Page 20 of Cocktails & Cauldrons

“I may have overheard most of your conversation. I decided to interrupt before it got steamy and embarrassed us all.”

Brenna’s sultry laughter was sunshine to his soul, and he turned his face toward the sound, ready to soak up the rays.

“Aye,” he said huskily. “There was going to be enough steam to curl your hair, to be sure.”

Her blush no longer seemed to detract from her looks, but instead, complimented her coloring and emphasized her star-bright eyes.

She quickly resorted to Prim and Proper Brenna from the gallery. “There will be no steam.”

“Oh, I promise ya, love, there will be plenty o’ steam if’n ya just let your hair down and live a little,” he countered with a confident grin.

Piper fanned herself with the biscuit pan. “Wow. You two get a room, why don’t you? You’re messing with my pregnancy hormones.”

Eoin winked at her. “And Cian will thank me for it…later.”

“You’re the biggest flirt of the lot. I didn’t think anyone was worse than your brother.”

He laughed and pulled her into a quick hug. “Cian’s been tamed, and he’s happier for it.”

“Maybe you need a good woman to tame you, too,” Piper said in a low voice, darting a meaningful look at Brenna. “But that girl is fragile, Eoin. You can tell it with one look. Don’t hurt her, okay?”

“That’s not my intent.” He kept his voice equally as low. “She needed liberating from her aunt. Brenna has nothing to fear from me.”

“Except getting her heart broken when she falls in love with her savior.”

He didn’t like Piper’s assessment of the situation, but she wasn’t necessarily wrong. “I’ll not hurt her if I can help it, yeah?”

“That’s all I ask.”

Without comment, he went back to work on the scones.

Brenna had heardPiper and Eoin talking, but she wasn’t able to make out the words. Based on the intensity of the conversation and the side glances her way, she assumed their discussion revolved around whatever Piper had witnessed when she first walked into the room. Brenna could only assume the other woman found her wanting.

Pretending indifference but needing to touch her last connection to Gran, Brenna squatted in front of her case and snapped open the locks. The cloying scent of Odessa’s perfume mixed with a foreign smell invaded her sinuses, and she sneezed at the blast of offensive odor. A wave of dizziness hit, sending her the remaining distance to the floor. She plopped on her butt and shook her head.

Piper’s cry brought Eoin running. He knelt next to her and cradled her head between his large palms. “Brenna! Are you okay, love?”

She opened her mouth to reply, but another wave of dizziness assailed her along with nausea. It took every ounce of willpower she possessed not to christen his lap with vomit. Managing a small shake of her head, she grabbed for the locket and clutched it to her chest. Wherever Eoin touched her, a burning pain hit her with such intensity, the breath in her lungs seized. She was certain that when he drew back, there would be handprints seared into her skin. He shifted to help her, managing to connect with more bare skin, and she released a hoarse scream.

“Brenna, love! What’s wrong?”

“Don’t touch me!” She scrambled away from him and pressed her palms to her cheek and neck, hissing at the continued pain. “It burns! It burns!”

“Alastair! I need you!” Piper called, clutching at a pendant around her neck. She gave Eoin a slight shove. “Get a soft cloth and a bowl of cold water stat!”

Brenna whimpered and rubbed at her skin, only to have her hands caught by Piper. “It’s okay, Brenna. It’s going to be okay.”

“What the fuck is happenin’ here?” Eoin demanded as he jumped to his feet and raced for the sink.

“I’m not sure, but she’s acting as if you splashed her face with acid. I know water counteracts it and stops acid from eating the skin, so I thought maybe—”

The air around them grew heavy and crackled loudly. Following a popping sound, Alastair Thorne stepped toward her from thin air.

Brenna knew she descended from witches, but she’d assumed it was of the Wiccan variety that cast spells and held the odd ceremony for an equinox. The appearing-out-of-nowhere thing was new to her and startled her so badly that for a moment, she forgot her pain. The burning returned as Eoin reached for her—and he hadn’t even touched her again!

For the second time in as many minutes, she screamed in agony.

“Back away, son,” Alastair commanded. “To the other side of the room, and do it immediately.”

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