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at them.”
    He said, “Who are you angry at?”
    She said, “The universe, I guess. The gods and goddesses. I know this is the back end of nowhere, but why has something so obviously wrong been allowed to flourish. There is something profoundly wrong in Flickend.”
    He said, “When the Veil cracked, it broke so much. Things fell apart.”
    She slapped her hand on the table, and said, “It's been 30 years!”
    He said, “I know, I know. I think people got lazy after the really visible breaks, curses and evil portals were dealt with. It was easy to let the hidden evils flourish.”
    Danae said, “What can we do?”
    Liam paused for a moment and took Danae’s hands in his. He said, “Do you want to fix this place that has treated you so badly?”
    She squeezed his hands and said, “I do. I know I'm not originally from here, but through David, I came to love this place so much. It seems ridiculous, after all the talk I did about wanting to leave, but really I want to help the place to heal.”
    “If you complete the spell, you won't be able to do that.” Danae crumpled a little at his words. Another thing taken away from her. He continued, “Besides, the people won't have changed. It will be filled with the women who hurt you. Simon will still be lurking.” He let go of her hands and cracked his knuckles with one hand. “Although we can deal with that in other ways.”
    Danae grabbed his hand back. She said, “I don't know what I want anymore. I've been so very alone. If I don't complete the spell, I'll be alone again.” Danae left off that she would be alone because he would be gone. He owed her nothing. I'm not sure I could survive another loss and I don't know what we share, but I like Liam. He's kind, gentle and he makes me laugh. And I want to know what his hands would feel like on my body. Danae blushed at the path her thoughts were taking.
    Liam said, “I am under a geas, a spell-bound obligation to Neya. But assuming you remember me, I hope you would still consider me a friend.”
    He stroked her hand softly with his. He opened his mouth to continue, when the pub door slammed open and Lori stomped in. She walked halfway in, scanning the room until she found Liam and Danae. Her mouth twisted and she sauntered over to their table.
    She looked Danae up and down and said, “It's bad enough you show your face, but to flaunt another man here, in David's place. What would Myrna say?”
    Danae kept her face calm and simply raised an eyebrow. “David's mother would be absolutely thrilled I was living life. She was a kind and generous soul. You wouldn't understand that.”
    Lori balled her hands into fists and leaned over them, “This isn't over yet. You should be ashamed of yourself, living in sin with a stranger!”
    Danae said, “You should talk to Simon about sins of the flesh, now shouldn't you?”
    Lori snapped upright and it took all of Danae's power to keep from wilting under the hate radiating off the woman. Lori said loudly, “I'll just come back when you finally take the trash out, Helen.” Lori spun on her heel and marched out of the pub.
    Danae slumped into her seat and smiled sadly at Liam. She said, “I'm so sorry. I feel like I've gotten you tangled up in my stupid problems. I never expected...well, any of this.”
    Liam said, “You thought Neya would just wipe your memory and that would be the end of it?”
    “I suppose I did. I wasn't thinking very clearly, I guess,” said Danae.
    “Finish up your drink, let's go grill something for dinner. I'm not sure I trust Helen's cooking right now.”
    Danae couldn't help but start to laugh. “Helen has too much pride to serve bad food, but we would have to be able to order it, and unless we really want to press the point, I think she's going to stay far, far away from us.”
    They left the pub and headed back to the cottage.
    Chapter Five
    Danae realized she was settling into a comfortable pattern with Liam. It made her happy to see him in the