Page 30 of Hallows End

“I thought so, too,” I reply and shake my head. “But there’s nothing out here. Perhaps it was a little thunder.”

The other man looks up to the sky. “Ithasbeen awfully stormy lately. You could be right. Well, have a good night, then.”

He returns to his home, and I breathe a sigh of relief that he didn’t press for more as I return to my cabin.

“There’s nothing out there,” I say as I walk inside. Lucy has redressed and is sitting with Nera by the fire. “Perhaps Nera is just on edge because of what happened earlier.”

“Maybe,” she says, but I can see by the look on her face that she doesn’t think so. “Also, that’s the second time we’ve been interrupted.”

I cup her face and brush my thumb over her cheek. “It’s been more than three hundred years, Lucy. What’s a few more hours or days?”

Her eyes widen. “Wait. You haven’t had sex inthree hundred years?”

“Three hundred and thirty years, six months, and a few days, but who’s counting, right?”

She blinks and then tips her head back and laughs. “I have so many questions. I thought people waited until they were married in 1692.”

“I don’t believe that witches have ever subscribed to that way of thinking,” I reply with a smile.

“I don’t think I want to know the answers to the rest,” she says thoughtfully. The smile is still in place, but she shakes her head with certainty. “Definitely, not.”

“Anyone I once had a physical relationship with has been dead for centuries,” I reply and then raise an eyebrow. “Can you say the same?”

“So, they didn’t live here, then? You haven’t had an affair with someone spanning over three centuries?”

I slowly shake my head. “No.”

“Well, that helps the jealousy factor. Which is another new thing for me, by the way. And before you ask, the answer is no. I have no one else in my life.”

“Of course, you don’t. You’re too loyal. You wouldn’t be here with me if you were in love with someone else.”

“I don’t even knowwhyI feel jealous,” she continues, not meeting my eyes as she pets Nera’s head. “I mean, it’s not as though we’re in some kind of exclusive relationship or anything.”

“Look at me.” My voice is hard, and the look in her eyes is surprised as she turns to mine. “We may not have said the words, but I think it’s clear that this is, without a doubt, anexclusiverelationship. You don’t feeljealous,you feel territorial. And I can confirm that I feel the same way. If a man put his hands on you, I’d have to kill him.”

She blinks. “I don’t think that was just a figure of speech.”

“No. It was not. You say that this is new for you, well, it is new for me, as well. But I am not willing to share you with anyone. So, now that we have established that, we can move forward without any feelings of uncertainty.”

“I just realized that your speech is quite modern, at least for the most part. But when you get angry or worked up, it becomes more formal. Similar, I assume, to how people spoke in the Puritan days.”

With that small storm over, I reach for Lucy and pull her to her feet.

“We should go. You really shouldn’t be here. Someone was coming this way to check out the barking he thought he heard.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No.” I step into her and kiss her forehead. “There’s no need to apologize. You needed me. But it’s risky coming here. From now on, I’ll stay with you at night.”

“Won’t people realize you’re gone?”

“Probably not. I can move in and out so I still have a presence here, but I won’t leave you alone at night again.”

“Thank you.” She simply wraps her arms around me and holds on tightly before pulling back and gesturing to Nera. “I assume we leave the same way as last time? In the trees?”

“Yes.” I put the fire out, extinguish the candles, and take the few books I’ve been reading through. “Let’s go.”

“I’ve been doing a lot of reading,” Xander says. He invited me to his home, and I decided to come today while Lucy is working in her shop.