leads to Center City and more shopping, with some theaters and stuff.” She crossed the street, vaguely checking for oncoming cars. “You ever been to the Gallery?”
He followed, wrinkling his nose at the smell of exhaust. This was one of the many reasons he’d chosen to leave the family’s home city of Pittsburgh behind and move to a more rural area. “Can’t say that I have.”
“Huh. I’ll have to take you there.”
He kept his smile to himself.
“Anyway, we can order in some cheese steaks tonight, maybe catch a game on TV.
You like baseball?”
“Not so much.” He was more of a hockey fan, but saying he rooted for the Pittsburgh Penguins might get him dead in this neighborhood.
“Oh. The Phillies are playing in town this week, so we’ll see more traffic than usual.” She strode up some steps and banged on the door. “Now play nice or I’ll put you in the dog house.”
“Woof.”
She snickered, but before she could reply, the door opened. A small woman with salt and pepper hair stood there in jeans and a T-shirt. Her feet were bare, and a small frilly apron was around her waist. “Alannah?”
“Hi, Grammy. Can we come in?”
“Of course! And you’re Christopher Beckett.” Annabelle Evans held out her hand.
“Welcome to my home, Mr. Beckett.”
He took her hand, shocked at the strength of her grip. “A pleasure, Mrs. Evans.” He ignored the tendrils of magic snaking up his arm. He knew she was merely testing his strength and his ability to take care of her granddaughter, and he didn’t blame her. He might have done the same thing himself if it was his granddaughter. Besides, if Annabelle Evans wanted him dead, she really didn’t need to touch him to do it. She was one of the strongest witches in the United States, and had the council seat to prove it.
He followed Lana into the house, prepared to see a home done in the style of his own grandmother’s, somewhat fussy but warm and welcoming. Instead what he found was a remarkably eclectic looking home, with bright colors, modern furniture and homey little touches. The dark hardwood floors were counteracted by the traditional camel-colored sofa. The sofa faced a Spanish style TV armoire that was currently open, showing that Annabelle Evans apparently liked to watch America’s Next Top Model reruns. A coffee table, the top done in a bright mosaic of tiles, was flanked by two bright, modern turquoise chairs. The camel-colored curtains stood out against the wall color, a lighter turquoise than what was on the chairs. Looking back through an arch he could see the dining room, done in a much darker turquoise, an ebony-stained Queen Anne dining set taking up most of the space. Over the dining set was a multi-tiered sculptural chandelier made of what looked like Murano glass. Beyond that was the kitchen, and what little he could see of it told him it was done in the same mix of styles as the rest of the house. The only indication that a witch lived here was the small shelf on the wall. A plaque bearing a sun and moon melded together in a seamless, yin-yang type portrait held pride of place. It was flanked by two candles, one silver and the other gold. A wooden burner held the ashes of what smelled like jasmine incense. He couldn’t tell if she’d done spellwork there recently or simply lit the incense for the joy of it, but it still screamed “altar” to him even without the trappings he’d often seen in books or on his own altar.
He liked it. It fit the woman who stood in front of him, chatting with her granddaughter. What he didn’t like was the exasperated tone she was addressing Lana in.
“Why didn’t you stay at Mr. Beckett’s house?”
Lana gaped. “I barely know the man!”
“Didn’t I tell you he’d protect you?”
“Yes.”
“So?” Annabelle tapped her foot.
Lana shot him a look, like the fact her grandmother appeared annoyed was all his fault. “He says I’m his mate. He cast some sort of spell and says I was the answer or something.”
Annabelle nodded. “You
Lana threw her hands up in the air. “Someone threatened to kill me!”
“And Christopher will protect you from that!”
Christopher decided to interrupt before things got ugly. Lana was turning suspiciously red in the face, and he didn’t think it was all from anger. He’d caught a flash of hurt there, quickly masked. “Excuse me.”
“Well, gee, stupid me for thinking my family might help me.”
Annabelle sighed. “Christopher has dealt with this person for a long time. The protections he has in place were designed to keep him out. Why do you think I told you to stay?”
Lana frowned. “Wizard versus wizard?”
“Exactly.” Annabelle led her granddaughter over to the sofa. “Sit, and I’ll finish lunch. Then you can tell me why you think it’s necessary to stay here rather than at Christopher’s.”
“Because something tells me that it’s the last thing this guy would expect us to do.”
Annabelle stopped. Christopher studied Lana’s face, seeing for the first time the serene certainty that she was right. “You think it will take him some time to find us?”
She smiled. “Exactly.”
He smiled back. He had an inkling of what she was up to now. “God I love a smart woman.” He ignored her blush. “You’re right. I doubt he knows who you are, but it won’t take him long to figure it out, and when he does he might target you.”
She beamed at him. “Exactly.”
“While we stay here and work out the best way to keep you safe, I’ll contact my family and see how they can help us figure out what Cole is up to. Deal?”
“Deal.”
“At the first sign that your grandmother is in danger, I’m taking you back to my house.” He held up his hand when she opened her mouth to protest. “I will not put your family in danger. That is non-negotiable.”
“If he’s keeping an eye on
He took her hand and began absently playing with her fingers, the motion soothing him. He hadn’t really touched her since the incredible lovemaking in his workroom. It felt like it had been longer than a few hours. “I’ll have to tell them to mask themselves from scrying. It will buy is a little time, but not much.”
“And in the meantime we try and figure out what you did to piss someone off so much they threaten to kill your supposed mate.”
He growled.
She patted his head. “Down, Fido.”
He took her hand in his and leaned into her. “How can you deny the magic that coursed through you when you touched the ring?” He kept his voice soft so Mrs. Evans wouldn’t hear them arguing.
“How would you feel if a complete stranger walked up to you and said congratulations! You get to spend the rest of your life with me whether you like it or not!” Lana was also keeping her voice soft, yet still managed to sound like she was yelling at him.
Goddess, she was so cute when she was pissed. “That’s not true.”
“Yes it is!”
“You could walk away from me.” His heart was pounding.
She raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief. “Really?”
“Yes. You could throw me out and declare that you want nothing to do with me.
Eventually, if you held strong, I would have to give up and go away.”
“And then what?”
He knew what would happen then, but he didn’t want to guilt her into staying with him. He wanted her to stay because she wanted to. So he remained silent, ignoring her deepening glare.
Finally she blew her bangs out of her eyes, glaring at him. “You are
