Page 90 of Shifting Winds
Seymour hopped off the desk and launched himself at the other Lord who caught him in one hand and tucked him into the crook of his arm.
“What’s crawled up your ass?” I asked, pen paused in the middle of the hundredth damn form I had to sign. Simone was amazing, but the paperwork made me want to scream.
“You need to get your shit together, man. You’re going to lose her if you don’t.”
I froze. “Excuse me?”
He came close enough for me to catch a familiar scent in the air. The pen dropped. Fury boiled in my blood. I came to my feet and leaned on the desk, claws making gouges in the wood. “Why do you smell like Evangeline?”
“Because I was at her house earlier since you didn’t tell me she almost died.” He shoved a hand through his hair and plopped into one of the leather chairs. “Fucking prick.”
Rowan would have been acting guiltier if he’d done something unforgivable, but her scent…
Evie was all over him.
“Tell me,” I demanded.
Rowan scoffed. “I didn’t sleep with her. Nothing of the sort. Do you have zero faith in either of us? We’re just friends.”
“Then why do you smell like you’re involved with her?”
“Because I am. I care about her, and I’m starting to wonder if I care more than you do.”
The cracking sound of wood was the only noise in the room for a long moment. “Take care with your words right now.”
He snorted and watched me with his strange hazel eyes. “How about you rein your shit in and talk to me?”
Rowan’s levelheadedness had always appealed to me both as a friend and as a Lord, and the other man had been my friend long enough to speak to me even when I was being unreasonable.
Even though I had every reason to be unreasonable.
It took me a while to stifle the urge to rip his head off, but eventually my claws retracted and I retook my seat. “Talk.” My voice sounded like I’d been gargling gravel.
“Evie’s magic is bound to nature. She is a creature of the earth, and now that I know her full biological heritage, things make a lot more sense.”
“She told you about Cernunnos?”
Rowan nodded, and I studied the man a little closer. Evie trusted almost no one. How had Rowan gotten underneath her prickly tight shields so quickly?
“I’m aware of her magic.”
“But not of the requirements. She is full fae, and while the fae’s magic is tied into the natural world, they are not like her. Evie needs constant touch to thrive.”
My claws came out again, this time poking holes in the thighs of my jeans where my hands rested. “And you met this need for her?”
Seymour’s traps moved to and fro as we spoke, his body shivering inside his pot. The poor thing looked like he wanted to bite someone, but he wasn’t quite sure who was in the right yet.
Rowan stroked a finger over Seymour and said, “Shut up for a moment and listen to me, please.”
Every muscle in my body was tight and poised to leap over the desk. “Hurry up,” I growled.
“You scare Evie.”
The wolf inside me recoiled, horrified at the accusation. “Rowan, I swear to the gods?—”
The other Lord leaned forward. “Put away your fucking ego and listen to me.”
The seriousness in his tone and the ferocity of his words made me blink. My anger drained away. “Fine,” I said quietly. “I won’t interrupt again.”
