Read Online Sensuous Summoning by Bronwyn Green - Free Book Online Page B

head. “Gone.”
    Meg dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around Rowan. “I’m so sorry, honey. I could tell you really liked him.”
    Liked? No. She was far stupider than that. She’d gone and fallen in love with a man who wasn’t supposed to exist. She’d fallen in love with a man she’d probably never see again. Leaning into her friend’s embrace, Rowan told her everything—from the moment she’d summoned him to waking up alone. It helped to get the words out, but it didn’t stop her chest from aching or her tears from falling.
    She’d like to call him back here and demand an explanation or at the very least a proper goodbye, but since she had no idea what she’d done to summon him the first place, she had no idea how to get him back.
    * * * *
    Gwydion reached out for Rowan before he realized he was no longer in his physical form. Panic assailed him. What was she doing? Was she all right? He tried to project himself back to her, but the poisons he’d absorbed while restoring health to Rowan’s orchard still fouled his being. No matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t able to move.
    Another presence entered his chambers, and though it had no physical shape, he recognized the essence of Cerridwen his onetime lover and longtime friend.
    “It’s not the same world it was when we ruled,” she said.
    He shook his head. “No, it’s not. There are poisons everywhere—destroying the earth, destroying her people. It’s become a far different place than I’d remembered.”
    “And yet you would return.” It wasn’t a question.
    “Yes,” he admitted.
    He felt a sense of sisterly love and amusement emanating from Cerridwen.
    “What’s her name?” she asked.
    For a moment, he considered denying it, but why? Rowan was what he wanted. He wanted to be with her. “Her name is Rowan.”
    “You realize that if you go back there before you’re fully rejuvenated, you won’t have the strength to return.”
    And if he waited until he was, Rowan might already have passed into death. The thought of losing her gutted him. “I know.”
    “And the majority of your powers will eventually fade, leaving you to live out your days as a human.”
    “I understand.”
    “And even if she doesn’t want you, you’ll be trapped there.”
    The thought of Rowan not wanting him sent a chill through his ethereal body, but it was a risk he was willing to take. The alternative of spending eternity here without her was more than he cared to contemplate.
    “I know,” he said again. The strain of remaining conscious wore on him, and it was difficult to focus on Cerridwen’s voice.
    “Then I wish you peace, love and a long life with your woman,” she said as his consciousness drifted away again.
    * * * *
    Five days later, Rowan sat at the kitchen table with Meaghan, Reece and her father, drinking coffee while tensely watching the clock and waiting for the county inspectors to arrive. She’d been terrified that somehow the magic would have faded or worse, she’d imagined the entire thing. Somehow, the idea of Gwydion not being real hurt more than the possibility of losing the land. But of course both of those things had proved to be groundless worries. The orchard was still rife with endangered species and her friends definitely remembered Gwydion. But neither of those things offered much in the way of comfort. She needed to put him out of her head. He was gone, and he wasn’t coming back.
    “So where’s your study partner,” Reece asking, scowling behind the rim of his coffee cup.
    The sound of tires crunching over the gravel in the driveway saved her from having to answer.
    Everyone left the uncomfortable silence of the breakfast table behind and filed outside to meet the inspectors. After the introductions had been made, Rowan followed the others to the orchard. It was breathtakingly beautiful. The flowers waved in the breeze and songbirds swooped through the clearing while the fox she and Gwydion had saved watched