by Candra Kylar
“Happy birthday, Abbie! I didn’t get you a present but you can have one of my cigarettes”, he grinned, “or a shot of whiskey from yours truly. At eighteen, I can be king of the liquor world.”
“Ethan still has another month before he catches up. I hope you’re not introducing him into any of your bad habits”, I lectured.
He gave me that lopsided grin, “He’s been working overtime to get me to quit smoking. I’d do anything for him so I’m taking it slow now. My mom’s pretty relieved.”
“She didn’t want you to turn to stealing cars or polluting your lungs at an early age”, I jabbed him in the chest, “and she’s right. Your mother loves you. Ethan loves you. They’re both coming from a good place.”
“It’s not their responsibility. I’ll be the man of the house and that’s on my shoulders.”
I noticed the strain in his voice as he said it, even with the music thrumming and hundreds of people around us. He was getting nervous about his new role as a mated werewolf. I didn’t know much about a bond, as Braeden had never had one with me, but it came with a lot of extra things. Liam had put the burden of responsibility on himself. I knew what that was like and it wasn’t easy. I promised myself to take Liam to lunch sometime soon and let him vent. He probably didn’t want to go to his alpha to do it. Braeden wasn’t know for being much of a shoulder in that respect. He’d most likely growl and get uncomfortable.
“Livia had the Portal Dust and I need to tell Elizar about it.”
Liam scanned the crowd, “Let’s get you near his office. People move out of the way with a wolf on the prowl.”
“Two wolves”, I pointed out, “just because I don’t shift as much as you, doesn’t mean that I can’t outrun you in a busy club.”
“In those shoes? Damn, that’s impressive.”
I shared a laugh with him as we approached the stairway that would lead to Elizar’s office. Livia was in there right now getting the third degree and I had evidence that would at least ban her from the club. Without a prime location to peddle the wares, I hoped she would stop messing around with the synthetic drug and make some new friends. I didn’t know who Talan was, outside of his swoon effect for the other teen vamps and his personal lack of tasteful style, but it was a name to check up on. He could be the ring leader. I didn’t know if Livia’s friend had been caught but quickly took note of her physical description. I would be the adult in this situation and help stop this mess before it got out of control.
Elizar’s office was in sight when my heightened nose picked up on the scent of burning wood. Cherry wood. The kind that lined the mirrors and counters of the bathrooms at Haze. Liam must have picked up on it too because he became rigid. His nostrils flared and we both exchanged a glance. I nodded and made my way to one of the fire alarms. As I pushed down on it, a small spray of dye covered my dress. I would be marked as the one who hit the alarm. The music stopped, the lights came on, and then there was fire. Searing, roaring fire from the ladies’ bathroom where I had emerged just moments before. People started to panic and run towards the exit.
Liam used his muscle to maintain an orderly exit out of the door while another bouncer ran to the bathroom to put the fire out. I followed suit, my wand left at home but a simple dampening spell etched into my mind. I remembered the words as my fingers weaved the runes in the air toward the blazing bathroom. The invisible field came up and ebbed the flames from moving farther. The sprinklers came on, another bounced joined with a hydrant, and the fire had subsided. The bathroom was in ruins but the fire hadn’t spread. A strong hand pulled me away from the vicinity and blocked me from the trails of smoke that fanned out. It was Elizar. Concern and anger laced his features.
“What the fuck were you thinking running toward a fire like that?”, he asked me in visible displeasure.
“In case you didn’t notice, I was putting a dampening field up so it didn’t spread towards your bar”, I waved my hand toward the furniture, “or spread anywhere else. It could ruin everything!”
“Your life is worth more than this club”, he seethed.
I put my hands on my hips, “Well I didn’t die. I don’t even have a burn on me. Your bouncers got to work putting it out.”
“And what if they didn’t and your dampening field somehow failed? You’ve been known to have spell misfires when you get emotional.”
I narrowed my eyes, “What is this really about, El?”
“It’s about keeping you safe”, he replied with that anger still in his voice, “and how frustrating it can be since you’re so bent on being reckless.”
“You’re one to lecture about recklessness.”
He had a response on the tip of his tongue but thought better of it. He took in a deep breath, pinched the bridge of his nose, and visibly settled. Liam came back to us to report that everyone had exited the club safely and no one had been hurt. The other two bouncers scanned the burned bathroom to make sure no one was inside. It had been a quick response that thankfully saved the club and, if I were being honest, felt intentional. Livia was in Elizar’s office getting questioned and there was evidence on the table that she was a drug dealer. Her friend had slipped away and most likely started the fire. Elizar needed those details. We had enough to discuss without getting into an argument. I didn’t want to deal with his over protective nature at the moment. I just wanted to lay out what I knew, go home to change, and forget that it was my birthday. My cursed birthday that ended in a fire.
Elizar noticed my dress and looked even more disappointed. I hugged his jacket closer to my shoulders to keep warm. With the front entrance open, it had started to become cold. He softened at my shiver and brought me into his arms. I didn’t protest. I knew that his anger came from the right place but I just couldn’t justify it. I wasn’t worth that kind of worry, that level of care, when I had survived so long without it. He was setting me up for something that would only end in more disappointment. Either way, I pressed my head to his chest and breathed in his wonderful scent. I could forget about practicality when he held me like that. He quietly issued orders to his staff as he held me, multitasking like the true business genius he was. Nothing ever wrecked his composure fully.
“How about I make up the guest room at my place and you can take one of those long, hot baths to get rid of that dye all over your skin?”, he offered.
I agreed too easily, “So long as you don’t try to seduce me, Elizar Andros.”
He chuckled, “I’ll be here most the night assessing the damages. I don’t think I’ll be seeing a bed at all tonight.”
I looked up from my safety in his arms, “I could stay with you. Livia and her buddy had the Portal Dust in their possession. They were going to deal it. She’s part of some new vamp group now and broke away from Lysander. I can give you the details of her friend, even a name of another cohort.”
“Let’s put that aside for now. I’ll need the firefighters here and my insurance broker. I can put a pause on the whole drug tracking until this is settled.”
I sighed, “Don’t work yourself to the bone like this, El. You’re human and need your sleep. You need to eat and could use a hot bath yourself.”
That roguish grin crossed his face, “Does that mean you’re sharing the bath?”
“Not on your life.”
“But maybe on your second one”, he winked.
That was us in summary. Able to go from an argument to this pure, raw emotion. It should have frightened me that Elizar synced so perfectly with my feelings. That he had changed his life and his goals in the year that I had truly gotten to know him. He was no longer the playboy business mogul who dealt in shady chrono magic to exclusive clients. He had gone legitimate, taken his investments and put them toward two solid business models that gave him even more success. I was proud of the man he had become before my very eyes and knew that Cecilia, wherever she was now, had been stupid not to beg for him back. In a way, I was happy that she didn’t. I’m not sure how I would feel if another wit
ch suddenly came into his life. Deep down inside, I knew that was a lie. I knew exactly how I would feel.
Elizar gave me the key to his place and he made me promise that I would help myself to anything that I needed at his place. My apartment was fine but it was quiet and it had been a rough night. His bracelet jingled on my wrist as I got into my car. Another constant reminder of the warlock who had given so much of himself for me. I took a detour from his place to see Dimples, needing to at least talk with her, hoping she would shed some insight on what I was feeling. For a sentient garden gnome, she really knew how to put things bluntly. No sweet gardens and perky musings. Dimples would lay it out for me, stone finger wagging, and I would come to my senses. She was my best friend and no one knew me better.
I headed up the stairs to the small cottage she lived in on top of the used bookstore our mutual friend Frankie owned. The lights were out and I found it strange that she wasn’t at home. I left a small token of my affection, a little glass swan I had found at a country store recently with my mother, one of the knick knacks she liked to collect. It had been in my clutch the entire time at the club and I had hoped to give it to her when she arrived for my birthday. Dimples had forgotten about me. She hadn’t called and she spent most of her time locked away in study. Not even Ethan, a happy go lucky companion to her studies, had spent time with her. Something was wrong and I wanted to get to the bottom of it.
I knocked gently on her cottage door and positioned the swan so it would be right at her doorstep when she answered. Nothing. The air had become colder and Frankie had closed up the shop hours ago. I would just have to seek her out after my dinner with Braeden’s pack tomorrow. If she didn’t show up for that with Frankie, as they were always invited to the weekly dinners, then I would really start to get worried. Dimples never missed a chance to hang out with Braeden. The two had been friends longer than I had known her. They had their own bond of kinship, of being outsiders reluctant to join the mainstream, that always vibed differently than what I had with her. I was the girl who was loud and proud. She was still the garden gnome who took charge and then hid away when it was all over. We needed to break that pattern. The world should see the loud and sassy Dimples that I treasured so very much.
Back at Elizar’s house, I drew a hot bath and added some of the expensive oils to the water. My dress was ruined and it went right into the trash. Elizar probably had something around the place that I could wear. I dipped into the water and let my mind run its railway course of problem assessments. Drugs were being trafficked inside of Haze and it could incriminate more than one of my friends if the authorities caught wind of it first. Livia was lost to a teenage gang of vampires that were bringing out the worst in her yet again. Dimples was closing off the world around her. My mother and sister were about to unleash the full throttle of my father’s wrath. Then there was me.
I dipped under the water and emerged again, the act being so ritualistic at that point, so clarifying. There was me. My feelings could be identified even without the advice of my best friend. Braeden and I had broken up months ago and we had remained friends. There was no chance the two of us would get back together. Then why did I feel so guilty? Something else was there, behind it all, a veil that I couldn’t pierce. Elizar was so right in so many ways...and then there was me. Was I the one bringing the curse of my life onto others? Lost in my own bounty of feelings, I missed the moment when Dimples could have been making her way to see me, excited about celebrating my birthday. From the shadows, did someone hunt her as prey and sweep her away to somewhere unknown? I didn’t know the answer. Without a clue, without a trace, Dimples could be gone forever.
Two
Creeping out of Elizar’s house in the morning when things didn’t turn carnal was a strange experience. It wasn’t a walk of shame because that was all part of his past. Since we had become friends, Elizar spent his time focused on business and never went out on dates. His night life became lacking and several of his business associates would joke that the warlock just lost his touch. I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t argue. After all, I was the problematic witch that he kept rescuing but kept at arm’s length. We would talk about the possibility of something else but then jammed the pause button on it. Neither of us had time to plunge into a mistake that could make our friendship awkward. Braeden was a lesson enough in how hard that particular feeling hit.
I had taken it upon myself to not stay for breakfast and only briefly hugged Elizar as I left. He didn’t ask questions and had dark circles under his eyes. The life of a high profile business man in Crestwood had been taking its toll. I was happy enough that he refrained from drowning his stress in liquor or smoking. He had brushed off bad habits and tried to look ahead to the future. Still, I could see the burden this was having on him and wanted to reach out so he could tell me more. I wanted to be the kind of friend he could rely on instead of the unreliable witch that caused him so many problems. I brushed my fingers along his back in the dim light of the kitchen that morning. As always, he relaxed at the feeling of my fingertips and smiled.
“You didn’t get to bed yet”, I stated.
He shrugged with one shoulder, “Not in the cards. The insurance adjuster will be at Haze after lunch and I have to answer some questions with the local police.”
“I could run by and give them the rundown on the Portal Dust situation. Having a guarded eye on Livia and her friends wouldn’t hurt.”
“Already have an inside man working that angle”, he said tiredly.
“She won’t open up to Lysander like you think she will”, I slid in front of him, “and a nap wouldn’t hurt. You still have a few hours before lunch.”
“Will you be joining me?”, he asked with a smirk.
I leaned in and kissed the side of his jaw, “Not this time.”
Before I could make my dramatic exit, feelings of confusing bubbling up inside of me, he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me in for a kiss. A real kiss. The kind that came with all of the bells and whistles, the lingering brush of stubble against my skin, the taste of his lips on mine. It was the kind of kiss that would drag me right into bed with him because it weakened me so thoroughly. Elizar Andros knew his way around a body. His hands gripped me firmly and pulled me against him. I brushed away, broke his grasp, and took in a breath. I had too much to think about to rationalize it. He looked apologetic and I flashed him my own reassuring smile. One day, but not today.
I pulled into a parking spot outside of Frankie’s bookstore and realized that the entire drive had me thinking about that kiss. There was no way I would tell my favorite aging human who was already too focused on romance. She would only call my mother, the two had become friends, and it would be a gossip circle that I was the topic of. My mother wasn’t sure how she felt about Elizar as she had known his family from upscale caster galas. The Andros legacy came with its own reputation that their son marred in many ways. I spent far too much time convincing her that Elizar had done nothing but protect me. He was my knight in black leather with just the right words coming out of his mouth.
Frankie read my expression when I glided through her front door. She was family to Dimples and would already feel the strange loss of her. On her desk was a book that was thick, dusty, and well out of my price range. Frankie set her orange tabby down and ran over to me with a weakened shuffle. She was tired and the hours at the store were long. I had hoped that my mother would come to town and convince Frankie to relax but, thus far, the two women just socialized over tea. Holly Everlaine slowly lost her flock of spoiled house witches and had to readjust to a social life where she wasn’t openly admired. I knew enough about that to give her some pointer. Before I could ask about Dimples, Frankie was ready and filled me in.
“She always comes down to talk with me in the morning”, she explained with her hands waving animatedly, “and I haven’t seen hide nor tail of her. I consulted the tea leaves this morning and I didn’t get a thing. That doesn’t worry me generally, Dimples is something
other than human in origin so it’s possible that I couldn’t read her. Still...she’s never vanished like this. Do you expect foul play?”
“The only enemy she has right now is Cecilia and Dimples could definitely beat her up if push came to shove”, I said flatly.
Frankie gasped, “To think of her on her own having to fight like that! Can you use your wolf nose to track her scent?”
“She’s made of stone so I won’t get much of a trail.”
“Well there’s something else”, Frankie went over to the large book on her counter, “she made a special order a few weeks back and it finally came in. Pretty pricey but she didn’t care about the price. A weird selection. I couldn’t tell you what she hoped to find in this.”
I pulled the book over to me and huffed at its weight. Dimples would need Ethan or Braeden to carry it up the stairs for her. The pages were made out of a thick and heavy paper that was no longer used in modern print. Iverli had went the digital route and didn’t have much reverence for physical copies. I wondered how long Frankie would be able to keep up a steady business when everyone was modernizing and consolidating their archives. I resisted a cough as dust wafted up from the pages, filled with columns of small print and ghastly illustrations of monsters. The way they were penned made the mind wonder how dark the horrors unleashed by the Elder Fae had been. I skimmed the text and got my answers.
“This is an instructional book on monster hunting. Some would argue that it’s even fictional as all of the monsters included here are part of mythology”, I snapped a picture of a few with my phone, “some stick out. I’ve heard of things like minotaurs and basilisks. Others are outside of my fairy tale realm.”
“None of us were alive for the reign of the Elder Fae. What they could conjure from the depths of their dark magic is beyond our understanding”, Frankie said.
