It was strange. Alanna felt Gregori’s presence everywhere. It was as if he had been in her mind the entire time she slept.
Alanna’s eyes fluttered opened. He’d enchanted her. She lay on her bed imagining turning him into steaming pile of cow dung. How dare he bespell her. She might be rested, her mind clearer, but she was well and truly peeved.
She headed straight for the bathroom. No doubt he was nearby, almost certainly hovering outside her door waiting for an invitation to come in. Well, he could wait an eternity for all she cared.
She dug in the cupboard for a bottle of bubble bath Rosa had made for her birthday in July. It was December, and the air was humid once again, but despite this she decided to have a coolish bath, play with the bubbles and work out her best approach with a warlock who could bespell her at any stage of the game.
It irked her to realize she was going to have to play at being agreeable. She smirked as she removed her clothes and stepped into the water. She had a feeling that being docile would irk him more than her being cantankerous. She giggled and lifted bubbles in her hands, blowing into them, before exfoliating everywhere. Just in case. He was drop-dead sexy, after all.
• • •
Gregori strolled beside Aden and Goran along the pathway that ran parallel to the embankment on Raven’s Creek. The air was warm; the sweet scent of blossoms from the trees overhead permeated the air, as ducks and swans waddled about on the grass, paddling in the creek that merged into a river further along the embankment. In the distance, a dog ran back and forth trying to catch a seagull, while children and their families laughed and played together. The normality filled Gregori with such longing. To be one of those families without a care in the world except for their loved ones.
They paused and Gregori dug in his pockets for the packet of crumbs he’d brought with him and tossed a handful to the birds. There was a mad flurry of wings as they rushed to feed on his offerings. They cawed, fighting for their share, the sound creating a barrier between them and the public.
“Alanna’s heart and mind have been deeply scarred by the accident. I’ve tried asking her about it, but speaking of it makes her violently ill. I hate to see her in pain.” He tossed more crumbs.
“Sometimes confronting that pain is the only way forward,” Aden stared out over the water and they knew he spoke of his past. “I hid from such pain for four hundred years. It wasn’t until I was forced to face it that I was able to heal.”
Gregori hesitated, reluctant to admit he’d mindwalked Alanna, but he knew Marylebone had eyes and ears everywhere. They would find out, so it was best if it came from him first. “I’m doubting I’ll be able to break the fortress she’s constructed around her memories.”
It wasn’t so much his words, but the tone in his voice that gave him away.
Goran spun round, his astonishment evident. “You mindwalked her. Without her permission?”
Gregori shrugged. “I did.”
Aden blew out a long whistle of air. “Dragons’ Breath. I don’t know if that was brave or just plain foolish.”
“I know which statement I’d choose,” Goran stated.
Aden chuckled. “So you found nothing.”
“I found a fortress of protection. Whatever is on the other side she doesn’t want anyone to see.”
Aden immediately picked up on Gregori’s major difficulty. “Which means you’ve no way of binding with her unless she lets you in.”
“You see my problem.”
Aden grabbed a handful of breadcrumbs and tossed them into the melee of birds. “It’s more than a problem. It’s an enormous obstacle.”
“You could bind yourself to someone else,” Goran suggested.
Gregori couldn’t imagine anyone else in his life. “No. I will not bind with anyone but Alanna.”
He was concerned she would cast him out without giving him a chance to prove he was the right warlock for her. If she refused him, he would be truly lost. Yes, he might have all the worldly possessions a man could have. Yes, he was powerful. Yes, he was ancient in years; make that centuries. And yes, he had worked tirelessly in the past for Marylebone for almost as long, but in truth, he was lonely for a partner to share his life with.
“So what’s next?”
Gregori knew his next comment would have Aden and Goran thinking he really had lost the plot. “I’m going to pay the Fates a visit.”
“Being cast in stone has definitely warped your senses,” Aden protested.
Goran added his opinion. “Even the Supreme Council gives them a wide berth.”
“I must cover every avenue. They might have a suggestion in how I can get through to Alanna’s soul. To her heart. Her mind.”
“It had better be soon.” Aden kicked a pebble and it skittered across the path into the water. “Rosa walks Marylebone’s halls nearly every day now. It’s only a matter of time before she hears something.”
“I agree.” Gregori stared down at the water, but all he saw was Alanna in his mind’s eye. “Tonight I will tell her.”