Page 82 of Power Shift
“She’s not a fish, asshole,” I snarled.
Donovan had said little today, but in this, he spoke up. “It’s a shame Cernunnos outlawed forced marriage. Evie would be a prime candidate.”
Claws slid from my fingertips.
A strong hand gripped the top of my shoulder, warning me not to react. “No need to be a dick, Donovan. We all know you like your women short, pretty, and unable to vote.”
Surprised by Thorvin’s words, my breathing settled. The Northeast Lord spoke very little, but when he opened his mouth, people listened. Thorvin was highly intelligent and highly logical and seemed more in tune with magic resonance than most of us.
Donovan’s jaw tightened. “She’s still a problem and will be until we bring her under our control.”
“The Floromancer has brought no trouble to our doors,” Rowan interjected.
“Said by a man just as enamored with her as Caelan,” Ethan, Lord of the Rocky Mountains, drawled.
I knew Ethan the least, but he’d made no move against me.
Rowan turned on the charm. “How can I not be enamored with a woman whose magic is similar to mine? Someone who loves the earth and all its gifts as much as I do?” He shrugged and glanced at me, dark amusement in his eyes. “Evie is easyon the eyes, too. She’s intelligent, magically gifted, and has a rack?—”
My claws scraped down the table making deep gouges in the wood, the sound of pine cracking overriding his words.
Rowan laughed out loud. “You’re merely proving their point.”
“Be that as it may,” Ethan said, “the Floromancer still has autonomy in your lands, Caelan.”
I bit down the urge to tear him apart. “What’s your point?”
“My point,” Ethan said, leaning forward, “is the proof of divine magic saturating your territory. Your Floromancer must be linked.”
Boy was she. For the first time in my life, when it came to the Council, I danced around the truth. “Evangeline Quinn is a Floromancer. She has never admitted to being divine, nor has anything in her file revealed any heritage other than mundane parentage.”
All true. Evie’s file wasn’t remarkable, though there wasn’t much on her until she was a teenager. She was raised in Seattle by two human parents, graduated toward the top of her class, went to college and did the same, married, divorced, and disappeared off the map until she set foot in Joy Springs seven years later. My intel was top notch. There was no way the other Lords had anything on her I didn’t.
They had no reason to dig as deeply as I had on her.
“She doesn’t need to be related to be in league with them,” Donovan said.
“What does she stand to gain?” Rowan asked.
Donovan snorted. “Everything.” His tone dripped with disdain. “She’s dealing with the gods. They have the capability to give her everything she’s ever wanted.”
“Evie wants to run her flower shop and be left in peace.” I rose and paced back and forth, the urge to shed my skin and run overwhelming. “She has nothing to do with this.”
Rowan’s eyes narrowed.
Shit. He knew me better than everyone and must scent the lie.
I backtracked. “The gods have always been interested in Joy Springs. There’s been no indication Evie has ever met with any divine being other than a single guest at her shop who left without buying anything.”
Donovan’s attention sharpened. “So she has been in contact with the divine.” His eyes gleamed with satisfaction.
“Let it go, Donovan,” Soren snapped. “The girl has done nothing to any of us. As far as I’m concerned, if Caelan wants to have the risk in his territory, let the chips fall where they may.”
Rowan nodded. “I’m inclined to agree.”
Ethan studied me, his dark, flat eyes missing nothing. “And if she becomes a risk to us all?”
“She already is a risk,” Donovan said. “A Chimera breached our defenses and overtook one of our Lords. One far too interested in your Floromancer.”
