“It’s beautiful. Wonderful. Oh, I wish I knew how to make something as magical as this.” She drew away to turn, to take in the trees sculpted by wind into bent, eerie shapes. Then she beamed as a gray wolf walked majestically down the path toward them. “Oh, is that—”

“A wolf,” Liam said, anticipating her. “Not a relative. He’s Morgana’s.” A child with dark hair and eyes as blue as lapis darted over the stones, then stopped with a keen and curious look in those striking eyes. “And so is he. Blessed be, cousin.”

Liam felt the tug on his mind, stronger than he’d have expected from a boy of no more than five, and lifted a brow. “It’s rude to look so deep, or attempt to, without permission.”

“You’re in my garden,” the boy said simply, but his lips curved in a sweet smile. “You’re cousin Liam.”

“And you’re Donovan. Blessed be, cousin.” Liam stepped forward and offered a hand with great formality. “I’ve brought a friend. This is Rowan. And she prefers to keep her thoughts to herself.”

Young Donovan Kirkland tilted his head, but minding his manners did no more than study her face. “She has good eyes. You can come in. Mama’s in the kitchen.”

Then the intense look faded from his face and he was just a normal little boy skipping ahead of them on the path with a dog prancing beside him, rushing to tell his mother they had company.

“He’s a—he’s a witch?” The full force of it struck her then. He was a child, astonishingly pretty even with a missing front tooth, but he had power.

“Yes, of course. His father isn’t, but blood runs strong in my family.”

“I bet.” Rowan let out a long breath. Witches or not, she thought, this was still a home and Liam hadn’t bothered to, well, call ahead. “We shouldn’t just … drop in like this on your cousin. She might be busy.”

“We’ll be welcome.”

“It’s just like a man to assume—” Then every thought ran out of her head as she caught her first glimpse of the house. It was tall, rambling, glinting in the sunlight. Towers and turrets speared up to that blue bowl that was the sky over Monterey. “Oh! It’s like something out of a book. What a marvelous place to live.”

Then the back door opened and Rowan was struck dumb with a combination of awe and pure female envy.