Chapter 217

Agnes

The next two weeks flew by more quickly than I expected. Between preparing for our trip, handling work, and making sure Thea was settled with the new nanny, I barely had time to think about the incident with the paparazzi.

Lena fit into our household routine as if she’d always been there. She helped Thea with homework, drove her to violin lessons, and even started teaching her how to bake. I would come home from work to find them in the kitchen, flour dusting their noses, giggling over some inside joke I wasn’t privy to.

It was everything I’d hoped for in a nanny, and more. In fact, Lena quickly became a friend to me; she would sometimes keep me company during late nights in my office when I couldn’t sleep, simply sipping tea and reading while I worked or chatting with me amicably.

“Are you sure you don’t want help with your wolf?” Lena asked one night, glancing at me as I puttered around the dressform and pinned a swathe of deep maroon fabric to it. I was working on a design for a matching top and trousers set, and the trousers had proven difficult. The shape simply wouldn’t hold the way I had envisioned it.

I shook my head and furrowed my brow as I redraped the fabric. “I’m fine. Really,” I said around the pins I had clamped between my lips. And I was, mostly. My wolf hadn’t fully emerged yet, but I wanted to give it some time before I tried any drastic measures.

Mostly just because James still hadn’t found any information on that strange relic Olivia had mentioned, and frankly, I feared that my fire abilities might run rampant once my wolf emerged.

My father said the curse on my wolf was timed to last just over eight years, and it had been that long. The curse would break on its own soon enough, I figured. I just hoped it wouldn’t end with disaster—and I figured that not pushing it out might buy me some time, potentially save our new home from another fire.

Lena looked at me, and I briefly caught her gaze in the firelight. There was that strange look again—the look I occasionally saw in her eyes that spoke of a woman who knew more than she was letting on.

Something about it unsettled me. It was the one thing about her that made me feel… off.

But I couldn’t explain it, not even to myself. I kept chalking it up to lingering nerves from the tabloid incident. Besides, I still didn’t know her very well.

“If you say so,” she said, returning to her book.

I stared at her for a moment, feeling strange, but then heard a thud behind me. I turned to see that the weight of the drapes had caused the fabric to have fully fallen off the dressform, pins and everything.

Time to start over, I supposed.

The morning of our departure arrived too quickly. I’d been up since dawn, triple-checking my packing list, making sure Thea’s schedule was posted on the refrigerator, and leaving emergency contact numbers by every phone in the house. Even now, standing in the airport, I went over the instructions one last time.

“Mooom,” Thea groaned, rubbing both small hands over her face, “you’re treating me like a baby!”

“I know, I know,” I sighed. “But this is important. We can’t have any accidents.”

“Everything will be just fine,” Lena assured me with a smile. “I’ve got all the numbers, all the schedules, and I promise to call if anything happens—which it won’t.”

Elijah cleared his throat. “Agnes, we need to get through security…”

My stomach twisted. It was time to go. I crouched in front of Thea.

“Remember, we’ll be back in just three days,” I said. “We’ll be back before you know it.”

She nodded, but her bottom lip was trembling slightly. “Promise?”

I stuck my pinky finger out and wrapped it around hers. “Pinky promise. And you can call us anytime, day or night. And Lena will be with you. She’ll take good care of you.”

Thea glanced up at Lena, who was standing a few feet away, giving us space for our goodbyes. “I know,” she whispered. “But it’s not the same.”

“I know, sweetheart,” I said, brushing her hair back from her face. “But sometimes moms and dads have to go away for a little while. It doesn’t mean we don’t love you. It just means we have work to do.”

She nodded again, looking a bit more convinced. “And you’ll bring me back a present?”

I laughed, relieved by the shift in her mood. “Of course. The biggest, most ridiculous souvenir I can find.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Elijah ruffled Thea’s hair, causing her to grimace as he ruined the perfect braid Lena had made earlier, then pulled her in for a big hug. “Be good for Lena, okay?”

“I will,” Thea said, hugging him around the waist. “Love you, Daddy.”

“Love you too,” he replied, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

We waved goodbye as we headed toward the security line, Thea and Lena standing side by side. I kept glancing back, a lump forming in my throat when I could no longer see them through the crowd.

Security was a breeze—one of the perks of first-class tickets—and soon we were making our way to our gate.

By the time our flight was called for boarding, I was feeling almost relaxed. We showed our boarding passes and made our way onto the plane, finding our seats in the first-class cabin. I hadn’t flown first class in years before marrying Elijah, and the luxury still felt strange to me—wide, comfortable seats, actual legroom, flight attendants offering drinks before takeoff. I ordered a glass of wine to settle my nerves, even though it wasn’t even noon yet.

As we settled in, I glanced out the window, half-expecting to see Thea and Lena standing at the terminal, watching our plane. But of course, they were long gone, probably already on their way back home.

The thought of home brought another pang—not of sadness this time, but of something else. Anticipation, maybe. Elijah and I hadn’t been alone, truly alone, since we moved into our new house. There was always Thea, or staff, or visitors. But for the next three days, it would be just the two of us.

“You okay?” Elijah asked, buckling his seatbelt.

I turned to him with a smile. “Yeah, I’m good.” And I was. The anxiety that had plagued me all morning was fading, replaced by a growing sense of excitement about our trip, even if it was just for business.

The flight attendants began their safety demonstration, and I turned my attention to the window as the plane began to taxi down the runway. I thought of Thea again, and even though I wasn’t the religious sort, I sent a quick prayer to the Moon Goddess that she would be safe.

Seven years. Seven years of searching, of not knowing, of heartbreak, and now we were reunited.

And now we were already experiencing our first voluntary weekend apart after all that time.

It was nerve-wracking, to say the least.

The plane picked up speed, and then we were airborne, the ground falling away beneath us. I watched until the airport was just a tiny speck, then turned back to Elijah.

He was already watching me with a soft smile on his face. He reached over and took my hand, and the way his grin widened made the rest of my worries slip away.

“She’ll be just fine,” he said, kissing the back of my hand. “Besides, I think it’s about time I go on a solo trip with my wife.”