Eleri Stone - Witch Bound

“And even if the link allowed it,” Kamis said. “I would not do such a thing.”

Raquel looked from Kathy to Peter. “Make me the focus.”

Cleaning up after a wedding wasn’t the most fun in the world. Cleaning up after a wedding that never even happened was particularly miserable. With Raquel learning how to deal with Kamis, the brunt of the task had fallen to Audrey and her mom. When Raquel walked into the hall, Audrey gave her a quick hug and pointed her toward the kitchen.

“How is she?”

Audrey shrugged. “Not good. But you’re lucky, Fen told her all about the crossing in terms that made it clear exactly how dangerous it was. Right now, she’s just happy you’re alive. You should run with that.”

“Fen was here?”

“He still is. Downstairs with Christian and Grace sorting through the boxes Mom had shipped to figure out what can be returned.”

They should be home recovering from the crossing. Raquel blinked back tears as she stepped into the main room. The chairs were stacked on wheeled metal carts and a radio was on in the kitchen. It sounded tinny out here in the big echoey space. “They all came to help?”

“Even Lois stopped by for a bit. Settled the bill with Mom, made a few snide remarks about you being impulsive. Mom looked like she was going to take a swing at her, but Aiden stepped in before it actually turned into a fight. Good times.”

Raquel pulled her sister into another hug. “I don’t want you to leave.”

Audrey patted her on the shoulder. “You are endlessly entertaining, but I do have school. Those of us without such high callings need to make a living too. I’ll be back this summer...provided the town’s still standing and all.”

Raquel laughed. “Okay. What still needs to be done?”

“Have you worked out your problem with the link?”

“Yes, thank God.” She held up the silver necklace Kathy had made with Peter’s help. “This blocks my thoughts from passing until I figure out how to do it myself. So as long as I’m wearing it, I’m golden.”

“Good,” Audrey said. “That would be pretty creepy otherwise. He’s creepy.”

“Kamis?”

“Yeah, with the mindspeak thing and the way he looks at you with those cold, dead eyes.”

Raquel shook her head but didn’t know how to explain that there was more to him than that. He’d been through a lot. He had secrets she wasn’t sure she was ready to hear. But...Raquel remembered the look on his face as he faced death. The sacrifice he was willing to make for their sake. There was something...human inside the ancient witch. Only time would tell whether he was human enough to make it here in Midgard.

Audrey gave her a curious look. “So you and Fen...”

Raquel raised her brows. “Yeah?”

She elbowed Raquel in the side. “You know what I mean. What’s going on? He seemed distracted and he asked about you, several times. I think he was disappointed that you weren’t here. Or relieved, it was hard to tell.”

Raquel looked toward the door to the basement. “He asked me out.”

“A date?” Audrey rolled her eyes. “I thought for sure he was going to tell me you’d bonded but was giving you the chance to get to me first.”

“A date is a big step for him.”

“If you say so. Before you go and chase him down, come talk to mom. At least let her see that you’re alive and okay.”

Audrey led her into the kitchen where their mother was standing on a stool trying to shove a box of napkins into a full cabinet. She glanced over her shoulder and smiled.

“Raquel, you’re here. Should you be out of bed?” She climbed down and crossed the room, wrapping her arms around Raquel’s shoulders and then pulling back to take a look at her.

“I’m fine. Really.”

Her mother stole another hug and then gestured at the room. “You don’t need to stay. We’re only tidying up.”

There were five big rolls of tulle stacked on the island. Her mom had ordered them online to decorate the hall. She’d always considered the big communal space the clan used for their gatherings to be dated and far too plain for the grand ceremony she envisioned—late-1980s Knights of Columbus when her mother had wanted elegance.

Raquel ran her hand over the satin-covered guest book sitting beside it. “I’m so sorry, Mom.”

“We’re saving it.”

“What?”

Her mother’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “Dad’s not coming out because Gary was injured on the hunt. Not badly, but he says since if there’s no wedding there’s no reason for him to be here and every reason for him to stay home. Which is fine because he would have me pack up everything I spent the last two years picking out.”

“But...there’s not going to be a wedding.”

“Today,” her mother said, and Audrey gave a slight warning shake of her head. Her mother grabbed Audrey’s hand too. “But look at the two of you. My two beautiful daughters. It’s only a matter of time. We’re not canceling the wedding so much as delaying it, Christian was kind enough to point out.”

Audrey grinned at whatever expression was on Raquel’s face. “Wasn’t that kind of Christian? He’s very devious.”

Something about the light in Audrey’s eyes when she spoke of Christian made Raquel pause, but then her mother turned her around and pushed her toward the door. “Can you go downstairs? The boys are supposed to be finding a place to store the boxes. Make sure it’s dry and well ventilated, will you? And you—” she swung on Audrey, “—I thought you were headed to the store for more bags?”

Raquel slipped past them both and into the big empty room, heading for the stairs. There was still one table set up beside the stairs. She recognized the binders that held everything from dress clippings to seating arrangements. Raquel paused beside the table when she saw it was opened to the guest list. Two typed pages of names and phone numbers. A small checkmark in blue ink beside each entry. Her stomach sank, and she sat down.

She’d done the right thing. The only thing. She couldn’t imagine getting married today.

Not to Christian.

“Having second thoughts?”

Fen stood in the doorway at the top of the stairs, his long legs splayed and his hands open at his sides. He wore beat-up jeans and a black T-shirt, the fabric worn and molded tantalizingly to his chest and biceps. A jolt hit her right in the chest, just like the first time she’d set eyes on him. Her instinct was to rush him, throw her arms around his neck and kiss him silly, but she thought that might freak him out. Instead, she tried to put some of that same welcome into the smile she cast his way. “No regrets. Not about this.”

Glancing over his shoulder as if checking to make sure they were alone, he crossed the room. “Audrey said there was a problem with your link to the witch. I was on my way to find you.”

“It’s fixed.”

His brows lifted, but she didn’t want to explain it all again. She couldn’t sense the witch at all right now unless she focused all her attention in that direction. And all her attention was here, on the man in front of her, looking tense and uncertain and so freaking perfect it made her heart ache. “Then it’s not...”

She tipped her head to the side when he paused. “Not what?”

“Rocky...” He knelt so they were at eye level and his arms settled to either side of her body as though he was afraid she would bolt. Even as part of her was alarmed by that, the rest of her was melting because Fen was finally touching her.

She smiled. “Fen.”

“I need you to check me for a mating bond.”

Her heart clunked in her chest, stopping and then turning over like an old car. “But...you said you didn’t bond to Carly.”