Page 9 of Solstice

“I remember,” she murmured.

“I’m just…” I sighed and stood. “I’m just tired, and I think you are, too.” I climbed out of the tub and wrapped a towel around my waist, leaning down to kiss her temple before heading toward her room. “And in case you were wondering, your pride can go fuck itself. I need a full night’s sleep, and so do you.”

Then I opened the door, leaving it cracked behind me as I walked out.

2

Ivy

DECEMBER

When Lex said he wanted me to go away with him for a weekend, I thought he meantonlya weekend because he had specified forty-eight hours. The farther we drove into the mountains of western Virginia, the more I suspected he’d planned something else.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked for the twentieth time, gazing out the window at the snow falling on the ground. The election had been six weeks ago, and I’d finally gotten a break in my schedule to fulfill my fiancé’s request. I’d canceled holiday plans with my family to come up here with him alone.

“You’ll see.” He winked from across the seat, returning his attention out the window. Theo drove the SUV through the thick piles of snow, eventually turning onto a driveway that wound up the side of a mountain.

An enormous log cabin appeared out of the tree line, the chimney already smoking with what must have been a rolling fire on the inside. It reminded me of the Christmases we used to spend together at Camp David when we were kids, bickering and fighting as our parents made their grand plans. The house stood at least three stories with big glass windows facing out over the valley below.

“Jesus, Lucifer.” I climbed out of the van and trudged through the white powder to climb the stairs to the deck.

“You like it?” He flashed an enormous grin and held his arms out to either side, gesturing to the woods surrounding us. We were completelyalone out here, no neighbors for miles in either direction.

Only the woods.

Only the trees.

“You rented this entire place for the two of us?” I took a hesitant step toward him.

“Yeah.” He shrugged, heading to the giant glass door so he could unlock it and slide it open. “For now.”

For now?

I didn’t ask for more information because once we were inside, words escaped me. Sunlight poured into the enormous living room containing a huge sectional facing a stone fireplace that went up to the cathedral ceiling three stories overhead. Just off to the right, two steps led to the dining room and a kitchen big enough to cook for an army. Beyond that were guest rooms. All of this paled in comparison to the second story, which housed the primary bedroom with its own fireplace and an Alaskan King bed that could sleep ten people.

Enough for all my spouses.

But they weren’t here.

Like Lex said, it was only the two of us after Theo unpacked the SUV and returned to town. The refrigerator had been stocked. The pantry was full. We’d be fine on our own for the rest of our stay.

Despite this, I’d just been elected to Congress, and even on vacation, I couldn’t disconnect completely. I found the office on the third floor and set up my laptop, responding to emails and confirming appointments for my return. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t have left DC, but my archnemesis insisted, and after what happened the night of the election, I couldn’t deny my own curiosity. When I’d touched him, an indescribable warmth had run through our connection, surging up my arm and into my bloodstream. The way fire had engulfed my arm, the way it tingled in the aftermath, the skip in my heart and the heaviness between my legs, it repeated in my imagination over and over again. It scared the shit out of me.

Of course, archnemesis didn’t really describe our relationship anymore. In these last few years, Lex had become my best friend. My teammate. My ride-or-die partner in crime.

Plot twist of the century.

If ten-year-old Ivy could see me now…

The first time I discovered my fairy gift, we’d been standing in our kitchen at our old condo. I’d entered his mind by mistake and seen our life together through his eyes. In doing so, I’d taken on the emotions he had for me. There had been love there, sure, but also hate and jealousy, and that ran deeper.

Then there’d been the day he’d photographed me at our old apartment, that snowy afternoon when it had just been him and me and the vibrant, brilliant pull between us. How tenderly he’d held me, like I might break. How he’d kissed me, sweet and sinful, like years of affection existed in that one moment. Then the sun had come up and the snow melted and we’d shoved that whole experience in a box we never opened.

The only time I let myselfwantLex was when our spouses were here. Any other time, he was my public life partner and strategic sounding board. I couldn’t let it be any more than that.

The pull I felt to him, the one I sensed he was developing toward me, it was powerful. Magical. It reminded me none of it was real. Whatever was originally between us had been mutated by our time in Ireland, and if I let myself go down the path of Lex actually feeling something for me only to learn I was right, it would hurt me more than anything else we’d ever been through.

It was better to keep him at arm’s length, knowing once we found Siobhan and broke this curse, he’d go back to hating me and I’d go back to hating him and the world would be set right on its axis.

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