Page 39 of Fated Midlife Christmas
Erin tapped her fingers along her chin. “Should we go find her?”
“She’s long gone by now,” Lucille reasoned, “and everyone here is probably the better for it.”
Kristy moved closer to Lorelei. “Is there anything we can do for you or the rest of your coven?”
“Well, I hate to ask for anything. You’ve all been so kind already, and I don’t want to take advantage. Especially after you risked your lives,” Lorelei hesitated.
“Hey, that’s just what we do sometimes,” Tina said with a smile. “We’re always happy to help out another coven.”
Lorelei looked at the remaining two geodes. They were still glowing with energy, but they were no longer pulsing and flickering. “I can’t say that I understood all of what Corinna was trying to do here, but I never felt it was right. Is there anything you can do to fix what she’s done to Salem’s ley lines?”
All of the Artemis Eclipse Sisters turned to look at Lars.
“Yes,” he replied immediately. This was the job that he’d literally been born to do, even if it wasn’t there in Salem. “I need a little time to rest, but then I’d be happy to come back and work on it. Amanda, I could use your help.”
Her eyes went wide as she looked at him. She appeared to suddenly remember the sad conversation they’d had just a few hours ago after Arden’s play, and that things weren’t exactly calm and normal between them. Mary Riddle had made everyone forget reality for a little while.
But Amanda took a deep breath and nodded. “Sure. I can do that. We need to get it all fixed so that Kendrick and the others will start feeling better.”
15
“So you can see it,just the same way that I can sense the energy within someone?” Amanda asked.
Lars shrugged. “I can’t get inside your head to know exactly what you experience, but it seems that way.”
Amanda clicked her turn signal on and waited at the next light. “I’m concerned that I won’t be much help to you today. I mean, we shouldn’t have an undead witch attacking us again. If we will, I think I need more coffee.”
Lars laughed. Things weren’t any different between them, not in the big picture, but his polar bear was still pleased to be near his mate once again. “You have a lot of talent. Just because you’ve focused it on people doesn’t mean you can’t do the same thing within the earth. You were feeling something that night we traced the problem back to The Crimson Veil,” he pointed out.
She bobbed her head a bit as she considered this. “A little, but a bit of tingling in my palm doesn’t seem like the same thing.”
“We’ll just see what we can do.” Maybe he didn’t need to bring her along. Maybe he would’ve been just fine on his own, and Lars would’ve helped The Crimson Veil correct the energyissues either way. His polar bear told him, though, that he needed Amanda by his side for this.
“How are the dragons?” Amanda asked as she made the final turn.
“Much better. They were already starting to improve by the time I got back to their clanhouse last night. Our work here today should bring them back to full vitality.” It’d been a huge relief to see them when he’d returned from The Crimson Veil the night before. Lilith and Ewan were out of bed, and Beck was insisting on helping Chelsea. Little Corbin had bounced back the fastest and was already running circles around both of them. “What about Kendrick?”
“A vast improvement. He wants to see you again soon so he can thank you personally.” Amanda pulled up in front of the covenstead.
While the house had looked dark and spooky before, in the light of day and with all the damage, it just looked sad. A few of the windows had been boarded up, but many of them were still just shattered glass with curtains hanging limply through them. The bushes just outside of the altar room had been affected by Mary’s powers, their branches bent and broken. Debris littered the yard, and as they got out of the car, Lars could see that the items had likely come from inside the house. Books, papers, photographs, and other small household wares had been caught up in Mary’s whirlwind and flung through the windows.
Lorelei greeted them at the door before they even had a chance to knock. “I’m so glad you’re here. Come in!”
The living room furniture had been put to rights, and someone had cleaned up the floor. This was the room where the windows had been boarded over, and several lamps offered a warm, ambient light.
“Have a seat. I’ve got some coffee for you,” Lorelei insisted, waving to the couch before she hurried into the kitchen.
“She seems like she’s in a good mood,” Amanda noted.
“There’s something about believing you might die and then not dying that will do that to someone,” Lars replied. “I feel pretty good myself.”
Amanda looked down at her lap. “Yeah. It makes you think about a lot of things.”
He studied her profile, letting the implication hang there between them.
“She was pretty scary,” Amanda finally said. “If anyone ever brings me back from the dead, I hope I look better than that.”
“Here we are!” Lorelei came in from the kitchen, carrying a tray. She put it in front of them on the coffee table and poured them each a cup. “I know this is nothing, but I wanted to thank you once again for what you did last night.”
