I definitely wasn’t destined for a career in subterfuge or spying, that was for damn sure. Even knowing I was invisible wasn’t enough to keep my heart from racing as I crept out of the suite and then through the semi-familiar halls to a door that led outside. It felt like an eternity until I was out on the street, then another eternity until I was a couple of blocks away and could drop the don’t-see-me disguise that protected me from prying eyes.

Even though I hustled to get to my house, it still took half an hour and Palmer beat me there. His eyebrows arched when he saw me on foot, and he stood up from where he’d been sitting on the porch steps. “What happened to your car?”

“Long story,” I said, offering a smile even though I didn’t really feel it. He might have been the person who hexed Miles, so I’d only be friendly enough to get the information I wanted. “Sorry I kept you waiting.”

“I don’t mind,” he said. He patted the railing of the porch where the paint curled up in long strips. “I haven’t been here in a while. Do you need help painting? I just got a new ladder.”

For some reason, the offer made me tense. I didn’t want him anywhere near my house. I didn’t want him touching my house or laying any sort of claim on it, even through free labor. Which didn’t make any sense at all, except in my gut. My instincts told me to run. But the business card in my pocket said we had more to talk about. So I forced the words out with another sheepish shrug, working my keys into the stubborn lock on the front door. “I’m still negotiating with the neighbor kid to see if he can do it for me. But thanks for the offer.”

Palmer shoved his hands in his pockets after hiking the strap of his messenger bag up higher on his shoulder. “You should learn to accept help, Deirdre. You don’t have to do everything on your own.” 

I put my shoulder into the door, trying to wedge it open, since we hardly ever used it and the wood stuck. It creaked and moved just a touch. At least I could channel my irritation with Palmer into the next shove, which freed the damn door. “You sound like my aunt.”

“She’s right about some things,” he said mildly.

I held the door open for him to follow me into the house, then shut it just enough for the door to stick in the jamb. I didn’t want him wandering through my backyard and seeing my garden or the back door, so it was better that I keep him in the front of the house. I kicked my shoes off and gestured at one of the chairs in the more formal, rarely-used front room. “What’s up?”

He didn’t sit, instead looking around with a touch of tension in his shoulders, though he let his bag rest on the floor. “You don’t want to talk in the living room?” 

“This is good,” I said. I took my grandmother’s favorite chair, still comfortable though it was worn thin in places and Cricket had occasionally tested his teeth against the wooden leg.

Palmer’s hand tapped against his leg, then he tilted his head at the kitchen. “Do you mind if I get a glass of water or something to drink?”

Something about the way he said it made me think he’d expected me to offer him something first, and the fact that I hadn’t offended him, though he knew I wasn’t much of a hostess. It wasn’t like it was a date or anything and I needed to impress him. I clenched my jaw and steeled myself to be a little less hostile. “Sure.”

He nodded and wandered into the kitchen, taking his bag with him, and rattled around in there for a second, looking for a glass. He turned on the tap and I bit back an exasperated sigh. Holy Mother. I couldn’t interrogate him on what he’d done if he insisted on fussing over small things.

It seemed like forever until he returned, carrying the half-full glass, then took the chair I’d pointed out. “Thanks. I’ve had a tickle in my throat, so hopefully this’ll get rid of it.”

I nodded, absently rubbing the back of my wrist and a very small bruise from where Miles held on to me tightly during one particularly wild part of the night. “So what was my aunt saying?”

“Hmmm,” Palmer said. He watched me closely and tapped his fingers on his thigh.

“Apparently she got a call from the animal that showed up at the florist. He thought you worked a curse on him and wanted to know whether she knew anything about it.”

I blinked, then started laughing. “That’s bullshit. I didn’t work any curses on him.”

Palmer shrugged. “That’s what she said. She called everyone to see whether they knew about it, but no one else did. It seemed like you two were... close, when we were at the florist, but I wanted to make sure you wanted to be close. That he wasn’t forcing you into anything.”

“He’s not, believe me,” I said. I could gloss over the whole kidnapping thing; that was between Miles and me, and none of Palmer’s business. “Whatever we are isn’t any of my aunt’s business.” Or anyone else’s, I added in my head. Including him.

Especially him.

The other witch frowned but nodded, like he didn’t really believe me but knew I wasn’t going to change my story. He studied his hands and the glass of water for a long moment before glancing back up at me. “Have you given any thought to my proposal from the other night? About moving in with me?”

“No,” I said. When he didn’t react, I cleared my throat. “I mean, no I’m not going to move in with you, not no I haven’t thought about it. I’m fine on my own and I want to distance myself from the coven for now. I appreciate the gesture, but I’m staying here.” 

He shook his head, radiating disappointment. Before he could go on, I pulled the business card out of my pocket and carefully put it on the table in front of him. “I found this among Miles’s things. How did he get it?”

Palmer went still, watching the card as though it was a dangerous spider rather than a simple piece of paper, and let the silence stretch for some time before he spoke. “That? I gave it to him outside the florist, after you’d gone, in case he had any issues with magic come up.”

“What kind of issues with magic did you think he’d run into?” I folded my arms over my chest, absolutely certain he’d cursed Miles. His demeanor screamed guilt.

It looked like he’d reach for the card, but he stopped a few inches away, his fingers hovering over it. “Well, they had need of us before, so I thought—”

“They had need of me before,” I said. “I was the one who helped them, I’m the one they owe. None of the rest of the coven bothered to help.” 

“Deirdre, that’s not fair and you know it.” His tone shifted into the lecturing professor that I hated so much, and my fingers dug into the fabric of Granny’s armchair. Palmer shook his head woefully, once more disappointed in my misperceptions. “We simply didn’t have the experience or knowledge necessary for that kind of spell, and it wasn’t prudent to assume we could successfully cast it without practice. The Betwixt is a dangerous place to cast magic in and through, and there wasn’t any real reason to take the risk.”

“I did it,” I said. “I found the spell and figured it out. That is why I’m leaving the coven.”

“The coven needs you, Deirdre,” he said. “You can’t leave.”

“No one is giving me a reason to stay,” I said. I leaned my elbows on my knees, wishing I could growl like the shifters could, and let some of my irritation shine through. “And when I finally find something—someone—interesting, you hex him.”

Palmer almost dropped the glass of water. “No one—”

“You did, Palmer, I know you did.” I pointed at the business card. “That’s yours. It’s your work. Why did you hex him? He never did anything to you. Were you also the one who poisoned him, who gave that awful pack outside the city the poison?” 

A muscle in his temple jumped and ticked as he stared at me, then he folded both hands around the glass. “He distracted you. Is distracting you. And we need you to focus on the coven. His kind don’t understand us, Deirdre. He might seem exciting and interesting now, but we should not mix with the animals. He was just using you. You didn’t see it, so I made sure he wouldn’t be a long-term issue.”

I wanted to throw something at the smug bastard. “That’s not your call, Palmer. You don’t know anything about him, and you have zero input to my life. Zero. I’d like you to leave now, and do not ever contact me again. If you try anything against Miles, it’ll come back to you times three—and I’ll be the one delivering it to your door.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Deirdre,” he snapped. “You’re not going to shack up with that animal. He’s beneath you. You’re going to move your ass into my house, like you should have done months ago, and we’re going to take the coven over from your aunt. Stop messing around.”

“Get out,” I said. I lurched to my feet and pointed at the door. “You’re not welcome here. He’ll kill you if he finds out you were here and threatened me like this.” 

“Of course he will,” Palmer said. “Because he’s an animal. But he’s not here now, is he, Deirdre?”

The icy demeanor made me pause just a second, because it was very unlike Palmer and the question carried a bit of threat to it. I scowled at him and didn’t back down. “Get out, Palmer.”

He made as if to rise, then jerked the glass of water up and at me, splashing me full in the face. I sucked in a breath to scream at him about juvenile bullshit but the familiar spark of magic jolted through me when the water hit, then my face and neck and everything else went numb and I sank to the floor, staring at him. He’d put something in the water. I couldn’t move, could hardly breathe.

Palmer crouched next to me, pushing my shoulder so I rolled onto my back, and smiled faintly as he studied me. “Your aunt said you’d never agree to be with me, and I fear she was right. Luckily there are ways to convince you.”

I started to scream, to demand he undo whatever he’d done, but he gestured and the magic zinged again and everything went dark.