by E. M. Moore
"Is it the hair? It's probably the hair." I unsheathed my small hooked blade and displayed it for him. "Shifter. Right in the chest."
He grimaced. "I know. I was there."
I smiled wide. I still looked fondly on that kill. Nervous as all hell, the wolf shifter almost got me first. We'd been tracking him for a little while. The damn thing had been infiltrating other packs and taking out the alpha just because he could. He'd caught on to us tracking and caught me off guard. I took him out eventually though, and I'd only improved since then.
Jake followed me out the side door to the garage. We got in the small black SUV and I drove down Chestnut toward the center of town. It would be a bitch to park at this time of night in the summer with all the tourists around, but I wanted to save our strength for when we really needed it.
"What's the deal with Gigi? You're friends?"
I shrugged. "I never made friends as easy as you and Damen did. She's the closest I have to one."
"It doesn't bother her what you do?"
I hung a right on Norman so I could head toward Derby Street. "Why would it?"
"You help expel magical creatures? That doesn't freak her out a little bit?"
"She has nothing to worry about as long as her and her coven don't go ape shit. You know we don't bother with the good magic. It's only when they get nasty that we take care of them."
He ran his hands nervously down his thighs. "She just seemed really interested in the ley line. That's all."
"Of course she's interested. Her and her coven moved here a few years ago. They wanted peace and Salem is giving that to them. They don't have to hide their religion from anyone here. Wiccans are accepted just like Catholics and Methodists. She knows what will happen if the ley line does turn on. It'll be The Walking Dead up in here along with all the other supernatural freaks. She doesn't want that to happen."
Jake stretched his legs out. "I guess you're right. I just--"
"Shit." I slammed on the brakes. A teen boy ran across the road right in front of the SUV. Something trailed close behind him. The weyfinder vibrated beside me on the seat. It was something paranormal. Excitement buzzed through me. This was my job.
Jake unbuckled his seat belt and threw the door open within seconds. While he ran, he untied something from around his wrist and threw it. A net exploded out in front of him, catching whatever it was and tripping it to the ground. In an instant, I was out of the SUV and next to Jake as he stared down at the trapped fae. The young boy was long gone, not bothering to even look around to see if something was still following him.
Jake nodded toward the handsome fae who now sat cross-legged on the ground as if he weren't trapped under a net. "Friend of yours?"
I squinted in the dark. "Eddie? What the hell are you doing?"
Eddie bussed tables at Red's Sandwich Shop in the evenings. Never heard a peep out of him before.
He shook his head as if he was coming out of a daze. When he spoke, his voice had that musical quality some fae had. It was like a lullaby for adults--mostly adult women. "I don't know." He held his hand out. "I'm shaking with energy. I feel like I drank ten energy drinks one after the other."
Jake and I exchanged glances. That wasn't good. If the ley line was awake, I knew it would call nearby magical creatures, but I didn't know it would screw with the good ones already here.
"Dammit." I turned around in a circle, my head cradled in the palms of my hands. "Eddie, what were you going to do with that kid once you caught him?"
He looked through the holes in the net. When he found my gaze, he just shook his head. Even in the evening light, I could tell his face was burning in embarrassment.
"Eddie, we can't let you go like this. You don't even have control over yourself."
The fae's eyes rounded and a shiver shook his body.
"No. No. We're not going to kill you, but we can't let you go either." I looked at Jake. "Will that thing hold him?"
He eyed me warily. "Yes."
I crouched down next to the trapped fae. His blue eyes pierced my own. "You're going to have to stay under there until I figure out what's going on with all the energy around here lately, okay Eddie? Don't move. Do you have any weapons on you?"
The fae shook his head. "No, Guardians."
I pulled on Jake's hand. He was like quicksand, unable to move. "We leave him. Let's find a building nearby we can stick him in so he's not all out in the open."
Finally, Jake gave in and turned around with me to search for a good hiding place. I took two steps and then ducked. A sharp, needle-like dart whizzed past my head.
Chapter Five
I spun on the fae who had a blow dart to his lips. My hand already on the hilt of my knife, I sent it sailing toward Eddie's chest. When it hit its mark, the beautiful blue eyes of the male fae bulged out of his head for a split second before he poofed out of existence.
At least fae were easy to clean up after.
I stared at the spot where Eddie had just been. A fae who hadn't hurt another soul in its life.
Something was going on in Salem, and I had to figure it out before any more good magical creatures died.
Madame Zion--no, not joking--let us into her small shop a little ways down the road from the Salem Witch Trials Memorial. She owned the biggest occult shop in Salem, which was saying something. There were a lot of them in the area, but Zion's was one of the only ones run by an actual witch with powers. The others were just fakes.
Jake had tried talking to me the rest of the way here in the SUV, but I just couldn't pay attention to what he was saying. Deep down, I knew I was supposed to be protecting the ley line, and Salem residents from those who could bring the town and the ley line harm, but Eddie wasn't the type of fey that would do that. Not that I would call any fey my friend, but he was decent for a faery bastard. He didn't deserve to go out like that. It was like the paranormal creatures of Salem were on synthetic drugs making them act all kinds of crazy. And, I felt bad about killing him. I couldn't say that about any of my other kills.
Jake had gone back to retrieve my dagger and his net, and for that, I was grateful. Even though there was nothing left of Eddie, I didn't want to go anywhere near that spot. For what it's worth, I was grateful that Jake also didn't say "told you so". He very easily could have. He'd probably thought I'd been slacking in my training like some sort of newbie because that was a rookie mistake. Turn your back on a fey? Stupid. I'd usually agree, but that was Eddie. Was.
I followed Zion's black shawl into the recesses of the shop. I'd only been back here a couple times and couldn't say I was comfortable all the other times either. In fact, it gave me the creeps. A big pentagram was drawn into the middle of the floor. Candles were lit at each point of the symbol and the other witches stood around, the dancing flames casting their faces in shadow and eerie orange. I hadn't realized I'd backed into Jake until I felt his hard chest against my shoulders. I straightened and gathered my pink-streaked pony tail over one shoulder.
Gigi strutted over and gave Jake a wave. I wanted to tell her not to waste her time. It didn't sound as if Jake was as sympathetic to magic users as I was. Shrug. She'd figure it out.
"We're ready," she said.
"Thanks for doing this Gi." I nodded at Zion who turned her head down almost imperceptibly. I didn't think she liked me very much, but hey, who did besides Mrs. Fenton who I gave a smut fix to every couple of days?
"We want to find out what's going on just as much as you guys." She beckoned us over to a corner and sat us down. "Please release all negative thoughts from your mind. It will interfere with the spell casting and we really need to focus to see what's going on with the line."
I nodded as if I knew what the hell she said. Release negative thoughts from my mind? I thought that was what rum was for. And considering my brother was missing and I just had to kill a perfectly amiable fae, and had no rum to make it all go away, I was pretty sure the negativity was going to stay in my brain.
Zion stood
in the middle of the pentagram while the other witches gathered around her. They said a greeting and then called upon the gods and goddesses of the natural elements. After that, I wasn't really sure what they did. At one point, a roll of paper was flattened in front of Zion. Each witch bent over the paper and did something. It was too dark and too far away to tell. Jake's muscles tightened when a gust of wind came out of no where and ruffled the side of the paper up.
In a small, childish voice, Zion finally spoke after minutes of silence. "Ye-es."
The witches gathered around the paper and then thanked the gods and goddesses of all the different elements by bowing in the direction of each point of the pentagram and blowing out the candles lit there.
As soon as the last candle was blown out, a more earthly light filled the small room. Gigi gave me a thumbs up. They must've found something.
Jake and I waited as the coven members continued their ritual by cleaning up their space. By the time they were done, it just looked like any other back room to an occult shop.
Zion faced us and we stood. "My coven and I have come across a snag in the line. We can't tell exactly what it is, but energy is pouring from one particular spot. Think of it like a funnel or an energy conduit. The line is filled to the brim with energy that it cannot expel. It has found a weak point and every single atom of pulsing electricity is headed for that single point for the release."
I blew out a breath. At least we had something to go on now. "Where is it?"
"The Hill."
I shivered at the mention of Gallows Hill. In 1692, that's where the original evil witches were hung by the founding members of SPAWN. The place gave me the creeps. "Of course it is. Why would it be anywhere else? It couldn't be at Rockafellas so I could stop in and get a steak."
Gi covered her mouth to stop from laughing. Zion's gaze moved from me to Jake as if I were dismissed. "We cannot tell what magic this is. It might just be nature. Dams can only stop flowing water for so long. Beaches recede over time."
I shook my head. "So, you don't think it's magic doing this, or you don't know?"
She turned her dark eyes on me. "I am only saying I wouldn't be surprised that the line has decided to wake itself up. Energy can only stay dormant for so long."
I wanted to roll my eyes but out of respect for the coven who was trying to help us and Gigi, I refrained. Given that the Wiccans were all about nature and everything, I could see her point of view even though that hadn't been my experience. Ocean waves didn't just carry Damen away that was for sure.
Jake's deep voice echoed in the room. It soothed me. No matter how much I'd been trying to fight it, I was glad he was here to help. "Can you fix it?" he asked.
"It would be like fixing something that does not wish to be whole."
Jesus. Enough with this nature bullshit. "Listen--"
Jake elbowed me. "I understand your feelings on this, High Priestess, but you do know what will happen to Salem if we can't contain the ley line. It cannot be turned on again. It would put humans and the magical race in great danger. The risk isn't worth it."
The High Priestess's shoulders sagged. Her eyes were deep chasms of thought. "We would need a full moon or a solstice. The closest to any of those is three days."
"Then in three days, can the Elite count on you to do your duty to help contain the evil that's out there?"
In full on guardian mode, Jake was something to behold. He wasn't anything like the boy that I remembered from when I was younger. The boy who gave me his ice cream after mine fell in the dirt. The boy that let me ride his old bike when my new one got a flat. He was calm, poised, with an underlying threat to it all. Everything about him screamed, Don't fuck with me. My cheeks blazed with heat.
Zion bowed. "Of course, Guardian."
Once we were out of the shop, I turned to him, "What the hell are we going to do now?"
Chapter Six
Seeing as how Jake hadn't stepped foot in his old house since he walked out of our lives when he was eighteen, I offered him one of the five bedrooms in Casa Marston. His parents had moved away too, even though they still owned the house. It was in his name actually. When he first left, I expected him to show back up at any time. Days passed. Then weeks. After a while, it was easier to remember a time when Jake wasn't there instead of the other way around. I guessed that was how the heart healed itself. It forgot.
I awoke the next morning to grunts and the tell-tale sign of thuds coming from the basement. We'd redone the basement as a training room when I turned eleven. That was where Damen and Jake taught me everything they knew. Empty hand combat. How each of the magical weapons that were passed down to us functioned. It was a happy time. I was glad to be a part of something so much bigger than us. How many people could say that?
I threw on my training gear and made my way downstairs. Jake was shadowboxing with the heavy bag. He was quick, agile. Even more fast than I remembered him being. After a few minutes of that, he switched to knife throwing. He gathered up our training blades and one-by-one, sent them flying toward the targets at the other end of the room. His grip was different than anything I'd ever seen and he hit his mark every time.
After the last knife left his hand, I said, "New grip? Care to show me?"
He jumped at first, then, noticing me, he wiped the sweat from his brow. "You sneak up on Damen while training, too?"
I shrugged. "Only when he's got something cool up his sleeve and doesn't share."
He grinned, walked down to retrieve the knives and then called me over. "It's simple really. At Command, we have this cuff you put around your wrist. When you flick your hand, a blade releases, but it releases handle first with the blade toward your elbow so that you don't cut yourself. Because of this, we had to figure out a new way to throw. Here." He took my hand and placed the training blade in it, handle first. "This is how it will fall into your hand. It takes some getting used to, but it's really handy when you need a blade quick. Test it out."
My first attempt was an epic failure. The blade barely made it halfway across the room. Instead of smirking though, Jake told me to use more whip in my wrist. It was all about the fast wrist movement according to him. My next throw was better, but way off the mark.
We stayed down there for an hour, training, like old times. He talked to me about cool Elite weapons and I told him about Salem's status just before he got here. How I'd just been hunting the normal, routine type of evil creature. Nothing this big. The way he talked, I got the sense that this was what he was used to. He was an Elite after all. They sent the Elite in when other Guardians couldn't handle it.
After a tough sparring session where I realized just how out of shape I really was, we lay on the mats. Sweat poured off of me as I gulped in air. Damen and I did this from time-to-time, but we hadn't gone all out in a while. When he got back, I'd have to tell him we needed to bump up the training. We couldn't have Jake beating us.
Not that Jake would stay after all this was over. Right?
I peeled myself away from the mat and looked down at Jake's tired form. I wanted to ask him if he was going to stay, but I knew what the answer was. He was an Elite. He had to go wherever Command told him to. "I'll take the upstairs shower. You can have the downstairs."
I didn't wait for a reply. I escaped the way his eyes looked at me as if he were questioning everything I did. Maybe he'd missed training with me, too. Not that it mattered. The hot shower rinsed away all the thoughts pelting my brain. I scrubbed everything away, even the familiarity of his jabs toward my face when we sparred. The tell of his two-handed shoot at my legs. It all ran down the drain along with my shampoo and conditioner.
When I came down the stairs, hair still wet, Jake handed me a cup of cocoa as soon as I walked into the kitchen. I wanted to roll my eyes. I was twenty-four after all, not fourteen. The cocoa smelled delicious though so I drank it all up. After I set the cup down, I watched Jake sip his. Steam curled up from the mug distorting his features. It was getting harder to pict
ure him as a boy now that I'd seen him as a man.
"What happened to you Jake?"
His jaw ticked. After a pause, he set the mug down in front of him. We stared at each other for a while, just looking, like re-learning one another. Finally, he said, "I went to Elite training. You know that."
I bit my lip to keep the smart ass retort from spilling out. If there was one thing Damen taught me, it was not to be a smartass when you were trying to get information out of someone. I couldn't say I was always successful at it, but I tried. "But why? You never told us why."
He shrugged, his cheeks turning red. "I just needed a change. You can understand that, right? It's what drew you to being a Guardian. Because of Damen, you never needed to step up to the plate and neither did I, but we both did."
"You left us."
"You didn't need me anymore. The ley line was under control and I thought my skills would be better used somewhere else. I wanted to fight and there was nothing left to fight anymore. Damen had it handled."
I sat back in my chair and crossed my arms. How many times had I dreamed about doing only guardianship? Too many to count. Was I just settling for this gig? Could I really give up being a librarian, give up Salem and Damen, to pursue guardianship full-time? I could never be the sole Ley Line Guardian unless...well, it didn't matter. That was never going to happen so I wasn't going to even think it. But I could leave like Jake and try and go Elite. I may not make it. In fact, I probably wouldn't make it if I pulled a stunt like I did with Eddie last night and trained like I did this morning with Jake.
"Can I ask you a question?"
Jake nodded.
"How did you know the fae was going to do something last night?"
"I didn't, obviously, or I never would've turned my back on him. You thought it was okay so who was I to tell you you were wrong?"
"But I was wrong."
He shrugged and took another sip of his cocoa. "Happens to the best of us."
