Maeve first looked surprised then turned toward Lochlan as if an explanation was in order.
“Oh, well,” he began. “There’s nothing to it. Maeve will have a quick look in your head…”
“MY WHAT?”
“Let me rephrase. You will impart your vision to Maeve, more or less, telepathically.”
I looked at her with suspicion. “What’s the more? And what’s the less?”
“It’s perfectly fine, love,” Keir said. “Not painful. She’s done it thousands of times.”
I looked at her warily. “With humans?”
“Maeve, would you please offer reassurance that she won’t be harmed?”
“Of course not,” she said, but I thought her smile said otherwise. “Just relax and think about what you want.”
I looked at Keir for confirmation. He nodded.
No one had suggested I close my eyes, but that’s what people do when they’re ‘imagining’ things. Maeve reached up and lightly brushed her fingertips down my temple. My eyes jerked open because of being startled by the unexpected and slightly electric touch.
Looking at Lochlan like she was put out, she was saying, “Surely you jest. It’s a mess in there.”
“I beg your pardon,” I said defensively. She was probably right, but what kind of woman would I be if I wasn’t prepared to defend my mind? Messy or not.
Lochlan ignored me and spoke to Maeve on my behalf. “She’s not magic kind, but she is our magistrate. You were called because you’re the best.” The flattery was obvious and Lochlan didn’t try to hide it. “I’ve got great confidence that you can work miracles.”
The look on her face said she wasn’t above flattery and was probably suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder. “Oh, very well.” She looked me up and down to make a mean-girl point before saying, “I’m going to touch you.” She then spoke to me while looking directly at Keir. “But it will not harm you.”
I also looked to Keir, who nodded. My eyes drifted toward Aisling. Her ears stood up and she wagged her tail. Good enough for me. “Okay.”
Maeve put the fingertips of both hands on my temples for two or three seconds. This time I didn’t close my eyes. The effect of being that close to physical perfection, even for seconds, was to make belief in my attractiveness hopeless. I wished I’d kept my eyes closed.
Moving away, she said to Lochlan, “No warranties.”
Facing Lochlan’s house, I started to ask what was next, but something made me look over my shoulder. I twisted, stepping back at the same time, so fast I almost stumbled. But Keir was there to grab me with strong hands and a chuckle.
“I hope that means you’re surprised in the best way,” he said.
And there it stood, the perfect fairy tale cottage complete with picket fence, flowering garden, and thatched roof. It wasn’t exactly what I’d had in mind, but it was exactly what I wanted, which meant that Maeve was able to read me on a soul level. While that level of probing might have been disturbing if I thought about it too long, it would be hard to argue with the results.
“A fine house it is,” Lochlan proclaimed. “Shall we go have a look inside? Maeve,” he said, “if you’d be so kind as to remain until after the walk-through. Just in case changes are required?”
She crossed her arms and adopted a posture that said she wasn’t going anywhere.
“This is the house of your heart?” Keir said with a touch of wonder. “It’s beautiful.”
“It is. Isn’t it?” There was nothing to do but agree wholeheartedly.
Lochlan looked overjoyed. “I’m so glad you’re pleased, Magistrate.”
Unable to look away from the house, I said, “Pleased is an understatement. She blew the lid off the popper.”
“Well,” Lochlan chuckled. “I’m going to assume that’s a good thing.”
Stepping inside for the first time was an adventure in the kind of giddy anticipation I hadn’t felt since I was a child expecting a trip to the circus to be life-altering. If Maeve, in spite of her distaste for humans (or perhaps just me), could get the inside as right as the outside, I was going to thank fate for making me magistrate.
Indeed, my subconscious mind had been plumbed for discovery of what I truly wanted. Like Lochlan’s house, it was much bigger on the inside than would have seemed possible by visual estimation from without. The front room was cozy, with sofas covered in my dream crewel embroidered fabric, a big burgundy leather nap chair with ottoman, Venetian rugs on dark, distressed floors, and lamps that