“Yes, pretty. It’s really not that difficult, Oscar. Get some pretty seeds and tools and leave them in the shed.”
“Bulbs would be better.”
I scowled at him with every ounce of disdain I felt for the useless grogoch.
He bowed low and promised to take care of it.
* * *
“She’s gone,” Tadhg moaned into his glass. “I had her and then I lost her.”
How the hell was I supposed to make plans with Tadhg wallowing on the settee? I’d been in the study, but he’d found me in there, so I left. The moment my arse hit the chair in here, he’d appeared right across from me. If he wanted to wallow, he should’ve done it alone.
“Quit your whinging,” I told him. “She’ll be back.”
He scrubbed both hands down his face, flopping on the cushion like a dying fish. “In a feckin’ year. Do you know how much I can fuck up in a year? Why didn’t you just let me die?”
“You think you deserve to escape this cursed life? You think you’ve earned a respite?” If I had to be here, then so did he. Simple as.
Ruairi came in, the smile slipping from his face the moment his golden eyes landed on Tadhg. “What’s happened? Last I heard, ye were all loved up and happy.”
Tadhg buried his head in the cushion, muttering a muffled, “Rían killed her.”
“You want to blame me? Fine. At some point, you’re going to have to start taking responsibility for your actions.” I stalked out of the room and into the kitchens, where Eava was kneading dough on the counter, flour sticking to the wrinkles in her hands.
“I hope you’re making something so full of sugar that it’ll rot my teeth.”
She shook her head. “Mince pies for yer woman.”
“First, she’s not my anything. Second, she doesn’t deserve food. Third, I want biscuits.” I let my head fall into my hands. I didn’t care that it wasn’t even sunrise. I’d barely slept last night and wanted to stuff myself with sugar until I exploded.
“Ye did well yesterday,” Eava said, giving my shoulder a nudge.
I snorted.
“I’m serious. Because of ye, everyone is either alive or going to be soon enough.”
Tell that to the eejit drinking himself blind in the family room.
Maybe if Aveen weren’t stuck here, and if I hadn’t announced to the entire world that we were fake-engaged, then I could have been a little proud of the way the situation had ended. But that was not what had happened.
“It’ll all work out the way it’s supposed to,” she assured me like the pain-in-the-arse optimist she was.
“I hate it when you’re optimistic.”
She snorted, tucking her hands inside a dish towel to take a pan of fresh bread from the oven and set it next to three more loaves. My mouth watered as I watched her cut one loaf and arrange the slices on a plate along with a small dish of butter and jam. Not exactly what I wanted for breakfast, but it’d do for now.
Eava handed me the dish. “Deliver this to your woman in case she’s hungry.”
Hold on. This was for Aveen? What about me? I plucked a piece of bread from the plate and brought it to my lips. “I’ve decided to let her starve.”
Eava’s hand shot out, smacking me upside the head. The bread in my fingers tumbled back to the plate. “Get yer arse up those stairs and be sweet to that poor girl or I’ll chop ye into little pieces and bake ye into a pie.”
Feckin’ hell, the old witch was vicious today. I took the plate so she didn’t hit me again and evanesced up the stairs. When I reached Aveen’s door, I found myself hesitating. I wasn’t sure why. This was my home, wasn’t it? I gave the barrier a distinctively non-hesitant knock.
“Aveen?” No answer. Maybe I should’ve let someone else bring it up. She’d probably rather see anyone but me. When I tried the knob, the door gave way.
I found an empty room on the other side, the bed rumpled and unmade. Aveen wouldn’t have been stupid enough to sneak out of the castle. Would she? I cursed myself for not altering the wards before going to bed. I slammed the tray on the bedside table and evanesced down to the hall. I was about to start for the door when I heard Aveen’s voice coming from the family room.