"Well?" she asked once they'd left the building.
He flashed her a grin. "She is in Canaan."
Eva's eyes softened. "Congratulations Mallon, I know how long you have been waiting."
He nodded and looked ahead as they finally walked out of the sacred grove and into the territory of witches who worked for him.
"We would be back at the hearth house much faster if we went the other way." Eva observed with a frown.
"I have questions; I am hoping the witches can answer them."
She stayed silent and followed him as he went towards the center of the witch settlement. A few young witches playing by the road saw him coming and bowed as he walked past. He did not doubt they had sent a warning to those at home, his thought further confirmed by the woman that stepped out to meet them. Curly red hair, a dark yellow sundress, bare feet.
The witch homes looked like they had been molded by the earth, as if the ground had just surged up and froze in midair. Some were made of rock, others of earth, some had light shining out of them others not, all of them were covered in foliage that blended them well into the environment.
"Prime," the woman waiting in the center of the road said, her eyes dancing down his form before reaching his eyes again with a flush on it. "I see you bearing down on us this way, I hope all is well?" she raised a brow, hands linked at her waist.
"Kalista." He acknowledged. "Nothing of concern to you, but I have questions."
She looked at him, eyes jumping to Eva who stood with his shirt and phone, then jumped to him again. "Want some tea?"
* * *
"So." She dropped the kettle after poring hot tea for both of them. "What is the question you want to ask?" He could see Eva's shadow outside the door to the small cottage. Her foyer was well lighted by the pure glass walls, the room only had the table and two chairs they saw on.
He took a gulp of his tea, finishing the whole thing in two swallows, barely noticing the heat as his mouth healed immediately. "Is it possible for someone to hide from a mate call with magic?"
Her eyes widened and she cleared her throat after a demure sip of her tea. "The theory of 'hiding' is possible through the three arms of witch magic. But something like a mate call cannot be hidden by those kinds of magic, it is impossible."
He frowned. "Explain."
She swallowed. "There are two major arms of witch magic, the fair hand and the sly hand. A fair handed witch can either belong to the Blood order, the Earthen order or the Storm order. And whatever spells or divinations come of those they are all fair handed. This means there is always order and balance. Something is given something equal is taken and a fair handed witch can never defy a True law."
"And a mate call is a true law?"
She nodded. "Yes, this means it is a law set by the mother herself and it cannot be broken without a price, a price a fair handed witch cannot pay."
His frow deepened. "But a sly handed witch can break this law?"
She shrugged, "If they so wish, it would exact a price because it must, if they are willing to sacrifice whatever the spell commands then they can break it."
The both froze at the choice of words. "Sacrifice?"
She raised her cup shakily for a sip and nodded.
So his mate was blocked from him by a warlock? As if he couldn't hate the malevolent creatures more.
"Is there a reason why you ask of this?" she fished and he raised a hand to still her.
"What reason would such a spell have for breaking?"
She looked away, deep in thought. "It might be the person reached the age of consent in whatever specie they are and the spell fell away since they can now make choices themselves, since they didn't make the choice for the spell to take hold it is likely the spell would fail."
Remembering the toned thigh, the full breasts, the refined face. No, she was definitely an adultfemale. An adult Human female.
He sighed and took to his feet. "Thank you for answering my questions, I will see myself out."