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“There’s a really good reason why I opted not to teach middle school.”
Hecate scrunches her nose too. “Middle school? The girl was five.”
Kara responds with a tired laugh. “Of course she was.”
“Kara needs rest,” Circe says gently. “Take her back to your cottage, Maximus. I’ll have Morgana make up a breakfast tray for you two.” She pauses and looks pointedly to Hecate for her conclusion. “Morning enlightenment will have to wait.”
After mumbling a fast thanks, I take Kara’s hand and lead her out of the sala before the goddess and the enchantress end their truce in front of us.
More worrisome, though, is whatever Veronica was alluding to while rebuking Arden.
There’s still time.
I don’t admit it to Kara, but my curiosity presses as direly as hers. Still time for what? And why did Veronica feel so skittish about revealing it in front of Hecate and Circe? Not that either was ready to roll out the welcome mat and tea tray.
I harbor another concern too. One that feels more critical.
For all Hecate’s promises of our safety, Arden and Veronica were able to breach her perimeter with seemingly few issues. What’s keeping anyone else from doing the same?
For the immediate moment, I have to focus on the stuff Icancontrol. My ability to get Kara back in bed and healing. There I can sprawl next to her and hold her as close as I physically can, though nothing will take the place of her nearness in my spirit.
Because she’s every better part of both.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
KARA
“Oh, no.Seriously?”
I’m not so much irritated as embarrassed when Maximus decides to carry me up the boardwalk toward the cottages. The swoony applause parade begins with Kiama and Liseli at the barn and then continues when we near Aradia’s porch. The cheering Italian even rouses her three snoozing cats to witness her enthusiasm for Maximus’s chivalry.
“Hey.” I kick my legs, hoping to look playful instead of spiteful. “I’m tired, not incapacitated. I can make it the rest of the way on my own.”
“And make me a liar to Circe?” As he glances down, one of his eyebrows shoots up. “I promised her I’d take care of you to the fullest, remember?”
I narrow my eyes. “Those weren’t the exact words.”
“Same theme.” He cocks his head. “Come now, Miss Valari. You’ve been my student long enough to understand the importance of themes.”
I dig fingers into his beard while tossing a deliberately feisty look. “How about the one where the professor uses fancy literary talk to evade the subject?”
He chuckles while picking up his pace. “Oh, I remember every syllable of the subject. Just like you’re going to get every second of the rest you need.”
I want to banter back again—even a few seconds of feeling like a normal couple, having a normal tease of a disagreement, is so nice—but we’re already back at the cottage, where I have to remember that the eaves are still dripping from a storm that he could’ve created. And that I could’ve flown us into a nearby tree to watch the weather unfold.
Maybe I should’ve done just that. This morning’s ordeal continues to bully my nerves, even as Maximus marches me into the bedroom and lowers me into the luxurious linens. Mother and Arden’s sudden arrival was no doubt as unsettling to everyone else as it was to me.
I replay every second of their visit in my head.
“All right. So what was all that?” I twist my lips and shake my head. “Clearly, canyon spring water isn’t the only thing that’s passed under the bridges around here.”
An alluring curl takes over Maximus’s mouth too. “Something way past the plot of Circe’s little story.”
“She’s a Titan, right? That’s a life span nearly as long as a goddess. So in all that time, she never once had to deal with a bratty little kid?” I shake my head. “Mother doesn’t even have any powers, unless you count the ability to play the press like a fiddle, so that should have made things even easier.”
“There are definitely puzzle pieces that haven’t come out of this box yet. From both sides of the battlefield.”
He treads carefully over that last part, as if wondering how I’ll accept it, but a revelation moves me to surprise both of us.
