Page 38 of Black Willow Witch
She glanced around.Nice.It was open, light and airy with exposed wooden beams and a lodge-like vibe.
She didn’t dawdle; she stayed close behind Ripper as he walked further into the house. The color palette of warm beige, eggshell-white and taupe continued throughout, linking the rooms and adding to the open feel of the place.
Finally, they arrived at a sleek kitchen-stroke-dining room that provided plenty of seating. It was all dark woods and light-gray stone. Very masculine and contemporary.
‘Coffee?’ he offered as he pressed buttons on a machine.
Through his thin tee, Emberlyn could see the strong muscles in his back flexing and rippling.Damn. ‘No, thanks.’ She leaned back against the kitchen island, a little jealous of that machineright now – she couldn’t help wanting those fingers to pushherbuttons. ‘I’m more of a tea drinker.’
He let out a grunt.
‘Yes, talking is hard.’
Pausing, he shot her a narrow-eyed look over his shoulder.
She gifted him a bright smile. ‘So, you gonna tell me what inspired you to invite me here?’
Turning back to the machine, he set a cup beneath the dispenser. ‘I had a visit from Carver. I got the impression he hasn’t approached you.’ There was a question there.
‘He hasn’t yet, no,’ she confirmed.
‘And he won’t if he has any sense – I ordered him to stay away from you just now. He came to pressure me to relinquish the land to Reena.’ As the coffee machine began whirring, Ripper turned to fully face her. ‘He also informed me that your family is declaring that Millicent wasn’t of sound mind when she wrote the will and so the conditions shouldn’t be followed.’
Emberlyn felt her mouth tighten. ‘Ah.’ What little motherfuckers they were.
Cupping the rim of the counter behind him, Ripper leaned back against it. ‘I don’t know if Reena is part of this. She could have decided to back off – either because she’s letting it go or because she’s fine with letting your family take all the risks. On the other hand, she could be running things from behind the scenes.’
Emberlyn ran her tongue along the inside of her lower lip. ‘What does Carver intend to do?’
‘There’s nothing he physically can do. He supports your family’s theory, but only because it suits him.’
‘I should have considered they might go down this route, especially when they were hardly going to personally push you to cooperate – they can hide behind a lawyer.’ Emberlyn was disappointed with herself for not expecting it.
The laws at Chilgrave were different. There were no trials, no juries, no judges. Members of the council supervised meetings where matters could be discussed while lawyers were present to guide the conversation and ensure that their clients’ rights were protected.
‘I regularly went to Millicent for potions,’ said Ripper. ‘Her mental state wasn’t deteriorating.’
‘No, it wasn’t. But I’d struggle to prove that she waseversane.’ Emberlyn idly fingered the rose quartz pendant on her necklace. ‘Still, I don’t think them contesting the will could amount to anything. You have a rightful claim to the land regardless – it belonged to Lupin originally, and you’re his descendant. I might not have been Millicent’s daughter, but the manorchoseme. It had the option of selecting either Gill or Dez. It didn’t.’
‘And if you’re wrong? If they manage to get the conditions of the will overturned?’
‘It won’t change that the manor chose me. If Reena wants it, she’ll have to take it from me by force – I won’t give it up willingly.’
Ripper’s gaze sharpened on hers. ‘Couldshe take it from you?’
Not a chance.‘What do you think?’
He stared at her for long moments, studious and pensive. ‘I think I was wrong.’
‘About what?’
‘Wrong to believe that the majority of the coven is so against you because you operate outside their magickal rules and were mentored by Millicent. It’s not so much that, is it? It’s that you’re a power. None are a real match for you, and they know it.’
True, but they were very good at making it sound as if Emberlyn had ‘cheated’. She lifted a brow. ‘Haven’t you heard?I’m only so powerful because I made pacts with various evil deities.’
‘If that were true, you would have caused death and destruction over the years. You’ve defended and avenged yourself, but you’ve never killed anyone. The coven villainizes you to justify their behavior. They’ll believe whatever they need to believe to make that bullshit narrative fit.’
‘So you’re not all brawn,’ she mused. ‘Interesting.’
