Page 53 of Power Shift
“Where is she?” he asked.
That I could answer truthfully with zero hesitation. “I gave her back to the earth.”
Caelan’s head tilted in curiosity. “Explain.”
“Floromancy is magic deeply rooted in the natural world. If you follow the lore, we were created from dust and when we die, to dust we return. My powers are inherent with life, but death is just as much a part of the cycle as life.”
“You turned Gianna to dust.” No judgment in his tone, just a thoughtful note.
“I did. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about the way this ended.” I left Cernunnos out of the conversation. We were dancing far too close to the truth on many things concerning my life, and he already knew about my mother. The king of the fae was another ballgown.
“How did you discover her?”
“Magic,” I said, careful to toe the line of the truth. “When I found her, she had been gone for a while.”
He sat back; tanned fingers curled around his mug. “You could have called me.”
“We don’t seem to have the kind of strong relationship bond where we’ll hide bodies for each other.” I softened the words with a sad smile. “I couldn’t have done anything for her, nor was I willing to risk being framed for murder.”
I frowned. “Because that’s exactly what Finn would do. Nor did I want the Lord to find out, so I sent her back to the earth.”
Caelan rubbed his face. “This complicates things. Her family is looking for her and has been for a while.” He tilted the rest of his coffee back and rose. “Can you show me where you found her?”
“Let me get another cup of coffee.”
Caelan stareddown at the spot where Gianna once lay and said nothing for a long time. I ran my hands over my arms to shake off the chill. Coming out here creeped me out. Gianna was no longer here, but a residue lingered around the space, silently screaming something terrible happened there.
“I’m going to shift,” Caelan said.
Before I could say anything, a flash of light cracked in the woods and a large wolf stood before me. His coloring could best be described as dark, not quite black, not quite gray. Deep charcoal, the color of roiling smoke from an out-of-control fire, Caelan leaned forward, dropping his massive chest to the ground. He dug his nose into the leaf litter around the tree that rose from the spot and sniffed around for a while before standing and walking around her hasty grave, nose still to the ground.
I didn’t interrupt, only went to the ground in a cross-legged position, watching Caelan as he investigated. Finding something, even a hint of a scent trail would surprise me, but maybe he’d pick up something other than Gianna’s. There was no doubt in my mind Rhona was the one who took her out, but I had zero solid proof. A shitty personality wouldn’t get someone convicted in court, so if Caelan needed real proof, he’d have to find it the old-fashioned way now that I’d destroyed every shred of evidence Gianna was ever here.
When he went for several minutes with no signs of stopping, I decided to connect with the land to see if I could wash away the dark feeling in the area. It shouldn’t disturb Caelan, and it’d give me something to do while he investigated. Once my feet were bare, I dug my toes and fingers into the cool soil and closed my eyes.
Chapter
Fifteen
CAELAN
I’d never get tired of watching Evie commune with the earth. Her hair fell dark and loose around her shoulders, a wind I couldn’t feel making the strands dance in the air. Magic the color of watermelon tourmaline swirled around her, roots snaking from the ground to curl up her calves. She was Earth incarnate, Mother Earth given form. A serene smile stole over her face, her lips slightly parted, and her cheeks flushed with color.
Goosebumps had risen over her skin, the chill in the air growing as the sun set.
I shifted back to human form, careful not to disturb her communion.
No trace of Gianna existed in this place. Yet an odd resonance pulsed through the land, warning trespassers something terrible had occurred here. Whatever Evie had done, she’d succeeded. It was almost like my short-term fiancée had never existed. I never liked the woman, and she’d never liked me, but many powerful partnerships were formed regardless of whether the spouses liked each other. Pity was my dominant emotion.
Her family would never be able to lay her bones to rest, but Evie had given her a warrior’s send-off, returning her bones to the world that had borne her.
I dressed quickly and sat before Evie, not close enough to disturb her, but close enough to make her bitch at me when she opened her eyes. A smile curled my lips. Magic washed over me, strong enough that my sleeping wolf cracked an eye open in curiosity and stretched languidly.
Her power always soothed the wild beast living inside my body, bringing me a peace I’d never felt before. Hers was the magic of green things of life and growth, where mine would always be rooted in violence and power.
I shifted position to watch as Evie’s magic soaked into the place that once held Gianna’s violent grave, tourmaline colored magic spiraling up around the surrounding plant life before shattering in a rainbow of light.
Storm clouds rolled over the sky, stopping to center over our heads. The wind stilled, but Evie’s hair kept dancing. An unnatural rumble of thunder sounded through the clearing, and a chill touched my spine at the power such a small woman could hold within her body. Did she know she could command the skies, or was this an odd side effect of what she was doing?
