Familiar Territory

by Sam Cheever

  We played for a few minutes and, by the time the kitten jumped to the ground and ran to join her brothers beneath a weeping willow, I realized I felt better.

  There was no magic in the world stronger than kitten magic. Except maybe puppy magic. I grinned at the thought and stood, determined to start the process of tracking my prey. “I’ll see you all later,” I announced to the standoffish crowd of felines. As I left the sanctuary, I felt a dozen pairs of eyes following me, speculation thick on the air as they tried to figure out what I was up to.

  I closed the door behind me and headed down the hall toward the kitchen. It wasn’t an accident that my house guests didn’t know that side of my life. Hardly anybody did. In fact, I’d so far managed to keep the secret tucked tightly within my family. Others, like Brock, suspected my special abilities, but nobody knew the details of it. That was by design. I might have been born with my ability but I’d never embraced it. Even as a small child, when I’d used it to find missing pets or even, as a shy ten-year-old, to locate one of my friends who’d been abducted, I’d known my talent would one day get me into serious trouble. It was dangerous tracking evil. The skill put me smack dab in the cross hairs of the worst of the worst in both the magic and human worlds. Especially since I’d refused to align myself with a Witch.

  I shook my head and grabbed the teapot off the stove. Filling the ancient copper pot with water, I settled it onto my antique stove and opened the oven door, wiggling my fingers until the logs inside flared into flame.

  I left the water to heat and headed to my herb cabinet to gather my ingredients. A potent mixture of Eyebright, Bilberry, and Star Anise to open my higher mind. Periwinkle and Ginseng to improve cognitive function. I added a pinch of each to a tea steeper and dropped it into my favorite mug, which read “I know I look Familiar...I just have one of those faces.”

  The mug always made me smile.

  The teapot started to sing. I grabbed my mug and turned just as a frigid blast of air swept past. I sucked air and stilled, the mug crashing to the floor and shattering.

  A rotting stench rose up on the breeze, sifting foulness through my hair.

  The teapot screamed into the room and evil caressed me. I fought the urge to run, knowing I could never outrun it. Instead I closed my eyes and reached for my power, feeling it already surging toward the surface of my skin. When I grabbed the hungry threads it burst, flashing like fire into the air.

  My energy met the evil force and, for the briefest flare of time, I thought I could extinguish the assault. But the force invading my home was strong and savvy. It easily beat back my power. The horrible stench of brutal death assailed my nostrils, making me want to retch. I lifted a hand and began weaving magic on the air before my face, buying myself some space as the soothing scent of lavender infused my air.

  The wind roared past, shoving my hair around my head so violently it hurt when it whipped against my skin. The floor beneath my feet trembled. Dishes fell from open shelves. My spell jars vibrated against the counter, some of them rattling right off to burst into shards against the floor.

  I gritted my teeth and held onto my power, coating myself with it like an energy binkie as the evil force inside my home railed against me.

  The energy was more than evil. It was angry. As if it knew what I was planning to do.

  A renewed gust sent me stumbling back. I lifted off the ground and hit the front of my refrigerator, hanging there like a bug on a pin. I’d never felt anything like the force that pinned me there. I was all but helpless against it. And I knew that my feeble energy wouldn’t be able to hold it off for much longer.

  Once it got inside my barrier...

  Something slammed in the direction of my front door and a deep voice called my name.

  The energy assailing me eased a bit, seeming to redirect toward the front of the house.

  “LA!” The voice was barely audible beneath the roar of the wind but I recognized it. Just as I somehow recognized the energy that surged toward me, slicing through the manic evil infusing my kitchen. I forced the fingers of one hand off the surface of the refrigerator, screaming with the effort it took to peel just that small part of myself free.

  The borrowed energy fought to reach me, surging closer and carving off a chunk off the evil between us in the effort.

  The invading force roared, its voice a putrid gale, and I got the sense it was coiling for a renewed attack.

  But Deg had bought me time. With another scream, I yanked my arm free and grabbed for his energy, feeling it hit my system like a blast of fire. The power cut its way toward mine, heading for my magical core. I realized in a moment of sheer panic what it was going to do.

  I screamed again, clamping down on the invading magic in an effort to stop it from reaching the center of my power. But it was unstoppable. The signature of Deg’s power was a perfect complement to mine...a yin to my yang...and it found its way to my well of energy unerringly, cutting through me like a laser knife and hitting my power in a burst of light that stunned and blinded me.

  I plunged away from the surface of the refrigerator as the room erupted in white light, the darkness driven back and away. A deep-throated scream rose in the distance. My eyes were closed but I felt Deg go down. I felt his confusion...his fear as our energies roiled together into a single, terrifying force.

  My muscles gave out and my face hit the floor, hard. I realized my eyes were open but I saw only white light, with silver swirls making the illumination come alive.

  On some level I understood that the evil force was gone. But it no longer mattered. Because I had a new problem to address. And it was a life changing one.

  In my panic, without even considering the consequences, I’d accepted the magical energy of a Witch I barely knew.

  And somehow that energy had merged completely with mine.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  MY EARS WERE RINGING. My legs and arms were too heavy to lift off the floor. And a sharp pain had moved in between my ears. The pain sliced through me in time to my heartbeat, which was much slower than it should have been...given the current circumstances.

  There was a sound like somebody pounding on the bottom of a boat. For a beat I wondered if I were underwater and just hadn’t realized it yet. I took a careful breath, expecting water to flood my lungs as I did. But only air slipped through my nostrils.

  Along with the stench of burnt amber.

  The pounding sounds started up again. I focused on the noise, felt myself frowning as my mind just couldn’t identify its origin.

  I needed to open my eyes and look around. But they felt as if they were glued shut.

  Something moved nearby and the heartbeat in my brain kicked up, sending shards of pain shooting through my poor skull at a rapid rate.

  My hands twitched on the floor as my mind formed the thought that I should move. I was in danger and helpless on the floor.

  Something touched my arm. I twitched away and forced myself to focus on the pounding, struggling to shape the noise into something I could understand. Slowly, the sound took a familiar form in my mind. The tones formed into words and my heart slowed.

  I eased out a sigh as the pain slowed with it.

  “LA? Talk to me, LeeAnn!”

  I twitched with outrage and my lips moved without conscious thought. “Don’t call me that.”

  A husky chuckle. “Well, at least I got you to respond.” Hands smoothed over my cheek, pushing the weight of my hair away, which I realized in that moment had been splayed across my face. “Can you stand?”

  I groaned softly. “I can’t even open my eyes.”

  “I can infuse you with healing energy...”

  “Don’t!” I pushed against the floor, struggling against the glue holding my lids closed. Terror gave me strength and I was suddenly upright. “I’ve had quite enough of your magic for today.”

  Strong hands grasped my arms as I wobbled and I shrugged them off. I opened my eyes and focused on the man-shaped blur in front
of me.

  Too close. Way too damn close.

  As my vision cleared I saw the hurt in his sexy silver gaze and felt a moment’s guilt. “Look,” I swept hair out of my face with a shaking hand and licked impossibly dry lips, “I appreciate your help. But something happened when you sent me your energy. Something I didn’t like at all.”

  He frowned, his jaw tightening. “Yeah, sorry about that. I’d meant to give you time to adjust to the idea.”

  Anger pushed the last of the fog from my brain. I shoved to my feet, grabbing the edge of the counter when the world spun. “There will be no adjusting. Ever. I have no intention of tying myself to anyone. Magically or otherwise. I have my own powers. I have no desire to become someone else’s sidekick.”

  His frown deepened. “Look, I get it...”

  “Do you?” I moved away from him, bending carefully to pick up a large piece of glass. Dizziness swept through me and my mouth watered under a wave of nausea. Whatever he’d done to me had really kicked my butt. Fighting through it, I flung the glass into the trash and bent to pick up more. Tears filled my eyes as I took in the destruction in my pretty kitchen. Whatever had invaded had been the most powerful thing I’d encountered in years. Maybe ever.

  “LA?”

  “What!?” I spun angrily, my fists clenching. I was perfectly willing to battle for my independence. I’d always had to fight for it. I was used to combat.

  Deg smiled, his eyes wary. “Do you have a broom?”

  All the anger leached out of me and I deflated, feeling foolish and mean spirited. “Yeah, sorry. In the hall closet.”

  He nodded and turned away.

  “But you don’t have to help...”

  “I’d like to. If you don’t mind.”

  I watched him walk into the hallway, noting his careful movements and obvious stiffness. Clearly he was still recovering from whatever it was we’d shared. I was an ass. He’d most likely saved my life and obviously taken a physical hit as well, and all I’d done was yell at him. I dropped several more pieces of glass into the trash can, my shoes crunching on the debris spread over nearly the entire surface of my floor.

  I needed to apologize for my harsh words. But I wasn’t sure I could. If I was honest with myself the experience had terrified me. After all these years fighting to stay separate...apart from the world that many saw as my destiny...it might have all been wrenched away in a single, unguarded moment.

  “I have one just like this.”

  I swung around and met his gaze, my lips curving in unspoken apology. “I suppose you use yours as transportation though.”

  He laughed. “Not a chance. Have you ever sat on a broom? They’re dang uncomfortable.”

  I couldn’t help grinning. “Like wearing a toothpick thong.”

  He laughed aloud and I felt better. The tension in the room slid away. We worked in companionable silence for a few minutes.

  He emptied the dustpan into the trash and looked up. “What was that thing?”

  I shrugged. “I wish I knew.”

  “Has it attacked you before?”

  I shook my head, biting the inside of my lip as I struggled with how much I should tell him.

  “Any idea why it came today?”

  He was standing beside the trash can, my broom clutched in his hand, watching me with an intense gaze. I got the feeling he already knew the answer to his question. So I decided I might as well fess up. It was possible he would become a target after helping me. I wanted him to know what he was up against.

  “I was prepping to do something and I think that was an attempt to stop me.”

  “What were you prepping to do?”

  I shook my head. “That’s something I’m not ready to share.”

  He nodded, looking down at the floor. After a moment he looked back up. “I’m sorry to pry. But can I give you a piece of advice?”

  I frowned. “I guess. As long as you don’t expect me to take it.”

  “After spending time with you today I don’t have any expectations of that.”

  I wasn’t sure if he was giving me a shot or trying to reassure me. I decided, for the sake of what might be a new friendship, to give him the benefit of the doubt. “Okay, then hit me.”

  “I’ve been a practicing Witch for a long time. I performed my first spell at five years old.”

  My eyebrows rose at that. “Five?”

  He grinned. “I found a kitten on the street and my mom hates cats. She was allergic to them. So I magicked the cat to look like a stuffed toy whenever she was around.”

  I grinned. He couldn’t have said anything that would have endeared him to me more. “Did it work?”

  He nodded. “Until she started sneezing whenever she was around Demon. Then she wanted to throw him out and I had to fess up.”

  “Oh no...wait...you named a kitten Demon?”

  “I did.” Deg laughed. “He was pitch black with bright yellow eyes. And he was a whirlwind, always getting into things. Trust me, it was a perfect name for him.”

  “So what happened to Demon?”

  “My aunt took him. She loved cats and she was thrilled to have him. Turned out Demon was a really good Familiar.”

  My smile dimmed. “Oh, he really was a Demon then?”

  “He was. I didn’t know it at the time. I was only five after all.”

  Something in the way he said it made me laugh, despite the discomfort the subject gave me. “How did your mom take it?”

  Deg shrugged. “She wasn’t magical. She never knew about any of it. I gave my ‘toy’ to Aunt Maggie and she promised to keep my secret.”

  “You were pretty precocious as a five year old, weren’t you?”

  From the glint in his silver gaze I figured that five year old was still inside him. “I might have been slightly advanced for my age. Magically that is.”

  And devious too, I thought. But probably adorable. “I feel for your poor mother.”

  “Oh don’t worry about her. She didn’t give me the magic side, but the devious side was all her.”

  I burst out laughing and I suddenly realized that, despite my fear and the strange magical pull between us, I could grow to like my new neighbor. Though I had no intention of giving him any power over me.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  LATER THAT NIGHT, AS I was mixing up a special meal for my growing kittens, the home improvement show I was watching blipped and an unwanted voice called my name. My fingers slipped on the knife I was using and I sliced a half inch cut into my finger.

  “Ouch! Dangit!” I turned to glare at Brock, whose handsome face filled the TV screen. “A little warning would be nice, Demon.”

  My first inclination that there was trouble was the fact that Brock didn’t give me a cocky retort. “LA, you need to come downtown right now.”

  I shook my head. “I’m busy. I can’t just drop...”

  The picture changed to show me a tall building with a charred, smoking hole in the side, encompassing the top floors. The knife clattered to the floor, barely missing my feet, and my pulse exploded. “Tell me they’re okay.”

  Brock came back onscreen, his sexy gaze tight with something that looked suspiciously like fear. That alone made my stomach roil. “They’re...” He swallowed hard and I took a step back, as if moving farther away from the image of smoke billowing out of a gaping hole in my Grandmother’s signature achievement would make the horror less real.

  “We just don’t know.”

  Blood painted crimson drops on the floor, tearing me back to reality and into action. I grabbed a paper towel, wrapping it tightly around the wound. “Nobody’s been inside?”

  “Yes, but they’re not there.”

  A thin ribbon of relief swept through me. “You didn’t find bodies?”

  He frowned. “Not theirs, no.”

  His words ripped my relief away with brutal efficiency. My mother and grandmother weren’t the only ones in that building. Guilt rose like bile into my throat, making it hard to breath
. “How many?”

  Brock just shook his head, his expression grim. “We need you here, LA. These are your people.”

  His words made me gasp, so close to those spoken mere hours earlier by my Grandmama. Words I’d thrown angrily back at her. My lip quivered but I resisted the pain, the fear. There was no time to be weak. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  Brock nodded and, without another word, blipped away, bringing back a pretty farmhouse with whitewashed oak floors and granite countertops in a decorator kitchen. I barely noticed. I was grabbing my purse and heading out the door.

  As I yanked on the driver’s side door to my tiny car footsteps pounded up the sidewalk toward me. I barely glanced up. I didn’t need to. I somehow knew it was him.

  Deg grabbed the passenger side door and climbed into my car. The fading sun found his dark hair and painted it in gold as I slipped behind the wheel and inserted my key. The world blurred for a moment as I fought tears.

  A warm hand found my thigh, squeezing gently. “We’re going to find them, LA. And they’re going to be fine.”

  I didn’t question how he knew. I didn’t even try to send him away. I was weak...terrified...and despite the bitter knowledge that I shouldn’t need anyone else’s help or support...I was extremely grateful he was there. “Thank you.” I lifted my watery gaze. “Again.”

  He merely shrugged and turned to look out the windshield as I revved the engine and hit the gas, sending us rocketing toward the possible end of my entire world.

  I WASN’T SURE AT FIRST what I was looking at. Or who. I flinched, realizing it would be so easy to reduce the carnage to things...to ease the horror with distance. But the outrage would give me strength. It would enhance my efforts and bring the monster who’d caused such appalling misery more quickly into my sights.