My eyes warmed as my emotions tipped back the other way. Damn it, this was exactly what I needed, but I knew better than to trust fairy tales. “Is it harder to be good when you know too much, or is it that your mistakes make bigger messes?” I asked, miserable.

His hand fell from me. “You’re moved by love. That means everything. Take it from one who’s lost all and then gained more.”

I dropped my head, feeling the weight in my chest start to lift. Exhaling long and slow, I realized I’d found my comfort in his words. Calm took me. Ivy and Jenks. His family. My church. Even Nick. Maybe Trent. They were all important to me. So I lived among savage people with a thin veneer of civility. Who didn’t? I knew them. I loved them. I’d fight for their survival, and worry about the rest later.

“You’re back,” Pierce said softly. “You find your feet so fast, mistress witch. What are you going to do about the fairies?”

A faint embarrassment warmed my cheeks. “I thought we’d just let them go if they promised to leave us alone,” I said as I started for the back of the church. I felt different, and I didn’t know why. Maybe it was because I hadn’t cried on his shoulder, but stood fast to my decisions. Accepted them. If it had been a mistake, then I’d fix it.

Pierce shook his head as he followed almost at my shoulder, and realizing I was proposing we trust a fairy to keep its word, I grimaced. “You’re right. Stupid idea. Maybe I could put them in a box and ship them to Borneo.”

“You can’t send them anywhere,” Pierce said. “They’re a paltry seven-by-nine warrior without their wings. I opine, I mean, I think it’s a slow, starving death they face. Living on one’s own hook the way they do.”

“I can’t do anything right, can I?” We had reached the back living room, and I glanced at the new clock Ivy had put on the mantel, wondering if it had come from Piscary’s. An hour after sunrise, and I’m still alive. How about that?

“It’s not an issue of right or wrong,” Pierce said as he reached to open the door. “I like that you create choices where none exist. I’m anxious to see how you make a fist of this, though.”

“You’re not going to help me, are you?” I asked, and he grinned.

“Sakes’ alive, Rachel. Asking me to think is a powerful task.”

My eyebrows rose, but I was in a much better mood when the sounds of the garden slipped around me. Taking a deep breath, I stepped out onto the small back porch.