He was weird and cute, and I had no idea what he was. “Jasper called you a mogwai. What is that?”
He licked his fingers, taking care to clean his talons. “Wren doesn’t know.”
“You don’t?”
“Merkle keep Wren forever.”
“You don’t remember any time before?”
He shook his head again and frowned. “Wren remembers a scent…A safe scent. A warm scent.” His nostrils flared, and he extended his neck my way. “Cora smells safe and warm too. Not the same, but similar.” He nodded and went back to his food.
He’d been taken by Merkle. Kept a prisoner all his life.
“Wren, how old are you?”
He paused, and his brow furrowed. “Don’t know.” He looked worried. “Is that important to Cora?”
“Gosh, no. Eat up. It’s fine.”
“Wren doesn’t want to upset his new mistress.”
“Whoa. Enough of the mistress crap. I’m not your boss, or your keeper, or your owner, because you’re not a possession. Do you understand?”
He tilted his head to the side. “Then Cora want Wren to go?”
“No. I mean, you can go if you want to, but you can also stay if you want to. It’s your choice. You’re free now, Wren.”
“Free…” His eyes grew wide. “Wren can go?”
“Yes.”
He looked at the door, then back at his plate and up at me. “But Wren can stay too.”
“Yes.”
He nodded. “Can Wren have more food?”
I chuckled and put more bacon on his plate. He went back to his food, making snuffling sounds as he ate. He was a total squishy, and Fee would love him.
I poured more tea into my mug and shivered as the temperature in the room dropped. My instinct was to get up and turn up the thermostat, but then Wren made a strange sound and keeled over face-first into his plate.
“Wren!”
I scooped him up into my arms, brushing egg off his furry cheek. Had I poisoned him? Did mogwai even eat eggs? Shit. Why hadn’t I checked this stuff? And why the fuck was it so cold?
Wait a second. A drop in temperature could also mean another thing…
Jasper materialized by the sink, and my suspicion was confirmed. “What the fuck?” I cradled Wren. “You could have hurt him.”
“He’ll be fine,” Jasper said. “Mogwai are surprisingly resilient, which is a perk to you ignoring me and bringing him with you.”
Was he implying what I thought he was? “You aren’t seriously contemplating using him as a battery to materialize around me, are you?”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s unfair to Wren.”
He crossed his arms over his broad chest. “And I don’t give a shit.”
Of course he didn’t. I narrowed my eyes. “You hurt him, and I promise you I’ll find a way to make you pay.”
“Your promises don’t mean a huge deal, Cora.” He was referring to the deal I’d broken.
“Yeah, well, some promises shouldn’t be exacted.”
Silence reigned between us for long agonizing seconds.
“Your friend Fee is back,” he said finally. “I suppose you’ll be running off to take up your position as her sidekick.”
Jasper didn’t like Fee. He thought I lived in her shadow. Most of the time, I didn’t give a fuck what Jasper thought, but this issue was a sore subject for me because he had a point.
My life had revolved around my best friend for well...ever. Not that I regretted it. No. It was just that I needed more, and I was making sure to get it with my Magiguard gig. A job that was totally mine.
Jasper needed to back off.
“We’re having supper.”
“And then something will happen, and you’ll be roped into helping her.”
“No.”
“Uh-huh.” A smug smile played on his face, and my hand itched to slap him, but that would mean getting close to him, and close to Jasper was a dangerous place to be.
“Fuck off, Jasper.”
“How mature.”
Wren groaned and opened his eyes and made a strange babbling sound that was almost words but not quite.
I cradled him. “You’ve broken my mogwai.”
Jasper snorted. “You need to get rid of that thing before it hurts you.”
And then, without being asked to, he vanished.
I sat Wren up and smoothed the hair between his ears while he recharged after being siphoned on by Jasper.
“Are you okay?”
“Wren a little tired.”
“It’s okay. You can have a TV day today.”
“Tee Vee.”
Oh boy, he was in for a treat. I’d join him, but I had an antsy feeling in my bones that sitting at home wasn’t going to quell. I needed to get out and do something, and there was always one thing that cheered me up.
The mall was going to get a workout, and Jasper and his insinuations could go take a leap.
I wasn’t anyone’s sidekick.
And I wasn’t anyone’s battery.
Never again.
Chapter Five
Two pairs of boots, a fur-lined, fitted jacket, and a cute clutch bag later, my credit card was in tears and begging me to stop the abuse already.
“Ooo,” the ghostly shop assistant said. “This scarf will go perfectly with your cornflower blue eyes.” She dimpled ethereally at me and held the scarf up to me like a sacred offering. “And it’ll totally bring out the gold in your hair.”
Argh, I wanted the scarf so bad, and then I caught sight of the price tag. “Whoa, you’re good.”
She shrugged. “Did this for a living when I was… Well, living.”
I wanted to ask what happened, but in spirit circles it was bad taste to do so. If a spirit wanted to divulge their death story, they would.
“How long have you worked here?”
“Three months. I don’t get picked up for another six.”
Yeah, I knew all about how it worked. I’d worked for Soul Savers Inc, the company that collaborated with the Underealm to organize Reaper pick-ups for souls. In the meantime, these souls were given jobs and places to haunt until their time was really up. Necro City was crawling with ghosts. But most of the time, they made themselves invisible to human and outlier eyes.
“So…no scarf?” She flashed a cute, ghost dimple.
I held up my bag of purchases and smiled widely. “I think I’ll quit before I max out my limit.”
I needed to get back to the house and check on Wren. I’d left him with the TV on, instructions on how to operate the remote, and plenty of snacks to keep him going. He looked like a moody teddy bear, and for now, he was my responsibility, but first a hot beverage and maybe a fresh brownie.
I made the jump to Lumiers, knowing the sugar I was about to put into myself would replace any energy I lost from making the shift. I materialized in the alley down the side of the building so as not to startle any humans passing by with my sudden appearance, although, knowing the way human minds worked, they’d probably rationalize it away.
Heat blasted my cool skin as I stepped into Lumiers, and the delicious aroma of coffee and cake hit my nostrils. The damn place was edible, and I could spend hours in here gorging on Leana’s delicacies and reading magazine after magazine.
Speaking of the talented owner. “Hey, sexy.” I raised a hand in greeting.
Leana looked up from the newspaper she was reading and hopped off the stool she’d been perched on behind the counter. I’d gotten used to how she looked, but every now and then I was struck by how pink she was—skin, hair, lips, and lashes all pink—and how beautiful.
Allowing the door to close behind me, I headed over to her.
Leana slid a plate with two brownies on it across the counter. “I’ll bring your hot chocolate over in a minute.”
She knew what I liked. In fact, she knew what everyone wanted when they stepped through the doors. It was her gift.
I veered toward my
regular spot by the window on autopilot and froze in my tracks.
Keith looked up at me with a startled expression, and then his attention flicked to the brunette opposite him.
His date.
He was on a date.
Cool.
He was sitting at my regular table.
Not so cool.
“Cora, hi,” he said.
The woman twisted in her seat to look at me. I recognized her as Bethany from admin at the Magiguard offices.
She gave me a thin smile. “Oh, hello. We didn’t know you came here.” She said it as if insinuating they would have avoided the place otherwise.
I returned her smile with a thin one of my own. “It is the only outlier café in Necro City.”
She nodded. “Yeah, yeah, of course.”
She looked at me as if I was someone to be pitied, and it hit me that Keith had told her. He’d told her about our shitty date and Jasper. My stomach knotted, and annoyance flared in my chest. I was too fucking old for this shit.
Keith’s gaze kept flicking over my shoulder as if he was looking for someone… Wait. Was he looking for Jasper?
“He’s not here, Keith.”
Keith blinked and nodded. “Of course. It’s warded. It’s safe.”
How could I have ever thought Keith was a fuckbuddy candidate? I mean, I had standards. The man attached to the cock I chose to ride needed to have some balls.
He reached across the table and patted the brunette’s hand. “It’s warded,” he said again.
“Urgh. Fucksake, Keith. Grow a pair.” I turned on my heel and headed back to the counter.
Leana already had a paper bag ready for my brownies, and the hot chocolate was in a takeaway cup.
“Love you,” she said, then she leaned in. “Want me to pee in his mocha?”
“Nah, he’s not worth it, babe.”
I headed out the door. So far, no guy was.
* * *
“What about this one?” I set a large black shoulder bag on the bed. “Is that comfy?”
Wren eyed the bag. He moved closer and sniffed it, and then he opened it and pushed his head inside.
He jerked back out, eyes wide. “Dark inside.”
“I know, but you can ride with your head out.”
He looked wary.
Okay, maybe asking him to ride in a bag to the pack house wasn’t the best idea. He’d been caged for so long.
“It’s fine. It’ll be dark out. I can wrap you in a blanket and carry you.”
I tugged on my boots, four-inch heels but super comfy with a customized sheath for Trixie, my handy dagger, because you never knew.
Dean, my not-ex, had been good for one thing other than breaking my heart. He’d taught me to fight, hand to hand, blade to blade, and win. Right now, with the amulet muting my powers, Trixie was an insurance policy.
I adjusted my jacket and studied myself in the full-length mirror. I’d pulled my golden hair back into a low ponytail and added some dangly earrings, a little blush, and mascara. I didn’t do make-up, but we were having supper at the pack house, which meant Dean would be there, and Dean and I… We had a little history, and although he wasn’t my ex, he was as close to an ex as I was going to get, so, yeah, I wanted to look hot.
I held out my arms to Wren. “Shall we?”
He leaped onto me and scrambled up to sit on my shoulder. Despite his chunky appearance, he was light. Mainly all fur. I barreled down the steps, grabbed my bag, and yanked open the door, ready to head out when my phone rang shrilly in my pocket.
I eyed the caller ID. Elijah? “Hey.”
“Cora, where are you?” he asked.
“At home. Why?”
“Stay put. Do not go anywhere. I’ll be with you in less than an hour.”
“What? I can’t—”
“Just do as I say!” He hung up.
I stared at the phone, then at the door, then back at the phone. As a rule, I didn’t always do as I was told, but there was something in Elijah’s tone—urgency and desperation—that had me shutting and locking the door.
“Are we not going out?” Wren asked.
I shook my head and dialed Fee.
“Cor, where are you?” she asked.
“I’m still at home.”
“Well, jump your ass over here, babe. I’m making cocktails.”
Yeah, I needed to fill her in on the whole amulet muting my powers deal. God, I wanted to be with her so bad it was an ache in my chest.
“I got to wrap up something first. but I’ll be with you in about an hour?”
“Is everything okay?”
I could tell her about Elijah’s call, and she’d be here in a blink, but I didn’t want to ruin her night. Besides, he hadn’t said I was in any danger, just to keep my ass put.
“I’m solid, babe. I’ll fill you in when I get there.”
“You’d tell me if something was wrong, wouldn’t you?”
“Course I would. Fuck, Fee, you’re getting paranoid in your old age. Go chill. I’ll be there soon, and I have a surprise for you.”
“Ooo, I love surprises.”
“See you soon.” I hung up and caught Wren staring at me. “What?”
“Cora lied.”
“I did not.”
“Wren can taste it. It’s bitter.”
I hadn’t lied. I was fine.
I was.
Wren’s stomach grumbled. Bloody hell, I’d fed him less than a half-hour ago. He looked up at me with puppy eyes.
“Come on, I’ll make you a sandwich.”
* * *
Sam and Dean were about to head into danger, once again, and Wren was on the edge of his seat, body tense in anticipation of whatever monsters were about to attack the on-screen monster hunters.
I’d watched every episode in all the many seasons at least twice now, and some of them three or four times. This was my all-time favorite show, no romance, just the job. Always the job. I mean, these guys didn’t need a relationship to be happy.
Okay, so I guess technically they had a relationship in the form of a bromance, and a pretty solid family connection, but that was enough for them.
Pfft. Who needed a guy?
Sam was sidling up to a window, jaw tense, hair looking artfully windswept. Man, he had good hair.
Crash!
Wren let out a squeak and leaped into my lap. I stared at the screen where the dynamic duo were still outside the shack where the monsters were holed up. Okay, so the crash hadn’t come from the TV.
Wren whimpered, and I stroked him absently as I pulled myself off the sofa. He scrambled up to my shoulders and then down my back, clinging to me like a furry backpack as I padded to the lounge door.
A gust of air brushed my cheek, cold and uninvited, because all the windows were closed.
My skin prickled.
Intruder.
Elijah’s warning to stay put filled my head as my body slipped into fight mode, aware of danger even before it consciously registered. My hands sparked weakly as my power reacted to the threat, wanting to protect me, even as the amulet muted it.
“Cora…” Wren whispered in my ear. “It’s something bad. Something really bad.”
Yeah, I could feel it. It was needles pricking my nape and a fist closing around my lungs. Bad shit. Evil shit.
My scalp crawled, and another gust of air hit me, this one like ice. I hissed and drew back as a moan cut across my ear.
“Cora!” Wren gripped me tighter. “Bad, bad, bad.”
Something moaned in my other ear, and then fire raced across my cheek.
I jerked my head back, hand going to my face to come away wet.
I was bleeding.
I’d been cut.
Wren let out a shriek.
Fucking ghosts? It had to be. Malignant ones, because the regular ones didn’t hurt the living. They just wanted to move on, but malignant were a different breed. An evil breed.
I ducked to avoid the icy kiss of another spi
rit and squeezed my eyes shut, willing my sight to activate so I could see the fuckers attacking me. It was another of my special skills—the ability to see spirits even if they went into stealth mode.
The world went gray, and the spirits bloomed silver and red. Malignant, just like I’d thought. These arseholes were pure evil, the souls of the really bad people—murderers and psychos. Souls that had become twisted by feeding on innocent spirits. These two had lost all humanoid form and were nothing but teeth and claws.
They rushed me with yawning jaws, eager for my blood. The Reapers responsible for collecting these bastards needed to do a better job.
I blasted the nearest one with a lightning bolt and dove out the way before its buddy could rake me with its phantom claws. Claws that, as I’d just experienced, could cause harm.
Wren’s talons dug into me as he held on for dear life. But he was the least of my worries because the hallway behind the malignant had gone black, and a heavy silence settled on the world, as if someone had pressed their palms to my ears.
The blackness seethed and writhed, and the malignant backed away from me, melting into the wall and vanishing, leaving me facing the darkness alone.
I needed to move, wanted to move, but I was paralyzed. Limbs frozen, heart slamming against my ribs, and something else, something fluttery and live inside me tugged as if it wanted to be free.
Come with us.
Join us.
Be us.
A face pushed out of the darkness, young with dark hair and a screaming mouth, then a black hand shot out from behind it, and long fingers curled over the face to pull it back into the seething mass. Another face pushed out to the right. Its blue eyes rolled in its head as if disorientated, and its red-lipped mouth moaned, but once again, black fingers morphed out of the darkness to wrap over the moaning mouth and wrench the face back into the void.
Witch Unexpected: The Thirteenth Sign Book 1 Page 4
