“Good morning,” he said, rubbing my scalp. I draped my arm across his lap and nuzzled his thigh.
“G’morning.”
“How’d you sleep?”
I couldn’t stop the corners of my mouth from turning up, or the ripple of reaction zipping through my entire body, or the giggle.
“Someone’s going to need a nap today.”
“Someone will happily take a nap, if you supervise,” I said. I stretched, opened my eyes, and clumsily adopted Tanner’s seated position. “What’s on the agenda?”
He glanced away and reached for the box he’d taken out of his backpack the night before.
Palming the cube of burnished wood, he said, “I had a jeweler I know in France make something for you.” He lifted the lid. Nestled on black velvet was a round button, or pin, enameled and decorated with the face of a white wolf. I ran my finger over the smooth surface and was greeted with a familiar tingling.
“Was this the same jeweler that customized your badge?” I asked.
“I wondered if you would remember.” Tanner wiggled the pin out of the holder. “I know it looks delicate, but he reinforced the metal with spells.” He slipped his fingernail into the edge of the pin. The two halves separated on a microscopic hinge. Inside, a quartz-like stone clouded with white flecks pulsed with a faint light.
“The jeweler made one for me, too.” He handed me the wolf’s head pin and slipped a finger between his skin and the leather band circling his muscled upper arm. Embedded on the inner surface of the band was another pin. This one was flat, larger in circumference, and sported a miniature representation of my conjoined wands, complete with intricate filigree.
I gasped. “That’s exquisite.”
“Do you like it?”
I nodded vigorously. “The detail is amazing. May I see it again?”
He leaned in closer and tilted the leather to better catch the light. “I chose the image of your wand because it symbolizes—for me, at least—the before and after of your magic.” He tapped the pin. “It also reminds me we all have the capacity to grow and adapt. Choices I made years ago caused me to forget.”
Offering me a shy smile, he continued, “The wolf pin has been imbued with magic, but it’s up to you and the pin to decide how it will function.”
“Really?”
“Really, Calli. It’s generalized magic, like a…a consciousness.”
“Can I deactivate it?”
“Absolutely.”
“Are you going to tell me how?”
“Soon as you kiss me.”
I pulled the druid against me, kissed him hard, and waited for his answer.
“Open the clasp, sing the stone a lullaby, and its magic goes dormant.”
I shook my head and giggled. “So this is the important stuff you’ve been doing the past six weeks?”
“Magical baubles for my favorite witch? Absolutely.”
“What about Cliff and Abi?”
Our playful mood dissipated to the perimeter of my bedroom. Tanner rested his hands on my hips and took a deep breath. “They’re alive and doing very well.”
“I’m so relieved to hear that.” After everything the long-married couple had been through, I was afraid I would never see them again. “When are they coming home?”
“The plan was for their grandsons to return from their stay at the Seelie Court, then travel to France and escort Cliff and Abigail back to the island. Only, Idunn got along with them so well, she invited Abi to become an honorary Keeper.”
“What does that mean for Abi?” I asked, leading Tanner back to bed. “I thought Keepers had to start their training when they were very young.”
“Normally, yes. But the tradition is again going through a major change and Idunn’s rationale was that Abigail could choose to turn into her tree form just the once, when she is ready to pass over to the other side. Idunn’s also given her blessing for Abi to take her final form here on the island.”
“That sounds like no small thing.”
“It’s not. But the Pearmains have a thriving orchard, and their legacy will live on with their grandsons and, in turn, with their offspring. They’ve got the burial mounds, the portal trees, the tunnels, and the underland. It’s the perfect spot, really, for a magical hub in this section of North America.”
My mind reeled with the implications. Cliff and Abi’s grandsons were descended from hidden folk who had intermarried with Cliff’s ancestors. Near the end of their training to become druids, Hyslop and Peasgood Pearmain had become enamored of two Fae sisters. The young women were practically royalty in the Fae’s Seelie Court. My ex, Doug, and his entire family were Fae of the Unseelie Court and evidently the two courts had differing opinions about—everything.
But I had a naked man in my bed and now was not the time to be sorting out political machinations among the varied contingents of Magicals.
I snuggled against Tanner’s side and drew the sheet up and over my shoulder. “Both boys are home. Sallie’s girlfriend showed up yesterday. And they’re all leaving tomorrow morning for their first weekend with the mentors. Wes and Christoph are accompanying the Fearsome Foursome. Oops, Fivesome. Leilani’s going, too.”
“What you’re really saying is you have a houseful.”
I pressed my forehead into the side of his hip and spoke to my ongoing concern. “Four teenagers and my grandfather and I know at least three of them will notice the spring in my step.”
“How about I casually stroll into the kitchen and you act surprised.”
“Oh, that’ll really fake everyone out.” I couldn’t help the laugh. Or the eye roll.
Tanner craned his neck, glanced out my window, and gestured. “Or I could get dressed, drop from there, and make a lot of noise at the front door to announce I’ve come for a visit.”
“Deal,” I said, starting to crawl over my bedmate. He palmed my shoulder, stroked his hand down my spine and over my butt.
“Wait. I brought you more gifts.” Gripping my side, Tanner leaned over and lifted his backpack off the desk chair. He unzipped a padded side compartment and withdrew a long object wrapped in leather. Untying the cord,
