by Nicole Hall
The town was pretty safe, but most people didn’t leave their windows open during the day if they weren’t home. Maybe Maddie parked behind the house and went in the back door. If there was a back door. The whole place looked like it was at most two rooms.
Sera slammed her car door and followed the dirt trail around the house. Instead of turning toward the back, it continued on in a straight line to the woods. The trees rustled and something made a chittering noise, but the house was silent. She tore her gaze away from the pines and confirmed that there was indeed no back door.
To her surprise, the steps were solid and the porch barely squeaked. Sera couldn’t believe Jake let Maddie live out here. Why wasn’t she in the house with him? The beads clacked again and the curtain drifted to the side enough for Sera to peek inside.
After the brightness on the porch, the dimly lit room was hard to make out. She got a glimpse before the curtain fell back into place, but it was mostly large shadows. Sera was uncomfortable sneaking around and looking in windows. It was ridiculous, but it felt like someone was watching her from the woods. Her shields were solidly in place and nothing else felt off. Just in case, she pulled her cell phone out of her bag and pulled up Jake’s speed dial.
The planks groaned when she stepped up to the door and knocked. There was no sound inside, but Sera knocked again, to be sure. The beads clanked, but it was clear no one was home. Sera turned around to leave and saw the wolf sitting at the edge of the trees, tongue lolling out. He could have passed for a big dog, but she knew what those teeth looked like when he snarled.
The wolf yawned wide and cocked his head to the side like he’d done in her dream; he was definitely watching her. Slowly, she reached back for the doorknob and prayed that Maddie was as complacent as the rest of the town. The moment she came in contact with the knob, she felt a static shock. She kept the wolf in her sights in front of her, and tried to open the door behind her back. The knob turned easily under her hand, but the door seemed to be stuck on something. Sera took a step back and shoved. The door opened, but a hard wall stopped her backward momentum.
It felt smooth, like river rock, and completely solid to her hands, but she could feel the breeze coming out the door now that it was open. Sera glanced behind her briefly, then back to the wolf, who hadn’t moved. Whatever it was, she couldn’t see it. She reached out behind her with her power. It was flat and almost even, with a slight depression in the center of the doorframe. All at once, she knew what it was.
A shield.
What was Maddie doing with a shield around her house? Sera slapped a hand against the invisible force, and the wolf perked his ears up. She needed to get inside. The depression was probably where Maddie went in and out, so Sera visualized it opening like a zipper up from the ground.
The shield collapsed, and Sera fell into the house. She scooted back far enough to kick the door closed, then tried to calm her racing heart. Unless the wolf had suddenly grown opposable thumbs, he’d be stuck outside. By the time her eyes adjusted to the dark, her pulse had returned to normal.
Sera had expected a lot of Ikea furniture and hand-me-downs, but Maddie was full of surprises. The inside was meticulously clean, and the furniture looked new, what little of it there was. She’d been right, two rooms. A kitchen-living room combo and a doorway that probably led to the bedroom. The entire room was filled with sprites.
There was a round kitchen table in the middle of the space with two chairs. No couch, no tv, not even a throw pillow, but there were bookshelves everywhere covered in stuff. Sera stepped gingerly around the table and approached the closest bookshelf to get a better view. There were books on witchcraft, paganism, mythology, even the Fae. Some of them weren’t labeled and looked really old. Around the books, Maddie had put trinkets with bits of feathers or dried plants. A necklace on a leather cord caught her attention on the bottom shelf.
Sera stopped short of touching it. Even from a few inches away, she could feel waves of magic emanating from it. Her hand glowed as she ran it over the bookshelf, brighter over some objects, dimmer over others. The bright objects were filled to the brim with unused magic, like batteries. Sera returned to the necklace.
This one felt different. With her sight, she could see the traces of the magic on the items, all different colors, from different sources, but this one was familiar. The magic was turquoise, a swirling mix of blues and greens, and the pendant was silver shaped into a swirl around a blue stone. Real silver, she’d bet. It had a distinct feel, and somewhere in her reading the last week, she’d seen something about conduit metals, including silver.
Beyond all that, she’d seen it somewhere before.
Sera stroked one finger down the stone and a vision slammed into her. Evie, bent in the garden behind her house, her fingers deep in the earth with the necklace swinging free from her loose top. She snatched her finger back and realized what she was seeing. Objects from other people with power who didn’t know better. She’d been right; Maddie had collected a house full of magical batteries. But why?
Sera searched with her power, but she didn’t sense any other magic beyond the items and the shield. Her eyes lingered on the closed door to Maddie’s bedroom. She’d already come this far, what was the harm in going a little further?
It was the picture of Maddie and Jake, laughing and mugging for the camera that stopped her. She hadn’t noticed it until she’d come around the table, but Maddie had put it right next to the bedroom door on a small folding tray. It was a scene she recognized; Jake had the same picture at his place. The white frame showed signs of wear, like it had been placed face down more than once.
They looked so happy, and Sera knew it had been taken the summer before she’d met them. What was she doing, snooping on Maddie? This wasn’t who she was. Maddie had been her friend once, and Sera intended to honor that. She looked around one more time and backed toward the door. So what if Maddie collected magical trinkets? Maybe they were gifts. The shield was certainly weird, but Maddie might not even be aware of it.
Sera’s inner realist snorted and questioned her judgement, but this was Maddie. Maddie, who didn’t have any power, and could barely hold a job. Who regularly mooched off her brother, and with whom Sera had spent a night that changed her life. Everyone deserved their privacy, and Sera owed Maddie more than most.
She shifted the curtain and looked out for the wolf. The tree line was empty. It didn’t mean the wolf was gone, but out of sight made the run to her car a lot more appealing. She opened the door and stepped through the shield with no effort. It seemed to be meant to keep people out instead of in.
Her senses and power stretched wide to search for the wolf, but either he was gone or she wasn’t very good at that particular skill yet. It could be both. She took the chance and sprinted to her car.
With the doors locked and the car started, Sera pulled out her phone and called Jake. She probably should have done that in the first place, less possible felonies that way, but she was getting restless. The phone rang four times then his voicemail picked up. She ended the call without leaving a message. There was no point in worrying him. She was safe, the wolf was gone, but Maddie was definitely hiding something.
Sera drove slowly through town, expecting to be pulled over any second for breaking and entering. Technically, she hadn’t broken anything, only entered, but it seemed like that might be a flimsy excuse if faced with handcuffs and prison food. Logically, she knew no one would notice her trespassing, but her hackles were raised and she still felt like she was being watched. It was strong enough that she bypassed her own driveway to pull into Jake’s. Sera felt like the car offered some measure of protection, and she didn’t want to go back to sitting in her house alone twiddling her thumbs. Much better to do it at Jake’s house.
When all this was over and Evie was back home, she’d have to start deciding what to do with her time. She needed a job. Even if Evie offered, she couldn’t live off her grandmother’s generosity forever. The street was
deserted, but Sera reached out with her power to check anyway. A couple of angry squirrels in the trees between their houses, but no people in the vicinity. As she closed down the net, several sprites floated out of the woods toward her car.
For some reason, she’d assumed they simply appeared when magic was nearby, but they were definitely moving in a straight line toward her. She hoped she never had to secretly use her power in public or those little buggers would give her away.
Jake’s truck was gone, but it was mid-day. She hadn’t expected him to be home. Why had it seemed better to wait at Jake’s house than her own? She’d be alone either way. The sprites had passed her car by that point and started drifting up to his door. Okay, decision made. The sprites wanted Jake’s house, so Jake’s house it would be.
Sera yawned and wished she’d grabbed a second coffee from the shop before she’d rushed out. Late nights and a lot of power expenditure was taking its toll on her beauty rest. Feeling silly, she eased open the car door and pre-locked it before slamming it and dashing up the steps into Jake’s house.
It would have been really awkward if he’d locked his door, but like his sister and most of the town, he’d left it open. With the solid wood behind her and the cheerful glimmering of the sprites in front of her, Sera was able to relax for the first time since Janet had waved at her through the coffee house glass. She had so many questions, and every time she answered one, six more popped up.
Would Maddie know she’d been at her house? Why was she collecting magical objects? Who’d put up the shield? Sera listened to the house settle and let that last question come to the front of her mind. What kind of person would it make her if she planned to snoop through Jake’s house like she’d done his sister’s?
A prudent one, she decided.
She was still leaning against the inside of the door when a shuffling sound from the front porch broke through her attempts to rationalize her poor decision-making. Her first thought was the zombie bunnies had found her. The image wouldn’t leave her alone, even after a week.
A brisk knock vibrated the wood next to her head. Sera weighed the consequences of answering Jake’s door when he wasn’t around. In a town that size, news would spread like wildfire that she was making herself at home. She was ninety-eight percent sure that Jake would be cool with it, but that last two percent kept her still and silent huddled against the door.
Another knock, followed by the last voice she expected.
“Hello? I know Sera’s here. Her car is in the driveway.” It was Will. A quiet curse then the doorbell chimed in the hallway. “Sera. It’s inappropriate to hide in another man’s house.”
He was so far out of line she was surprised he was still in the state. On the one hand, it was a little humiliating to be hiding in Jake’s house, she could take care of herself, but on the other, it was entirely none of Will’s business what she did or who she did it with. If she decided to have crazy monkey sex with Jake in the town square, she’d damn well do it. And after a week of hands off, the idea wasn’t as far-fetched as it probably should have been.
Will’s footsteps went to the edge of the porch, paused, then came back to the door. He was muttering, but she couldn’t make out the words. Maybe if she showed him in no uncertain terms that he was out of her life… she’d bet Jake could help her with that. He paced back and forth again. Sera sighed and eased over to the window. She needed to make sure he wasn’t doing something dumb.
The first thing she noticed was the bottom of Will’s pants. He was standing in front of the window with his back to the house. The second thing was his stupid fancy car parked in the street. The third thing was the wolf in the woods, his teeth bared.
Her breath came in a quick gasp, and for a moment, she desperately wished Jake was there. No! I can do this. She had to fight down a surprising amount of panic though. Not for her, but for Will. There was a solid door between her and the wolf, but Will was outside with it, and he was stubborn enough to stand on the porch yelling for her while the wolf chewed off his leg. She didn’t need a stubby, legless Will on her conscience.
She needed a solid distraction that would work on someone completely obsessed with himself. Her gaze flashed to his fancy car again for a second before fixing back on the wolf. It was staying under the trees for now, but the fur on its back was spiked up. The distraction would have to be the car.
It was something she hadn’t tried in her short experience with magic, but she was pretty sure she could nudge the car hard enough to set off the alarm. Against her better judgement, she stopped watching the wolf and focused all her attention on the car. Sprites drifted in front of her as she opened herself up to the power and visualized a glowing ball in the yard. It took a second, and was so bright she worried Will might see it, but it was there.
Sera drew in a breath and pushed the ball with all her power as she exhaled. It slammed into the passenger door, and the car shook a little with the force. The alarm immediately started blaring, and Will cursed again before heading down the path to his car.
To her great relief, the wolf slunk back into the trees instead of charging across the street. Two birds with one magic ball. Score. Her muscles were screaming from the awkward position, so she finally slid to the floor. What a day.
Some small part of her was disappointed that she hadn’t just let the wolf eat Will. It would have solved a few of her problems at least, but that kind of disregard for human life wasn’t in her. Sera sat on the floor, her back to the door, and watched her hands fade back to their usual color. If everyone who used magic started glowing like a night light, why hadn’t they found Torix’s servant yet? Zee hadn’t glowed. Also, Will hadn’t seen the magic ball. Jake could see it though, and he didn’t have any magic. This isn’t making a lot of sense.
Her phone buzzed next to her on the tile floor, and Sera nearly smacked her head jumping away from it. It buzzed again, and she considered not answering. If it was her mom, she was going to say some very bad things about her taste in men. Will’s reaction to their divorce was not rational.
A rising sense of anxiety that made no sense whatsoever made her pick up the phone. It was Jake.
“What’s wrong?” He asked as soon as she hit answer.
“Why would you think there was something wrong?” It was habit to deflect. Why ask for help when she’d already taken care of the problem?
“I felt it. The bond damn near yanked me off my feet in the middle of a conversation with one of my crew leads. What’s wrong?”
Sera ran her hand along the grout lines in the floor. The tile was different from when she’d been there as a teenager. He’d probably done the work himself.
“Sera, talk to me. Let’s start with where are you?”
She was sitting in his foyer, hiding from a lot of things. “Your house. Will was here… and the wolf.”
“Are you okay?”
The anxiety ratcheted up as she hesitated, and Sera realized it wasn’t her anxiety. It was Jake’s. That’s new. “I’m fine. I had the pleasure of hitting Will’s car with a magic ball, and the wolf left me alone.”
“I’ll be there in five minutes, don’t move.”
Relief flooded her, but it wasn’t hers. Like the anxiety hadn’t been hers. She checked her shields, but they were intact and strong. It must be the bond. She’d reached for him when she’d seen Will and the wolf outside. Great. Her moment of weakness must have snapped something into place and now they had a shiny new set of weirdness to contend with.
Sera checked outside again, but the wolf was nowhere to be seen. She told herself to get up and go into the kitchen or sit on the couch, anywhere except splayed on the floor in front of the door. It was bad enough she’d come to his house, she didn’t need him convinced she needed rescuing. She wanted him to see her as strong and in control. Cowering in fear kind of gave the opposite impression.
Jake was true to his word. He was home in less than five minutes. Sera was in the kitchen making tea when he burst through
the front door. Another good reason to not be sitting there.
“Sera?”
“In here.” She set two cups down on the kitchen table. “I’m fine, or at least I would be if you’d calm down. I have enough of my own anxiety, thank you.”
He stopped in the doorway, and Sera was struck again by how much he’d filled out. He was wearing a grey Henley with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows, low slung jeans, and the same work boots she’d seen the first night she’d been back. His shoulder to waist ratio put Chris Evans to shame. Aaand… she was distracting herself from the jumbled emotions she’d been feeling through the bond.
“Did you see the wolf outside?” she asked.
“No.” He walked to the table, but instead of sitting down, he pulled her into his arms.
“Jake? Are you okay?”
“I felt you panic. I thought you were in danger, and I was too far away to do anything about it. I ran all three stop signs.”
She let him hold her. Who was she kidding? This was why she’d come to his place instead of hers. “You rebel. Next thing I know you’ll be jaywalking with abandon.” He was warm, and he smelled wild. She rested her head on his chest and breathed him in. Right now it was pine and mint and something spicy.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
Sera pushed down irritation along with the tingles that spread with his touch because she could sense that he was still freaked out about the situation, not questioning her ability to take care of herself. “I swear I’m fine. Will never got confirmation I was here, and the wolf never approached either of us.” Sera frowned. “But it looked like he was going to attack Will.”
Jake snorted. “Good for him. Maybe I’ll get him a treat next time.”
Sera pulled back to look him in the face. “And how do you think Zee would respond to a stranger being mauled by the demon wolf running around in the woods? Or the people in town who are aware that there’s more here than small-town charm?”
