Josiah had said she could be powerful in her own right. Buy her own fashionable house in an upscale neighborhood. Buy multiple houses in different parts of the world. She could have all the lovers she wanted and more money than she could ever need.

And while she’d been blessed with good genes and still looked youthful, over the past few years a couple of delicate lines had appeared at the corners of her mouth and eyes, and her blond hair had lightened at the temples. She hadn’t gone gray, not yet, but she would if she didn’t do something to hide it. Or maybe she could do something to stop it from happening entirely?

But something felt off. She had to pick through her reactions to figure out what it was.

For one thing, she didn’t trust herself right now. Normally she wasn’t vengeful, but she was too angry and hurt, and what sounded good in this moment might turn out to be just as toxic as what she was escaping.

And Josiah was sexy. Very sexy. She felt too raw to be comfortable with how part of her had liked it when he’d touched her. The gentle rasp of his callused fingers against her skin had been distinctly pleasurable. It had been a very long time since she had felt simple desire.

Something else made her uneasy. He had been too calculating, too pushy. At some point during their talk, he had come to a decision and had zeroed in on it like a heat-seeking missile. Powerful men did that. She had watched it happen before, and he had already said he had ambitions.

And even if everything he had told her had been the truth, she wasn’t willing to become the consequence of another powerful man’s decisions.

After settling that in her mind, she deleted all the texts, emails and phone messages clogging her phone.

Some were from her mother, and she bit back a sigh. Molly couldn’t put off going to see her any longer. She would far rather communicate everything in an email, but she should tell her mother what had happened in person.

Or at least they needed to talk about how she had left Austin. Her mother was the quintessential conservative and had consistently voted against any political platform that promoted the interests of the Elder Races or magic users. It would be beyond disastrous to talk about witches, spells, and suddenly acquiring Power.

Ugh, ugh, ugh. Tomorrow was going to suck. Grimly, she got ready for bed, and later that night she dreamed again.