Whatever the contents, Ronan palmed the box like it was something precious and followed Priss to another shelf, where he gathered more vials and small boxes. Then Priss led him to the back of the room, where there was a counter with a large brass bowl and mystical-looking implements that Bella couldn’t name.
Priss caught Bella craning her neck to see, and she cackled. “Intrigued a bit by the dark arts, Shining One?”
Bella’s spine stiffened. “I’m not afraid of it, if that’s what you mean.”
“A Seelie who is not afraid of the dark.” The witch shook her head. “I never met one. You’re lying.” Summarily dismissing her, Priss turned and began fussing with the jars on her shelves in the dimly lit room.
Ronan worked at the back table while Bella peered curiously at her surroundings, wondering exactly how Priss achieved the clown car effect of such a large room existing in a space that appeared outwardly to be so tiny. Clearly her home was in an alternate pocket somewhere else within the boundaries of Piefferburg.
Leaving a scatter of dried herb on the table, Ronan approached her with the original rare wooden box in his hand. “The spell is woven. All we need to do now is set it in place.” He came close enough to her so she could feel his body heat.
Ronan murmured under his breath and power swelled in the air, putting pressure in Bella’s eardrums.
She took a step back just as Ronan blew into the box, puffing the dry concoction into her face. Bella’s body shook from the inside out, a strange sensation that made her gasp. Magick clung for a moment on her skin and in her hair before dissipating into the air. As she shook and acclimated to the spell covering her body, Ronan inhaled his own dose.
“So this will keep us safe?” Bella asked.
Ronan shrugged one shoulder. “There are countermeasures for countermeasures. I was one of the queen’s mages and I know the others are all good. We can’t be totally sure we’re protected, but it’s better than nothing.”
“Better than nothing. Great.”
“Thank you for your help, Priss. Can you let us out near the Ceantar Dubh?” That was nowhere near the Boundary Lands. Couldn’t the witchy subway system get them closer?
“Ceantar Dubh? Why can’t she let us out—” She stopped herself before she blurted out more than the witch needed to know. Bella’s gaze darted to the old woman, who smiled at her. “You know, where we need to go.”
“Priss’s abilities in this regard are driven by the magick of the fae. The more fae in an area, the stronger her magick. Therefore, she’s limited to downtown and the Ceantar Láir.” The witch shrugged and waved her hand. “Anything for you, Ronan. The location is set.” She grinned, showing broken teeth. “As always, I thank you for your patronage.”
“How, exactly, do you know her?” Bella asked as they “stepped back into the narrow alley.
He cast a sidelong glance at her. “Jealous of an old woman?”
“First off, I’m not jealous. I’m just curious. Second, she’s not always an old woman.” Ronan glanced at her and gave her a small, secretive smile. “No, that’s true. Not all the time.” Bella rolled her eyes.
“I know her,” Ronan said, pulling her down the alley, “because she stocks the ingredients necessary to create many of my spells. Out of all the fae in Piefferburg, with the exception of my brother, Niall, her magick is closest to my own. She’s not one of my lovers.”
One of his lovers. So, he had many. It pinched. Bella couldn’t deny that fact. She shouldn’t care, but she couldn’t help that she did.
FIVE
He murmured something and they stepped through another pocket, this time into a different part of the downtown area, one that Bella had been to only a handful of times, as it wasn’t an upscale shopping area.
Storefronts were closed this late at night and so close to the winter solstice. Yuletide lights blinked merrily in the windows, wishing passersby a merry season filled with joy. The occasional fae could be seen walking down the cobblestone street, huddled in a coat, but this was the downtown business district and there weren’t any Yuletide revelers to be seen like there were near the square.
In front of them rose a tall brick building with a red hostelry sign blinking on the front. They were at the infamous “love hotel,” apparently.
“See? We’re here. Knowing Priss can be very helpful.” He walked into the building.
“Yes, I’m sure,” Bella grumbled before following him and wondering just how many of his lovers he’d taken to this place. The thought left her stomach a little sour.
One computer stood in the small entry room, the cursor on the black screen blinking at them. Ronan went to it.
“Are you sure you trust this?” Bella asked, coming up next to him. “This place could be saturated in magick or inhabited with fae who are able to secret themselves away and spy. I mean, you said people use this place for conducting carnal affairs, right? Can you imagine all the reasons to monitor activity?
Suspicious spouses? Blackmail? Pure unadulterated voyeurism?”
“The spell I cast on us will protect us from any magickal surveillance, Bella.” He typed something into the computer and paid for the room with cash by feeding the bills into the appropriate slots, and a key slid out near the keyboard. “Relax. We’ll get some sleep and we can continue our journey in the morning.”
Her body was achy with fatigue and her muscles tight with stress. He walked to her and laid his hands on her shoulders. The heat of his touch melted through the fabric of her shirt and into her skin. She stared at the collar of his sweater, where she could see a few dark chest hairs and his smooth, warm skin over hard, rippling muscle. She couldn’t stop herself from wondering what it all would feel like under her fingers, her lips. The scent of him teased her nose, a combination of his soap and aftershave
—the quintessential smell that was simply him. It made her feminine muscles deep within clench with sudden desire, bringing her body to an almost abrupt sexual awareness.
Ah, Danu, just his proximity made her knees go weak. She had no defenses against this man. She hadn’t had them thirty years ago and she hadn’t developed any since.
“Bella, look at me.”
With effort, she raised her gaze to his.
“Relax.”
Fat chance of that in a love hotel with the one man she’d always wanted but could never have. Still, she did need to relax a little, or soon her clenched jaw would be churning out diamonds made from her teeth.