Page 20 of Raven in Midwinter

“Well, we both heard Eleanor’s curse, didn’t we?”

“We did.”

“It wouldn’t have been able to work through me if I wasn’t its intended recipient.”

“True.”

Her eyes filled fast. “I’m not stupid. I know what he’s doing on his business trips and what goes on when he says he’s staying late at the office, but I also have a life I love. It’s comfortable and easy and I have beautiful things, and so I tell myself that the rest doesn’t matter.”

“Until you get cursed.”

“Yes,” she said through her tears.

I took hold of her hand. “You deserve better.”

“You don’t even know me. I could be horrible.”

I squinted at her. “You came out of your way to visit the family of your friend who passed away. That says a lot.”

“I could have come earlier.”

“You’re here now.”

She took a breath. “And maybe I’ll stay a bit longer.”

“I think James and Cass would love that.”

She hugged me one last time as Lorne and I were walking out the door. James and Cass said they would be over soon, and I was really glad that no one saw the mirror. That would have kept them up, and the beautiful piece of glass in its gilded frame would probably be put out on the curb. And unlike the earrings, it was not a cursed item, and could never again be used as a portal. Honestly, the earrings were good now too. Hard to imagine how many things over the centuries had been uncursed but were then thrown on a garbage heap anyway. It was kind of sad to think about.

In the Jeep with Lorne, I noted his furrowed brows.

“We will figure everything out when we⁠—”

“I was still hungry,” he grumbled. “I had one serving, and that was it.”

Leave it to him to bring up something mundane when I was trying to figure out magic. “We have lots of bread at home and wild-mushroom soup, or I could make you a grilled cheese with tomato bisque?”

“Yes. That’s the one,” he rushed out. “Please.”

I smiled at him. “Yes, my lord.”

“Oh damn, I like that.”

I was laughing as he pulled away from the curb, and just that much normal sloughed the fear and dread right off me. Love was so very powerful, and I saw it at work between us every single day.

“The snow is crazy,” Lorne commented as he drove us slowly home. “You can’t even see the road anymore.”

He was right. It was coming down again, covering everything. Once we were in front of the cottage, he parked and we both got out fast, on our way toward the door, when he put a hand out to stop me.

“What’s wrong?”

“Where are the wind chimes?”

It was strange to look toward the front door and not see them. I had so many out there, lining almost the entire porch, and to not see a single one was not only odd, but the first thing that truly frightened me. Much worse was when the door opened and a man stepped out.

“Oh, what the fuck,” Lorne said under his breath.

The man gestured for us, and when we moved, as fast as we could in the deepening snow, down the cobblestone path to the steps, he told us to hurry so we didn’t freeze.