Garden of Dreams and Desires - Kristen Painter Page 0,4
sugar and stared at him as she stirred, her gaze holding the darkly wicked expression he’d come to recognize as purely Ava Mae. “Afterwards, we could grab some lunch. Or whatever.”
He took his cup to the table, leaving her behind. “I can’t, I have work to do. Being Guardian is a full-time job. And, like I mentioned, I need to visit Olivia.”
She stuck her lip out. “What about the self-defense lessons we started?”
“If you’re not up to visiting your mother, I doubt you’re up to sparring with me. Besides, I thought you were going shopping today?” He’d enjoyed the few lessons he’d given Harlow, but that was before Ava Mae had taken over, and he had no desire to give her any more advantage than she already had.
“I am going shopping, but that’s not exactly a high-stress activity. I guess there’s always tomorrow.” She huffed out a breath. “Unless you’re going to be too busy chasing whatever baddie you’re after now.”
He drank his coffee, which was better than snapping back that she was the baddie he was after. It also helped to temper his response that he believed that Harlow, despite being Ava Mae’s prisoner, was still capable of witnessing everything that was going on around her. He held his eye contact with Ava Mae, daring her to look away and praying that Harlow really could hear him. “I can’t make plans for tomorrow until I see how today goes. It’s my job to keep the city and all its citizens safe. And I’m not going to start shirking that duty just because Branzino is no longer a threat. There are still plenty of evils that need eradicating.”
Whether it was the mention of her father or evils that needed eradicating, the tiniest hint of alarm flashed in Ava Mae’s gaze. She spun toward Lally, who was watching with the sharp-eyed expression of someone who thought they might have to act on a moment’s notice. “How long before breakfast?”
“Ten minutes or so.” Lally turned and started cracking eggs with an unusual amount of force.
Ava Mae nodded. “Fine. I’ll come back down then. I just remembered something I need to do.” With a furtive look at Lally, she took her coffee and went upstairs.
Ava Mae set her coffee cup on Olivia’s dressing table and pushed open the door to her mother’s closet. The soft breeze wafting through the cracks of the door hidden behind the clothes greeted Ava Mae like an old friend. The tree sensed her just as she sensed it.
Deep within her, Harlow shifted uncomfortably. What are you doing?
What I should have done days ago. She walked in, closed the door and leaned against it. Whether or not Augustine had meant his words to scare her, they had. Did he know she’d taken over Harlow’s body? She wasn’t sure he even knew about the tree, but all his talk about eradicating evil made her think he was up to something. Something that involved her.
Leaving the house and being away from the tree for a short time wasn’t an issue, but if he did something that prevented her from getting back here, she would be in real trouble. She’d weaken, and with the way Harlow had been fighting back, Ava Mae could lose her control. If she was away long enough, she might weaken to the point of no return.
That could not be allowed to happen. She needed some insurance. The kind only the tree could give her. She shoved the clothes aside to stare at the outline of the hidden door. Not so hidden now, not since she’d wooed Harlow into unlocking it and stepping through.
She pushed it open and walked out onto the small balcony that abutted the tree’s trunk. She closed her eyes for a moment, inhaling the acrid, sooty scent that smelled like home because it was. The tree was the only home she’d known. She went to the edge of the narrow balcony and wrapped her arms around the trunk, pressing her face into the charred bark.
Harlow cringed, causing Ava Mae’s stomach to sour, but the tree vibrated with welcoming power and after a moment of contact, she felt whole again and Harlow fell silent and still.
She released the tree and stepped back, staring up at the spiderweb of branches that mapped the space above her. Confidence filled her. No one would unseat her from this body. No one. She wasn’t sure how she was going to make that happen, but she’d figure it out just