“It sure is a pretty night. That little rainstorm certainly cooled it off right nice, didn’t it?” The orange and pink sun sink down behind the cornfield on Logan’s farm as Sofia braided Imara’s hair.
“Mmm-hmm.” Her green eyes blinked a few times as Imara nodded and peeked out in the distance. “Thorin.” Her finger pointed out at the eyes staring back at her. “There’s my Sweetheart. He came back to me.”
The creaking of the rocking chair against the porch’s wood slats stopped as Shaw sat up straight and glared out over the yard. “Are you crazy? I don’t see anything.”
“Well, you are a human, so your vision is shit.” His hand grasped at the windowsill and brought the swing to a halt as Thorin leaned forward to catch a glimpse. “There he is on the edge of the lawn.”
Pouty red lips pulled together to whistle, and Imara patted her leg. “Come here, Sweetheart. Don’t be afraid.”
A huff shot through his nose when Shaw leaned back in his chair. “He should be afraid. If it bites you, I’ll tear him apart, Imara.”
She rolled her eyes as she sat down and scratched under the wolf’s chin. “He’s not going to bite me. He’s my little ole lover boy, isn’t he? Here, Sweetheart, come sit beside me.”
The wolf hopped up on the porch and laid down with his head on Imara’s thigh. She stroked his head as Sofia continued to plat her hair. “You should ask Ben if he wants to come over here and sit with you some evening.”
Tiny rings of smoke floated over their heads as Shaw sighed. “Don’t go putting ideas into her head. She doesn’t need to be getting close to that boy.”
His feet crossed out in front of him as Thomas stretched out in his chair. “A lady’s interests are none of your business Shaw, besides he seems like a decent man.”
Shaw dumped his pipe out into a can and shot a dirty look in the butler’s direction. “He does seem like a decent man, but when we move along again, Imara will be brokenhearted. None of us need that kind of headache, most especially her.”
Her hand covered the burn rising in her throat as Imara gave her wolf a tight-lipped grin. “You don’t need to worry, Shaw. I won’t get involved with him.”
He took another pull of his pipe and leaned forward in his chair. Hearing her sniffles made his heartache. “I’m not saying anything’s wrong with the boy, Imara. He’s good people, but you don’t know what he’d do if he found out about the two of you. If you like him, you’ll shove that down deep where it won’t hurt either of you. If he’s like you, he’s dangerous, and if he’s human, you won’t be able to take him with you when you go. You’re setting yourself up for a heap of pain that’s unnecessary.”
“I said there wasn’t anything going on between us, Shaw.” Her eyes closed to the pain of her words, and she hated herself for saying them. “Now, please, I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
***
The soft glow of Imara’s light reflected in the window as Thorin came downstairs, and when he got to the front door, he peeked around the corner. “It’s getting late, Sweet Girl.”
Her fingertips wiped across her cheek, and he heard her sniffle before she cleared her throat. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
He closed the door behind him, then plopped down on the porch beside her and searched the darkness. “I suppose you really do like him, don’t you?”
She shook her head as she scratched the wolf between his ears. “It doesn’t matter, does it? You and Shaw would never let anything happen between us.”
“He’s a human.” With his arm wrapped around her shoulder, Thorin tugged her close. “Shaw was right; they can’t live in our world. They don’t belong there.”
She huffed through her nose at the irony of it and pushed her tears away from her cheek. “We’re not doing so well in our world, either.”
He nodded as he kicked the dust off the steps. “You’re right about that. Once we track down Uncle Haldir, we’ll pop off to the Realm and leave all the nonsense of this place behind us.”
The thought of leaving Ben behind sent a shiver through Imara’s entire body as she turned to face him. “But I don’t want to leave, Thorin. Why can’t we stay and…”
His hand went up between them to stop the rest of her sentence. “You’re not that kind of witch, Imara, and neither am I. You’re a witch that heals, what the ancients used to call a White Lighter. You can’t protect yourself from Death Dealers.”
She pressed her hand to her chest. “They let us leave on our own, Thorin. Why would they come after us after all this time?”
He twisted his lips and shrugged. “Because sometimes people are cruel. They have mean, ugly hearts and a darkness that lives right in the center of them that can’t ever be lit up again. They don’t need a reason to do what they do; they’re just evil.”
The shaking hand she pulled from her heart covered her eyes as she shook her head. “What if I met my mate here in this little town? Would you still make me leave?”
He rubbed the stress from his forehead with the heels of his hands and groaned. “No, of course not, but I would strongly encourage you both to leave as soon as possible. Mate or not, you’re still in danger.”
The wolf shifted on her lap and shoved his snout between his paws as his dark eyes stared up at her. “If I tell you something, will you promise me you won’t tell Shaw?”
He bent over with his elbows on his knees and slid his chin across his shoulder to look at her. “Well, I can’t promise, but I’ll try my best.”
He could hear her swallow the lump in her throat, and a shiver tickled his back as her fear poured from her. “Ben knows I’m a Healer and that we’re from Savannah.”
“Shit!” His hand wiped his mouth, and he shook his head at the night in front of him. “I suppose at least we know how they’re not humans.” He pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. They hadn’t even finished unpacking yet, and the thought of finding another safe house was testing the limits of his patience.
Shaking her head, Imara knew she’d made a mistake telling her brother. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
With one hand waving off her concerns, Thorin rubbed at the back of his neck. “No, Imara. I don’t want you to keep things from me now. Look, the good news is that these folks aren’t strangers here; they’ve lived here a long time and have a business. But the bad news is that they’re probably in the same boat we are, and that makes them even more dangerous. We don’t need to be caught up in whatever they’re hiding from too.”
A throaty groan came from the wolf, and he buried his face between his paws. “I think he’s my mate, Thorin. I know he is. Please don’t make me leave him.”
He trilled his lips and slapped his hands on his knees before standing. “Damn it all to hell. Let me think about all this for a while, Imara. Now, say good night to your friend and get to bed.”
Her fingers wrapped around Ben’s snout, and she brought his nose to hers. “Well, at least that wasn’t a no, was it?”
After she kissed him on the top of his head, the wolf pushed itself up to its feet, then nuzzled its snout into Imara’s neck and licked her cheek.
She patted his back and rocked him in her arms. “Awe, I’m going to miss you too. Alright, go on. I need my beauty rest.”
Ben pounced from the porch and ran off into the night as she waved at him. “Don’t be late for our date tomorrow!”