Page 26 of Witch of My Heart

“Wait! He’s not a witch, Starry! This is about magic no thera---”

“Hey, Cord,” Marcus came on the line, and I bit back a sigh.

“I’m going to step on his tail,” I said, leaning against the back of the sofa in the living room. “You’re not my father. You’re not here to tell me where to live. He needs to get back on the phone. This is like a house meeting or at least the request to plan one.”

“I think that’s a good thing to do when someone new comes into the picture,” Marcus said, and I saw him nodding in my mind’s eye. “Is that all you were talking to Starry about?” he asked and then whispered to someone, probably Irwin or Fen. “I’ll be right back. I need to take this outside.”

A second later the thud of the meeting house door opening and closing nearly deafened my cat. He hissed inside his inner sanctum and I let out another long slow breath. I didn’t havelong before Blithe realized I locked the door behind me. I needed to get this over with so I could get back on the phone with Starry and find the answer to my mate’s question.

“Are you okay, Cord?” Marcus asked, sliding seamlessly into his therapist voice.

“I’m fine. I got freaked out when I first smelled Blithe. Now he’s locked in the bedroom. It’s okay.”

“Locked in the bedroom?” Marcus asked.

“Why does everyone get so hung up on that? He went in there willingly and isn’t trying to get out. He’s probably humping my blankets because they smell like me or something. I’m fine now. I’m not freaked out anymore. I’m a cat. Running away is what I do sometimes. Running away can even be part of the feline mating ritual.”

“You’re speaking really fast, Cord,” Marcus said. “You usually do that when you’re experiencing a high level of anxiety.”

“Well, yeah. I am. I did just meet my true-mate which means I have to think about how I’m going to protect my kittens.”

“From what?” Marcus asked, cutting to the point.

“My sire,” I whispered the words.

“Cord, Ginger is dead,” he said, his voice soft and level.

“I know that. I really do, but people have escaped death before and I’m not taking any chances.”

“Does Blithe know Ginger is dead?” he asked.

“Yeah, but why would that matter?” I asked.

“Because he’s offering to shield you from her and that doesn’t---”

“He’s my mate! I know you’re a therapist and you went to school to help people make heads or tails of their lives, but this is the first time someone has offered a solution to the whole Ginger problem that actually makes sense.”

“I don’t know that even love can banish traumatic memories, Cord,” Marcus sighed.

I almost hung up on him when the doorknob rattled.

“Cord?” Blithe called from the other room.

“What’s going on?” Marcus asked over the phone.

I sprinted halfway down the hall when the lock on the bedroom door turned, and Blithe stepped out.

“Can’t lock a witch up for long. Habit, huh?” he chuckled. “Is everything okay?”

I hung up on Marcus and dropped my phone on the runner table in the hall.

“I don’t know,” I said, feeling as if everything would weigh me down enough to crash me straight through the hardwood floor into the basement.

“Did you mean to lock me in?” Blithe blinked

“Only sorta,” I sighed. “I just needed a minute. I figured you’d get out if you wanted out, but I didn’t want you to leave without telling me and ---”

“Slow down,” Blithe said and rested a hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay. Did you and Starry get into a fight on the phone?”

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