Push him off the fence for me, petal, or I’ll be waiting another five years to get a damn dog. Okay. Call your mother back. It’s only polite.”
Rose grinned, hanging up. She knew why her dad was on the fence about a damn dog. Because her mother was flaky, and her dad would end up doing all the practical stuff, like taking it for walks and feeding it.
She missed them.
Just not enough to stop wandering.
Her parents were six hours behind in the US, so it wasn’t too late in the evening there to call them … but the dog was a trap. Once her mom had her on the phone, she’d pester Rose about coming home. The first year, her parents hadn’t said a word. They even understood and were excited (but terrified) for her as she traveled across Australia.
But when year two came around and she got a flight to Europe instead of heading home to Maryland, their patience dwindled. Now, it was year three of the nomadic life, and Rose’s parents wanted her to grow up and settle down. Preferably in Columbia, Maryland.
“I’m not ready,” she whispered to the room.
At twenty-five, she still hadn’t found what she was looking for, and she knew it wasn’t back in the US. Problem was she knew it could take people a lifetime to find that quintessential “something” that completed them. Sometimes they never found it. Rose was determined to keep looking until she did, which did not bode well for her loving parents.
The door to the staff room flew open, causing Rose to startle. She jumped to her feet as two strangers hurried into the room. “This is staff only,” she said, looking between the young man and woman. “Samo osoblje.”
“We don’t speak Croatian,” the young woman said in a lilting Irish accent.
“Okay, then you understood me when I said staff only.” Rose crossed her arms over her chest and eyed the man warily. Although young, he was tall and well built. The two were remarkably attractive—he was dark while she was fair. They shared the same tip-tilted aquamarine eyes.
Not averse to the sight of a gorgeous guy, Rose would usually be drawn to the man, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the woman. It was hard to explain the compulsion. It could be her appearance. She was a beautiful girl, perhaps around Rose’s age, with blond, fairy-princess hair, and she wore a long dress with billowing sleeves that cuffed at the wrist. It was a paisley print in bold fuchsia and aqua. Silver-and-moonstone rings adorned her fingers, and she wore long, silver-and-feather chandelier earrings. Her features were small and perfect, and she had a slightly pointed chin. There was something elfin about her.
Something ethereal.
For some reason, she reminded Rose of the man from earlier, which was ridiculous considering he looked like a Viking someone had put a suit on, while this woman was small, delicate, and stunning.
And staring at Rose with intense confusion.
“Well, get on with it,” the young man said to his companion. He, too, was Irish. “He’s here. We don’t have time for you to stare at each other. I wish you could see that bastard coming, Niamh, before he lands in the same city as us.”
“Guys, you can’t be in—hey!” Rose yelled as the young woman suddenly accosted her, clutching her head.
She’d moved fast.
Too fast.
No one moved that fast.
Energy tingled along Rose’s head, like bugs crawling across her scalp. She clutched at the woman’s wrists, trying to pry her off, shocked when she couldn’t.
Rose was strong. Naturally so. She always had been. It had held her in good stead during her time as a competitive gymnast through high school.
But this waif of a woman was stronger.
Inexplicable fear flooded Rose.
The woman let her go, her eyes round with shock.
What does she have to be shocked about? She isn’t the one who’s just been attacked!
“What the hell!” Rose shoved her away, and the man took a menacing step forward.
The woman held up her hand, stopping him, her attention never leaving Rose. “You have a block on you. A spell. Someone has blocked your access to your powers.”
Okay, then. Ignoring the woman’s freakish, unexplainable speed, Rose backed away from a person high on something or who took pranking people to another level. Or she was just plain old nuts. “Look, I will let it slide that you put your hands on me without permission and just ask you to leave.” She spoke slowly, calmly, so as not to cause