He closed his eyes. “It’s not. It can’t be.”
“But?” I said, hoping to prod a few more words out of him before I went to bed.
“Every time I return to my teacher, she reminds me of all the expectations I have yet to meet,” he said. “Including the druidic equivalent of marrying Jessamyne and continuing the du Blanc lineage via our offspring.”
Fuck. I did not need to hear that. “Do you want to marry her?” I asked. “Have you ever wanted to marry her?”
“Calliope, I have never wanted to marry Jessamyne du Blanc. We weren’t a love match then, and we’re definitely not one now. Part of what I have to prepare for when I see Ni’eve is her blindness to how unbalanced her daughter has become.” He held my wrists, kissed my palms and fingertips, and pressed my hands between his. His thumbs worried at the rings Christoph had given me. “What’re these? I’ve been meaning to ask you where you got them.”
“These rings belonged to my father. Christoph gave them to me the night he arrived. Other than fitting themselves to where the bone narrows, I have no idea what purpose they serve or how they work.”
“Because there’s no way they’re simply decorative.” Tanner laughed at his comment. I did too.
“All shall be revealed in time,” I said. “Kiss me?”
Tanner kept hold of my wrists and took my mouth in a kiss filled with longing. I almost volunteered to accompany him to France.
“Be careful,” I said, murmuring against the fullness of his lips.
“You too,” he whispered, his forehead pressed to mine. “And don’t fall in love with anyone. I’ve barely begun to get to know you, Calliope Jones.”
Tanner returned to the living room. I went to bed a wreck. A complete and total fender bender. I managed to brush my teeth, wash my face and hands, and change out of my smelly clothes. Pausing at the side of my bed, I tried to think ahead to tomorrow, Monday, when the three of us—me, Harper, and Thatcher—would head to our respective jobs in the normal version of our lives. I plugged in my phone, checked my email, and straightened the mess Tanner and I had made of my sheets.
Bear. I went to the altar on my bureau and picked up my mother’s bear pin, the one I’d worn when Alabastair took me through the portal, and affixed it in the center of my T-shirt’s loose neck. Bear could help me guard Tanner’s pouch. Bear could watch over me as I slept.
“Why do I feel like I’ve been gone for weeks?”
I straggled into my office for the second time on an obnoxiously sunny Monday morning. The first time I’d walked in, I’d dropped my kit beside my desk, plugged in my laptop, and turned right back around to procure the strongest cup of coffee on the island. I had a ways to walk, but the guy who’d bought half a shipping container and installed a coffee-to-go place inside was a genius. Situated on the island’s main thoroughfare, the sky blue box served a very fine espresso. I’d ordered two. If Kerry didn’t want hers, I’d drink it.
My office assistant walked in the door, blinked at my question, and answered, “You were here Thursday until like, one or two in the afternoon. No big deal, Calli. You’re nuts to not take more Fridays off in the summer. Especially with someone as hot as Tanner on your team? Sheesh.”
She kicked the door closed, a to-go cup in each hand.
“Looks like we had the same idea.” I raised the cups I’d bought.
“Manic Monday, boss. Let’s get stuff done.”
“I’m with you on that.” I stirred a teaspoon of honey into the espresso, downed it in two sips, and waited for the caffeine to kick in. “Are you running any errands today?”
“Post office,” she said, pressing a button on her computer’s external hard drive.
“Would you mind dropping soil samples off at the Women’s Health Clinic when you go?” I asked. The moment the words exited my mouth, my regret was immediate.
“You’re sending soil samples to your gynecologist?”
“When you say it like that, it sounds really weird.”
“It is weird. You usually handle the soil samples yourself.”
True. I did. In my portable science station in the narrow closet next to our even narrower bathroom. Our office was the epitome of how to make good use of every square inch of a tiny space.
“These samples might contain human tissue,” I said, making up a story based on a partial truth on the spot. “Very old samples,” I added. The look on Kerry’s face had me backpedaling an explanation. “My grandfather showed up on Friday—which was why I didn’t make it in—and he’s got me curious about my ancestors.”
Kerry stared at me like I’d sprouted horns.
“He thinks some those ancestors were not exactly law-abiding citizens. Honestly, I’m just trying to humor the old man, and Dr. Renard has access to a great lab in Vancouver. She won’t bat an eye at the request, and neither will they.”
“Sounds nutty, but grandparents will be grandparents.” Kerry lifted one shoulder and frowned at her screen. “Gosh, this is taking a long time to load. Would you like me to do a title research on your property? Might be fun to see who all lived there before you and show that to your grandfather too.”
“If our workload is that light right now, sure. Having more information for Christoph would be a huge help.”
“Gotta keep Grandpa occupied. I’ll run searches on the surrounding properties too,” she added, slipping her glasses onto her face and staring at her computer screen. “You know me. I am a dog looking for its favorite bone when there’s a good mystery needs solving.”
“You are a squirrel wondering where it buried all its nuts,” I added, to her delight. She grinned and forgot about me, and again, I was reminded how grateful I was to have an assistant like Kerry Pippin. She knew
