Page 66 of Truthfinder’s Promise
“Given a Shifter willing to let someone like Jace poke and prod at their magical makeup? Jace could probably design some basic revisions in a week. But teaching Aspecters to rely on them in a pinch when they’re unproven and they’ve been snapping out the other versions by rote instinct their entire lives? Give that a few years.”
“We are so fucked if we go to war.”
“Yep.”
Out of nowhere, a smile curled the corners of Valkyrie’s lips. “You want me to drop the silencing spell before your husband has an apoplexy?”
Meredith startled, swiveling on her seat. Sure enough, Jensen stood just inside the doorway, staring at them with the most adorable mix of consternation and intensity on his face, like he was convinced if he just listened hard enough, he could hear them.
Valkyrie killed the spell and Meredith waved at Jensen. “Silencing spells. A must for having private conversations in a house full of Shifters.”
He shook off his confused expression and focused on Meredith. “Can I talk to you in private?”
Valkyrie glanced at the watch she wasn’t wearing. “Oh, look at the time. Must go work out. So busy.” She slid off her chair and disappeared in the direction of Meredith’s gym.
“I think I liked her better before she developed a sense of humor.”
“That qualifies as humor?” Jensen asked.
“For her it does.” She lifted her fingers, Aspect sparking at her fingertips. “You wanted a private conversation?”
“You’re going to do the silencing thing?”
“Unless you would prefer to get on the four-wheeler and drive however far is necessary for this private conversation to be private.”
His face took on a martyred expression. “Go ahead.”
Jensen couldn’t see the bounds of Meredith’s silencing spell. “How do I know I’m inside your magic circle?”
Meredith frowned. “You can’t feel it?”
“I feel…something. Like an itch under my skin, but I don’t exactly know where it’s coming from.”
“Interesting.” The floor beneath them burst into brilliant blue light. It extended in a circle about six feet in diameter, then rose up around them in shimmering translucent walls that closed in a dome above their heads.
“Why doesn’t it look like that all the time?”
“Because Aspect isn’t naturally visible. No point in telegraphing to everyone else what you’re doing with it. You have to add a witchlight spell to make it seen. It’s something we do for small children. If they’re having difficulty feeling their way through spell construction, sometimes they do better if they can see it.” She straightened her shoulders, as if bracing for bad news. “What did your grandmother have to say?”
He grimaced. “First, she interrogated me about the state of my health. Then she told me how disappointed she was that I didn’t call her immediately, and went on in great detail for a solid ten minutes about what a difficult child I was to raise, and did I have no respect for how few nerves she has left. Then she asked about you. Despite explaining the truth of our ‘marriage,’ she would like me to offer you her congratulations on, and this is a direct quote, ‘finally tying me down.’”
If Meredith had been drinking anything, she probably would have choked on it, by the look on her face. She swallowed. “And with regards to the whole Shifters, Aspecters, potential peace agreement thing?”
“That’s the worrisome part. She took it well. Too well. She is, and I’m quoting again, ‘excited to move our enclave into a new era of magical acceptance.’”
“That’s…good, right?”
He’d like to think so. “Grams raised me. Rebekah King wasn’t exactly a warm, knit-you-a-sweater-for-Christmas kind of parent. Don’t get me wrong, she loves me, and she was never unfair, and technically she does knit, but she raised me in the same way she rules the enclave—with an iron fist.
“When I came down here, I did it without telling anyone where I was going. She would have ordered me not to go within a hundred miles of Seclusion. Then I got taken. Then I told you about Shifters. Then my ex and my crazy cousins decided they needed to rescue me, so I am now responsible for getting them involved in this mess and outing our entire species to our most-feared nemesis.
“She didn’t have a single reproachful word for any of that. She just commented on how lovely it was that the Aspect leader sounded like such a reasonable person to negotiate with, and does Meredith like beef jerky, because she just finished a new batch and she would love to bring her new daughter-in-law some, and why did I not know that answer about my own wife?”
“I like beef jerky.”
“Great.” He texted Grams that information and ignored the four other texts from her asking various questions about Meredith’s preferences. No, he didn’t know what her favorite color was, if she would wear a hand-knitted shawl, if she liked homemade apple butter, or when her birthday was. “She’s flying in. She’ll be here in twelve hours to ‘assess the situation.’ I suggest you cherish those hours and take them to mentally prepare yourself.”
Meredith gave him an amused smile. “I think I can handle your grandmother.”
