Blood Witch_ Book Three - Cate Tiernan [33]
What would I say if Selene answered the door? The last time I had seen her, I was in her private library, basically stealing a book from her. On the other hand, the book was rightly mine. And she had allowed me to keep it.
Several seconds passed. There was no stirring inside, at least none that I could hear. I started to feel cold. Maybe I should have called first, I thought. I rang the doorbell again, then reached out with my senses to see who was home. But the house was a fortress. I received no answer. And then a thought occurred to me: It was spelled, deliberately shut off from magick.
Snowflakes gathered on my long hair, as if I wore a lace mantle that was slowly melting against my cheeks and eyelids. I rang again, beginning to feel unsure. Maybe they were busy. Maybe they were meeting with someone. Maybe they were having a circle or working magick or throwing a party . . . but at last the tall, heavy wooden door opened.
“Morgan!” Cal said. “I didn’t even feel you come up. You look frozen. Come on in.” He ushered me into the foyer and brushed his hand down my cold, damp hair. Light footsteps behind him made me pull back, and I looked up to see Sky Eventide.
I blinked, looking at her. Her face was closed, and I wondered what I had interrupted. Had Cal invited her here to ask her about her coven and my hair? I glanced at him for signs of irritation or wariness, but he seemed easy and comfortable.
“I should have called,” I said, looking from Cal to Sky. “I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”
Tell me what I’m interrupting, I thought as Sky reached for her heavy leather coat. She looked beautiful and exotic. Next to her I felt about as exciting as a brown field mouse. I had a tingle of jealousy. Did Cal find her attractive?
“It’s all right,” Sky said, zipping her coat. “I was just leaving.” Her black eyes searched Cal’s and held them. “Remember what I said,” she told him, ignoring me. The words seemed to have an element of threat, but Cal laughed.
“You worry too much. Relax,” he said cheerfully, and she just looked at him.
I watched as she opened the front door and left, not bothering to say good-bye. There was something strange going on here, and I needed to know what it was.
“What was all that about?” I asked point-blank.
Cal shook his head, still smiling. “I ran into her earlier and told her I wanted to talk to her about what she’s up to with her coven. So she came over—but all she wanted was to be Hunter’s messenger,” he said, tugging on my coat so it came off. He draped it over a high-backed chair and then took my hand, rubbing its coldness away. “Hey, I tried to call you a few minutes ago, but the phone was busy.”
“Someone must be online,” I guessed, frowning. Was he trying to change the subject? “What kind of message did Sky have?”
“She was warning me,” he answered simply. Still holding my hand, he led me through a pair of dark wooden doors that opened into a large, formal parlor. A fire was blazing in an enormous stone hearth, and in front of it a deep blue sofa beckoned. Cal sat and pulled me down to sit next to him.
“Warning you?” I pressed.
He sighed. “Hunter’s out to get me, basically, and Sky was telling me that I should be on my guard. That’s all.”
I frowned into the fire. Usually I felt reassured by the heat and glow of flames—but not now. “Why is Hunter out to get you?”
Cal hesitated. “It’s . . . um, kind of personal,” he said.
“But why was Sky warning you? Isn’t she with him?”
“Sky doesn’t know what she wants,” Cal answered cryptically. He hadn’t shaved in a while, and the shadow of stubble across his face made him look older. Sexier, too. He was quiet for a few moments, and then he edged closer to me, so I felt his warmth from my shoulder to my hip. A memory swept over me: of how it had felt to lie