though. He just prayed it worked.
Her eyes opened to narrow slits, her lids heavy and her pupils wide. “Augie?” Her voice was a whisper. She lifted one hand a few inches off the couch and dropped it right back down.
“Yes, it’s me. Is that you, Harlow?”
“Mm-hmm.” She licked her lips. “I feel foggy.”
It had worked. The thrill of victory gave him a taste of hope. Maybe there was a way out of this mess. “You’re okay, I swear. I got Ava Mae to drink some bourbon laced with a sort of sedative. Can you sense her?”
Harlow nodded wearily. “It’s like she’s asleep. Am I free of her?”
“Not yet, sweetheart. I’m working on it, though.”
She smiled, but it was halfhearted and sadness filled her eyes to the point that liquid rimmed her lower lids. “Thank you for trying. I’m so sorry I brought her back. I know Lally said to leave the tree alone, but all I could think about was getting my sister back and filling the gaping hole I’d lived with my whole life. I thought she could make it go away.” She sniffled. “I guess she did. Just not the way I expected.”
“Hey, you did what any of us would do.” He wanted to take her hand, but Ava Mae hadn’t kept her gloves on with the green negligee and he wasn’t sure what a burst of emotion would do to Harlow in this state. “Your mother tried to do the very same thing.”
Harlow took a deep breath and blinked a few times. “Olivia tried to bring Ava Mae back?”
He nodded. “Years and years ago. Lally stopped her, though, so that all she managed was to spill a little of Ava Mae’s ashes. The tree snatched them up and raised Ava Mae’s spirit, but couldn’t do more than that. Lally thinks it’s part of why Ava Mae is… not altogether good.”
“Wait, I think Ava Mae said something about that. About how she’s been a prisoner of the tree for years. That’s how she grew up.” Harlow’s mouth bent in a bitter frown. “She’s not good at all. She plans on seducing you.”
He smiled as gently as he could. “I know. She’s not subtle.”
Harlow turned her head away from him. “She wants to prove to me that you don’t… care about me. That all you’re interested in is a good time. She thinks that will break me.”
There was no reason to hold back, but that didn’t stop his nerves from tripping over his skin like live wires. Outside of Lally and Olivia, he’d never spoken the words he was about to speak to any other woman. It was both exhilarating and terrifying. “Harlow, that’s not going to happen because… I love you. Not her. And there is nothing I won’t do to set you free. You need to know that.”
She looked at him, her lips parted. She stared at him, the liquid forming along her lower lashes again. “You mean that?”
He nodded. “I do.”
“You love me.” A single tear trickled down the side of her face and ran into her hairline.
He brushed it away with his thumb, hoping that small caress wouldn’t overload her with his emotions. “Is it that hard to believe?”
She swallowed. “A little. I’m prickly and difficult and don’t like to be touched. I’m really not that lovable.”
He laughed. “You’re a challenge at times, but it’s a challenge I love. You aren’t swayed one bit by my charm, which sucks but is also kind of impressive. I can’t imagine not having you around. So no matter what you think, that’s the truth of it.”
She smiled and this time it reached her eyes. “You might need your head examined. Or both of us do because I think I might… love you, too.”
“You think you might?” He could live with that.
“No, I do.” She blushed, throwing her freckles into sharp contrast.
He winked. “It’s only important that you remember I want you, not Ava Mae. No matter what she says to me and no matter what I say back to her—because I may have to say things to her I don’t really mean in order to free you—you’re the only one who occupies this space.” He touched his chest. “Got that?”
She nodded, her eyes shining with happiness. “Got it.” The happiness disappeared suddenly, replaced by horror. “I just remembered something. Ava Mae met a man today in the French Quarter when she was shopping. A voodoo doctor—”
He held up his hand. “I don’t want to tell you too much