Page 43 of All's Fair in Love and Magic

“Small clippings of all of the plants in the greenhouse. I’ll need to send someone for more after I identify which ones I need for each spell.”

“I’ll get it done. What else?”

We reached the anchor, and I sat down. “We need paper, too. I can draw a few spells, and you can help me search the books.”

He sat down beside me. “Alright. I’ll send a message.”

The spellbooks and food were in our hands a few minutes later. By the time we were done eating, the pad of paper was too, and we got to work.

We spentthe next fifty-two hours straight comparing his mom’s unique, tailored spells to the ones we found in books while consuming obscene amounts of food and coffee. Slowly, I got almost all of the crumbling wards back into a strong, healthy condition.

The few I couldn’t fix had disintegrated to the point of no return. We couldn’t identify them at all, but they were so much thinner than the others that it was clear Liam’s mother hadn’t put much effort into making them strong.

They couldn’t have been important, which made me feel slightly better about not being able to recover them.

When I finally sat back against the bench with a sigh of relief, Liam’s arm went over my shoulders. My body felt like a freaking heater, and I was coated in both dried and fresh sweat along with the saltwater that still clung to my skin after my horrible surfing lesson. My hair was tied up in a bun I couldn’t remember fixing,and my heart raced from the ridiculous amount of caffeine I’d consumed.

Thankfully, I didn’t burn through caffeine it at anywhere near the same speed a shifter would’ve.

“Done?” Liam asked, though he had to know that I was. The man had been beside me through every minute of the spellwork, only dozing for the last few hours while I finished up.

“Yeah. Finally.”

Liam tucked a few escaped strands of my hair into my bun.

Guess I knew why I couldn’t remember fixing it.

“You are really fucking impressive, Clove,” he said quietly.

“I know.”

He almost smiled, and my lips curved upward.

I was joking, and we both knew it. I’d reminded him repeatedly over the last few days that I was clueless about spells, and any real spell witch would be able to do what I was doing in a fraction of the time it took me.

Without him finding the spells while I worked, we would’ve been sitting there for a lot longer.

But on the other hand, the spellsdidall require blood magic. So technically, I was the only witch who could fix the magic. Anyone else would’ve had to take down Liam’s mother’s magic and remake it in their own way. Even Hattie couldn’t have touched the wards.

So maybe I was impressive after all.

I could think about it after I had time to sleep. Assuming I could calm myself down after all that caffeine. I felt like a livewire. An exhausted, sweat-soaked livewire.

“Alright, come on.” Liam lifted me off the bench, hauling me into his arms.

I made a noise of protest, but it was a weak one. I wasn’t sure I could walk on my own anyway.

I fell asleep against his chest on the way to the bungalow.

He woke me up long enough to make me eat a quick meal, then dragged me into the shower. I didn’t complain when he stripped my clothes off me, or when his huge, rough hands scrubbed the salt and sweat off my body.

His fingers felt incredible on my scalp. I’d successfully ignored heat while I worked on the wards, but the magic flared painfully in my lower belly while he massaged my head.

I fought like hell to ignore it. And won, for a few minutes.

Liam’s lips brushed my ear when the need was growing unbearable. “I feel your hips rocking, Clove. You’re not going to be able to sleep if you don’t let me take care of you.”

“I’m fine,” I whispered, but the lie was stupidly obvious.

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