Page 61 of Cocktails & Cauldrons

“May I speak with you in private, sugar?” she asked him.

“No.”

Her dark brows shot to her hairline, and she appeared taken aback by his rudeness.

“Sure, and anything you plan to be saying, you can say in front of Brenna and the others.”

Narissa rose to the challenge. “Fine. I intended to warn you away from loving a Siren. Men who care about women like us have short lives. And bless your heart, you seem to be head over heels.”

“He’s been warned, Narissa, and I’d appreciate if you didn’t interfere with my life,” Brenna snapped. The crackle of energy in the air popped like static electricity through clothes without a dryer sheet.

“You got it, honey. I’ve work to see to. You have a nice life, ya hear.”

Narissa sashayed her way toward the hall door, but Damian’s next words halted her forward movement.

“We’re not done here, Ms. Sullivan. Not by a long shot.”

She froze, her back to the room, and the stiffness in her shoulders told Eoin she was prepared to fight should she have to. This worldly woman had been in the trenches and lived to tell the tale. He made a quick decision that might impact them all. He changed his tune.

“Please,” he said quietly as he approached her. “Don’t be failing Brenna when she needs ya the most.”

Her shoulders dropped, and she faced him, her arrogance dissolving in the face of his pleading. “She doesn’t want my help, Mr. O’Malley. There’s nothing I can do if she refuses.”

“Your aunt began syphoning off her magic when she was just a wee girl. Your mam died trying to protect her, and she failed in the trying.” He glanced back at Brenna, and all the love he felt for her was in his admiring stare. “Odessa treated her like a fecking unpaid servant, then cut her off without a bleedin’ penny. And when Brenna finally managed to escape the woman’s clutches, Odessa cursed her with a spell. Cursedus.”

“What spell?” Narissa demanded angrily. “Why didn’t y’all tell me what she did, so I can have all the facts straight off?”

“Brenna and I can’t touch. Can’t be within ten feet of each other without her skin damned near burnin’ from her bones.”

Narissa closed her eyes, and a cynical smile curled her lips as she shook her head and snorted. “Odessa, you wily fox.”

“Why do I have the feelin’ you know why she did it?”

“To keep you away, sugar. Seems Odessa believes without you, Brenna has no one to turn to. She forgot about me, and she severely underestimated the Aether’s level of involvement, now, didn’t she?”

“So you’ll help her, then?”

“Brenna? Yes. But you remember what I said before you decide to commit.”

“I’m already committed, all the same.”

“Then you’re a fool, Mr. O’Malley.” She returned to Brenna’s side and surprised everyone when she pulled her niece into a tight hug.

Brenna’s eyespractically bulged from her head, so startled was she by Narissa’s impulsive embrace. Her arms came up, and she found herself returning the hug, albeit awkwardly.

“You smell like Gran,” she whispered through her surprise.

“Her shampoo recipe,” Narissa said. She cleared her throat and drew back, running a thick strand of Brenna’s new silky locks through her fingers before giving it a light tug. “I can teach you to make it if you’d like.”

Unexpected tears burned behind Brenna’s lids, and she nodded. “I would. Very much.”

“You should know your mama was good once. A little on the wild side, Clarissa was, but good at heart.” Releasing Brenna, Narissa smoothed her dress down her hips, and her expression returned to what Brenna assumed was the haughty face she presented to the outside world. “Clare-bear changed when she lost your daddy.”

“But I thought you left home long before she met him.”

“I did, but I couldn’t completely cut ties with my only sister. We’d kept each others’ secrets from birth. Walking away fromyour twin is harder than most people would imagine, honey. Be glad you never had to do it.”

“It was hard enough leaving Aunt Odessa, and she was a miserable wench.”

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