by C. M. Cevis
Luna hadn’t thought about that, and she nodded thoughtfully. “Thanks, Bella. I appreciate the material and the idea.”
“That’s what I’m here for,” Bella replied with a wink as she rang Luna up.
Luna’s bill in Bella’s store was rarely what she thought it should be. She’d asked Bella about it several times only to be told that those were just the prices Bella chose to charge. So, Luna added a tip that doubled the price and thought that fair. Bella had stopped arguing with her about it.
“Was that all?” Liza asked, appearing beside Luna. She’d never really left, but the sisters had learned that Liza making herself less noticeable meant Luna wasn’t as easily distracted by her. More than one observant person had asked what Luna was looking at when the answer was Liza.
“I think so. Though I’m not opposed to picking up some flowers for the vases in the entryway and the dining room.” She nodded to Bella and left the shop.
“Ooo, that sounds nice,” Liza said with a grin, walking next to her.
Luna laughed and turned, changing directions for the florist.
3
Graham had been sitting at his desk for the past thirty minutes doing absolutely nothing. Not by choice, mind you, but because his boss had been up his ass about not having checked in with his charges the way he should. Most of his charges he’d actually had kept up with, there was only one. And he hadn’t kept up with her because she was one of the few that he didn’t need to keep up with. She stayed where she was supposed to and didn’t tell anyone why she was there or anything about her past. She was the easiest charge he’d even had, which was why the two of them had become actual friends over the years.
That being said, he was supposed to check in every set number of days. That set number had gone past two and a half times since they’d last spoken.
“Come on, Luna, pick up,” Graham mumbled. He knew working the bed & breakfast meant she wasn’t always able to answer the phone, but now wasn’t a good time. He was already in trouble.
“Hey.” Her voice sounded normal, cheerful even. She’d sounded like that since the moment she’d been placed in Calidity.
He’d been worried that the place wouldn’t stick—she had always been a city girl—but it had. She’d been plunked down there, decided she didn’t want to work for anyone, started the B&B, and fallen in love with the place.
“Long time, no chat,” Graham said, making note that she sounded stress-free.
“That’s on you. I just figured you had something pressing on your hands. I knew you’d check in when you could.”
Graham grinned. “That is one of the reasons I like you, Luna. You don’t think I’m terrible at what I do just because I don’t babysit you.”
“I’m a big girl. I haven’t needed a babysitter in years.” Luna laughed.
“Yeah, well, I am in a bit of a pinch since it’s been a while, so I should probably do a good bit of write-up on this check-in.”
“Ooo, you’re in trouble.” She said it in that sing-songy tone that kids use when someone is sent to the naughty corner to think about what they’ve done. Something about that made it funnier than normal.
Graham rolled his eyes even as he smiled—both gestures he knew Luna couldn’t see. “So, what’s happened since we last spoke?”
“Honestly, not a lot. I was in a coma for most of it.”
Graham almost choked. “What?!”
“Calm down, no one found me. I wasn’t shot or anything like that. I’m not really sure what happened, to be honest. A couple weeks ago, I just woke up in the hospital. I found out later that I’d been unconscious for three weeks. No one knows why.”
“Have you seen a doctor?”
“Of course I have. I’ve been back for a follow-up with the doctor that kept me alive all that time, and he recommended that I go see a neurologist to make sure that nothing is seriously wrong, since I’ve been having some pretty bad nightmares. My appointment with Dr. Lee is in a few days.”
“Okay,” Graham said absently as he wrote furiously. Man, this was not going to look good. “And there’s nothing more you can give me about why you went into a coma for three weeks?”
Luna sighed. “Not really. From what I’ve been told, I just passed out and dropped like a sack of potatoes. One of my neighbors happened to see me and thought I just fell, so she came to check on me. When I didn’t respond, she called an ambulance and my best friend.”
“Asher?” Graham replied, hoping he was remembering that correctly.
“Yeah, Asher. I don’t really have anyone else here.”
“Mmhm,” Graham murmured, writing. “Nothing shady happened while you were in the hospital?”
“No. Asher was there the whole time, minus a thirty-minute block here and there to go get clean clothes and stuff. She didn’t even go to work.”
“Good friend,” Graham replied.
“I actually wanted to talk to you about her…”
Graham stopped writing. “Okay.” He thought he sensed where this was going.
“I want to tell her that I’m here under the program, Graham. I want her to meet you too.”
He paused, then said slowly, “That is pretty much the opposite of protocol on being in the program.”
“I know, but hear me out, Graham. What if something like that happens again? Or what if I go missing, hm? She’d be able to let you know without you having to figure it out for yourself. You didn’t know about the coma until just now.”
She had a point. He groaned silently. “Luna, I don’t know if this is a good idea. And I know that no one official is going to sign off on it.”
“Then don’t tell anyone official. I won’t tell her about the case or anything. Not the why, just the what. And about you, in case anything ever happens to me.”
Graham rubbed his face with his free hand. “Nothing about the case,” he said.
“I don’t want to talk about that case ever again. You have my word I won’t tell her why I’m in the program. Only that I am in the program.”
“I am going to be in such deep trouble,” Graham whispered.
“Just don’t tell anyone, you big baby. I’ll call you on video so you two can meet, and I’ll make sure you have each other’s numbers. Quick and easy.”
“Says you.”
“Have I ever been wrong about this stuff?”
Graham sighed heavily. “Probably.”
“So pessimistic. I’ll talk to you ahead of the video call so that you can make sure you’re actually around. I have to talk to her first.”
“Thank you for talking to me before you went ahead with talking to her. That’s… something.”
Luna snorted. “I wouldn’t do that. I’d at least give you the courtesy of letting you know what I was doing.”
“But I couldn’t talk you out of it?”
“Probably not.”
Graham could hear her smiling and couldn’t help but grin himself. She was a smart girl, even if he didn’t always agree with her. She had a good reason for wanting someone else to know why she was there, especially considering what had just happened to her. And she was right—if Asher had known about him and the program, he could have been there to make sure nothing shady went down.
“Alright. Just don’t tell her anything that she doesn’t need to know.”
“I won’t.” Her voice had taken on a harder edge. “I don’t want her dragged into my past life, even if it is for what seems like a good reason. My problems are my problems, and they are going to stay that way.”
“Let me know when I need to be free and somewhere private.”
“Aye aye, Captain.”
Graham shook his head and laughed as he started up his notetaking again.
“Alright, tell me what’s happened other than the coma. And let me know how therapy goes. I want to know if it helps.”
“Yes sir.”
4
Asher hadn’t gone to Luna’s that morning, but she had a reason: She was at her
mom’s house. Contractors were coming to replace Melody’s fence, and she’d called Asher the night before, frantic for help to clean up a few things she’d tossed into the back yard over the years and forgotten about. No matter how good her night vision was, Asher had no intention of doing manual labor in the middle of the night. She had promised to come over in the morning.
Most of her days were spent working at a small coffee shop called Beans, in town owned by a guy she went to high school with named Albert. Al had been gifted the shop as a graduation gift, just before his parents announced they were retiring and moving to Hawaii. It was a good, established business, but at the time he’d been an eighteen-year-old with no idea how to run the place and a bank account with money for six months of expenses. Instead, that money had been used for things Al wanted, and the business had floundered. It was doing quite well now, but only because Al had buckled down and gotten himself together.
Today was her day off, and Luna had sent her a message earlier that morning saying that she had something that she needed to tell her. That made her nervous for some reason, and she always trusted her instincts. No, going to her mom’s first had been the call. She’d head to Luna’s when she was asked to.
“Where’s your sister by everything but blood?” Melody asked.
Asher smirked, stepping through the small but cozy living room and into the surprisingly not cluttered kitchen. Mom had apparently been cleaning. “Probably in town. I’m pretty sure she said she had a few errands to run.”
“Ah, so that’s why you’re here helping me instead of running off because the two of you have plans?”
Asher rolled her eyes. “I don’t ditch you, Mom. You just wait until the last minute for things, and we really do often have other plans.”
“Mmhm,” her mother said with a grin that said that she wasn’t really annoyed.
Asher’s phone dinged.
Can you meet me back at the house? I’m heading home from town now.
Asher smiled. She hadn’t known Luna was running errands, but it had been a good guess.
Are we meeting for “the talk”?
Asher hit send and wandered over to the refrigerator to get something to drink. The day was starting to warm up, and making sure she stayed hydrated also made sure she didn’t end the day with a raging headache.
The talk is not as bad as you are making it out to be. There are just some things that I haven’t told you, and my experience in a coma made me realize that I should have.
Asher took a sip of cool water before responding.
You’re not about to confess to being a serial killer or something, are you?
Asher! No, I am not a serial killer. Will you just meet me at home?
She punctuated the end of the text with a laughing face emoji, which made Asher laugh along with her. She trooped back into the living room to grab her purse.
“Mom, I’m heading out,” she called.
“Tell Luna I said hi!”
Asher shook her head, still smiling. She hadn’t said where she was going. “Okay, bye, Mom.”
~*~
The door was ajar when Asher arrived. She pushed it open, calling, “Luna? You’d better be here and have left the door open for me.”
“Has there ever been a time when that was not the case?” Luna said, appearing from the dining room.
Asher grinned, hugging her best friend tightly, like she always did. “No, but this might just be the one time something was up.”
“You say that every time.” Luna laughed. “Coffee?”
“Sure.”
5
Luna had no idea how to begin this conversation. Liza had suggested just blurting it out but admitted that she had no idea either. Instead, she’d made coffee, and the two of them had taken a seat in the dining room. The large dining table was more than enough space for the two of them and what Luna was about to lay on her best friend, and far enough from the heavy, glass-fronted breakfront that nothing would break if things got out of hand. Not that she expected them to, but it always paid to be prepared.
The conversation began with a heavy sigh. This was new territory for Luna. From the moment that she’d entered the program, she’d always known that rule number one was that you didn’t tell anyone, and she never had. Not so much as a hint at it. And yet here she was, about to spill the entire story. Well, most of the story.
“That does not make me any less nervous about all of this,” Asher said, eyeing her warily over the rim of her mug.
“Just tell her, sis. Nothing about this is going to be easy, and she might not believe you until she can see me,” Liza said, taking the seat beside Luna.
She had a point.
“I… Can I show you something without you freaking out?” Luna asked.
“You are aware that I am a werewolf, and that you are a witch, and that I am fully aware of both facts, right?”
Luna laughed. “Alright, smarty pants, but this is different.”
“How different?”
Luna hesitated, then lay her hands across the dining room table, palms up in front of Asher. “Give me your hands, and I can show you.”
“You sure she won’t freak out if you don’t tell her beforehand?” Liza asked.
“No,” Luna answered out loud. Asher gave her a questioning look and Luna wanted to kick herself. She was nervous and making mistakes that she hadn’t made in years.
“I can feel your heart racing,” Liza said, though her tone let Luna know that she wasn’t pointing it out to give her crap. She knew that this was important.
“No what?” Asher asked finally.
Luna shook her head. “Take my hands, Ash. I promise, it’ll all make sense.”
Asher hesitated, then slowly reached her hands across the table and rested her palms against Luna’s.
“Gently—you don’t want to overload her,” Liza whispered. The fact she felt the need to remind Luna meant that she was really freaking out.
Slowly, Luna pushed a bit of her power through her fingertips and into Asher’s skin. She took her time, finding the part of her friend she needed to use to tap into her sense and allow her to see what Luna saw. All of what Luna saw.
She saw it the moment Liza came into focus. Asher’s mouth opened, but nothing came out.
“Asher, meet my sister Liza,” Luna said with a grin, even while watching Asher carefully.
Liza waved. “Hi. Nice to meet you in person.”
It took a few tries before Asher could speak. “That’s not—”
Luna shook her head. “Not me, Ash. Liza has her own personality, her own set of abilities.”
“My own taste in clothes, my own makeup. Oh, and one of my pupils is white but neither of Luna’s are, so we don’t look exactly alike,” Liza continued.
“It’s you that I always feel, isn’t it?” Asher asked, narrowing her eyes.
Luna and Liza exchanged a look. “Pardon?” Luna asked. That had not been the second question she’d been expecting.
“Ever since we met, I always felt something else, but I could never tell what it was. Or, who, I guess. I could tell that it wasn’t you, but it was always there when you were.”
Luna nodded thoughtfully as Liza explained, “I died when Luna and I were born. She survived, and somehow, I latched on to her and remained. We grew up together, went to school together. Everything that she’s done, I was there with her to help.”
“She’s helped me survive… things. And she’s gotten to know you just like I have,” Luna said.
“Except you couldn’t see me there.”
“Oh-kay,” Asher breathed.
“I know this is…” Luna paused.
“Weird,” Liza finished.
“But this is my life, Ash. This is all I know.”
Asher looked from Luna to Liza and back again, mouth turning down in an exaggerated frown. “Does this mean I’m not really your best friend?”
There was a heartbeat of silence before Liza snorted a laugh. Luna an
d Asher started giggling, and soon all three of them were laughing. Then Asher looked down at the table between them—Luna had let go of her hands.
She looked up at Liza, eyes wide. “Can I see you all the time now?”
Liza smiled. “My magic is more psychic, so now that you have a bit of Luna’s magic in you, I can latch onto it so that you can see me. But only when you’re close. Otherwise, it won’t work.”
“Which is one of the reasons we went into town this morning.” Luna turned in her chair to grab the small plastic bag from the floor. She set it on the table and removed the package, then started unwrapping the wax paper. Cubes of wax and a length of wick fell to the table. “To get this candle wax.”
Asher frowned. “You’re going to make me a candle?”
“Not just any candle,” Luna said with a grin.
“A candle with a bit of her magic and her blood. That way, if something like that coma happens again, you can light it and still see me,” Liza said, eyes bright.
“You weren’t in the coma?” Asher asked.
Liza shook her head, worry creasing her brow. “I was completely shut out from my sister the entire time. That has never happened before. I can wake her up out of a deep sleep, I can help her find her way back if she’s unconscious… but I couldn’t reach her the entire time she was in the hospital. Not until she woke up.”
“Liza told me that you slept in that chair the entire time I was out,” Luna added.
Ash’s face flushed, then she sighed. “There is no way that Luna would have known that.”
“Nope,” Liza responded.
“It’s concerning that someone was able to keep Liza out of my head when she’s already in there,” Luna continued, her hands absently working as she pulled this and that from the breakfront behind her. Things she’d need to make the candle.
“Someone? Not the coma?” Asher asked.
Luna shook her head, focused on her task. “No, it was someone here. Before I woke, he talked to me. He said that he knows and gave the impression that he plans on blackmailing me.”
