Page 24 of This Witch Is Not Wicked

Wolfe slammed his fork on the table, the dishes rattling. “What’s going on?” he asked his wife. “You’re unusually jumpy tonight.”

Niamh averted her eyes to her plate. “Nothing. I don’t know anything.”

Wolfe sighed heavily and shot me a look.

“We all know that means you know something,” Cillian said to Niamh, “and from the way you keep looking at Nevan, I’m guessing it’s about him and whatever news he has.”

Niamh’s cheeks turned pink. “No. I didn’t see Nevan in the library yesterday and give him advice about his love life.”

Godwitches, she was so bad at this. Then again, so was I.

“Very convincing.” Cillian patted Niamh’s hand and sent her a wink.

My mother just watched the entire exchange, silent.

Father widened his eyes at me. “Now would be a good time to say something, son.”

I groaned. I’d been so lost in my thoughts about Enid and that silky black robe that I’d forgotten I told everyone I had an announcement to make.

“Well?” Mother asked. “Are you finally going to reveal the identity of this mystery woman, or does only Niamh get to know that information?”

“The mystery woman who doesn’t exist,” Cillian muttered under his breath, and I shot him a glare.

“Oh, I don’t know her identity,” Niamh said quickly. “Just a few other details about a recent fight they had.”

“A fight?” Mother asked.

Cillian leaned forward, a few strands of his wavy dark hair falling over his forehead. “You’re fighting with this nonexistent woman now?”

“She does exist,” I said. Godwitches be. Why was this so fucking hard? Probably because I was about to tell them I was courting the most hated woman in Fairwitch. I was not prepared for this.

Sweat gathered on my upper lip.

Cillian threw up his arms. “Just admit she’s fake and let Mother set you up with a suitable woman already.”

I licked my lips right as Sir Arthur burst through the door, brandishing his sword. “Invader! We have an invader in our midst!”

Cillian and Wolfe shot to their feet, instantly on guard as the suit of armor clambered in . . . dragging Enid behind him.

The blood drained from my face, and I shot Enid a questioning look. She glared at me, then wrenched her arm from Sir Arthur’s grasp.

“She’s the invader?” Cillian gestured at Enid as Wolfe sat back down to continue his meal, apparently deciding Enid wasn’t that much of a threat.

“Indeed,” Sir Arthur said. “I caught this wench sneaking into the castle.”

My father wrinkled his nose and leaned over to my mother. “I thought we weren’t allowed to use that kind of language anymore.”

Cillian pinched the bridge of his nose. “Sir Arthur, I’ve explained many times that it is offensive to call the female population wenches.”

“Hi!” Niamh waved at Enid, smiling bright. My sister-in-law truly saw the good in everyone.

“I walked right through the front doors,” Enid said with an edge to her voice. “That’s hardly an invasion.”

Cillian took another long drink from his goblet. He didn’t normally drink this much, and it set me on edge. “Maybe eight weeks was too generous. Maybe we need to hold the vote tomorrow.” His jaw locked. “Actually, maybe I’ll just make the decision right now.”

Enid’s mouth dropped open. “You can’t do that! You said eight weeks. I didn’t even do anything wrong.”

Wolfe shot me a concerned look and tipped his head toward Cillian. I gave a small shrug. I had no idea why Cillian was so snippy. Maybe he and Ceri had gotten into a fight. Whenever he fought with his best friend, he was always moody until they made up.