“I guess he accompanied Elm.” Adelaide waved at Elm, who stood with Mama.
Oh, Witch Superior. Mama was chattering away. I hoped she wasn’t embarrassing us. Whenever any eligible men came around, Mama tended to lose her senses. It wasn’t her fault. She was so desperate to see this curse broken, and she so badly wanted all of us to get married. It just had never worked out.
Auggie and Prue were still young. Yes, they were technically of marriageable age, but only in the last few years.
As for Adelaide and me... Adelaide was painfully shy and introverted, while I almost had gotten married. To Johanes. After his betrayal, I swore I’d never fall for another man—much to Mama’s disappointment. But that didn’t stop her from grabbing random men andparading them in front of us constantly, and it always ended in disaster one way or another.
Mama just wanted us to be able to use our magic, our birthright, but that also meant she became overbearing at times.
I met Draven’s glowering gaze. “Why is he just glaring at me?” I whispered to Adelaide, shooting him a scathing look right back.
We descended the steps to the marshy grass surrounding the cottage.
Adelaide leaned over. “Probably because you barged into his tavern and insulted him in front of everyone?”
“He deserved it.”
“Can you please be nice?” Adelaide asked, turning her pleading gaze on me.
“I’ll try,” I mumbled as we approached.
“Adelaide, where have you been?” Mama reached out and reeled my sister to her. “Elm is here to see you.”
Draven stood there mute, unsmiling. Being rude. It was one thing to mistreat me. But to be rude to my family for no reason at all? My fists balled at my sides, nails digging into my palms.
“Come see what we’ve done with the cottage so far!” Mama grabbed Elm’s arm and dragged him away, Adelaide following and shooting me a helpless look.
She mouthed, “Be nice,” before disappearing into the cottage. I was so tired of everyone always telling me to be nice like I was some heathen who didn’t know how to behave.
I set my bucket down by the brook and straightened. “Mr. Darkstone.”
“Ms. Moonflower,” he responded in a monotone voice.
“To what do we owe your presence?”
“I’m here with my friend.”
“Friend?” I echoed, looking between the cottage and Draven. “Elm is your friend?”
“My best friend, actually.” Draven stepped forward, his boots splashing in the water. “Which means if he’s courting your sister, you’re going to be seeing a lot of me around here.”
I mustered a strained smile. “Perfect.”
What rotten luck. It was one thing to know we’d have to see Dravenaround town, but to know I’d have to see him all the time was unbearable.
“And believe me.” Draven took another step forward, leaning down so that his scent of cedarwood, leather, and ale surrounded me. “I will be watching,” he whispered, his breath warm on my neck.
I inhaled deeply. It had been a long time since I’d been close enough to a man to smell him, to be enveloped by his scent. Then his words hit me, and I jolted backward. “What is that supposed to mean?”
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Just that I’m very curious about the Moonflower witches and what brought you to Thistlegrove, what brought you to Elm.”
I scoffed, reaching down to pick up my bucket. “What are you implying, exactly?”
“Is there something I should be implying?” Draven asked.
“You’re an exhausting man. Has anyone ever told you that?”
“No, but you continue to enlighten me about my own persona. Please, tell me more about myself.”
