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Willow gasped. “Celeste.”
“Yeah. I think that’s her name. Anyway, after that, the building changed hands over a dozen times. Only a few businesses actually made it to the opening stage. Something would always happen, and it usually didn’t end well for the property owners.”
He sliced his thumb across his neck to emphasize his point.
Montgomery was stone silent and had to brace himself on the counter.
“I feel like I’m going to be sick,” Willow said.
“They’ll stop at nothing,” warned Talon. “But none of the previous owners of this property have been a witch. You’re the first one. And whatever it is that interests them in this place, they’ll try to get it through you.”
“Whatever happened to Celeste?” Willow asked.
Talon shrugged. “Maybe she’s dead. Or got turned into a lamppost. Nobody knows.”
“I certainly hope it’s neither,” Willow said. “Maybe she flew away on her broomstick and is sipping piña coladas on a tropical beach somewhere.”
Talon gave her a flat look. He seemed like he’d probably burn to a crisp on a tropical beach without a 5000 SPF sunblock. And he didn’t strike her as a piña colada guy either. He was more of agetting stuck in the raintype.
“I brought you this,” he said after an uncomfortable moment, and produced a worn, leatherbound book from inside his coat. “I stole it from my mother. It’s full of the blackest spells, brews, and incantations ever written. I would not dare to use it under any other circumstances. But if it helps you against my mother and those other old hags, it might be your best bet.”
Willow took the book with some trepidation. What could possibly go wrong with a book of dark curses and an ancient drabardi crystal ball in her possession?
Talon left after he handed over the book. He didn’t say goodbye or see ya later or anything pleasant like that. He just turned around and left.
“Wow, he sure monologued for a long time for a guy who couldn’t be bothered to talk a couple weeks ago,” Willow said after the door shut behind him. She immediately locked it.
“Such an odd man,” Montgomery said.
“Considering his upbringing, I’d say he could be much weirder than that.”
Montgomery tipped his chin toward the book in Willow’s hands. “You’re not going to use that, are you?”
“No. Of course not,” she said defensively. “But it might give me some clues about why Nadine wants the Moonstone so badly and what she plans to do with it.”
She shook a little, trembling as she held the book, and Montgomery placed a warm palm over her hands, then gently took the book from her, placing it on the counter.
“Now I know why you could see me from the first day you came here. How I was brought back into a corporal form. You were always meant to help me. A descendant of the woman who murdered me and it’s all coming full circle. If anyone can stand up against Nadine, it’s you. It’s always been you.”
“I feel like I’m terribly underqualified for the‘Chosen One’role,” she said dismissively.
“So was Frodo Baggins. But isn’t that what makes the victory all so much more remarkable?”
A small smile cracked at the corner of Willow’s mouth. Montgomery and his Hobbit books.
“We could leave,” she said. “Go to New Zealand and live in a warm, cozy hole in the ground.”
“No,” he said gently, and gave her a soft kiss. “You’re going to be the hero I know you were meant to be.”
His thumb traced the line of her jaw. Bowing down, he curled his finger under her chin and tilted her head up to him, closing his lips around hers. Tasting her, consuming her.
She clung to him, digging her fingers into his shirt, wrenching him closer until she had the feeling his body was both crushing into her, and not close enough.
“Remind me to call you a hero more often if this is the reward I get,” he said breathlessly, tangling his fingers in her hair. He wrapped a strand of curls around his hand and pulled gently to coax her head back. The feel of his mustache along the column of her neck and the growth of scruff on his jaw sent all the wooshy sensations to her belly.
“Do you think you can… uh… I don’t know… are you…” Willow could hardly think straight let alone speak in full sentences.
“Are you asking me if… everything’s in working order?” he asked.
