Keeper of Enchanted Rooms(71)

Their game tonight was running long. Merritt’s pride alone kept him going. He still had his queen and a rook, which could prove deadly adversaries. Around them, the house had quieted, save for the call of a whimbrel outside and the settling of the house, which could also signify that Owein was entertaining himself in another chamber.

“So you’re really going to stay?” Fletcher moved his bishop a single aggravating square. Merritt had caught him up on the exorcisms and such over dinner; Fletcher’s own stories had gradually subsided as the man concentrated on the board between them.

“Really.” Merritt shifted his rook one square as well, just to see if his friend would notice.

“It’s a nice house.” Fletcher shifted his last pawn. He’d complimented the house’s niceness half a dozen times since arriving. Perhaps because he feared Owein would warp the room again. “But I couldn’t do it.”

“You’d rather keep that room with the parson?”

“I’d rather not have a ghost living in my walls.” He watched Merritt shift his queen—only one square—like a hawk. “I’d rather not worry about breaking my leg on the stairs.”

“Ankle at worst,” he offered.

Fletcher smirked. “At least you’re staying positive.”

“At least I don’t share my lavatory with a family of seven.”

He chuckled, studying his pieces. The front door opened, Baptiste’s heavy steps announcing him before he passed within sight of the doorway.

There was a skinned foreleg of a buck over his shoulder, and a trail of blood dripping down the back of his shirt.

Baptiste glanced over like a dog caught with a dinner plate.

“Baptiste.” Merritt put his heel up on the table, which Fletcher smacked back down. “Can I make you a character in my next book?”

Baptiste stared for a solid three seconds, shrugged, then slipped into the dining room. That shirt would be a nuisance to clean. Merritt would offer his services so Beth didn’t get overwhelmed. It’d been a while since he’d scrubbed at a washboard.

“You’re my witness that he consented,” Merritt chimed.

“I saw nothing.” Fletcher’s queen crossed the board, venturing close enough to capture Merritt’s rook.

He moved it one square.

“Stop doing that.” A vein on Fletcher’s forehead was beginning to pulse.

“Let me win, and the torture will end.”

Laughing, his friend shook his head. “Never. Your move.”

Leaning elbows on knees, Merritt studied the board, hoping that a means of victory would magically present itself. Perhaps I could teach Owein how to help me cheat . . .

“Merritt.”

It was only his name, but it carried a tone Merritt knew well. He glanced up through a lock of hair. Fletcher’s attention was entirely on him, not the game.

“Am I about to be scolded?” he guessed.

Fletcher shook his head. “Just thought I should tell you something while we’re alone.”

“The ghost is always lurking.”

“In earnest,” he pressed, and Merritt sat up. “I ran into Mrs. Larkin the other day. Well, I saw her. Didn’t say anything.”

“Oh?” That certainly piqued his interest. “In Boston?”

Fletcher nodded. “She was at that Genealogical Society.”

Shrugging, Merritt said, “She had to do research for the Mansels. You know that.”

“Sure, sure, they’ve got records. A veritable library.” He scanned the board but didn’t make any moves. “But I overheard a bit of her conversation with the director in passing, and—”

“You know the director?”

“Everyone knows Elijah Clarke. All the locals do, anyway. Always very loud come election time.”

Merritt waved for him to continue.

He haphazardly moved his queen. “Thing is, the place essentially arranges marriages for wizards.”

The muscles around Merritt’s stomach tightened. A strange defensiveness rose in him, and he soothed it back down. “Is that so?”

“She was talking to him about it.”

“And you heard this clearly?”

“She was talking to him about it,” he repeated, enunciating his words. “I see the way you look at her . . . I don’t want to make any presumptions.”

“You are presuming.” Even so, a chill braided around his collarbone. Was he so obvious?

“Could be she’s only interested in magic folk.” Fletcher moved his bishop.

Merritt pointed. “It’s my turn.”

Fletcher’s bishop retreated. Then the man palmed it and brought both fists under his jaw. Low, he added, “I don’t want to see you hurt again.”

Merritt’s muscles tightened, and he leaned back in his chair in an effort to relax them. In an effort to stay nonchalant. “Are you referring to Ebba or the time your sister turned me down?”

“She wasn’t right for you. You weren’t right for her, either, broken as you were.”

That same lock of hair fell into Merritt’s face. He blew it away. They sat in silence for a dozen heartbeats before Merritt sighed.

“You know I trust you,” he said.

Fletcher replaced his bishop. “I know. I’m not telling you to do nothing, but I am telling you to be careful.”