She lifted her hand, eyes still closed, and tentatively touched a spot where she knew one of the threads laid. The magic was warm at first but quickly became too hot to touch. She yanked her hand away with a pained hiss, sucking on the burned finger.
The house groaned in alarm. The curtains fluttered behind her and the light fixture overhead began to sway. It was then that she realized that she could see everything around her. She could even see herself.
“Shhh, it’s okay. You didn’t mean to hurt me,” she whispered, trying to soothe the agitated house.
It seemed to huff at her as it curled around her once again. Emotions that weren’t her own bounced through her. Worry, shame, fear…and hope.
She smiled and did her best to send back contentment, curiosity, and forgiveness. The trembling of the room stopped and she was filled with warmth.
Another image appeared in her mind. It didn’t change abruptly this time, instead, it slowly came into focus, showing her Derek standing in front of the kitchen counter. She nudged it and found she was able to move slightly to see better. He was stirring honey into a mug of tea.
She almost jumped when he picked it up and turned around, then laughed to herself. He couldn’t see her. She pressed her hand into the floor by her foot to ground herself. Despite what she could see, she hadn’t moved. The house was simply showing her what it could see.
Instead of walking upstairs to his room, Derek headed out of the kitchen and down the hall that led to her and Amber’s rooms. She expected him to knock on his sister’s door, but he passed it up, and stopped in front of hers.
That was surprising. Though…perhaps it shouldn’t be. She thought he’d been flirting most of the day, but she never liked to assume that sort of thing. She was a very friendly person, and he was new to the house.
Derek lifted his hand, then hesitated and turned around, walking away. Then he stopped and shook his head and walked back to her door once again. He squared his shoulders and knocked lightly.
She grinned to herself. He was nervous. He seemed so confident in all their other interactions, it was endearing to see him fretting about bringing her a cup of tea. It also made it clear that he was wooing her. While flattering, her stomach twisted with misgivings.
This was Amber’s brother, and someone that now lived with the pack. They could date, but if either of them broke it off, it could get very awkward. She wasn’t one for casual relationships either. She knew she always fell in love first, and way too fast. She’d never understood how people held their hearts back.
With a sigh, she released her connection to the house and stood. Derek knocked again, a little quieter this time. She hurried toward the door, pausing to take a breath before she cracked it open.
“Derek?” she asked in fake surprise, not wanting him to know she’d been spying on him.
He lifted the steaming mug of tea. It smelled like lavender and chamomile. “You said you’d been having trouble sleeping,” he said. His smile drooped. “Aw hell, I didn’t wake you, did I?”
She shook her head and opened the door wider. “No, you didn’t. I was researching something.”
“Oh, okay, that’s good.” He extended the cup of tea toward her. “I’ve heard this tea stuff can help you sleep, and you mentioned you’d been having some insomnia lately. I thought this might help.”
She accepted the cup with a smile. “Thank you, it smells wonderful. And I love honey in my tea.”
“How’d you know there’s honey?” he asked, confused.
“Oh, I can smell it,” she said, swallowing nervously. She wasn’t quite ready to let anyone know the house let her spy on them. That was a conversation to have with Amber first, anyhow. She blew gently on the tea, then took a sip. Her eyes fell shut. He’d put in just the right amount of honey. “That’s perfect.”
Derek cleared his throat and rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “That’s great,” he said in a slightly strangled tone. “Glad you like it.”
“Stop flirting in the hallway. It’s gross!” Amber whisper-shouted through her closed door, sounding like they’d woken her up.
Derek turned bright red and took a step back. “Hope it helps you sleep.”
Ceri grinned at him. “Thanks for thinking of me.”
That got his smile back. He glanced at Amber’s door and mimed zipping his lips shut, then winked at her, and walked away.
She stayed standing in her doorway for a moment, sipping the tea, and chastising herself for flirting back. The tea was really good though.
Chapter 6
AMBER
Amber hopped down from her truck and looked at the rundown warehouse in front of them. The windows were broken with old, dusty glass still clinging to the weathered frames. It was made of brick but looked like a stiff wind might blow it over. On the side of the dilapidated building was an overhead door that was so badly rusted there were holes in it. “Derek, are we about to get murdered by a man wearing a mask made of someone else’s face and wielding a chainsaw?”
“Nah, I’m getting more undead-welder-with-a-grudge vibes from this place. So, a blowtorch maybe?” he suggested with a shrug of his shoulders.
She rolled her eyes. “Who are we supposed to be meeting here?”
The door the warehouse opened and she flinched slightly. Derek snorted in amusement and shook his head, walking over to meet the guy heading toward them.
The guy didn’t look like a serial killer. In fact, he looked like an old hippie. He had on cut-off jean shorts that showed an awful lot of thigh for an old man. He’d topped that with a tie-dyed shirt and a vest made of some kind of weird, faux-leather looking material.
“Good to meet you in person, Mr. Suthersby,” Derek said, greeting him with a handshake.
“You too, my friend, but call me Bernard. We’re all brothers on this great, green ball of life,” he said, dragging Derek into a brief hug. Her brother grimaced and patted his shoulder awkwardly, pulling away as soon as he could.
Amber hid a smile behind her hand. Derek was getting ambushed by a lot of hugs recently. Served him right for bringing her to this creepy place. When he’d said he had a potential shop already lined up, she’d imagined something nicer. Something useable. This place would take weeks of work just to clean up, much less to get it ready for customers. Her savings account was dwindling fast just trying to keep everyone fed. Genevieve had insisted on covering things while she was gone, but it frustrated her to not be able to provide for her pack, or at least contribute more.
“Is this your sister?” Bernard asked, turning his attention to Amber.
“I am,” she said, walking forward and shaking his hand as well. Instead of letting go, he wrapped both his hands around her and looked deep into her eyes.
“You’re a werewolf,” he stated. It wasn’t a question, she could tell he was absolutely sure of it.
She inhaled carefully, but her first impression was right, he was human. She glanced at Derek, but he shook his head. He hadn’t told Bernard. “Yeah. Is that a problem?” she asked, already feeling herself stiffen. If he was going to reject them because of what she was, then she wanted to know right now. “I’m bitten, too.”
He smiled gently and patted her cheek. “Thought so. Mother Earth has blessed you with her magic, what is there to have a problem with?”
She raised a brow. “Everybody else seems to come up with a list of concerns.”
He waved his hand at her and shook his head. “Ignorance leads to anger, which leads to hate. They need to smoke a little weed and meditate. Can’t force a person to choose happiness though.”
Well, this guy was nuts, but at least he wasn’t a bigoted asshole. She managed to extract her hand from his and nodded. “You sure can’t.”
“Now,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “I’m sure you’d like a tour. I know she looks rough on the outside, but my inspector promised she’s safe to enter.”
Amber groaned internally. ‘Safe to enter’ was a very low bar. D
erek happily followed Bernard to the front door though, no hint of concern on his features. Maybe Ceri was right and she did worry too much.
She began to follow them, but her phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, she saw it was Shane, the werewolf contact who’d helped her through the alpha trials, and quickly answered it.
“Alpha Hale,” she answered with a smirk.
Shane chuckled. “Like the way it sounds?”
“Yeah, actually, I do,” she said, unable to keep a smile from forming on her face.
“You might like it a little less after your first council meeting.”
She groaned internally. Jameson, Shane’s alpha, had originally planned on getting her up to date before she left on her trip, but ended up postponing it, though he wouldn’t say why. “Is it going to be that bad? I’m not going to have to fight a bear again, am I?”
“Nah, nothing that easy. You instead get to learn about all your new responsibilities. I’ll be picking you up at six a.m., by the way.”
“No one should ever have to be awake that early,” she muttered. “I hate Donovan. Have I mentioned that recently?”
He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “About Donovan…”
“What?” she prompted when he didn’t continue.
“He disappeared from the cell the council was holding him in, then turned up dead a couple of days ago. Well, his head turned up. The police haven’t found the rest of him.”
She froze, her heart hammering in her chest. “What? Who killed him?”
“They don’t know. I think you should expect a visit from the police soon, though. Your issues with him were pretty well-known. Honestly, he’s lucky he got off with decapitation. His punishment was going to be way worse.”
“Shit,” she said, beginning to pace. She had an air-tight alibi, but Donovan’s murder couldn’t be good news. She wasn’t exactly sad to see him go, but she had a bad feeling about this. Her wolf growled in agreement.
“Yeah, that’s one word for it,” Shane agreed.
“What about Peter, the werewolf that turned us? Any sign of him yet?” she asked.
“No, we never did find him,” Shane said. “Look, I can’t discuss this any further over the phone, but Jameson will tell you more tomorrow. Just be ready to go at six a.m. sharp.”
“Alright.”
“Talk to you soon,” he said before ending the call.
She dropped her hand to her side and rubbed her hand against the demon mark. It was aching again, as if it was responding to her emotions. She was going to have to get the pack together this evening and let them know what had happened.
“Amber!” Derek shouted from the doorway of the warehouse. “Get in here and check it out. This place is awesome!”
She mentally shook off the worry and jogged toward her brother. “I’m coming, don’t get your panties in a twist.”
One hour, two hugs, and three large rats later they were heading out. Derek was thrilled with the warehouse. All she could see was the mess, but her brother was more of a visionary like Dylan had been. They saw the potential in broken things, and had the patience to try and fix them.
“Replacing the door will be the biggest expense,” Derek said, scrolling through a web page on his phone. “Other than tools, obviously.”
“A month ago, I’d have been able to offer a little more help with all that,” she said, her hands tightening on the steering wheel.
“Don’t worry about it, you’re going to be free labor until we start earning enough to cover all the expenses. That’s gonna save me a ton of money,” he said, waving her misgivings away.
“Well, now I feel taken advantage of,” she said, grinning at him.
“Tommy said he wanted to help, too. I’ll work out a way to get him a little cash.”
“Just make sure he always has time to study. He’s trying to get his GED soon.”
“Did he not finish high school?” Derek asked, looking up from his phone in confusion.
She shook her head. “Ran away from home when he was sixteen and dropped out of school.”
“Damn, you really did find yourself a weird little pack.”
“It wasn’t his fault,” she said, frowning at him. She didn’t like him calling her pack weird, even though it was. They might be an odd group, but they’d managed to accomplish a lot.
“I didn’t mean that in a bad way,” he said, nudging her shoulder.
They fell silent for a few minutes as they drove; Derek lost in his research, and Amber lost in her thoughts. The song on the radio ended and the DJ’s started talking about the new spots that had popped up where magic didn’t work. Apparently, they were blaming overuse of magic now. She rolled her eyes and changed the channel. There was always a new conspiracy theory about what had caused it, but the truth was no one knew.
Her phone buzzed and she glanced at the screen. It was a short text from Ceri. She’d figured out something weird but cool about the house that she wanted to show her later. That reminded Amber of last night.
She turned back to Derek and narrowed her eyes at him. “What exactly are your intentions with Ceri?”
He looked up slowly. “That was out of nowhere.”
“Answer the question, buster. All I remember from high school is that you brought a new girl home every week,” she said accusingly.
“Geez, I’d forgotten how protective you were,” he muttered. “It’s been six years, and I’ve grown as a person, thank you very much. I’m not planning our wedding or anything, but I like her. She’s all bohemian and cool, not to mention really nice. I don’t know, I just couldn’t help but flirt, and maybe I do want to date her. Or something.”
Amber sighed at him. “Or something? That’s the best you’ve got?”
“I’m being honest here. Do you want me to lie to make you feel better?”
“No, just don’t screw her over, alright? She’s in my pack, and I won’t ask her to leave if you hurt her and make things awkward.”
Derek looked offended at that. “Why do you assume I’d be the one to screw it up?”
She rolled her eyes. “You’ve met Ceri, I don’t think she’s capable of hurting anyone. For any reason.”
He crossed his arms, still looking annoyed. “I’m not planning on screwing things up. Don’t go all mama bear on me over it.”
She knew she was being slightly overprotective. They were both adults after all, but all her instincts were going haywire over it. Learning that Donovan was dead was only making it worse.
“If she breaks your heart, I’ll…ground her or something,” she said finally, winking at her brother.
He snorted. “Thanks, that’ll really show her.”
“Bros over hoes.”
He busted out laughing. “Your jokes are so bad, they’re almost funny.”
She reached over and punched him in the arm. “I’m hilarious. You’re just jealous I’m the funniest one in the family.”
“Oh please. Everyone knows I’m the funny one. You’re the grumpy one.”
Chapter 7
TOMMY
Tommy was bored. Amber and Derek were off looking at a place for their mechanic shop, Ceri was napping with Woggy, and Genevieve was working. He wasn’t sleepy, but he definitely wasn’t interested in studying anymore.
He rummaged through the refrigerator until he found stuff to make a sandwich and slapped a couple together. He scarfed down the first one standing there but took the second with him. The estate was huge and he hadn’t explored any of it yet. When Amber had been preparing to take the Trials, they were all he could think about. Now, he was curious.
He left out the back door and wandered in the direction of the main house. There was no way he was going inside Thallan’s creepy, old mansion, but there was no harm in checking out the gardens around it.
The garden by their guest house was decently well-maintained, if a little overgrown, but the closer you got to the main house, the worse shape everything was in. It was like the place was curse
d and slowly killing everything around it.
He headed toward the back of the mansion, chewing as he looked around. There were remnants of wooden archways and a crumbling stone path. A big willow tree drooped over a scummy pond that was only half full. The narrow stream that used to feed it was dry. Weeds grew up through the cracks now. This place was probably really pretty once. It smelled weird around here, too. It wasn’t exactly bad, but it definitely wasn’t good. He sniffed the air, trying to parse it and got some combination of wet dirt, cut grass, and old fish.
He wondered what had made Thallan hate it so much that he’d let the place rot. The only thing elves loved more than themselves was nature. Their gardens were usually a little wild, but this was just…in ruins.
Shoving the rest of the sandwich in his mouth, he ducked under the drooping branch of an old tree and rounded a curve in the pathway. He caught a glimpse of a pixie in the shrub next to him and walked a few paces forward to try and get a better look. He needed to figure out a way to run them off, or gain their trust, so they didn’t hurt Woggy.
“I was promised you wouldn’t come snooping around the house,” a gruff voice said from right behind him.
He jumped, not having seen Thallan when he was walking up. The creepy elf was sitting on a stone bench that was half covered in vines. He should have smelled the elf, but the scent of cigarettes wasn’t noticeable until after Thallan had spoken.
“I’m just looking around. I didn’t go in your house,” Tommy said, backing up a step.
Thallan exhaled smoke through his nose and turned his eyes back to the overgrown rose bush in front of him. “Don’t come lurking through my gardens either. You and your pack get the guest house, and the lands. But not this. That was the deal.”
“Got it. Sorry.” Tommy turned to go back the way he’d come.
“Has Amber been acting odd in any way since she got back?” Thallan asked before he’d even taken a step.
Misfit Angel Page 3
