Page 15 of Wooing the Wiccan
We’re basically just holding hands and staring at each other, but I wouldn’t give this moment up. Such a simple connection and yet?—
Something bounces off the side of Raðulfr’s head. Blinking, I let go of his hand as we both lean to look down at the floor. It’s a wadded-up piece of napkin.
“What…?” I turn to scan the side of the room it must have come from, looking for kids or even teenagers who might be responsible, but the only occupied tables have adults. Who would?—
“Is that the same woman who was staring before?” Surely she didn’t throw a napkin at us. She’s not even looking at us anymore.
“Maybe,” Raðulfr says, his eyes narrowed in her direction. “Never mind. I suppose it’s not a terrible thing that we were interrupted. I’ve been here longer than I planned.”
I glance at my watch and wince. “Me too. I was having too good a time. We could do it again soon?”
That easily, he forgets about the woman, turning instead to smile warmly at me. “We will.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Raðulfr
When the knockcomes at my office door the next morning, I’m ready for it. Eoin may think he’s in charge of this meeting he called to lecture me on security and humans, but he’s wrong.
“Enter.” I rest my hands on the top of my desk and don my stern expression. It’s gotten me through many situations that were much more difficult than this.
The head of my security team lets himself in and closes the door before he turns to see my face. “Not having a good morning, Your Majesty?” he asks.
“It hasn’t been too bad, but we have some serious issues to discuss.”
He hovers for a moment, waiting for me to stand and invite him over to the armchairs where we normally have our meetings. I see the actual moment when he realizes what my failure to do so means. His eyelid twitches, and he slides into one of the visitor chairs facing my desk. “We do, Your Majesty. The team has raised some serious safety concerns.”
“I’m sure they have. Please, do share them.” Aside from a moment where I nearly slipped up and called Wicca ahumanreligious practice—which it is, but the implication would have raised questions—I haven’t done anything to truly raise concern.
Eoin sighs, the way he always does when he thinks I’m being difficult. The fact that he’s only had to do it a handful of times in the past thousand years gives a good picture of how easy I am to look after. I should get a free pass to be “difficult” every once in a while.
“I was surprised when Niamh reported that your meeting yesterday afternoon was with the same human you went out with after the magic class last week,” he begins.
“Were you? I’m surprised that it’s important enough to surprise you.”
He sighs again, and I resist the inappropriate urge to smile. I’ve never made him sigh at me twice in one meeting—and for it to happen within just a few minutes! Maybe Brandt’s recklessness has finally rubbed off on me. “Everything you do is important to your security team,” he declares. I’d feel guilty—as he clearly intends—except I’ve done nothing to put my safety at risk. “Which is why we’re concerned that you’ve been keeping secrets from us.”
Taken aback, I say, “Excuse me?”
“Your first meeting with the human was impulsive and perhaps misguided. This second meeting, however, was obviously arranged ahead of time, which means you’ve been corresponding with the human.”
“His name is Jared.” This conversation is far worse than I had expected, but one thing I want to be clear on from the outset is that nobody will disrespect Jared. “And yes, he and I have been in communication this past week. I’ve also communicated with all my viceroys, Brandt, Percy, and several others—do you require a comprehensive list? I don’t have one ready, because it has never been of interest to you before.”
“Surely you can understand why this is different,” Eoin begins, but I don’t see this conversational gambit going anywhere that would be acceptable to me.
“No, actually. Thanks to Steffen, Jared has undergone a deeper background and security assessment than some of the people who have access to walk into this office. It’s been determined by a combined security panel—to which you appointed a member—that he is not a person who would do harm to the community even if he should accidentally discover the truth. He has been deemed safe to teach magic to. I fail to understand why you believe, given all this, that me exchanging text messages with him poses a security risk.”
Eoin’s lips tighten. “Niamh’s report?—”
“Ah, yes. Let’s go on a little tangent, shall we? Perhaps you can explain to me why you’re lecturing me about security when Niamh posed a far greater risk to it last night than I did?”
He straightens. “What do you mean?”
“The first thing we agreed to do when we migrated here was fly under the radar and avoid arousing human suspicions,” I remind him, and he nods. “Standing in the middle of a store and blatantly staring at a human for uninterrupted minutes isnotinconspicuous. Jared was uncomfortable. We’re fortunate that he wasn’t so uncomfortable as to report it to the staff, who might have called the police. I’m sure having my bodyguard escorted from the store by the police wouldn’t have been conspicuousat all.”
“I wasn’t aware?—”
“Then,” I continue, “shortly before I departed the store, Niamh thought the best way to get my attention would be to throw a napkin at my head. Jared saw her and recognized her as the person who’d made him uncomfortable earlier. It’s fortunate that I distracted him before he put the details together and realized that she not only was the one who threw the napkin”—I inject those three words with disgust—“but also that she’s connected tome.” I told Niamh last night that I wasn’t happywith her professionalism, so she won’t be surprised when Eoin raises this with her.
