“I know you ain’t gonna like this,” Henrik began slowly. His eyes drifted away from hers, almost like he couldn’t face her. She understood that, but it still hurt to see him not able to face his own words. “And I know it’s gonna be real hard for you, but it’s the only way.”
She already knew what was coming, of course. He had mentioned it previously, and she had suspected for some time, what exactly the future held for them. If there was any way to get ahead, to solve their problems... they had to go back. Back to where it began.
Because, for as much as she could duplicate everything her mother had done, everything she had used... location almost mattered more than anything.
The elements remembered. The ley lines remembered. They would remember the spell, and likely even held the ends of the bond.
If she was going to break it anywhere... it was there.
“We have to go back to Garoureve,” she finally said for him. He was struggling to say the words, so why not just say it for him. “I know. I know we do.”
Henrik let out a heavy sigh, and she gave him a soft smile, trying to calm him. Clearly, this had been weighing on him for some time, for him to be so on edge. There was no reason for her to fight it, though. Not if she wanted to be with him.
“We’ve been away long enough,” she continued, and reached up to brush her finger over his cheek. “And we’re not getting any closer to fixing this here. I’ve been trying for years. If I’m going to solve this, I have to do it in Garoureve, where the spell was done. You need to return to the pack, particularly now that you’re shifting. And if I can’t fix this, then—“
“I don’t care if we can’t ever fully bond,” Henrik said, interrupting her, but she quickly moved her hand to cover his lips, to silence him.
“Don’t say that. The possibility that I can’t fix this... I do care. I know I’m not a wolf, but I can feel it too. I dream of you. You throw off my magic, or whatever is left of it. I... I need this. I need us.”
Henrik had looked ready to keep arguing, but instead, he kissed her thumb. Good, because... she couldn’t stand to argue with him any further.
“So, we’re headin’ back to Garoureve,” Henrik drawled slowly, nodding his head a little as well. “That’ll be... somethin’.”
“Not yet,” she corrected with a sigh. “I need to wrap up life here first. I have contacts and connections. I own the shop. I have appointments with clients...”
“How long do you need?” he asked, his voice soft. “I’m pretty sure I lost my job next door, so...”
“Do you need a place to stay?”
“If you’re offerin’ me your bed, I should tell you now, I ain’t plannin’ to leave it, but I got some things to wrap up too, connections I’ve made. Had a job goin’ into the winter up north, so I gotta return some things as well. Might take me a week.”
“I probably need a month,” she admitted with a sigh. “Berk manages a lot of the things around here, but I would need to probably figure out the lawyer stuff, I don’t know. I mean, I primarily operate in cash, but if I’m not here to collect it, I need to add Berk to the bank, pay him to run the place.”
“There’s no rush,” Henrik pointed out, his hand covering hers as he spoke. “To get back, I mean.”
“The sooner we’re there, the sooner we can fix this. I want to kiss you, Henrik. Touch you without a barrier.”
Her voice shook on the last word, and he nodded, his own hand moving to touch her lips, caress them. She hated the feeling of plastic on her skin when she should be feeling the warmth of his touch, but...
“We’ll figure this out,” he promised. “Together.”
“Together.”
Chapter 13
Lifeneededtotakea chill pill. Because honestly... what the fuck was going on.
She’d been stuck in a state of not moving forward and not moving back for years. Her soulmate returns and everything becomes haywire. Things go fast then slow then fast then slow. Everything had felt like a whirlwind. And then Henrik came back, and then he left, and he was back, and now...
Now, she was somehow counting down the days until they returned to Garoureve, but they felt like they were dragging. She should have dreaded returning, but instead, she was annoyed at the date they had put on it. Why had she suggested an entire month? Why were they even waiting that long?
Oh, right, because Violet had to figure out how to run an actual business beyond cash payments for things. If she was going to have someone else putting things into the bank for her, she had to have actual contracts. Things like taxes had to be paid. She had to actually figure out the legalities of things beyond... she showed up with a wad of cash and told some suit to deal with it.
Right. Shit.
This was why supernatural and paranormal towns all had someone to handle this kind of stuff, with freaking suits to take care of the business human stuff... which was normally a witch. Shit.
This was going to be great.