He fumbled for my face again and kissed me, before reaching for the faucets. “You never told me why you want a tattoo.”
I swept the shower curtain to the side and stepped out. “I think I might have a protector spirit. A bear.”
“A bear,” he repeated, joining me on the bathmat. I dried my feet and lower legs and reached for my bathrobe.
“Mm-hm. I first felt the presence of a bear as a hazy memory from my childhood. The bear lifted me onto its shoulders, and I have this strong, visceral recall of feeling its fur.” I spread my fingers, present to the memory of the fur’s texture. “The bear showed up again that day the Apple Witch contacted me when I was alone at the house.”
Tanner listened intently as he dried off, wrapped his towel around his waist, and used my brush to detangle his hair.
“That day, Bear—I call it Bear, original, I know—showed up as a presence behind me, and then it literally pushed me to get into the house as fast as I could.”
“Has Bear shown up since then?”
I nodded. “I have this pin of my mother’s. I have a lot of them. She was in the Witchling Way, and I found her sash and all the buttons she earned for her achievements. I wore the bear button the night I had my first portal ride—”
“I’m going to interrupt you here to remind you, you haven’t shared the full story with me yet.” He wiped the teeth of my brush and replaced it on the shelf. “I’m jealous. I wanted to give you your first portal ride.”
“You’ve given me other firsts,” I said. Our gazes met in the mirror, and I was flat-out blushing. “Including shower shenanigans.”
“I want to give you more.”
Okay, blushing harder.
A honk from the driveway startled our gazes away from the mirror and toward the door.
“Bedroom,” Tanner said. “Quick.”
I tore down the hall, Tanner at my heels, as the front door opened and voices hollered into house, “Mom, we’re home!” and “Calliope, Tanner, got leftovers for you.”
“Be right there,” I yelled. My cheeks were aflame. “Here’s the short version of the portal story. I met a Portal Keeper. His name is Alabastair, he’s on the island to apprentice with Maritza, and one of the portals he’s here to fix, or so he says, sits at my crabapple tree.” I had to stop talking to appreciate the sight of Tanner dressing. “I think your other clothes got washed and dried. Look on the shelf in the laundry closet.”
“Thanks,” he said, drawing his hair into a low ponytail. “You mentioned you stopped in Seattle. Where else did you go?”
“You’re not going to like this.” I was in my closet, sweeping shirts on hangers to the side in my search for something nicer than a T-shirt.
“What did you say?” Tanner asked, lounging against the doorway and appraising my almost-naked body. He was back to wearing the pouch.
“You’re not going to like where we went.” I found a pale pink-and-white-striped short-sleeve shirt and turned to face the druid blocking the way to my bureau and a bra. “The Flechette estate, in Victoria. Alabastair said it was a rescue mission. We found two fairies. And while Bas was taking them to the Pearmains’, Doug and Roger showed up.”
Tanner pivoted, arms crossing his chest.
I slipped my arms through the bra straps, fastened the front closure, and put on the shirt. “I was scared. And that’s when Bear showed up.”
“I was hoping you’d get to the point. Who’s Bas?”
“The Portal Keeper.”
“And the fairies?”
I shook my head. “This is where the whole story gets even more ‘you can’t make this shit up.’ Peasgood and Hyslop met the fairies during their druid training, and the girls followed them to the island. Only, when the two guys were kidnapped, Josiah and Garnet neglected to notice the fairies riding on top of their car.”
Wiping his hand over his face and tugging at his chin, Tanner opened the bedroom door and waved me through. “Let’s go say hi to everyone. And Calli?”
I spun around, holding my palms to my face and hoping I would look normal by the time I reached the kitchen. “What?”
“Thank you.”
“Where’s Sallie?” I asked. The group revolving through the front door was decidedly male.
Harper answered. “We left her and Jasper at Lei-li’s. Thatch and I have to work tomorrow, and James and Mal offered to let her stay.”
“They’ve got the safe room all set up and showed us how to get in. And get out,” Thatcher added.
“And you two feel okay about being at the farm?” I asked. “There’s no hiding in those fields.”
“Mom.” Harper leveled his gaze at me.
“Okay, I get it,” I said, palms up, head down. “I want you to hear about my adventure then decide.” I repeated what I’d told Tanner about meeting Alabastair, added more to the part where Doug and Roger showed up armed to their fingernails, and left out the piece where House revealed Meribah’s blood in the root cellar. “I think the Flechettes have more invested in their plan to buy up orchards than we suspected.”
“And now you’re concerned they’re going to come after Harper and Thatcher,” Wes said, sharing concerned glances with Tanner.
“Yes.” I sank onto the hard dining chair. More than almost anything else, I was terrified of Meribah getting her claws into my sons. I would kill to get them back, and that knowledge terrified me.
“Mom, what happened to the promise you made, when was it…yesterday? The promise about letting us have normal lives? This is the new normal,” Harper said. “It’s just that now we know what the dangers are and who’s dangerous.” He lifted the amulet he wore on a cord around his neck. “Thatcher and I are protected.”
Wes cleared his throat. “The wards surrounding this property protect you when you’re here, much more so than when you’re standing on the other side.”
“Wes? Tanner? Can we get Kaz or River over tonight
