Page 74 of Wicked Witchmas: Elara & Tripp

“Enguerrand.”

Reprimanded like a schoolboy, Tripp broke away from Elara and sighed heavily. He rested his forehead against hers, and her fevered skin felt too hot against his.

“Damn it, Mother, I thought you’d left. Will you please go away so I can tell the woman I love how I feel?”

“I don’t take orders from randy youngsters. You’re barely out of the sickbed, darling. So, my intervention was for your own good,” she countered.

Elara’s lips twitched, and she hid her face against his neck. He had to curb an urge to laugh and groan simultaneously.

“Consider yourself the cold shower for my wayward lust,” he replied dryly. “Now,please, for the love of Messia,leaveso I can speak with Elara.”

“Show your mother more respect, Tripp,” his father said, capturing his attention.

Tripp had been so preoccupied with Elara that he’d failed to register the number of visitors. His responding curse would’ve been savage, but luckily, she sensed the explosion and clamped a hand over his mouth.

“It’s okay,” she assured him, exchanging her lips for her palm. The kiss was tender and held promise, but it was tentative, too, as if she didn’t quite believe his declaration was legitimate.

“It’s not okay. There’s much to discuss.”

“Yes, but it can wait.” Her eyes shone with emotions to match his, but they held excitement, too. “I know how to neutralize the boots, Tripp. It’s like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, and I’ve had the power all along.”

“Then, let’s do it!” He nearly dumped her off his lap in his urgency to rid himself of her fucking footwear.

“It’s not that easy. I think it might be a drawn-out process.”

She killed his boner and his decent mood with two sentences. “Fuck.”

“Watch,” she said, sitting beside him on the soaked bed. It dried instantly.

He gaped, and she grinned.

“That’s my new party trick, but it isn’t what I intended to show you. Watch.” The jewels embedded in the leather lit up as she began listing people. With each name, a different stone flared brighter and then dimmed. All but two. “I haven’t been able to figure out those. That’s what Payton and I were confronting Florence about.”

Turning over what he knew about her, he shot a considering glance at his watchful mother. If she knew anything, she wasn’t saying, and he’d never get it out of her anyway. If one thumbed through the dictionary’s pages until they found “tight-lipped,”the first thing they would likely see was Brelenia of Messia’s picture.

Tripp looked at his father, who had yet to uncross his arms from the earlier scolding.

Movement in the corner caught his father’s eye, and Enguerrand the Second’s expression darkened. Following his sightline, Tripp’s gaze encountered Hermes. It seemed dear old Dad had yet to forgive the Divine Trickster for his part in setting off Vesuvius. Helpful info, that. Tripp’s father might be swayed to his side in the coming skirmish for supremacy between mother and son.

Careful to keep his expression neutral, he buried his deepest thoughts. Since Hermes revealed the mind-reading parlor trick, Tripp had understood why his mother was always five steps ahead of him.

“What’s next?” he asked them. “Do we have a resolution marathon planned for Elara?”

“Not a bad idea,” she said, leaning into his shoulder and providing a united front against his parents and Hermes. “Who is in charge of the stopwatch?”

“That would be those cursed boots and the volcano,” his father told her, but his stern visage had softened enough to give her a kind smile. “I suggest making a list and handling the easiest affairs first. Work up to the difficult ones, and you may find they won’t be as severe when you get to them.”

“Then that’s what I’ll do, Mr. Nightshade.” Her grin rivaled the sun in brilliance. “Thank you,” she said prettily. “Every little bit of advice helps.”

His father’s heart melted. Elara had no way of knowing, but Enguerrand the Second was once a scholar who loved dispensing advice and molding young minds. Her willingness to listen endeared her to him, just as it had Tripp, his mother, Hermes,or anyone who had ever encountered her. No one could hold out against her beautiful soul for long.

“You mentioned things and people from a previous timeline, my dear. How do you plan to tackle those issues?” his mother asked Elara.

“I’m not sure. But I suspect it’s not the people so much as the lesson behind the incident.” Five stones turned on and radiated a steady light. She looked to Hermes for answers. “Does this mean I’ve guessed correctly?”

“It does. I’d say your previous lifetime lessons were learned.” He winked. “Only six more items to go.”

“The ones concerning Tripp and I should be resolved. He said he loved me.”

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