I smiled, trying to make it reassuring, but at her grimace, I knew I’d failed. “I’ll be much better after a good night’s sleep and some of your amazing coffee tomorrow.”
“We’ll open for you. Don’t come in early.”
I gave her a grateful smile. “Thanks, Moira.”
She rolled her eyes and pointed to my bedroom. “March. I’ll start the shower for you.”
Dutifully, I turned and headed to the back. Within moments, the spray of water sounded in the master bath, and I had a handful of soft pajamas I couldn’t wait to climb into.
I camein two hours later than normal, thankful I had good friends. Everything still hurt, but I had a few things at the shop to help me recover faster. When I came in from the back, three sets of eyes swung my way.
Ash’s light eyebrows rose. His eyes glowed once before he slowly nodded. “I see,” he murmured. “You’ve spent some time...communing.”
That was the word he used when he spoke of earth magic. Ash did a lot of communing with the local trees.
“Something like that,” I agreed.
Tess floated over. My eyes widened at her careless display of magic.
“Relax,” she breathed, “we don’t have any customers right now.”
Moira sprawled across one of the chairs, braiding sweetgrass, and cursing occasionally when one of the stems would slip from the weave. She eyed me and jerked her head toward the coffee pot. “Made that special blend you like. There’s half a pot left.”
“And I left a vial of healing potion next to the pot,” Ash added as he eyed me critically from head to toe. “Moira mentioned you might need it.”
I smiled. “Thanks.” Ash’s healing potions were legendary. I made a mean one, but he always put an extra bit of oomph in his. When I mentioned selling them in the shop, he clammed up and refused, saying his gifts were reserved for those he cared about and not for sale to the general public. He was so solemn and serious about it, which was completely unlike Ash on a normal day, that I never mentioned it again.
Half an hour later, after coffee and a dropper of the dryad’s potion, my pain was down to a solid three, and I felt worlds better. I dropped a kiss on top of Ash’s head when I passed by on my way to the register, and he blustered a little before his cheeks turned bright pink.
“You’re the best, Ash!”
He grumbled something under his breath and went back to training his bonsai maple into submission. We didn’t have many of those to sell because it took Ash months to create them, but they went for a pretty penny when we did. I tried to give Ash all the money when we sold the first one, but he flat out refused and insisted on giving me a twenty percent commission.
As dryads went, he was the strangest one I’d ever met. He was also my favorite, so it evened out.
Moira and the others broke for lunch around noon, after I insisted on staying behind and making up the slack for my late arrival. It was a Tuesday, and customers were slow to come in, so I powered up my e-reader and caught up on my newest romantic fantasy obsession, a tale about pirates and the female serial killer who falls in love with the captain of a cursed ship.
Around one,Ash and Tess burst into the shop, back from their lunch break.
“Evie!” Ash breathed. “Have you heard?”
The shop was slow enough that I’d heard nothing except the imaginary, breathy moans of a killer as the handsome pirate captain plundered the main character’s booty. “Nope,” I called, regretfully putting my device down. Number one on the agenda once the shop closed was finishing that book.
Ash rounded the corner first and plowed into the register desk, eyes wide with glee. “The Shifter Lord was spotted coming out of the forest this morning wearing barely anything!”
Tess came up beside him, her normally expressionless face lit up with the thrill of hot gossip.
I’d never met the Texas Shifter Lord, nor did I ever want to, but Ash’s words made my stomach sink like a stone.
Moira rounded up my friend group, her face somber, and her eyes filled with worry.
Shit. Shit. Shit!
I pasted a smile on my face. “Oh? He must have had some rendezvous out there!” Mustering a half-hearted chuckle, I reached for my e-reader and tucked it into my purse.
“But that’s not the best part!” Tess breathed. “He’s on the hunt for someone. A female.”
I stilled. “How do you know that?”
