“Okay, I’ll go. But I’m not giving up Fallon. I’m in this, whether you are or not. And we both know I don’t back down easily,” he says as he stands. He waits for me to respond, but I have nothing else to say to him, so I sit and watch as he shakes his head before walking away from me and leaving. “It’s not over yet, Fallon. You’ll see.”
His words echo through the house before the door closes behind him and I let out a deep sigh.
What the hell am I meant to do with that?
I pick up my phone to double check that Misty is still covering for me at the store tonight, and I’ll cover for next week since we’re both in tomorrow. I’m going to need another drink to deal with everything Colt just dropped in my lap.
Men.
“Mama!” I walk through the house looking for her, I need to head back to the store, since Rebel’s dance recital is tonight, and there is no way she’ll miss it. I left Misty in charge while I popped home to get changed after an unfortunate accident with a potion and Misty’s clumsy little brother.
“Mama! Are you here?” I call out again, but I can’t see hide nor hair of her or Rebel, so I guess they’ve already left. I drop my keys on the counter in the kitchen and head to my room. It has its own entrance via the back of the house, but it doesn’t get all that much use these days.
I throw my shirt into the laundry basket and grab another from my closet, ignoring the clink of the bracelets on my wrists. I check my reflection to make sure the bright colors don’t clash, and that my hair hasn’t gone insane with this humidity. My black waves are still how I styled them earlier, though they’ve dropped a little, and my eyeliner has melted away, because Mama refuses to keep the store less than like a hundred degrees. I touch it up, the lines making my dark eyes seem bottomless. I then paint another layer of red to my lips and head back out to the store.
It might be the evening, but that’s one of our busiest times. Even humans want to believe in Witchcraft, so we walk that fine line, of telling them the truth, and having them believe we’re talking nonsense, even though most of them desperately wish it were true. Be it a little potion or a card reading, or even an herb and root mixture. Without the right incantations, they’re essentially useless. The night is when most faction customers swing by too.
Since creating a portal isn’t an option as humans are likely in the store, I climb back in my car and crank up the AC. I dance in the car the entire drive. The clouds are so dark, it looks like a storm might be rollin’ in. I pay it little attention as I pull into the spot out the front of the store. I hurry from the car, and get inside just as the heavens burst open, rain coming down like cats and dogs.
This time of year is a pain in the ass with the weather.
I check my phone and fire off a text to Remy, it’s been a few days since I heard from her, and goddess knows she’s got a lot going on right now. I don’t expect to hear from her so I silence my phone and pop it under the counter.
“Misty, girl. Where are you?” I call out, I can’t see any customers, but the place isn’t big enough for her to hide.
“Just back here. I thought I’d restock the tea leaves.” Her head pops out of the back room, her hair is a frazzled mess. She trips as she tries to exit the room, sending bags of tea leaves flying across the store and I cringe as she hits the floor, palms first.
“Are you okay?” I ask and move to help her, but she jumps to her feet, her pale cheeks beet red, and waves me off.
“I’m fine, just tripping over air. If I didn’t know better, I’d be convinced I was being haunted,” she says as she scrambles to pick up the bags she dropped, and I watch closely to make sure she doesn’t trip again. Either clumsiness runs in her family, or maybe she really is haunted. Wouldn’t be the weirdest thing I’ve seen this week.
“Okay, well, you know how to cleanse yourself and your home of a ghost right? Once you’ve put those out, you can head home, take the bits to perform a cleanse with you. Better to be safe than sorry, sugar.” I smile at her and I swear it just embarrasses her more. Goddess give me strength to deal with this girl.
“Thanks, Fallon.” The color on her cheeks deepens and I wave her off. She’s quiet as a mouse while she finishes up, and manages to only drop three more bags while she stacks the shelves. I swallow my laughter, because goddess bless her soul.
I potter around, making sure the usual night demands are available in the counter displays, and just straighten up in general. Goddess knows I love my mama, but she’s like a hurricane, she sweeps through here and leaves chaos behind. This might be her store, but I’m in here more often than she is these days, it’s hard not to think of it as my own.
“Night, Fallon!” Misty calls out as she leaves, the bell over the door signaling the door closing behind her. I switch off the main lights—leaving on what Mama calls the mood lights—but I call it night time ambiance, especially with the dark storm clouds outside, it keeps it cozy.
Time passes quickly, and I read in the lulls of the evening, keeping my Kindle hidden near the register. A girl needs some form of escape, and since I’ve taken a self-imposed break from all types of penis, reading is my go-to relaxation tool.
My phone buzzes, I pick it up and see a message from Mama letting me know that she and Rebel are home, and that she’ll see me in the morning. The woman is such an early bird, I couldn’t be any more different if I tried. I love the dead of night, which is how I ended up with the graveyard shift at the shop. Healers are needed at all hours, so someone has to be on hand pretty much constantly. It’s that or we get woken up at the house, and that makes Mama spit feathers.
The grandfather clock in the corner chimes out and lets me know it’s midnight, which is my cue to get up and lock the main doors. The shop is officially closed, but I’ll stay around in case I’m needed. I walk around the place double checking I’ve locked everything up properly, both normal locks and magical ones, before I get settled on the sofa in the middle of the store by the books to take a quick nap. I might like the night, but I barely slept last night, for the last few weeks really, since that night at the warehouse.
It still makes me so mad that they did that to Remy, but I have to remember she’s okay, that she’s supposedly moved past it and she isn’t just bottling it all up like usual. I push down the rising tide of power that follows my anger, it really isn’t the time to be getting worked up.
I get settled, laying down another layer of wards, because otherwise I know I’ll never sleep and then close my eyes.
Banging at the back door of the shop has me jumping up from my doze and scooting to the door to see what the hell is going on. I open the spy glass and find a bloody Bauer being held up by his strange blonde friend, Archer, on one side, and someone I don’t recognize on the other.
Despite my feelings towards Bauer with everything he’s put Remy through because of his ridiculously blinkered, bigoted views on life, I open the door, because Remy would never forgive me otherwise. Even if the guy doesn’t deserve it. I swear, he might be smart, but sometimes that boy is as dumb as a bag of rocks.
I wave them in, Bauer passed out between the other two, I’m guessing the gash on his forehead pouring with blood is why. “What the hell happened?”
The two with him carry him to the table we have set up back here, for this exact purpose, and lay him down on it. I wince as his head cracks down onto the table, damn I guess that’s just another thing for me to fix.
“Just help him,” Archer snarls, and I roll my eyes. I’ve met him a handful of times, and he’s always a total dick, I don’t know why I expected any different now, even if he’s asking for my help. So I shoo the two out of my way and straighten Bauer up before assessing his injuries. The gash on his head is the most pressing, but there’s a slew of other injuries to deal with too. Broken wrist, ribs, sprained ankle.
What the hell happened to him?
I shake my head and close my eyes resting my hands over the head injury, the warmth that comes with healing fills me,
like a welcome comfort blanket, and spills from my hands. I hold the image of his injuries in my mind and focus on the one I’m helping, picturing it knitting back together.
It might not be how everyone does it, but my granny taught me this way, and it works.
It takes more than I thought it would to heal him properly, and I keep him unconscious, because even healed, he’s gonna be sore after all of that.
“He’s all fixed up,” I tell them, leaning on the counter behind me, feeling more than a little weak after that.
“Thank you, how much do we owe you?” Archer asks, walking towards me.
“The usual fee,” I tell him. He nods and reaches into his back pocket and hands me a wad of cash.
“This should cover it.”
“Thanks, I’ll be right back, then I’ll help you get him out of here,” I tell them, and turn my back on them to put the money in the register out front. They stay behind, and I can’t help but feel on edge.
I test the wards on the store, only broken at the back door where I let them in, so no-one else could be in here, and yet, it feels like I’m being watched. I turn to head back to them and nearly jump out of my skin.
“For all things holy! Don’t sneak up on a Witch like that.” I scowl as Archer smirks at me.
“Apologies, I didn’t mean to startle you,” he says, holding his hands in the air.
“What’s up?” I ask warily. The hair on the back of my neck stands, and I shudder just before a hand comes around my mouth and I feel a pinch in my neck.
“What the…” I ask, but my words slur as the edges of my vision go fuzzy.
“I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m really not,” Archer snarls as I stumble forward. I try to think of a spell, a way to get out of here, but my brain is jumbled, and I can barely focus on a thought.
“Get the girl, I’ll grab Bauer, and then we can get going. Deacon will be expecting us soon,” Archer tells the guy behind me who wraps his arms around my waist. I try to fight him of, but it’s like I’m submerged in water, and my body won’t work properly.
“Time to get this party started.”
Chapter Five
Remy
I finally make it to the kitchen, with Kain on my heels, and find Levi, Creek, and Roman already in there. They go quiet when we enter and I raise my eyebrows at them. “Interrupting are we?”
“Not at all, princess,” Roman says with a smirk. “Just discussing the intricacies of faction politics. You’re welcome to weigh in if you’d like.”
I hold up my hands and laugh. “Not on your life! I’ll leave the politics to you guys, I suck at them. Now, give me a sword and put me on a battlefield, that I can do.”
They all laugh at me as we join them at the table.
“But seriously, we were just trying to work out how much shit is going to hit the fan while we’re gone,” Creek says, and much as I try to stop it, I can’t help the smile on my face faltering.
“Don’t you start with that,” Levi says, rolling his eyes. “You are not going alone.”
“But—” I start when Kain cuts me off.
“Not happening.”
“You guys are way too stubborn. What happens if I can’t get us back! What happens to your factions, to your families, then? You can’t exactly rule from the Shadow Realm.” I watch as they digest my words, but I already know they’re going to be stubborn assholes about this.
“Life here isn’t worth a damn if you’re not coming back Remy.” Levi shrugs. “Plus, I have no responsibilities here, not anymore.”
“What Angel boy is trying to say, is that we’re coming. Responsibilities be damned,” Roman interjects and I sigh.
“That makes no sense. We don’t even know if I can take you all with me. All we know is I can open a portal,” I tell them, trying not to get to frustrated.
“Oh you can most certainly do more than that.” My head whips up to the new voice and the entire room goes tense, until Levi belts out a laugh and stands, hugging the man stood in the doorway. Every part of him steals my attention, including his British accent.
“I didn’t realize you were here, man. Come on in. You obviously know, Remy. This is Kain, Roman, and Creek. Guys, this is Nevin,” Levi says, and apparently this is another person I know, that I don’t know. He stands almost as tall as Levi, but that’s about where their similarities end. He’s built leaner, though I’ve no doubt he’s still all muscle, he has thick rimmed glasses which frame his grey eyes, and his dark hair falls into his eyes. He’s rocking a grey suit with a black shirt, open at the collar, and damn. He’s pretty.
He starts to blush at my very obvious stare and I follow suit as I wave hello. “Sorry.” I shrug with a smile, because I’m not really that sorry. The guys all laugh and say hello.
“So you’re the man to help me with these old journals?” I ask as he comes to sit with us and Levi takes his seat again.
“Something like that,” he says, looking at me like he’s trying to work something out. “Sorry, you’re just so… different. And yet, not.”
I blink at his words, unable to take them in fully.
“I mean, obviously, I knew you as Amantara, and I’ve met you once or twice as Remy, but you always seemed… sadder? Like you were constantly searching for something. But you seem… happy,” he says and I smile.
“I am happy. I mean, I’m stressed as fuck, but I’m happy.” I shrug and he smiles back at me. A perfect set of shining white teeth. Because of course.
“Good. Now, where are these journals?” He asks, and the others groan.
“On that note, we’re going to go work out,” Roman says and I laugh.
“Of course you are. We’ll come find you if we find anything,” I tell him as he leans over for a kiss. It’s chaste, for Roman at least, and the others follow suit as they pass me on their way out of the room.
“Well, that’s new,” Nevin says, straightening his glasses with a blush on his cheeks.
“I’m happy,” I tell him simply. “Let me grab the journals.” I get up to grab the box from the laundry room where I stashed them for safe keeping and drop it on the table in front of us.
“So you said I can certainly do more than open the portal? Do you know much about Shadow Walkers?” I ask.
“I do. Back then, you were Leviathans right hand, and I was his left. It was a different time, but we spent a lot of time together. I heard all sorts of stories.”
“Okay, but who says I can still do any of that now? I’m not an Angel.”
“No, you’re not. But you’re still you. Everyone thinks it’s just the blood that opens the portal, and while that’s part of it, it’s your essence itself that is the key. You’re still you, even if you’re different. You’ll still be able to do now what you did back then, though maybe with less power. We just need to learn how you did what you did. Shutting the portal the way you did before was unheard of, and I’m just hoping you wrote it down before…”
“Before I died?”
“Yes. It was only earlier that day you sealed it so that no-one could pass back through to this plain. So that people could only go into the portal with an exceptional amount of sacrifice, unless they had the key. Do you know what is being used to fuel the portals currently?” He asks and I shake my head. “That’s a shame, we could’ve used it, or manipulated it somehow.”
“Honestly, knowing Archer, he’s probably sacrificing lives to open it each time. I wouldn’t put anything past him.”
“Well, that isn’t an option,” he says, pushing his glasses back up his nose. “Let’s get started on these journals. Do you have coffee?”
“Oh my goodness, yeah of course, sorry. Everly would have my head for not offering already.” I stand up and start the coffee pot.
“The human woman who let me in?” He asks and I nod. “She seemed lovely. She was heading out though, so I think you’re safe.”
“Ha, you don’t know Everly. She might be human, but I’ve seen her take on a room of factions a
nd not even blink. She had that lot scurrying for cover and apologizing.” I laugh and he joins in.
“Now that is something I’d like to see.”
“So, how are we going to do this, since I’m essentially useless to you.”
“Well, you see, actually you’re not. Amantara didn’t write these using the old language, it just looks like it,” he says looking up at me from the pages in front of him.
“What do you mean?” I ask, leaning over his shoulder to take a look at the pages as I place the mug of coffee on the table for him.
“Can you pass me a knife?” He says, and I look down at him skeptically, but remember that Levi trusts him, so I grab a knife and hand it to him.
He motions for my hand, so I place it in his. He grips my wrist and slices the knife across my palm. “What the fuck!” I hiss.
He doesn’t say a word, he just moves my bleeding hand over the pages, and I watch as the blood drops onto them, and then disappears. The letters swim on the pages then, after a minute, I can read the words.
“How?” I ask as he releases my wrist and I clench my fist, grabbing a towel to staunch the blood until I heal.
“Amantara had a ton of tricks, I wonder if there’s a way to restore those memories for you. Hmmm.” He looks at me curiously, before looking back down to the books. “That’s a question for another time I guess, I’d need to do some research, but there might not be much, you are something of an anomaly. Regardless, there are a lot of journals here, so since those guys don’t seem like the research types, do you want some help going through everything?”
“That would be good thank you, and next time you need my blood, just give me some warning.” I scowl but he smiles at me.
“Sorry, not used to your human sensibilities I guess.”
“Not a sensibility, it’s manners,” I tell him, a mix of pissed off and thankful.
A Crown of Shadows and Secrets Page 4
