Page 78 of Pints & Potions

Piper grunted at her reflection. “Today starts a new day, Piper Thorne. Don’t you waste another second on stupid men, do you hear me? From here on out, it’s you and the baby.” She caressed the flat area above her womb. “We’ll make our own family circle, munch,” she told it. “Mom and Dad—or rather, your Gran and Grandpa—are going to spoil you rotten. So are your cousins Liz and Mack. You’re going to adore them, munch. They’re my best friends in the entire world.”

Piper firmed her stance. With a twitch of her fingers, all her toiletries flew into the other room. Did she imagine her magic was stronger than before?

“Pfft.The Mighty Thorne, my ass.” She paused on her way back into the bedroom. “Maybe my dad isthe Mighty Thorneand he’ll shove an ice pick into the heart ofthe Frozen,” she said aloud to her baby. “It’s no more than he deserves, I’ll tell you that. Yeah, I get that he’s your father, but Cian’s a fucking jerk. You’ll be better for not having him in your life. The fickle shit.”

A pang struck her heart, but she firmly shoved aside the hurt.

He’d done this.Nother.

Piper zipped her suitcase, verbalized the words to restore the destroyed room, and made one last visual inspection. Not a single trace of her remained.

“Good. Cian should be happy,” she muttered.

The feeling to get out of this house ASAP was clawing at her brain. It caused her skin to prickle and the hair on her neck to rise. She intended to forego a flight and simply teleport, but she couldn’t leave without thanking Bridget for her hospitality. The main problem was that she didn’t want to leave her room and run into either Moira or Cian. If she did, she didn’t know what she’d do.

“You’re a Thorne, dammit!” she scolded. “Stop acting like a chickenshit and woman up.”

Gathering the last of her courage, Piper stepped into the hallway, but came up short. “Seamus? What are you doing here?”

Ugliness shifted in his expression, flitting away so swiftly, she wasn’t positive she’d witnessed it.

“Cian asked that I shuttle you to the airport. Are you ready to go?”

Had he anticipated her desire to flee? Perhaps hoped for it?

“Not quite yet. I want to say goodbye first.”

“He doesn’t want to see you, girl. Don’t know how much plainer he has to make it.”

The snappish words were a knife to her heart, but she refused to show their effect on her. “It’s not Cian I intend to speak to, Seamus. I owe Bridget a courtesy.”

His eyes narrowed and irritation flared in their charcoal depths.

Piper stared at him in confusion. When she’d first met Seamus, he’d been mellow, his eyes a dull, pale blue. There had been no sign he was a witch. Today, his irises were startlingly different—a witch’s tell.

“She’s not available.” His tone was terse and bordered on hostile.

“I’ll see for myself, thanks. Please step aside, Seamus.” She hoped he didn’t hear the tremble in her voice.

“Ye Thornes always have to make things difficult, don’t ye?”

Fear formed a tight knot in the pit of her stomach. It never ended well when someone referred to her family as a whole. That type of malice always indicated trouble.

“We do.” She shifted onto the balls of her feet. “Why don’t you tell me what this is about?”

A grudging respect lit his face and he smiled. “Cool as a cucumber even facin’ your own death.”

Fuck!

Suddenly it all became crystal clear: the attacks, the accidents, the assassins—they’d been sent by Seamus.

At the endof the bar, Cian guzzled the last of his Guinness, slammed his glass down, and gestured for a refill.

Ruairí picked up the glass and wiped the condensation from the bar’s surface. “Why don’t you stop this nonsense and follow your true heart, Cian?”

“Why don’t you mind your own fecking business?”

Ruairí continued as if Cian hadn’t spoken, picking up empties and scrubbing down the counter. “Love is the most precious gift in life, man.”

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