by Chloe Adler
“Oh no you don’t.” I stood up as well, practically leaping over the table to stop her. “You’re going to finish this. You show up here after six years without any contact. You obviously have something to say. And, personally, I want to know where the hell you’ve been all this time.” I looked away so she wouldn’t see the betrayal in my eyes.
“I’m so sorry.” She just stood there, arms hanging limply at her sides.
I wiped away incipient tears and squared my shoulders. “You’ll stay here. When you’re ready to talk, we’ll listen.” Then I turned and exited the kitchen because at that moment, I didn’t trust myself around her.
Chapter Seven
We were all sitting at the Harbor House Cafe later that afternoon. It was the only restaurant in the Edge that offered breakfast all day long. We’d gathered our entire tribe. I wanted everyone to meet Sam and vice versa, but I’d done it more to show her that I had a home here. And a family. She had left me broken and I had survived. Rubbing it in her face wasn’t very spiritual of me, but I was hurt, deep down to the bones hurt. And these people, my found family, were the ones who had helped me heal.
The three witchy sisters sat together, Sadie, Chrys and Iphigenia between them. Iphi, the youngest sister, was a little bubble of light with blond hair and bright blue eyes. As a circus aerialist the girl was in similar shape as Alec. She had an ease to her, too, that her sisters didn’t share, like she knew her place in the world. A wise soul, especially for nineteen.
Sandwiched between Chrys and Carter was Julian, Carter’s twelve-year-old brother. Ryder sat next to Sadie and then it was Sam, myself and Burgundy. The nine of us were a familiar sight together and the waitress hurried over to bring us our drinks.
To my surprise, Samantha fit right in with everyone and seemed quite at home. She was more animated than I’d seen her since her arrival and her cheeks had regained some of their old color. She’d even ordered deep-fried chicken and waffles, which she was gobbling down as though she hadn’t eaten in years.
“So you’ve been living abroad?” Iphi asked, which was perfect since Iphi was the least assuming and sweetest of the bunch.
“Yes,” said Sam around a mouthful of chicken.
“Ohhh!” Iphi clapped her hands together. “I’ve always wanted to travel overseas. Where were you?” Disarming as always. Thank you, Iphi, I silently acknowledged.
“Mostly Asia, but I traveled through parts of Europe too.”
“Thailand? Bali? France? Italy?” Iphi was practically coming off her chair. Her spinach omelet remained mostly untouched.
“Yes. All of those places and more,” Sam said, smiling at Iph. “Italy is my favorite.”
“Italy,” squealed Iphi. “Oh, tell me everything.”
“The Italian Riviera is gorgeous. The Cinque Terre are these little fishing towns dotting the coastline. You can only get to them by boat. But my favorite was Portovenere. It’s a stone town built on a hill. It used to be a castle, but after part of it fell down, they built a town. You walk up and down stairs to access each street, just like the hills here in Distant Edge.”
“That sounds amazing,” said Chrys and we all nodded in agreement. “Did you get to any museums?”
“Oh yes. Are you an artist?”
“I am.” Chrys smiled. “Do you have any pictures?”
Sam pulled out her phone, and after turning on the screen, she passed it around the table for everyone to see.
“What’s this?” asked Sadie, holding it up.
“That’s the church of Peter the Apostle, but what’s really interesting is that prior to the existence of the church, there was a temple to the goddess Venus there, which is where the town’s name comes from.”
“Wow,” exclaimed Iphi. “I want to go.”
“I’d love to take you someday,” Sam said but it sounded like lip service. Why?
Sam showed us more photos of her travels but none of Asia and I didn’t want to press. Conveniently she had albums on her phone for each destination. A lot of shots included the same guy, but they were all from a distance and I couldn’t make him out. He looked familiar. I wanted to ask her outright but not in front of the group.
After lunch Sam and I headed with Burgundy to her Camaro. Sadie shooed Iphi along to Ryder’s Mustang. Carter jumped into his Cadillac Coupe with Chrys, motioning for Julian to follow.
“Can’t I go with Iphigenia?” asked Julian.
“Oh, sweetie.” Iphi ran back over and bent to kiss his small cheek. He reddened. “I’m going back to Sadie’s. We have spells to work on. Don’t you want to go with your brother?”
Julian looked between Iphi and Carter, shrugging.
“Come on, Jules, we’ll have fun,” Carter said to him. “Iphi and Sadie need to focus for a bit.”
Julian’s lower lip protruded in a pout.
“Why don’t you come by later?” Iphi said and his face lit up.
“Okay. Can we?” He turned to Carter.
“Of course.”
When that was settled, Sadie and Ryder left to take Iphi back to their house. She was the only one who still lived with her mother, Aurelia, for whom the word “challenging” was an understatement. Iphi couldn’t afford to move out yet, plus she felt beholden to the woman, so she compromised by spending a lot of time at Sadie’s house and Casa Mañana.
Driving down Discovery Highway always warmed my heart. The ocean flanked one side of the road, rolling hills the other. The drive from downtown back to our house was a quick one. The town itself was only five miles long, a ten-minute drive along the Highway. But the hills stretched up the mountainside, extending our footprint at least twice as wide.
The beautiful ride was spoiled the moment we pulled up to the Casa. We all knew something was wrong. The outside looked fine—our front lawn was undisturbed and the walkway looked the same—but the heavy curtains in the living room had been pulled shut, as had the wooden blinds in the kitchen, the two rooms facing the street.
“Did you shut the curtains?” I asked Burg as we all piled out of the car. She shook her head.
Julian was lurching forward but I held him back.
“We need to make sure it’s safe,” I said to him. My sister and I exchanged glances. She narrowed her eyes.
“I don’t like this,” she said. “Let’s change.”
I nodded. “Julian, you wait in the car with Chrys.” I turned to our resident vamps. “Can you two enter the house from the back?”
Carter nodded. “I have the back-door key,” Burgundy added.
“Sam and I will change and go through the front but the door will have to be opened first.”
Sam and I ran behind the bushes lining the side of the house to change. We piled our clothing on some decorative rocks that I was now happy Burg had installed. Shifters never shifted in front of other people, it was far too personal, but with Sam and I it was different. When we’d first gained our shifts, we’d changed together all the time.
I went first, shifting into my middle shift, a cougar, and Sam followed with her middle shift, a panther.
We both stalked to the front door, my hair bristling. I nudged it open with my nose and bounded inside. Sam followed right behind me. If I’d been in human form, I would have gasped. The living room was in shambles. All of Burgundy’s meticulously placed decorations lay scattered on the Oriental rugs. The couch was overturned, as were the chairs, and someone had taken knives to the backs of the furniture. The stuffing hung out obscenely. The artwork was broken into pieces, and glass littered the rugs.
Carter and Burgundy entered from the back and the look on her face was horrific. I couldn’t bear to see my friend in so much pain.
“What the fuck!” she screamed.
We all looked around. No one moved.
“Check all the rooms,” she shouted to Carter and he moved into the kitchen, fangs bared. She ran into the hallway to check our bedrooms. I followed.
When we all reconvened back in the living room, I finally noticed the obscen
ities painted on the walls. Bile rose in my throat. The last thing I wanted to do was vomit on top of all this mess, so I ran out front and threw up in the grass.
Chrys opened the car door but I growled at her. She slammed it shut again.
I padded back into the living room. I had to face this but it was like reliving my parents’ murders all over again.
Familiar words defiled the walls in red paint: “faggot,” “Satan’s spawn,” “demons,” “whore” and “you shall die.”
My sister and I exchanged looks while Burgundy stood still, her fists clenched at her sides, fuming. “ ‘We shall die’? Oh I don’t think so. If I catch— No, when I catch whoever did this to my house, they will die.”
“Burgundy, you don’t mean that,” said Carter. “I know you’re upset but this is why we have the Council. Let me call the cops. File a report.”
Her nostrils flared and her eyes flashed. “Yeah, go ahead and do that. Fucking waste of time.”
“Come here, let’s wait in your car.” When Burgundy did not respond, Carter had to physically cart her out of the house. She let him. I think she was in shock.
The three of them sat in the car, waiting for the authorities, while Sam and I prowled the perimeter, sniffing out everything we could.
Chapter Eight
By evening no one felt safe in the house even though we were all Signum with supposed “superpowers.” The police had come and taken a report and photos. All of our bedrooms had been trashed. Even the bathroom was a broken mess of bottles and creams. But worse than the mess was the feeling of violation. The whole thing was a replay of what had happened the day my parents had been slaughtered in their own home. Our home.
I had been eighteen at the time and had just graduated from high school. My parents had been so happy for me.
“The world is at your fingertips, Jared,” Dad had said.
My mom had beamed with pride. “We want you to be happy even if it means leaving home and finding your way.”
They’d loved us so much, the kind of unconditional love you see in Disney movies, only this had been real.
Only nineteen then, Samantha had moved to Europe a month before. Growing up in tiny Sitka, Alaska, had made us a very tight-knit family. The town was small, with only 8,800 people, and though we hadn’t known everyone who’d lived there, we’d known quite a few.
My dad had been a hardworking fisherman and my mother a doting homemaker. She’d grown our food during the warmer months, cooked hearty meals every night and even sewn our clothes. When I’d come out to my family at sixteen, they had been nothing but supportive, and I’d grown up not knowing that the world could be a hard and evil place.
Until the day my universe had collapsed.
Standing in my bedroom at the Casa kept me from seeing the slurs painted on our living room wall. They hit too close to home.
“Do you want to sleep at Sadie’s or Aurelia’s tonight?” Burgundy asked me, entering my room and surveying the mess that still remained. We had spent the latter part of the day cleaning up as much as we could. Sadie and Ryder had come over to help but had left after a few hours for a previous engagement they couldn’t cancel. The three Holt sisters planned on casting a spell to fix everything, but they had to wait twenty-four hours. Sadie needed to recharge her batteries and the other two girls had cast too recently. Their magic was strong, but this would be one hell of a job.
My hands were clenched into tight fists. “They’re not going to scare me out of my own house.”
Burgundy’s eyebrows drew up. “But you know what they’re capable of.”
“They’re cowards,” I spat. “Why don’t they face me instead of vandalizing our home when we’re not here to fight them?”
“Hey.” Burg’s tone was placating, her voice quiet. “I’m not the enemy here.”
There was a loud kerfuffle in the hallway and then a very large gray dog bounded into my room.
“What the—?” I bent down to pet him.
“Wait a minute,” came Sadie’s voice. “Rex, sit.” The dog immediately sat right where it was. Impressive.
Sadie entered my bedroom, brandishing a leash and harness. “Sorry, he got a little excited.”
“You got a new dog. He’s adorable,” I said. “Can I pet him?”
“You can sleep with him if you like, he’s yours.” Sadie’s smile warmed her face.
“What?” Burgundy turned around, putting her hands on her hips.
“For protection. He’s a guard dog and I will not take no for an answer.” Sadie put her hands on her hips as Ryder entered my bedroom.
“How old is he?” Burgundy asked.
“Twenty months,” Sadie said. “He’s fully grown, about 110 pounds.”
“Wow, he weighs as much as you do,” I said to Sadie, grinning.
“Ha, yeah,” added Ryder, “but he’s still considered a puppy.”
Sadie laughed. “Officially, he is a teenager.”
“It really is beyond nice of you two, but . . .” I held up my hands.
“But nothing,” said Ryder. “This is our gift to you. He’s a trained police dog. Here is his list of commands.” He handed a printout to me and another to Burg. “Chrys already has her copy.”
The sheet was double-sided and sported the usual commands, like “sit” and “stay,” but also some very scary ones like “attack” and even “kill.” Luckily, those commands were in German and Czech. Attack was zadrish and kill was toten.
“How did you get him?” I asked. “And what kind of dog is he?”
“He’s a Rottweiler who flunked out of the police academy in San Diego,” Sadie said, giggling.
“He only barely flunked out,” Ryder chimed in.
“Uh oh, why did he flunk?” asked Burgundy.
“He’s more of a people person,” said Sadie.
“Which does not make him any less of a killing machine,” Ryder added, a little too forcefully.
Burgundy and I exchanged looks.
“A killing machine?”
“The perfect guard dog and perfect pet all rolled into one,” said Sadie. “Here, let me show what that means.” She looked around for a minute but my bed and sheepskin rug were still covered in glass. The framed black and white photos I had meticulously mounted and hung over my bed were in tatters. The Trackers had been thoughtful enough to pull my comforter off my bed before breaking the glass on top of it. My entire carpet had been covered with shards, which we’d managed to vacuum up. The rug, however, was so thick that it kept getting caught in the vacuum roller. I was afraid I’d have to throw it out but I’d folded it up in the meantime.
Sadie shook her head and sat on the floor. “Rex. Here, baby.” She patted her lap and the massive puppy bounded over to her. He leapt on top of her, knocking her over, and proceeded to lick her face.
Burgundy laughed. “A real killer.”
“Rex, off. Sit. Attention,” called Ryder, and the loving beast left giggling Sadie and sat directly in front of Ryder like a stone statue, staring at him.
“Impressive,” I said. “How did you manage to score him?”
“Ryder has friends at the police academy from his paramedic training days. Twice a year they sell the police dogs that don’t make the cut. Most are German shepherds, but this year they were trying Rottys out, and well . . .” Sadie’s eyes twinkled at Ryder. “Let’s just say I’ve been bugging Ryder about getting a dog for a while.”
“Then he has to be yours,” I said seriously.
“No, Buns, Rex belongs to you and to Burg.” Sadie walked over and threw her arms around me. “I want you two to have him and I won’t take no for an answer. Ryder and I will get our own dog when the time is right.”
“And now the time is not right,” said Ryder. “We’re planning the wedding, after all.”
“No time for a new dog,” Sadie agreed.
“I don’t know what to say.” I rubbed my hands together. I’d always wanted a dog but needing one was something differ
ent.
“Thank you both,” said Burgundy. “I never thought we needed a dog but it looks like we do. And . . .” She bent down in front of him and took his huge head in both her hands. “He’s very handsome.” Rex licked her face in response and her reaction was something I’d never seen in my domineering friend. Her eyes moistened and she threw her arms around the massive beast, pulling him into her chest. Were those cooing noises? Coming from Burgundy?
Sam entered the room, her eyes widening at the sight of Rex as Burg finally let him breathe. “Oh, isn’t he adorable? Is he here to protect us? I feel safer already.” She bent to pet him and Sadie smiled.
“Thank you so much.” I hugged each of them as Ryder handed another copy of the dog’s commands to Sam.
“Learn the commands as soon as you can and then practice them with Rex. Well, not all of them. Hopefully you’ll never have to use the attack ones.”
We both nodded solemnly as Sam surveyed the list.
“And if anyone breaks in again when no one is here, Rex is basically trained to maim them,” Sadie said with glee.
Bouncing up and down, Sam exclaimed, “Oh. Wonderful.”
“Do you want us to stay or do you want to come to our house tonight?” Ryder asked both of us. “Carter is going to stay here with Chrys since, well, you know, he still lives with his grandfather and all.”
“We’ll be fine. Burgundy, can you carry in the guest futon mattress? We’ll throw it on the floor and Sam will sleep with me so she doesn’t have to be alone in the living room.”
“I’d be fine there with Rex.” Sam offered a weak smile.
“Tomorrow night, after the girls have spelled the house clean and added protection. Tonight, let’s stick together. I’d feel safer.”
“Of course. Anything for my little brother.”
I was only a year younger but if that made her stay, I’d take it. I turned to Ryder. “Take Sadie and Iphi home, it’s been a long day for everyone.”
Ryder hugged me and kissed my cheek. I flushed, flashing back on the few sexual encounters we’d had. I was his first man and I liked to remind myself of that. Ryder wouldn’t have even ventured into men if it weren’t for Sadie.
