Curse And Craving

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“What will happen to the dead man? Why was he just left there?” “We aren't totally unlike your police or crime scene investigators. Aside from attempting to use magic to identify a culprit, we take fingerprints and analyze the scene. At some point, we will remove the body, but for now, the building has been spelled to keep unsuspecting humans out.” “What about his family?” “I think you know the answer to that. They can’t know. There is no way we could involve the human authorities. They cannot begin to dig into what caused this or why it was done.” As much as I hated his answer, I knew it was the truth. Ronan drove me home in silence, allowing me to keep my turbulent thoughts to myself. Exiting his car, I turned back to thank him, my tone solemn and resigned. “I hated seeing that, but I appreciate you showing me.” “Thank you for coming with me. I'm sorry it upset you, but you need to know what we're up against.” “I understand. I'll see you soon.” “Sleep well, Rebecca.” OceanofPDF.com Chapter Thirteen WHEN I WALKED INTO THE APARTMENT, A HAZY SMOKE FILLED THE ROOM AS Ashley frantically flew around the kitchen. “Oh honey, you tried to cook for me.” I rushed to grab a hot pad and pulled the charred meat from the oven. “I thought I could do it, but man, it’s hard to cook with one arm.” Her excuse made me laugh. She might have wanted to blame the broken arm, but I knew better. The result would have been the same whether she had one arm or three. Ashley’s antics in the kitchen were the life vest that I needed to save me from drowning in my own emotions. “I love you, Ash, but please stay out of the kitchen.” She stuck out her tongue and jumped out of the way as I swatted at her with a wooden spoon. “Okay, okay! I’m out. Stop chasing me, crazy woman. While you fix my mess, tell me about your day.” I forced strength into my voice and willed myself to sound upbeat. “It was great. Sorry I had to work late. I needed to help Fergus get some paperwork ready for a meeting tomorrow.” In less than twenty-four hours, Ashley would be getting on a plane. I wasn’t risking her changing her mind by unveiling the truth about Belfast. “No problem,” she said almost wistfully, her voice trailing off as she slumped into a dining chair. “You okay, Ash?” “Not really. My plane leaves tomorrow, but I don't know how I'm supposed to leave you here. I keep wondering if I should stay.” “What? Why would you need to stay?” “It’s not so much a need as a want. You’ve uncovered a magical new world. It’s not fair for you to have all the fun.” My reactions warred with one another. After seeing that poor man in the warehouse, I wanted to lash out and chide her for assuming any of this was fun. But at the same time, a maniacal laugh teased the back of my throat at the knowledge that Ash would see the danger as a great adventure. I adored my best friend, but she was sort of a lunatic. I took a deep breath. “You just have a bad case of FOMO—fear of missing out. Nothing wild is going to happen here while you’re gone. And if you don’t go home, you’ll break your lease, possibly lose your job, and discover the only thing you would have missed was 360 days of rain.” She didn't look convinced but agreed reluctantly. “I suppose you’re right. And I could always fly back over if things change.” Which, they won’t, because I’m not going to tell you if they do. In fact, I’ll be on a plane back home as well, just as soon as I can get this necklace off. “Absolutely.” Ash gave me a sheepish smile, and knowing neither of us was the sentimental type, I stuck my tongue out and crossed my eyes to lighten the mood. We both laughed until one of us snorted. And then we laughed some more. THE NEXT MORNING, by the grace of God, we somehow managed to get all of Ashley's new purchases to fit in her bulging suitcase and summoned a cab. We kept our conversation light, despite the obvious weight of our impending separation. After I helped get her suitcase checked, and we had said a teary goodbye, I was on my own in Belfast. ONCE I WAS ALONE in the cab headed to the museum, I considered Ronan's suspicions about Lochlan. What he’d implied was so much more alarming than a simple rivalry. Granted, Lochlan seemed to think Ronan was equally as devious. Their animosity made it hard to judge how much weight I should lend each of their accusations. The one thing I could say on Ronan’s behalf was that he’d been very specific in naming his concerns. He believed Lochlan was behind the portals. While I didn’t want to believe it was true, at least it was something tangible to analyze. I could investigate and determine for myself if the accusation bore any validity. As for Lochlan’s disdain of Ronan, that was a mystery. It was hard to weigh the evidence of an undisclosed crime. And in that case, I would have to give Ronan the benefit of the doubt. I wasn’t going to condemn him for vague, unidentified offenses. My primary objective was still gaining information about my necklace, but in the meantime, it would help me to learn who I could trust, starting with whether Lochlan was behind the portals. How could I gather more information about him? I could go to the club tonight among the Friday night party scene and sneak off to snoop in his office. I seriously doubted he would keep anything important out in the open, but I wouldn’t know unless I looked. He was too secretive to leave private matters lying about.