Belmary House Book Two by Cassidy Cayman

she’d first thought it would. Somehow the idea that she could stay with him and pop back through the portal for holidays had stupidly begun to take root in the back of her mind, a way of coping with not knowing if she could give him up when it came time to decide. But now that was gone. She leaned against him for strength, knowing as long as Ashford was near, she could keep the nipping dogs of doubt at bay.
    “Do you think this means Wodge will leave you alone now?” she asked, finally finding a possible silver lining.
    He tilted his head thoughtfully. “He has no reason to come after me anymore. He’s not reasonable though, that’s the problem. And he doesn’t need the portals to travel. Up until a few years ago, I think he only traveled using the one in Wales, or sometimes the one in Castle on Hill, but now I think he’s mastered one of the spells the witches use. I’d love to know his reasoning behind that, since as long as I’ve known of him, all he does is try and eradicate witchcraft off the face of the earth. I suppose it doesn’t count if it’s furthering his goals.”
    “The mark of a psycho, whackadoo logic.”
    Ashford smiled almost against his will. “Matilda, I swear I only understand one in five of the things you say, but I do love the way you speak.”
    His unconscious smile bolstered her confidence. “We need to find one of those witches who can use a spell,” she said, suddenly glomming onto what he’d said earlier.
    His smile melted. “Yes, we still need to get you home.”
    She stiffened, as that wasn’t what she meant. She’d been thinking of Emma, and anyone else left over after the house got destroyed, or even just a reason for him to keep doing what he clearly needed to do, but it seemed he was still determined to send her back.
    The journey caught up with her all at once and she was too tired to argue, merely nodding and trying not to show how hurt she was that sending her home was always on the forefront of his mind. Especially when she was right on the cusp of being sure she wanted to stay.
    “I don’t know how to get in contact with one,” he admitted. “They sometimes cross my path in my travels, but I’m not close with any.” He rubbed his face and started to say something, then shook his head. “Ah, never mind that. It’s been too long.”
    She didn’t bother trying to get him to explain, needing all her energy to keep from hitting him or crying. He must have noticed something was off about her and he pulled her to his chest.
    “Don’t worry about any of it now, my dear,” he said. “We’ll get a good night’s sleep before setting off again. He stroked her arm and placed a gentle kiss on her brow.
    She leaned into him, not understanding how he could be so caring and sweet, and still want to send her home. Had he already reconciled it in his mind that they were nothing but the equivalent of a summer fling? At first, she’d been fine with that, but every day he burrowed deeper and deeper into her heart. The resulting hole might never be filled if he was wrenched away from her. She held on tighter, knowing she should let go, but unable to.

    ***

    Ashford rolled out of bed and pulled the covers more securely around Matilda, careful not to wake her after the fitful time she’d had falling asleep. He couldn’t sleep at all and didn’t want to risk disturbing her rest, so finally gave up trying to lie still, and crept away to the small room behind the library where he kept important papers he didn’t like to look at.
    Having to deal with everyday life usually put him to sleep in a hurry, so he shuffled through his accounts, finding them in perfect order thanks to his remarkable staff, then flipped through his date book. Seeing the events he was supposed to go to, but would end up missing, put him in a worse mood than when he started, and that was plenty bad. So, this was his life now. As soon as he told Serena the awful truth of what she was up against, he’d