A Warlock's Secrets

by Tena Stetler

  Saturday morning, he glanced at his watch, six-thirty, maybe a good time to catch her for breakfast. He shrugged into a shirt and slipped his feet into running shoes. It’s been a while since I’ve worn these. He grabbed his keys, set the security alarm, and closed the front door behind him.

  The sports car coasted to a stop in front of a cream-colored house with blue shutters and a nicely landscaped yard. The curtains were closed, no signs of life in the cottage. He rang the doorbell and smiled at the Irish jig it played. No one answered the door. This time, he knocked. Dropping his hand to his side, he felt her presence coming up the street, he turned a broad smile spreading across his face.

  Dressed in tight-fitting jogging attire, she skidded to a stop several yards from her porch and stared at him wide-eyed.

  Leaning his hip on the porch railing, he winked at her. “Guess it’s my turn to apologize for my rude behavior the other day.” He jerked a thumb toward his chest. “Not a morning person. I was hoping we could start over while I took you to breakfast. You haven’t eaten, have you?”

  “No—but you already made it quite clear… And how did you find where I lived.”

  On a laugh, he said, “Security specialist. Remember? Anyway, I’ve changed my mind, but if you’d rather not…” Tristian stopped himself right there. First instinct was to hurl a flip response and leave. In truth, he liked her spunk and wanted to get to know her better, despite his fear of getting too close. “Come on; give a guy a break.”

  Hesitantly she approached him. “You’re not some kind of cage fighter, are you?”

  For a couple beats he blinked at her incredulously, then with a bark of laughter, he scrubbed his hand over his face. “No. Where on earth did you get such an idea?”

  “The scars on your torso.”

  He nodded in understanding. “Security comes with risks.”

  “Yes, but…I think we’ll just leave things as they are. But thanks for the offer.”

  “Have it your way.” Temper flared; he turned and strode back to his car, yanked open the car door, then he glanced back. She was still standing on the porch. “You don’t know what you’re missing.” He sent her his best devastatingly smile, slid into the car, and waited.

  She stepped off the porch and walked toward the vehicle, then stopped.

  Encouraged, he rolled down the window. “Second thoughts?”

  She chewed on the side of her cheek. “Only if you quit being so secretive.”

  “It’s the nature of my business. If I told you what I do, I’d have to kill you, and that would defeat my purpose and intentions. You’ll just have to trust me on this.”

  Looking doubtful, she sucked in a long breath and blew it out slowly. “Okay. I’ve got to shower and change, so I’ll meet you at the diner in twenty minutes.”

  He considered offering to help her but thought better of it. “Fair enough.” He did a small fist pump inside the car out of sight. “I’ll see you in a few.” This dating shit is tougher than it looked. One night stands are so much easier, no entanglements.

  ****

  Taking his time, he drove the long way through town on the way to the diner. It had been a while since he cruised his hometown, Misty Harbor, for the heck of it. A new scattering of homes filled what used to be empty fields, several new storefronts had popped up, and the high school had two new additions and appeared to be in the middle of building another. On the bluffs appeared to be a new upscale restaurant. A good place to take Hannah for an early dinner and a walk on the nearby beach.

  By the time he pulled into the diner’s parking lot, his stomach was in knots. This was all foreign to him, as he never had a reason to impress anyone. Before he had a chance to process the feeling, Hannah pulled into the lot and parked beside him.

  Nonchalantly, he pushed his door open and walked around to her car, waited for the lock click, then tugged on the handle, holding the door open for her.

  “And they say chivalry is dead.” She smiled up at him.

  The knot in his stomach loosened as he held the diner door open for her and breathed in her lilac and orange blossom scent. Air whooshed behind him as the cracked glass door slowly closed. Nodding to a waitress, he ambled over to a corner booth farthest from the entrance and waited for Hannah to settle into the seat. He slid in beside her.

  Nan rushed over with a pot of coffee, flipped the cups over on the table, and poured rich dark liquid. “Nice to see you guys again. What can I get for you?”

  “Give us a couple minutes.” His nostrils flared at the delicious coffee aroma. “Hey, something happen to your door?”

  Nan glanced over her shoulder and frowned. “Yeah, the other night after closing, a couple thugs tried to rob the place as we were leaving. Cook used a baseball bat to convince them it was a bad idea.”

  “Good thing there were two of you,” Hannah said.

  “Oh, we never close without at least two of us, sometimes three. Safety in numbers you know. I’ll be back.” Nan flitted off to another table.

  Tristian opened the menu. “Do you eat breakfast here often? What’s good?”

  “Yes, quite a bit, lunch mostly. But I hear the ham and cheese omelet with mushrooms is good. If you like mushrooms.”

  “I do. You don’t?”

  “Not really. I’ll have the hash brown casserole with two eggs, bacon, and orange juice.”

  He raised his arm up signaled to Nan they were ready. She held up a finger and nodded.

  A few minutes later, she took their order and promised it wouldn’t be long. An uncomfortable silence passed between Tristian and Hannah.

  “So—do you return to Ireland often?”

  “I try to make it across the pond at least once a year. I spent last Christmas with Ma and Da, but my sister couldn’t make it. A bad storm in Montana snowed her in for days. But we try to talk at least once a week.” Hannah paused as Nan brought their order and set plates of steaming food in front of them. “How about you? Just your sister?”

  He picked up a fork and cut into the omelet. “Yeah. Tell me about your work. Do you hack the hackers and ride off into the sunset as heroes?”

  Nearly choking on a bite of hash browns, she took a sip of water and stared over the glass rim at him. “Something like that. Like you most of my work is secret. Writing code to prevent hackers from getting access to sensitive materials in the private sector and now the government. They finally realize the private sector is so far ahead of them, that their outdated security practices are actually a threat to national security.”

  Taking a piece of toast, he wiped up the remnants of his omelet and said, “Even though you can’t get the clearances required, you are still able to work on…” He popped the food in his mouth.

  “Oh, I’m still assigned to the private accounts. I’ve applied for citizenship, so we’ll see how that goes. If the guys working on government contracts run into a problem.” She motioned air quotes. “I unofficially help ’em out.”

  “I see.” More relaxed now, he noticed a faint magic signature. Glancing around the room, he excused himself and walked to the restroom. The farther away he got from her, the weaker the feeling. It was her. How’d I miss that? She isn’t the usual classification of otherworldly creatures. Intrigued, he ambled out of the men’s room, as three tough-looking teens sauntered in, perched on stools at the lunch counter talking loud, and demanding service.

  Cheerfully, Nan said, “I’ll be with you guys in a minute.” She had a tray full of food as she passed by them. One teen grabbed her elbow causing her to nearly drop the tray. She jerked loose, glared at them, then her eyes widened. The tray precarious balanced on her shoulder and palm, she made another attempt to deliver the order to the awaiting table. Another of the teens stood up in front of her, blocking her way.

  Tristian stepped out of the alcove between the teens and Nan. He should have moved on, minded his own business, not meddle in minor disputes. But—he turned to face all three, noting that one had a huge bruise on his for
earm. The kid pulled his jacket on, covering the bruise. The others sneered.

  “When you bump into someone you say excuse me,” Tristian said calmly.

  The teen with the bruise said, “Maybe YOU do.” His friends snickered. The cook came out of the back as Nan tried in vain to step around the teen.

  The muscle in Tristian’s jaw pulsed, then he grabbed all three and escorted them out the door. Once outside, he tossed them to the ground with little effort. “Now, you have a choice, scramble up and disappear, which will only delay your arrests.”

  The young men squirmed on the pavement but appeared to be unable to right themselves.

  “Or you can wait for the cops to arrive. Coming back to the scene of the crime was your first mistake. You’ve been identified. Your second was causing a commotion.”

  Wailing sirens, red and blue flashing lights engulfed the little diner. A police officer rushed to the teens on the ground, handcuffed them, and yanked boys to their feet.

  The officer’s gaze flicked to Tristian. “What happened here?”

  Tristian shrugged. “You’ll have to ask the waitress. I escorted the boys outside after they harassed the woman. They tripped and fell to the ground when I released them.”

  “Oh, that’s bullshit,” one teen said. “He shoved us then held us down.”

  “Yeah,” the two others chimed in. “We couldn’t get up?”

  Tristian shrugged again. “Apparently, they have trouble telling the truth also. You’ve several witnesses inside.” He turned, started back into the diner.

  “Stick around. We may need to talk to you again.” The officer said as another officer helped load the young men in the patrol car.

  “Of course,” Tristian said, then shook his head and strode into the diner. This is exactly why I stay home. Hannah stood in the middle of the diner. He touched the small of her back guiding her to the booth.

  “You all right?” she asked.

  “Yeah, fine. But I’m ready to get out of here. How about you?”

  “Didn’t the police officer ask you to stay?”

  “Yes, but with all the witnesses, he doesn’t need me and will soon forget the role I played in this whole frigging situation.” He lightly snagged Nan by the arm as she scooted by. “Check please. We are going to be on our way. You know how to contact us if necessary.”

  Nan glanced around, then nodded. She fished in her apron pocket, pulled out a slip of paper. “Breakfast is on the house orders of the owner. Thanks for nabbing the robbers.”

  Tristian shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot anxious to be out of there. “No problem.” He offered his hand to Hannah as she stood, wrapped an arm around her waist, and guided her out of the diner. “How about a ride up the coast?”

  “Sure, as soon as you explain how you held those teens down without touching them.” She smiled up at him knowingly. “And don’t give me that crap about telling me or killing me.”

  A slight grin curved the corners of his mouth. “How about on an as needed basis, and you don’t need to know?”

  A soft laugh bubbled up from her throat. “If I had to guess, I’d say you’re a warlock with well-honed powers.” She tilted her head up toward his. “Would I be right?”

  His grin faded and was replaced with a stormy expression. “Where would you get that absurd idea? They merely tripped and had trouble getting up. I suggested they stay put until the police showed up. Simple as that.”

  “Right. Well on that note, I’ll see myself home.” She turned to her car and opened the door.

  For a moment, he considered letting her go. Women are more trouble than they’re worth anyway. That’s when the meddling voice of Birch wafted through Tristian’s mind. She’s moved on, so should you. Damn faeries anyway. I’m sure he’s using some kind of magic to do this to me.

  “Okay, you win. But only if you tell me why you are disguising your magic signature.” He leaned against the car a smirk on his face.

  Her eyes rounded and she stared at him, mouth slightly agape. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He loved when she got flustered and her light Irish lilt became quite pronounced. It was a kind of turn on, he had to admit. “How about we take a ride and work out all this secretive stuff.” Tristian opened the passenger door and motioned for her to enter. A fine mist began to fall, it sparkled on her long red eyelashes—he hoped the moisture would encourage her to make a quick decision.

  Hannah straightened her shoulders, her chin jutting out. Her gaze holding his without blinking. Slowly she closed her car door, leaned against it. “Okay, but the way this is going to go is, I ask a question, you answer. You ask a question, I’ll answer, and we have to be truthful. No skirting the issue or the question asked. Fair enough?” She adjusted the purse strap on her shoulder.

  Waiting a couple beats, he pursed his lips and nodded. “Sounds fair, but personal only, no work-related inquiries.”

  “Agreed.” She tossed her jacket into the car and slipped into the buttery leather seat.

  Giving one more glance at the activities inside the diner, he strolled around the car and eased into the driver’s seat. When he turned the key in the ignition, the engine rumbled to life. The dashboard lit up like the cockpit of an aircraft with a variety of lights and gages. It’s what he enjoyed most about the car, well, the zero to eighty acceleration in seconds wasn’t bad either.

  “Nice ride.” She commented her fingers tracing the contours of the buff colored seat. “Don’t drive her much.”

  Grasping the shift knob, he thrust it into gear. “What makes you think that?” He raised a sleek dark butterscotch brow, glanced over at her.

  “The tires are close to new, the leather still has the new smell to it, and there are few fingerprints on the dash, though it’s trimmed in chrome. So, either it spends a lot of time in the garage, or you use magic to keep it pristine.” She snapped her fingers. “Which brings me to my first question. Warlock or not?” She settled back in her seat and turned to observe his expression.

  Features schooled into a blank expression, he said, “Warlock. What type of magical creature crawls under your human appearance?”

  A heavy sigh left her lips. “If I tell you—oh well—you won’t stick around long anyway.”

  His eyebrow winged up, again. “Why would you say that? We’re just getting to know each other. So far, I like what I see.” Then under his breath added, “Which is rare.”

  “Why rare?”

  “Nope, answer the question,” he insisted, covering the fact he’d been surprised she’d heard his afterthought.

  “I’m—a shifter—of sorts. My family are all—shifters.”

  Tristian rubbed his forehead. “I find that intriguing. You shift at will? Into what?”

  “Yes, at will…the rest is on a need to know basis, and you don’t need to know.” She gave a half laugh and licked her lips nervously, which left a moist sheen to her full lips.

  Enjoying that he made her nervous, he leveled his gaze at her. “I thought we agreed, none of that crap.”

  “Take it or leave it, that’s all I am going to say at this point.” She paused. “So, do you use magic in only your personal life?”

  When he punched the gas, the car’s tires spun tossing gravel in its wake as he turned out of the parking lot onto the street. “Not often. Don’t need to.”

  The diner disappeared in the rear window. The street was wet from the mist now turned to drizzle. Tristian turned on the wipers and relaxed into his seat. The clouds thinned on the horizon, the squall would be short lived which fit into his plans nicely. “Are you dangerous in shifter form?”

  “Can be. Honestly, I don’t change that often, only a handful of times since leaving Ireland.”

  “Interesting.”

  “Your family is magical then? It’s just you and your sister.”

  “Yes. How about you? Only a sister?” he asked.

  “No…I have a younger brother also. He is still i
n Ireland. Gavin helps Ma and Da at the pub. He’ll take it over once they retire. I guess only my sister and I inherited the wanderlust from Ma.” Hannah laughed. “She wants to someday retire and travel, but Da is going to be a hard sell on that, but she’ll win. He’d do anything for her.”

  “Your parents own the pub?”

  “Yes, it’s been in the family for generations. My da took to the pub business. His brothers are in the commercial fishing trade.”

  “So why come to the states?” Tristian slowed the car and turned onto a road leading to the cliffs, the trails to the beach wound down from there.

  She rolled the window down and inhaled deeply, the breeze blew strands of her red hair across her face. “I love the fresh clean scent after a rain.” She glanced over at Tristian.

  The sun peeked out through the dissipating clouds as he stopped the car next to a trail and waited expectantly for her answer. Reaching across the seat, he smiled and brushed the wisps of hair from her face with his fingertips lightly touching a smattering of freckles across her cheeks. He lingered for a couple beats before trailing a finger along her jaw. Her creamy white skin was so soft, her hair silky. He liked the feel and leaned in wondering if her lips were…

  “Education and opportunity,” she quickly replied leaning away. “We had family that helped me get into a prestigious college known for computer sciences. Then my sister followed.”

  His hand dropped to the console. “She’s a computer geek too?”

  She laughed. “No…Brandy was more interested in ecology and wildlife. She’s a park ranger in Glacier National Park.”

  He glanced out the window. “Rain appears to be over for now. Want to go for a walk? We can follow the trails to the beach.”

  She hesitated for a moment, then slipped her arms into her jacket as he opened her car door.