter to leave the room and return outside after shooting him a warning look.
“Trouble gone as in no more exploding potions?” Henry clarified.
She didn’t answer. But hope flitted in her features as she approached the cauldron more closely. With a deep breath, she hovered a palm over it, made a startled sound, and carefully scooped some liquid up in a vial. It held.
“It worked. That was the missing ingredient,” she whispered. “It needed more magic. It needed your essence and mine.”
“Oh.”
A grin broke from her lips, so filled with sunshine and triumph that it lit her face up. He was used to the expression on others. But on Pearl, Queen of smirks, glares, and goading, it felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience—and it hit him just as hard.
His stomach heaved and his body became a vessel of strange, tingly sensations. All Henry could do was take in the kind of beauty that felt so raw and real, shining like something he had never seen before. This was Pearl in her element, and that element was powerful. Heady. He watched her as she abandoned her seductive poses and danced around the cauldron, artless, and careless, and…
Breathtaking.
“Stop acting silly.”
The words were out before he could stop them. She gave him a baleful look but couldn’t stop crowing.
“Stop being a spoilsport,” she shot back. “I’m celebrating. We did it.”
“Hmm.”
“And tomorrow we can catch the culprit and get rid of your issue.”
Henry wasn’t looking forward to it.
At least, that was what he tried to tell himself.
Chapter 5
“Stop moving. You’re disturbing the force.”
“If I disturbed the force with a mere movement—because news flash, every person moves—then you’re not doing a very good job with that force.”
There was a grimace, followed by Henry muttering under his breath. Pearl bit back a chortle, still not used to Henry backing down from an argument when the man was more comfortable with his cutting remarks and cold dismissals. But it was becoming apparent that there was more to him than what met the eye, appearing mostly when he was out of his element. It fascinated her thoroughly—so, the last week or two had been dedicated to her making sure that he was out of his element and her fascination was well-fed.
“This is a stakeout.,” he reminded. “Stakeouts are supposed to be about stillness andnot letting the enemy know that we’re here.”
