Eleri Stone - Witch Bound

He looked down into Grace’s upturned face. “Didn’t see this one coming did you.”

“Nope,” she said. “And I’m a Verthandi not Skuld. There’s a difference. I can’t see the future.”

“So you keep telling me. Are you sure you didn’t just keep this one to yourself for the entertainment value of watching it knock me off my feet?”

Her brown eyes lit. “She knocked you off your feet?”

“Like a jötunn taking down a toddler. There was nothing pleasant about it, so you can wipe that goofy romantic grin right off your face.”

Her smile widened and she hugged him tighter before letting him go. “Maybe the pleasant part will come later.”

“Brat,” he said without heat. “There’s not going to be a later. Christian—”

“Christian never loved her. He came to talk to Aiden last night about the possibility of reworking the contract. He seemed...frustrated by the mess of it, but he wasn’t heartbroken. You’re the hot mess...and Raquel doesn’t look like she’s been sleeping either.”

Raquel’s car bumped down the driveway that would need to be regraded in the spring, and Fen turned away from the window. “She would be happier with Christian than she would be with me.” Grace opened her mouth to object, but he held up his hand. Grace hadn’t been raised clan and didn’t see all of the possible complications. “How many happy hound relationships have you seen?”

“Your parents.”

He shook his head. Everyone held them up as an example. “You didn’t see it from the inside.”

“That doesn’t mean it would be the same for you. I might not have been raised clan, but Raquel was. Trust her to know what she’s getting herself into.”

He smiled then because he couldn’t help it. She didn’t understand Rocky at all. “She leaps into trouble with both feet. You saw her face right after she crossed over, all starry-eyed and drooling when she saw Christian.”

“But she figured it out soon enough.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “And the runes on her leg?”

“Everyone makes mistakes, Fen.”

He grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair. “I know that. I just don’t want to be one of them.” He dropped a kiss to her forehead and headed for the door. “Stop worrying about me.”

“Fen,” she called out and he turned. “What happened with Carly?”

Of course, Grace would know about that. By now, everyone in town probably knew what a pathetic fool he was. And they didn’t even know the worst of it. Gods willing, no one ever would.

“Nothing happened. Nothing at all.”

It had been Audrey’s idea to come out to the scenic overlook to break the news to their mother. Five miles outside of town. A steep drop. Total isolation. Raquel arched one brow at her sister. “Nice place to dispose of the body.”

Audrey smiled enigmatically and leaned against the hip-high stone wall. “I didn’t know about this either, Mom. Not until this morning.”

Raquel shook her head and turned to look at her mother’s retreating back. On impulse, she spun back to the cliff and shouted into the gorge. It wasn’t nearly as satisfying as she’d hoped. The sound echoed, empty and hollow, before merging with the dull rumble of thunder. Audrey glanced nervously at the sky. Raquel followed her gaze and swore under her breath. Storm clouds roiled directly over their heads. Black and ominous, maybe they would have passed for normal during the summer. No way would that pass for normal in November.

Lightning sliced down and she could feel the impact below her feet. “Mom.”

“I’m going to call your father.” She stormed off toward the car.

“You’re lucky she didn’t hit you with that one.” Audrey smirked. “Æsir or no, that would have stung.”

“She’s not going to let this go easily, is she?”

Audrey tipped her head to one side. “You sound surprised. She’s only been planning this wedding for the last twenty-five years.”

“I don’t care about the wedding.” Raquel sounded childish and bitter even to her own ears.

“But she does. Dad will talk her down. You should have called him first. He would be here within the hour if the full moon wasn’t tomorrow.”

“Well, that’s something.”

“This is about Fen, isn’t it?” The frown on Audrey’s face was more confusion than concern.

Raquel pushed away from the wall and brushed the sandy grit from her palms. “Yeah, it’s about Fen. Not his fault or anything. He just made me realize I couldn’t go through with marrying Christian.”

“You should have told her we were just swapping out the grooms,” Audrey said. “Sure, she’s a little in love with Christian herself but if she at least gets to have her wedding, she might not blow anything up.”

The black clouds were slowly dispersing, like ink dropped into clear water. Raquel wondered what the news would make of it. Iowa weather seemed...odd. Possibly the locals wouldn’t even blink.

“Fen doesn’t want me.”

Audrey made a dismissive sound. “You’re wrong about that. He’s one great big furry ball of wanting you.”

“And you know this how?”

“I’ve spent time with the two of you. I figured you didn’t want to deal with the complications of bonding a hound or that you liked Christian more or that you were going to do your normal thing and go along with what everyone wanted you to do. It’s cool, you know, you tearing up the contract and going after what you want. Crazy in a berserker sort of way, but cool.” Audrey squinted into the sun and grinned. “Are you going to toss Fen over your shoulder and chain him to your bed?”

Raquel rolled her eyes. “I’m letting him make up his mind.”

Audrey was silent for several moments. A bald eagle dropped from its high perch in the tree across the river and dove toward the water, bringing up a struggling fish. The enormous bird beat its wings to gain altitude and then drifted in a gentle arc toward the tree line again.

“What does Fen say about all this?”

“That he never wanted a mate.”

“Some hounds don’t. You’re asking a lot from him. You’re asking him for everything.”

Raquel shoved her hands in her pockets. “He says he doesn’t want to get between me and Christian, but I think you’re right. He’s scared.”

“Well, you did almost destroy his town.”

“Shut up.” She grinned. “He doesn’t like change.”

“No hound ever does.”

“He doesn’t want to have kids. And...” Audrey waited, patient, attentive, concerned. Raquel sighed. “And he hasn’t said this, but I think he’s worried I’ll decide in a few years that I picked the wrong man.”

Her sister’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve only known each other a few weeks. Is it a possibility?”

“No,” Raquel said softly. “I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.”

They gathered at Aiden’s house at four on the night of the full moon. The diner had sent over a few trays of lasagna, garlic bread and salad along with every sort of pie they made. When the riders went to prepare the horses, Raquel offered to help Grace clean up the mess because she couldn’t sit still and do nothing but worry.

“You don’t have to help with this. I can take care of it after...” Grace frowned at the bubbles in the sink. “I hate that he’s going without me.”

Raquel dropped a handful of forks into the soapy water. “You want to go?”

“No one in their right mind wants to go. But if he has to cross into Asgard, I’d like to be there too. I haven’t been training for very long with the sword.” She shrugged. “The gun has always been my weapon of choice.”