Page 47 of Power Shift
My stomach warmed. “Not a thing if you can believe it.”
“I don’t,” Moira said immediately.
Ash snorted. “Me neither.”
I held my hands up, flinging dirt around. “Me either, but he left without asking for a single thing. No demands. No contract. No nothing. Trust me. I’m as surprised as you are.”
Moira’s lips turned down. “It’s dangerous to become indebted to him.”
“I’m well aware. But I had no other choice. He is the only one powerful enough to keep her safe. Caelan has the means and the land to protect her.” I shook my head. “Also, I’ve never seen him act needlessly cruel. Even Seymour has softened toward him.”
Ash laughed. “I thought for sure Seymour would have everyone in that Keep paralyzed within the first month he was there.”
“He popped about twenty-five percent,” Moira said with a chuckle.
Tess pulled out a silvery gray succulent and tested it against the fall basket before frowning and putting it back. “Maybe we should try to sell some of those.”
“Like Seymour?” Ash asked.
“Too much liability. If we accidentally sold one to a human, they’d sue us into oblivion.”
“Not to mention inadvertently exposing magic to them,” Moira added.
Ash’s hands stilled. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and Tess’s idea makes me think there’s a market for an online-only marketplace for paranormals who want to shop for exotic plants.”
“Plants like Seymour?” I asked.
“For a little of everything.” Ash frowned. “But if I may say this, I don’t think you should do more plants like Seymour. You poured a little too much of yourself into that one.”
Tess nodded in agreement. “He’s right. Seymour has too much sentience to belong to the plant world anymore. He’s something completely original now.”
Moira grunted. “I’m with the rest of them. Boost them for health and growth and possibly some ability to communicate what they need, but don’t go as far as you did with our bitey little friend.”
“It takes too long, too,” I agreed. “Seymour took weeks to create. But you’re right. He has become something other than what he was meant to be. As long as Caelan cares for him, I won’t take him back.”
“Not that Seymour will let you,” Ash added dryly. “He’s just as violent as the Shifter Lord.”
Seymour and I were permanently linked. I’d know if something happened to him, and I knew I could compel him to return to me if I wanted to. Not that I would. He’d found a better caretaker and companion in Caelan than he ever would in me.
“We’d have to find a website designer and sketch out some ideas, but I’m open to it.”
“No need,” Tess said. “I’ve sketched a few things out. I’ll grab my tablet from my apartment after lunch if you want to see them.”
My gaze flicked to Ash who wore a self-deprecating smile. “Tess and I have been talking about it for a while.”
“Just ideas,” Tess promised. “I like drawing anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal to put something together.” She ducked her head and focused on the succulents she was digging through. Tess was a staple in the shop and our friend, but I was beginning to realize Tess was much more complicated than she seemed on the surface.
And we still hadn’t talked about what she’d done to Neit.
“Happy to take a look.” Ash’s idea was a good one, but I wasn’t sure if I’d have the time to maintain it.
“Do you have a running list of what we could sell through the site? If we did one.”
“My bonsais for sure.”
“Your turtle vines were popular with the Keep,” Moira said. “We’d make a killing with those on Valentine’s Day.”
“As long as they don’t bite,” said Tess.
