“What could possibly be more enticing than a supernatural town’s worth of souls?” Nick asked.
I gripped the table to steady myself. “Me.”
The room exploded into chaos as everyone protested and complained at the same time. I glanced at Nick and watched him ponder my idea. Dash glared at me from behind the demon’s chair, his eyes glowing an intense yellow.
“Absolutely not!” Mason shouted. “You are not offering yourself up for bait.”
For the first time since our vacation together, I was glad the detective wasn’t in the room. “You and I both know that my tracking powers are incredibly valuable. I don’t think she could resist having them at her beck and call if I offered them to her in trade.”
“For what?” Mason asked. “What’s as valuable as you and your soul?”
“Everyone else’s in Honeysuckle,” I replied.
After an awkward silence, Flint cleared his throat. “It is a very generous offer, make no mistake, but I agree. It’s too costly a price to gamble with.”
“But I wouldn’t actually be risking anything. Nick said he couldn’t touch my soul. If she can’t get to it, then the contract would be null and void, wouldn’t it?” I looked to Nick for confirmation.
“Maybe,” he conceded. “But Lorelei was raised in the family business, unlike me. Her powers might be stronger than I imagine, which puts you at greater risk.”
Lucky rose from his chair and paced behind the others. “There’s something from me past that may get ye what ye want in order to trick the she-devil. That is, if you still want to try your gambit.”
“Tell me,” I insisted.
“Back in my time in the old country, a fae couple could address the royal court and entreat their king to bind them together,” the leprechaun explained.
Horatio raised his massive mitt in the air. “I could not but help overhearing young Bennett and his betrothed Lily as they were talking about their upcoming nuptials. They spoke with great enthusiasm about their binding ceremony and their wedding.”
Lucky cranked his neck enough to look up at the troll towering over him. “I am not talkin’ about marriage. To be bound to someone like that would tether the two together in more ways than words and promises. It was, in effect, a bindin’ of two souls together.”
“Then that’s what we should do,” I exclaimed.
“Whoa!” Mason shouted through his mirror. “Before you agree to anything, you need to get all the facts. I’m betting it’s not that simple.”
The leprechaun nodded. “You make a fine detective, sir,” he remarked to Mason. “For here be the warnin’s that any couple would be given. What may bring joy at first blush may bring pain and cause sorrow in the end. What one experiences, the other will endure. The fate of one will be the same for the other, for what’s bound together may not be easily broken.”
“Does it have to be a romantic couple?” Matt asked. “Or could it be friends or close relatives?”
Lucky considered his questions with care. “For most, it was partners who wanted a deeper commitment. But during times of battle, there would be warriors who would be bound together in order to fight in tandem and become a fearsome force. T’would need a strong personal bond, one that is built from genuine feelings.”
“That is truly frightening,” Lady Eveline admitted. “In my long years, I have never encountered any being, human or otherwise, that I would chain my own fate to.”
Gossamer flapped her wings, and a bloom of pink powder drifted over the table. “And we have no one here to perform the ceremony even if you wanted to try a binding like this, Charli.”
Holding my breath, I waited for the leprechaun to make his choice. Lucky gripped the back of his chair. “Yes, we do, or my name isn’t Fergus mac Róich, son of King Fergus mac Léti, ruler of the southern half of Ulster, wielder of the great sword Caladbolg.”
The room grew quiet except for our collective gasps and silent awe. Flint leaped out of his chair while Gossamer and Juniper hovered close. All three bowed to the leprechaun.
Lucky grimaced. “Now, now, none of that bowin’ and scrapin’. In the end, I’m still just a humble owner of a bar in a small town. But if ye need me to perform the ceremony, then the option stands.”
Matt nudged my shoulder with his. “Why are you not more surprised?”
“Because I already knew,” I admitted with a smug smile. “And I was keeping a promise.”
My brother pouted a bit. “I guess I can understand that. Although I still think you’re a brat for not telling me,” he added under his breath.
“So, now that you have the option, I’m curious who you might choose,” Nick said, a little too amused by my predicament.
“Who says it has to be her?” Mason complained. “It could be any one of you.”
I wished with all my might that Nana was here so she could tell me what to do. Except, she had already. In my dream and with her words to Nick, she had given me cryptic clues to follow. Placing my hand across my stomach, I did as Nana said and listened to my instincts.
A sense of calmness settled over me. “It has to be me. Trust me on this.”
“I’ll do it,” my brother volunteered. “She may be a pain in my behind, but she’s my pain in my behind.” He ruffled my hair. “I think I could handle being bound to her.”
I knocked his hand off of me. “Uh-uh. No way. First, TJ would kill me, and she’s a lot scarier than she lets on. Second, you have Junior to think about. I won’t have you tying yourself to me and risking your future with my niece.”
“Her name is Rayline—”
“And third,” I cut him off, “if it means we’d have to know how each other feels or what the other one experiences, then I have zero desire to be bound to my older brother.”
I stuck my tongue out in disgust and earned a round
