Part 17 (2/2)
Resignation settled in his bones. He knew what must be done. And if it cost him his soul, so be it, for he could not live this half-life any longer. But he needed a plan. He needed allies, and not the b.l.o.o.d.y SOS, who would want to control him. Only one thing was certain: Daisy was his to protect until it was done. With a sharp inhale, Ian sat up straight. For the first time in years, someone needed him. The sense of purpose stirred him. He felt alive, not merely moving through each day but alive in a way that made his blood sing.
Tilting his head back, he gazed up at the moon and the lace-thin clouds that drifted in front of her glowing face. The sky behind it was so deep and close that he fancied he could sink his hand into it and pull back with inky fingertips. Alive. The wolf inside of him felt it too. Emotion, antic.i.p.ation, and surprising joy welled up within with a sudden force that had him panting. He let the feeling crest and held it until his chest vibrated.
As a lone wolf, he was forbidden to do it. In so doing, he would be stating his intentions to the lycan world. But centuries of instinct could not be denied. A howl tore free, rising and falling in a long wave that spoke of his return and his promise to the woman.
Chapter Twenty-five.
The sign on The Book Shop door said CLOSED. Daisy did not bother knocking. She was expected so the door was unlocked. The Book Shop. Ha! Leave it to practical Poppy to pick a name for her bookshop that was utterly lacking in any lyricism and so very... literal. As much as Daisy loved her older sister, she sometimes yearned to crack through her indomitable and proper facade.
Daisy's heels clicked as she strode along the narrow hall, past the shop entrance, and toward the private areas at the back of the building. She left Tuttle and Seamus waiting in the carriage, though not without a bit of fuss, for they both feared for her. They needn't. Not here.
The familiar scent of wood polish mingling with book mold and linen paper touched her nose. Light slanted in from the backdoor window, landing in a square block of gold upon the dark, wood floor. She moved through it and yanked the door wide open before slamming it behind her.
Before her spread a little green square of a garden enclosed by the walls of surrounding buildings. A quiet oasis in the midst of the bustling city.
Blinking in the brightness of the sun, Daisy lifted a hand for shade and found two sets of eyes upon her: one set gleaming green and curious, the other shrewd and brown.
”You look as though the very devil were on your heels,” said her eldest sister, Poppy.
Daisy opened her white parasol, lined with copper satin to keep the sunlight out, and walked toward her sisters, who sat at the little table nestled beneath the lacy shade of a budding willow.
”Perhaps he is.” She took her seat as Miranda set out a gla.s.s of iced tea and a plate before her. ”Or perhaps the devil is a woman, and I am she.”
At that statement, she put away her parasol, helped herself to a ham sandwich, and took a hearty bite.
Miranda's brow arched delicately. ”Care to explain?”
Thoughtfully, Daisy chewed and let her sisters wait, but her eyes went to Poppy, who looked somewhat... hesitant. Interesting. Her eyes narrowed, and Poppy's did in return. Daisy took a careful drink of deliciously cold tea, thankful for the way it soothed her sore throat, before addressing Miranda. ”Well, dearest, it seems strangeness runs through our family after all.”
”No!” Miranda went pale but a smile tugged at her lips. ”You didn't!” She leaned forward in excitement. ”You started a fire?”
”No.” Daisy shot a look at Poppy, who'd remained surprisingly quiet. ”Nothing quite so... exotic... Dirt!” she shouted, no longer able to contain her ire. ”Of all the gifts I could have received, I am left with dirt.”
She shoved back from the table and leaped up to pace in front of her shocked sisters. ”Panda gets to play with fire, and I get filth. How very disgusting. Have you any idea what lives in dirt? Bugs! Worms!” She flung her arms up in disgust.
”Daisy, dearest,” Miranda pleaded, ”calm yourself and explain.”
”Yes,” Daisy whirled about, ”of course.” She stopped and clasped her shaking hands. ”It appears, love, that when my ire is stretched to the limit, I can make the earth move. And... tree roots appear.” She flung her hands once more. ”Honest to goodness tree roots shot from the earth and speared people!”
At this, both sisters went white.
”Tree roots?” Miranda intoned. She got up and caught hold of Daisy's arm. ”Sit and tell us what happened.”
Daisy let herself be led back to her seat. She took another sip of tea before recounting what had occurred the night before. Well, not all of it. She left out her kiss with Northrup. Miranda certainly wouldn't approve. Despite not wanting Northrup when he wanted her, Miranda fervently objected to the idea that Daisy might get involved with him. Which both irked Daisy and made her love her sister for her protectiveness.
”It was my doing,” Daisy said to them. ”I felt it in my bones. I caused the earth to heave and crumble. I caused those roots to burst free. It felt like want and power.”
She frowned, trying to explain, but Miranda nodded and clasped her hand. ”Like a need trying to break free. And then a s.h.i.+ver of pleasure when it does.”
Daisy squeezed her fingers. ”Yes, exactly.”
They shared a look in which they both grew distressingly misty-eyed before blinking their tears away and taking a bracing breath.
”I thought it only me,” Miranda said, after taking a moment to collect herself.
”Indeed.” Daisy turned her gaze on a silent Poppy. ”I thought so as well. And yet one of us appears to be not the least bit surprised... Poppy Ann Ellis Lane!” She lurched forward in her seat, her fists rattling the plates upon the table as she glared at her sister. ”You knew this might happen. Do not try to pretend you didn't. You are the smartest of all of us. And the oldest. You knew, didn't you?”
Silence filled the garden as the younger Ellis sisters stared at their eldest sister. Poppy had gone as still as the statuary gracing the four corners of the garden. She blinked back at them for one tense moment and then inhaled sharply as if bracing herself.
”I knew.”
Two simple words and the garden erupted into a volley of shouts, Miranda's being the loudest. She stood to glare down at Poppy like an avenging angel, stray wisps of her red-gold hair stirring in the breeze.
”You knew?” Miranda hissed. ”You knew how alone I felt with this burden. I felt a freak, an aberration of nature, and you knew it was not solely I who possessed strange powers?”
Poppy's expression remained frozen, and her eyes were hollow. ”It hurt me to keep quiet, Miranda. But it was not my place to warn Daisy or speak of your power unless absolutely necessary.”
”How could it not be necessary when I was turning things to ash?” Miranda shouted.
”If you had been seriously out of control, I would have helped you,” Poppy said calmly. ”As it was, however, you handled the situation quite nicely.”
Another round of cursing broke forth but this time Poppy's clear voice cut through it all. ”Sit down, the both of you. Now.”
Something in her tone was so like their mother's that Daisy found herself obeying, and Miranda shortly followed.
”Explain,” Miranda said.
”Of course,” Poppy said. ”You are elementals.”
”Elementals?” Daisy parroted. The sun seemed too bright, the air too hot in the face of such discoveries but she was not inclined to break up the conversation to move indoors.
Poppy's expression was serene. ”Beings who can control the elements. In the past, elementals were touted as witches, many of them burned at the stake.”
Daisy shuddered and leaned back in her seat. ”Witches. Lovely. Though with your temper, Panda”-she sent a small smile toward her irate little sister-”I can fully imagine the moniker.”
Miranda had clearly learned quite the number of colorful hand gestures during her time with Billy Finger and used one then. Daisy stuck her tongue out before turning back to Poppy. ”How did we get this way?”
”You inherited it from Mother. Elementals are usually women, and the trait pa.s.sed on to the daughters. It was she who forbade me to speak of it unless asked.”
”And you simply obeyed?” Miranda asked. ”Even when you knew what it was doing to me?”
Poppy blinked. ”I took a vow. As First Daughter, it was my duty to keep the secret. Only if you sought to do harm should I interfere. Only if you sought personal gain. You did neither but merely sought to suppress your talent, Miranda. What good would it truly have done to tell you when you didn't even want to use it?”
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