Page 15 of Elemental Healer

“Tessa’s not in her room.” Nate’s face was pale, but his words made me relax.

“She’s fine, Nate.” I nodded my head toward my bathroom. “She’s cleaning up.”

Nate’s relief made him sag against the doorframe. “Thank goodness. Her stuff wasn’t in the room either, though.”

A flush started in my cheeks and Nate peeked into the room. His brows furrowed and his eyes darkened.

“Jeff, what is Tessa’s stuff doing in your room? She is like a daughter to me. I’ve been the closest thing she has to family since her mother was killed. What are you doing?”

I’d never seen Nate so angry, and it made my heart rate speed up. I took a step back with my hands held up. Nate couldn’t kill me with his magic—he’d already tried that once in my life—but the memory of the pain remained all the same.

“Nate, this was her idea, not mine. She doesn’t trust me yet, so she wants to keep me close. Her words, not mine. I swear. You know I can’t lie.”

Maybe it was the words I’d said or the fear openly showing on my face, but Nate relaxed yet again and lost the angered look.

“I’m sorry, Jeff. I failed her mother, and I can’t do the same for her.”

I nodded. “I understand.”

“Come on. Let’s get downstairs and eat some breakfast. There’s a package of cookies calling your name, I believe.”

We made our way downstairs, but honestly, my appetite had fled with the angered Warlock. If this was foreshadowing where the rest of my day was headed, I wanted to go back to bed.

One night down. How many more did I have to go?

The eyes looking back at me had bags beneath them. My reward for trying to gain more information last night. Had I just let the healer go do his healing thing instead of tagging along, I could have gotten way more sleep than I had. Sadly, I now had to live with my choices.

The warm shower eased my muscles and put me in a better mood. Upon exiting, I noticed my violet eyes shone brighter than they had in a while. I was on my way to revenge, and one day the shine would stay. That would be after the warrior-healer was dead.

I slipped into the knee-length dress with thick straps and no sleeves that I'd brought for the treaty talks. When the dress was in place, I found myself grateful that someone had thought to install a full-length mirror on the back of the bathroom door.

The dress was maroon and the formal dress of the Harbor Witches along with the traditional robe we placed on top. The long sleeves of the robe, also maroon, would keep me warm. I'd worn my maroon pants set yesterday and brought more for when we weren't in the meetings, but the dresses I'd brought were required. Thankfully, I liked dresses and had the figure to pull this one off.

Nathaniel and the warrior-healer were sitting at the table eating breakfast when I descended the stairs. The Warlock had a plate of eggs in front of him, and unsurprisingly, the Elemental had the package of cookies.

"Want one?" he asked, holding out the package as I walked by.

"No."

There was no way on this planet I'd be taking one of those cookies. Tonight, if I wanted more, I'd open a new package. Jeff wouldn't be eating more of them today, I guaranteed it.

"Wasn't my fault you stayed up so late," the warrior-healer mumbled, and I couldn't help myself from slapping him on the back of the head, hard. Man, it felt good too.

"Tessa." Nathaniel eyed me as I grabbed some milk from the fridge and cereal from a cupboard.

"Nathaniel, did you sleep well?" I put on my best charm, the one that said I knew I was in the wrong but wouldn't apologize so he needed to move past it.

My mentor sighed. "Yes, I slept very well, Tessa. How did you sleep?"

"Well," I held the word out as I walked past Jeff again, dragging my finger across his neck, making him shiver beneath my touch, "once I got to sleep, I slept wonderfully. Someone, though, kept me awake." I winked at the younger man as I sat beside him.

Nathaniel was very protective of me. He'd taken me in after my mother had been murdered, and I'd worked very hard to make him proud, even after the years it had taken me to grieve for my mom. I'd inherited my mom's natural talents, and training with the Warlock seemed the best use of my time. Nathaniel would be furious with a man like Jeff Lanshay for sleeping with me without being my Consort. Not that Nathaniel had a problem going home with any woman he wanted.

Jeff sat back and crossed his arms when Nathaniel glowered at him. "We talked about this, Nate. I did nothing with her. We went to the main house to help Jazz last night. Then we came back and fell asleep. End of story."

Nathaniel sighed and rubbed his face. "Yeah, sorry. I'm just protective of her."

"So you said." Jeff stood from his chair and took his glass of milk to the sink and his empty cookie package to the garbage. "We're leaving in five minutes. I need to grab something from upstairs. I'll be right back."

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