by Lizzy Prince
Munro looked around nervously and that made me wary. “Actually, it might be better if you come out here for a second first.”
Alarm bells started ringing in my mind, and I looked at Munro, trying to decide what the cause was. Was it what he was saying or was there something wrong with him like there had been at the warehouse. I didn’t sense the same dullness in his eyes, but I wasn’t sure. Reaching out, I touched his hand and felt the little spark and sighed in relief. It was still dull, but when Hattie had been controlling him it hadn't been there at all.
Stepping out onto the porch, I closed the door behind me gently and hugged my arms close. I was wearing a sweatshirt, but it was damn cold out.
“I’m sure you’re not here for Hallmark movie night, so what’s up?”
Munro cleared his throat, looking almost pale in the soft glow of the porch light. “Hattie’s escaped.”
All of the blood drained from my face and my body went numb. “What do you mean?”
Munro ran his hand through his hair. “Theo was watching over her, but she managed to get untied and escaped.”
“Oh God, is Theo okay?”
“Yes. She knocked him out, but Mari already healed him.”
I barely even saw Munro in front of me as my brain started running through all of the possible scenarios for what could happen next.
“What do we do?” I whispered.
“We need to get Maggie and Sara someplace safe.”
I nodded. “They’re supposed to leave for Maggie’s grandma’s in Minnesota tomorrow morning. Can we keep them safe until then?”
Munro nodded and pulled out his phone to text someone. Probably Ryan or Mari. I hugged myself tighter, worry that Hattie might hurt Maggie or Sara tightened in my throat until I had to focus on breathing to make sure I didn’t pass out. The panic was like a wave that keeps pushing you down each time you think you’ll be able to come up for air and be okay. Only to be submerged again and again.
Munro grasped my upper arm gently and squeezed. “We’ll keep them safe. You too. Once they’re gone, I think you should come to stay with us until we figure everything out.”
I nodded numbly because I didn’t know what else to say. Sara had wanted me to come with them, but I’d told her about Mari and that I’d wanted to spend time with her over the holidays. It was true, but I also knew I shouldn’t stray too far from Hattie until we’d figured out how to stop her and keep everyone else safe.
“For now, do you think I can come in? I’ll stay with you guys until it’s too late, then Ryan and I will watch the house.”
I’m not even sure what excuse I mumbled out to Sara and Maggie about Munro’s presence when I went back inside, Munro in tow. I knew Sara thought he was there because he liked me, but Maggie knew what was going on between us, and I could see her giving him assessing looks every once in a while. The movie was over within a blink, and I couldn’t have named one thing that happened in it even if my life depended on it. Before long Sara was calling it a night, leaving Maggie, Munro and I alone in the living room. All of her good-natured patience disappeared the moment her mom was out of earshot.
“Okay, what gives? What the hell is going on? You’ve been sitting here like a zombie since you came back inside. And he just watched a movie about a pastry chef who finds love with a single dad slash veterinarian, like it was The Avengers.” Maggie pointed her finger at me and then at Munro to emphasize her point.
“Hattie escaped,” Munro said, his eyes darting to Sara’s bedroom, concerned she’d hear our conversation. Which would only lead to a million questions that we didn’t want to answer.
“What the hell. Didn’t you guys have her tied up tight enough,” Maggie whisper-yelled, her eyes shining with anger.
“Maggie, you and Sara need to be careful. I know you’re leaving for Minnesota in the morning, but please, please watch your back,” I pleaded.
Maggie’s posture softened when she heard the fear in my voice. “Annie. Come with us. You need to be safe too. This isn’t your mess.” She shot an annoyed look at Munro as if he was the one who’d been solely responsible for Hattie. I understood why she felt that way, but it wasn’t fair. A child shouldn’t have to be responsible for a parent’s actions.
I grabbed her hand. “Maggie, it is my mess. At least, it’s partly my responsibility to keep you safe and make sure Hattie doesn’t hurt anyone else I love. If I can help stop her, I have to try.” Although I had no idea how I could help. I’d provided a drop of blood earlier, but I wasn’t sure what else I would be capable of doing. Hell, I couldn’t even unlock my magic.
Maggie bit her lip anxiously, and I could see the indecision on her face. I knew she wanted to stay with me and protect me, but I couldn’t let her get hurt.
“Mags, I need you and Sara to be safe. I can’t risk anyone else I love. Please.”
Maggie took a deep breath and looked close to tears, but she sucked in a deep breath and finally agreed. “Fine, but I’m going to need multiple check-ins a day to make sure you’re safe.”
“Ditto,” I said, trying to control the urge to burst into tears.
“I’m not going to hug you because I don’t want to cry like a baby,” Maggie said as she stood up. “You.” She pointed at Munro. “You’d better make sure my best friend is in one piece when I get back.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Munro said with all seriousness.
“Don’t call me ma’am.” Maggie snorted in annoyance before she turned back to me. “I’ll wake you in the morning to say goodbye.”
“Okay. Night Mags.”
“Night Annie,” she said as she left the room, still shooting daggers at Munro.
“Well, that went well,” Munro said as he raked his hand through his hair. Moving like he was sore and stiff, he heaved himself off the couch, and I fought the urge to ask him to stay inside with me.
“We’re going to put some salt around the house and put up a ward. Ryan should be bringing everything over with him.”
“Salt? Isn’t that for demons or something?” I asked, thinking of all of the TV shows I’d watched over the years. “Please don’t tell me Hattie’s a demon.”
Munro shook his head. “No. The salt is enspelled for protection. She won’t be able to cross it to come into the house.”
“Oh, okay. Good.” My eyes roamed over his weary face, and I wanted to wrap my arms around him. To hold him close and feel his warmth, and to let him find comfort in me, too. “Will you guys be okay out there?”
I hated thinking of them sitting in the cold all night, even if they were in their cars. But Munro brushed me off.
“We'll be fine. As soon as Maggie and Sara leave, I'll come to get you, and we’ll go back to the house.”
Feeling weary and beyond ready for all of this to be over, I nodded and walked Munro to the door. We stood at the threshold, neither of us talking. My eyes were focused on the ground, but Munro slid a finger under my chin and raised my head, forcing me to look into his gray eyes.
“I won’t let her hurt you again.”
“I won’t let her hurt you either,” I replied, determination ringing in my voice. He nodded, his face serious with obvious worry. He turned to open the door, but I stopped him.
“Wait, Munro, earlier today you said something about another way to access my magic. What is it?”
Munro stood with his back to me and after a few moments passed, I thought he might not answer. But then his shoulders fell as he turned around to look at me. “It’s called blood magic.”
The words were like an icy finger traced down my spine. I swallowed, my stomach feeling unsettled and I regretted eating so many cookies. “What’s blood magic?”
“It’s dark magic. It’s incredibly powerful, but there are consequences to it,” he said quietly, his accent sounding thicker than normal.
“How does it work?” My own voice was quiet, as though this type of magic required that we speak of it in whispers.
Munro took a step closer to me so there was only a
sliver of space between our bodies. He was so close I could feel the warmth from his chest radiating from him. I wanted to melt into him but forced myself to keep focused. Munro reached out and ran a hand down my arm until his fingers found mine. He held them gently, not twining our hands together, but just holding the tips of my fingers.
“You would need someone to share their blood with you.” He must have seen the shocked look on my face because he chuckled and continued, “Not by drinking it or anything.”
“Whew! I thought you were going to break out some nonsense about becoming a vampire.”
“Not quite. The easiest way to transfer the blood is to tattoo it as a spell on your body. Usually it enhances your powers and strength, but in this case, I believe it would help unlock your magic from the binding you’ve created.”
A tattoo, okay, I could probably deal with that. “What about the consequences you mentioned?”
Munro pulled back, dropping my hand to lean back against the door. I missed the contact and the warmth immediately and nearly stepped forward to get back into his space.
“It’s addictive. Highly addictive. Most witches can’t continue on without the newfound power that comes with blood magic. They end up trying to find new ways to keep gaining more power.” His eyes glowed with conflict, and I knew he was trying to weigh our options. If this was the only way to unlock my magic, then we might have to do it, but what would happen if we did?
Munro talking about addiction triggered a memory of the conversation I’d had with Lola. When she’d essentially scolded me, and I’d just sat there and taken the verbal beating. Not my proudest moment.
“Munro,” I started nervously, “Am I… is there something about my magic that is… um… seductive?” I felt my cheeks burn with my question, and I felt idiotic asking, but I had to know.
Munro crooked a brow at my question. “Seductive?”
I groaned and pressed the heels of my palms into my eyes. “Okay, I didn’t phrase that very well. Let’s just say I heard that because I have a lot of magic, I’m kind of like catnip for other magic users.”
It was obvious that Munro was trying to repress a smile.
“Don’t laugh at me.” I pushed his shoulder and closed my eyes.
“Let me guess, Lola shared this bit of information with you?”
Munro slowly zipped up his sweatshirt as if his focus on me and my questions were distracting him from that one small task. I crossed my arms, feeling like I needed the security of someone holding me, even if it was just my own arms. And even though I totally wanted to point fingers and throw Lola under the bus, I pretended I was an adult, and just shrugged.
Munro sighed. “It’s not completely inaccurate, but I can only imagine how she phrased it. Your magic isn’t what makes you so incredible, Annie, it’s just a part of who you are. You can’t separate a person for who they inherently are, and that goes for your magic too. I can sense it brimming inside of you, and it is electric and astounding, but so are you. Do you understand?”
“Um… kind of?” my response came out as a question which didn’t make it very convincing.
Munro chuckled. “Lola’s right. I am drawn to you and maybe it’s like an addiction, but it has nothing to do with your magic.”
“Oh,” I said, dumbly staring at his beautiful gray eyes, with no idea how else to respond. Putting aside that conversation, for now, I tried to remember what we’d been talking about.
Clearing my throat, I asked, “With blood magic, is it always addictive?”
Munro shook his head. “No. One time might not be that bad, especially because we will be unlocking your magic and not necessarily trying to boost your power. But,” he paused, “that’s not the only consequence.”
He looked at me nervously. “Blood magic binds you to the other person.”
“Binds how?” I asked, my voice sounding thick to my own ears.
“Whoever’s blood you use will feel what you are feeling. If you get hurt, they get hurt. Your lives will be bound, forever.”
“If I die…” I questioned, trailing off. Munro gave me a small nod, and I went numb with his admission.
Munro was still leaning against the door unmoving while I absorbed everything he'd said. His face was serious but resigned as if he would be willing to do this if I asked him. I bit my lip and felt it tremble as emotions overwhelmed me, and I fought the urge to cry. Out of frustration and because I knew what Munro was offering. He pushed off the door and came to stand in front of me. With infinite gentleness, he cupped my face in his hands and touched his forehead to mine.
“I’ll do it for you,” he said, lowering his head so we were eye to eye as he spoke.
A little sob escaped my throat, and I slowly wrapped my arms around him as he pulled me tightly to his body. I swayed into his solid strength, almost weeping because it felt so right to be held by him.
“No. We’ll find another way.” My voice was ragged but determined. Holding him as tightly as my arms could grasp and praying that I could find a different way to release my magic.
Chapter 15
Maggie woke me before the sun was up to say goodbye. I stumbled out of bed to give her and Sara hugs and told them to drive safe.
“You call me when you get there,” I whispered to Maggie as she squeezed me so tightly I thought my spleen might burst. Damn, she was strong for someone so little.
“And you text me a billion times a day. I need to know you are okay.”
I’d barely shut the door behind them when Munro was knocking lightly. I let him in and flushed when the memory of our embrace the night before flashed through my mind. We were standing just as we had the night before and if I took one step forward I could wrap my arms around him.
“Did everything go okay last night?” I asked, embarrassed by the slightly breathless quality to my voice.
Munro politely pretended he didn’t hear it. “Yes, no sign of Hattie.”
My body relaxed, making me notice just how tense I’d been. I told Munro to go sit down while I got ready. I showered and dressed in record time and packed a bag with extra clothes since I knew Munro wanted me to stay at their place while we figured this all out. And while I didn’t mind wearing his clothes, he might get annoyed when he ran out of things to wear sooner than later.
Munro was watching a recorded episode of The Great British Bake Off when I came down the stairs. I raised an eyebrow in question as I came around the couch to sit on the arm next to him.
He smiled at me and shrugged. “I like good-natured competitive baking shows.”
I laughed at his response. “I wouldn’t have thought this would be your thing.”
“I have layers,” he volleyed with a rakish smile.
It was so adorable, and my heart was in such desperate need of love and normalcy that I blamed it for my actions. Leaning forward, I brushed my lips against his. His mouth parted in surprise, but almost immediately softened. His lips moved gently against mine before I pulled away. It was an achingly sweet kiss, and I was almost frantic to turn it into something else, just not yet. Munro’s gaze held a longing so fierce that heat swelled in my body and threatened to burn me from the inside out. There was relief in his eyes and I felt it too. There was a possibility of returning to normal. At least whatever could be considered normal for us. Neither of us moved as if afraid it would shatter the moment. We just stared at each other letting the emotion settle around us.
The air was thick with tension, so I made myself lean back and smile at Munro. He responded with his own smile and stood up. “We should get going.”
I followed him as he led us out to his truck, his hand coming to rest on my back and not leaving until I was settled into my seat. Lost in the little bubble we’d created, I almost forgot that Hattie was somewhere on the loose. All of the good feelings that had been buzzing around in my chest sizzled out and plunged into coldness.
The sun had just come up, but the day was gray and dreary, on the precipice of snowing. I look
ed around the house and yard to see if anything looked out of the ordinary. Not that I expected to see Hattie peeking out from behind the neighbor’s house, but to be totally honest, I had no idea what to expect from her.
Munro sensed the change in the atmosphere by the time he came around to his side of the truck. “You alright?”
“Yeah, let’s just get to your house. I want to figure out how to end this.”
***
I heard grumbling conversations from the kitchen as soon as we walked into the house. Lola and Mari were standing around the island while Ryan and Theo were sitting on the stools. Theo had a nasty looking bruise by his temple where Hattie must have hit him. I cringed when I saw him because it looked awful. Although someone must have healed him because the mottled color looked more like day five of healing from a hard-hit, not day two.
Lola’s angry voice rose up over the others, “Jesus, this is why we don’t let the muggles be in charge of any magic stuff.”
I was honestly floored that Lola could actually make a joke. Even if she was serious about what she was saying.
Theo must have agreed because he interjected, “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” He threw up his hands like he was about to defend his honor, but then continued in typical Theo fashion. “You know what a muggle is? I didn’t think you partook in anything joyful and fun.”
Lola growled. “Sorry, I guess what I meant was why did we let this idiot be in charge of anything?”
Theo scrunched up his face as if he was seriously contemplating her words before he responded, “I’m a squib, not a muggle.”
“Oh my God, it’s fiction.” Lola rolled her eyes and stomped out of the room in a huff.
Munro and I stood in the kitchen entry, afraid to get in the middle of their squabbling. Mari came over and gave me a quick peck on the cheek and sighed, “They’ve been going at it all morning.”
Moving to Theo’s side, I surveyed his face with a grimace. “You okay? That looks sore.”
“It looks a lot worse than it feels. At least now. It hurt like a bitch when she cracked me on the head.” Theo looked at me, his eyes showing real remorse. “I’m sorry I let her get away.”
