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ON MONDAY, LIAM INSISTED on walking Ciara to her office. He had picked up some of his stuff from Iris’s place the previous day, and he had stayed overnight.
“So this is it,” Ciara said when they reached her office door.
“Aren’t you going to invite me in?” Liam asked, smiling at Ciara. “Or wouldn’t your boss like that?”
Ciara shook her head and rolled her eyes, while smiling. “Fine, come on in.” She unlocked the door and opened it. “But just for a moment, because I have actual work to do.”
Liam grinned as Ciara let him in. “Of course.”
She showed Liam her office. He only stayed a few minutes before he had to leave, giving Ciara a goodbye kiss.
***
CIARA WORKED WITHOUT distractions for nearly an hour before Kellan walked in.
“Kellan.” Her jaw tightened. After all, she and Kellan weren’t on the best of terms.
Kellan shut the office door. “I’m sorry I was harsh on you,” he said, not bothering with greetings.
“I overreacted,” Ciara said dismissively. She was in a much better mood than she had been the previous week.
“Which is understandable. I literally asked you to put your friends in danger. Even though that same danger has already cost you a fiancé, a mentor, and who knows how many colleagues.” Kellan shook his head. “I had no right to do that.”
The mention of Theo made Ciara’s eyes burn. She cleared her throat, forcing words out. “Still, you were right. They won’t stop, no matter what we say or do. We’d have to arrest them to make them stop.”
Kellan nodded.
“I’m sorry for the way I acted.”
“It’s okay.”
The two of them ended up coming to an agreement. They were going to ask for the reformed group’s help when there was no other choice. Ciara knew it would be more often than she liked, but she had to accept it.
***
IT TURNED OUT TO BE one of the first days Ciara didn’t work overtime. She went home with Liam when he got off work.
Just like the day before, they eventually ended up cuddling in her bed.
“So do you think we should tell people?” Ciara asked. The thought had been bugging her since the morning.
“That we’re together?”
“Yes.”
“Why wouldn’t we tell people about it?” Liam asked.
“You were originally supposed to marry Iris like last week.”
Liam looked down into Ciara’s eyes. “Originally, yes. But you’re forgetting that I broke up with her three months ago. She’s in the past.”
“You’re not afraid of what people will think?”
Liam shook his head and smiled at Ciara. “Henry will probably be excited. Jenna, too. And so will Gabe, Polly, and Poppy. I mean, it’ll be hard handling their excitement, but I think it’ll be worth it.” Liam grinned, and Ciara seemed to relax at his words. “Shawn will tell us he knew this would happen. Hugo will probably agree with him.”
“And what about your mother?” For Ciara, Mary’s opinion was everything.
“She adores you.”
“But—”
“Are you worried Mum will think differently of you now that we’re dating?” Amusement twinkled in Liam’s eyes, and he chuckled. “I know she won’t. She’ll be over the moon when she hears. So will Dad.”
Ciara bit her lip, still uncertain. “If you say so.”
“I know so. And you know it, too. We’ve dated before, remember?” Liam raised an eyebrow at Ciara, smiling at her.
“How could I ever forget the best time of my life,” Ciara flirted.
Liam grinned and placed a kiss on her lips. “So do you think we should tell everyone?”
“It’ll be Christmas Day in a week. I suppose they’ll find out eventually, anyway.”
“We could surprise them for Christmas,” Liam suggested.
“Henry will kill us if we keep this from him for a week.”
Liam shrugged as if he didn’t care. “He’ll get over it.”
“Well, if he asks, I’m going to tell him this was your idea.”
Chuckling, Liam nodded. “Alright.”
***
“I SEE YOU AND LIAM...made up,” Bill teased Ciara at work on Tuesday. He had seen Liam walk Ciara to her office door. He had even been there to witness the goodbye kiss.
Ciara tried to contain her smile. “You could say that.”
Bill grinned. “So, happily ever after, is it?”
Ciara rolled her eyes and cast a few spells at Bill.
He blocked each one of them. “I ship it.”
“Clearly.”
Bill tilted his head as if he were observing Ciara. “Why are you so tense?”
Ciara’s face was twisted into a semi-permanent frown, and her stance was unusually tense.
She sighed. “I’m waiting for a call. We might have a new lead.”
“Ah. That explains a lot.”
The pair continued to train. It didn’t ease Ciara’s mind, though. For once, she dreaded the idea of having to work overtime.
She was used to working extra time, and it was part of the job. But she wanted to spend time with Liam during her time off.
Just as Bill and Ciara were about to finish for the day, her phone rang. As she had hoped, it was Josh with new information about the witch hunters.
Ciara was forced to inform Liam she would have to work overtime. Bill stayed with Ciara, but the rest of the team had already gone home.
They were working in the meeting room. She had her laptop open, and they were going through the places where witch hunters had possibly been spotted.
“They were seen here,” Ciara said, scrolling through a restaurant website until she found the exact address. She pressed the map to see the location.
When she did, she gasped.
“That’s right next to your flat,” Bill realised.
Ciara read through a few lines on the file Josh had sent her. “This was just hours ago!”
“They know where you live. But we already knew that.”
Ciara nodded. “They’re trying to scare me.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Change my plans on asking Liam to move back in with me.”
“Doesn’t he have a new flat? Maybe you should move in with him temporarily. Even if they’re just trying to scare you, this is a serious threat.” He pointed at the laptop screen.
“He’s staying with his ex, so that’s out of question.”
Bill’s eyes widened. “His ex?”
Ciara nodded.
“So, a hotel? You’d get the expenses covered by work.”
Ciara leaned back in her chair and turned to look at Bill. “The least of my worries right now is money.”
“Well, I don’t think it’s safe for you to stay at home.”
Ciara sighed, looking between Bill and her laptop. “You might be right.”
“The problem is that most hotels are booked for the holidays.”
“I know,” Ciara sighed. “So I’ll probably live in my office and—”
“No,” Bill said, cutting her off. “We’ll figure something out.”
“Can you call Kellan and ask him to come here? Oh, and also tell the team that there’s new information, but we’ll handle it,” Ciara said. “I need to call Liam to tell him to stay away from my flat.”
“Of course,” Bill said, grabbing his phone from the table. He walked out of the room to give both himself and Ciara some privacy.
Ciara dialled Liam’s number and held the phone to her ear. She didn’t have to wait long for him to pick up.
“Hey. Did you get off work already? I thought you—”
“You can’t go anywhere near my flat, okay?” Ciara said hurriedly. Her mind was already swarming with the worst scenarios.
“What is going on?” Liam asked, worried.
“I’m not sure yet. Just promise you won’t go to my flat or anywhere near it, okay?”
“You have to tell me why.”
Ciara sighed. “The witch hunters have been seen there. We already know that they know where I live, so it’s unlikely to be a coincidence. There are shield and protection enchantments on my flat. They’ll block anyone I wouldn’t let in.”
Liam went silent. “Are you sure you wouldn’t let in any of the witch hunters?”
“I wouldn’t let in strangers. Not with everything going on.”
“R-right.”
“I’ll have to figure out where to stay. The hotels are booked for the holidays—”
“We can stay at my parents’ place,” Liam said. “In my old room.”
“Are you sure?” Ciara asked hesitantly. “Because it wouldn’t be fair to bother your parents.”
“We’re spending Christmas there, anyway. Besides, Mum will be excited to have us over for a little longer.”
“You need to ask her first.”
“And when she says yes, you’ll agree, eh?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll call her in a minute,” Liam said. “But what are you going to do now?”
“I need to talk to Kellan. We might go check my flat.”
“I should come, too.”
“No,” Ciara blurted.
“Ciara—”
“Please, don’t,” she pleaded. “There’s probably nothing in there, and I’ll just grab my stuff.”
“And if there is—”
“We’ll be careful,” Ciara assured. “Owen can keep in contact with us, so he’ll inform you if something goes wrong.”
“Ciara.”
She could hear the worry and hesitation in his voice, and warmth filled her chest.
“My flat is protected, so I doubt we’ll run into anyone. And I know I’ll be able to concentrate better without you there.”
“I’ll go crazy, not knowing if you’re safe or not.”
“It’ll be over in minutes.”
“Ciara—”
“Please, Liam.”
Ciara heard him cursing under his breath. “Alright. Just meet me right after, okay?” he said.
“Of course.”
“At my parents’ place.”
“First, call your mother. Then send me a text if she says we can stay there. Okay?”
“I will.”
“I love you. Bye.” Her eyes widened, realising what she had said. She hurriedly tapped on the red phone icon, hanging up.
She had barely regained her composure when Bill walked in with Kellan.
“The situation?” Kellan asked.
Ciara and Bill showed him all the data they had received from Josh. Ciara told Kellan about her plan, and Kellan agreed on both checking the flat and having Ciara stay elsewhere until she could go home safely.
Ciara then called Owen and asked if he could help. His job was to keep an eye on the security cameras near her flat while keeping an immediate contact to Ciara, Bill, and Kellan.
The three geared up, changing their clothes and leaving everything unnecessary in their offices. Or in Bill’s case, the meeting room.