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"It's okay. I don't need to puke. I'm just a little shell shocked. You guys have to understand, my abilities have never been used to do anything like this. I'm a small-town psychic, and that's being generous. My grandmother would have been the person for this job. She had a lot more experience than I do."
"But you have her power and her training. Your abilities will grow if they are pushed by something that will challenge them," Mananan replied, placing her cup down beside her again.
"How do you know?" Ella asked.
"Because I can feel them bubbling away inside of you," he said with certainty.
Chrissy laughed. "There's no point in arguing with these old males. If they get it in their heads that you can help, there's no convincing them otherwise. Trust me, Oberon was exactly the same with me."
"It's because we are old enough to know what we are talking about." Mananan looked down at Ella, his expression as steady as the sea. "We know when the gods have sent us a blessing, and we aren't about to waste it."
Ella knew, then and there, that he would convince her to do just about anything if he kept looking at her with that much faith. She stared back at him, her mouth dry. "What do we do next?"
8
Mananan should have taken a bet that Ella would take on their problem with grace. She was uncertain, but she wasn't scared. She was going to give the magic a go despite any misgivings she might have.
Are you going to let us see her yet or keep guarding the door like an ogre?Taranis's voice touched his mind.
I don't want to overwhelm her with people. Send Elise in next. The women are doing an excellent job of breaking her in, Mananan replied.
Ogre it is. Taranis's laughter was still echoing in his mind when Elise moved in behind him.
"You are doing the right thing keeping them out, uncle." She went up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
"Ella, this is Elise, Kian's mate," Mananan introduced.
"We have this covered if you want to join the glowering males outside," Elise said with a mischievous grin.
"There are more of you outside?" Ella asked, her face brightening.
"One thing you need to learn, Ella, is that there arealwaysmore of this family," Elise replied. She waved at Mananan. "Off you go."
"I don't think I should leave you alone," he said, eyes narrowing. The women were up to something. He could smell it like a shark smelled blood in water.
"We want to talk about you, and we can't do that while you are standing there. Now go on," Freya commanded, waving him out. Ella's lips were twitching as she tried not to laugh.
"You better say only nice things. I know where you sleep," Mananan warned them. He cast one more look at Ella and then at the chittering women. "Be careful you don't touch her. She doesn't like it."
"I'll be fine," Ella assured him.
Knowing he was thoroughly outnumbered, Mananan left the kitchen and went to find his brothers and nephews.
The four of them were lingering about in one of the sitting rooms closest to the kitchen. Oberon and Kian were discussing the new herd of aurochs in the north that they were keeping an eye on, and Bayn and Taranis were playing a cutthroat game ofhnefatafl.
"Where is Ella?" Taranis asked, glancing up at him.
"She's with the women. They wanted to be left alone," Mananan grumbled. He didn't like her being out of his sight. The last time he did, she almost died. He had spent an uncomfortable night staring at the walls of his room, wondering if she was okay and if leaving her alone after being so wounded was a good idea.
She looked fine that morning. Better than fine. Ella was wearing clothes that were fitted to her figure for once. She may have been short, but she was built well with the soft fabric of her sweater doing nothing to hide the luscious swell of her breasts and the dip of her waist where it hit her hips.
And the last thing she needs is you ogling her, he reminded himself. They needed her to help them, and he didn't want to scare her away.
"You know between Chrissy, Elise, and Freya, they are going to know everything about your little lighthouse keeper in about twenty minutes," Kian commented with a fond smile. "I swear Bayn wouldn't have had to kill so many people to get information out of them over the years if we'd had our mates in Faerie. They would've done a better job with a lot less bloodshed."
Bayn flipped him off but didn't argue with him. Freya had caught Mananan off guard more than once with her wide smile. She made people trust her just by giving them her attention.
"Ella has already agreed to help us. I don't want them scaring her off," Mananan said, slumping down into an armchair.
