Juniper

by Eva Delaney

  I didn’t think they’d go flying off the balcony, but I should have warded it anyway. Anyone can make a rope and climb down. “Fuck.”

  Shakes’ expression fell. “You’re not glad to see us.”

  My heart fell with his mouth. “I am, but I left for a reason—”

  “Yes, for our safety,” Shakes said. “We’re here for yours.”

  I shook my head. “You’re all doomed.”

  “Then we shall be doomed for love!” Shakespeare said and executed a courtly bow.

  I facepalmed.

  “That is why I procured this for you.” He straightened, reaching into a pocket to pull out a packet of shortbread cookies. “It’s not a bouquet of cookies, but—”

  “It’s perfect.” I never could resist a man who brought me food. “Thank you.” I tucked the package into my backpack for later. “How did you find me?”

  “Sammy’s victim was a werewolf,” Oscar muttered. “He sniffed you out from the comforter William was wearing.” Sammy nodded proudly.

  Shit. Hiring a wolf would be how Ram and Alyssa would likely track me, too. I needed to get out of town.

  “Please, no need for formalities here,” Shakes said to Oscar. “Call me Shakespeare.”

  “No.”

  “I’m not lying.”

  “Prove it!”

  “Give me a quill and I shall!”

  I cut them off. “What do you mean Sammy’s victim?”

  Sammy raised and lowered his eyebrows at me.

  Shakes sighed. “He hijacked that car.”

  I snorted. Some part of me was still the expert thief who appreciated a reckless, selfish act.

  “I paid the driver,” Shakes added. “So, everything is amazeballs, shawty.”

  “Shakespeare wouldn’t talk like that,” Oscar said.

  “I enjoy new uses of words!” he snapped back.

  “Where the fuck did you get the money?” I said.

  Sammy swaggered toward me. He bit his lip slowly and leaned in close. I felt his breath stir my hair as though he was smelling it.

  Well, now there was a waterfall in my pants.

  “Did ye know thar be boxes full of money everywhere? They be sitting there, waiting to be plundered.” Sammy’s voice dropped to a husky growl in my ear.

  “He means ATMs,” Oscar said, crossing his arms. “He pried one open.”

  Sammy reached into an inner pocket of his coat and pulled out a wad of hundreds. There had to be thousands of dollars in his hand…and I did need a new phone.

  He raised an eyebrow at me. “I ain’t got much time, but ye got curves like waves in a storm.”

  I looked him over, my gaze lingering on his pecs. I met his eyes. They glinted with mischief and danger.

  “We can use this to buy a room in that castle up there, my dangerous, fine wench.”

  I knocked his hand, and the money flew into the air, raining down around us. He blinked at the sight. “Don’t call me wench, dildo head.”

  “Hey, there’s free money out here!” someone shouted. The door to the diner jingled, and customers rushed out. Some stopped and gaped at the wrecked lot and the falling money. Others raced to grab as many bills as they could.

  “It’s my booty!” Sammy yelled and shoved people away from the money.

  “Stop, you can’t push people,” Oscar said, and tried to grab Sammy’s arm.

  “Friends, supes, countrymen, lend me your ears.” Shakespeare’s voice boomed as though he was shouting lines to a massive theater. “I come to stop a riot, not cause one.”

  No one but me paid attention to him. He planted a hand on his hip. “Come on! I’m dropping truth bombs here!”

  I could magic away the chaos—a calming, sleeping, or forgetting spell would do the trick. Or I could lift all the people into the air and move them someplace else. But after the curse that shattered the lot and almost hit my men, my stomach churned at the idea of using magic.

  That reminded me of what I had lost track of. Fucking dick turds. This was the second time tonight I’d forgotten about my real problem because Sammy, Shakes, and Oscar were flirting and looking hot.

  Any dark witch within a few kilometers would have sensed my curse. Alyssa, Ram, and their people were on the way here.

  I had to warn Bob that trouble was coming his way. I turned and ran into the mostly empty diner.

  Chapter 15

  The diner’s door chimed as I hurried in. Everyone had left, even the counter clerk, except for an orange cat sitting on a table and Riley, the biker chick. She had been protecting the diner since the maple syrup goons had kidnapped Bob.

  “Is your gang still patrolling the borders of Silver Springs?” I asked.

  Riley popped a breaded cauliflower in her mouth and moaned, licking her finger. “Not since the maple tree shifters were arrested at the border. I’m only staying for the free food. I’m going to get sooo fat here.”

  “Mrrr,” said the cat, who was probably Carlyle, another of Sapphire’s men. Many women in this town collected dudes like my customers collected vibrators.

  “I need you to call in the rest of your gang and be on guard,” I said.

  Riley sat up straight, her expression turning canny and focused. Good. “What’s going on?”

  “Trouble. Dark witches are on their way here. They’ll likely leave once they realize I’m gone, but you need to be ready just in case.”

  Riley nodded and pulled a phone from her faux leather jacket. “I’ll bring in back-up.”

  The door jingled and in swaggered Sammy, followed by Shakes and Oscar. The pirate slammed his palm on the table near me. The cat startled and meowed. “Ye lost me booty, woman!”

  “Nonsense. You’ll let me ride it while you moan the entire time.”

  “Aye, but you still lost me money!”

  “I knew we shouldn’t have let him rob an ATM,” Oscar said, rocking back and forth. “We’re going to be in trouble.”

  “We couldn’t stop him,” Shakes said gently. “Besides, we have less than a day left, so it hardly matters if we run afoul of the law. At least it allowed us to buy clothing and a ride here.”

  I glanced at Oscar. He was frozen in place, staring past us. I followed his gaze to Carlyle the orange cat.

  Carlyle tilted his head. “Mrrr?”

  “Handkerchief?” Oscar said. He stepped toward the cat, his hands outstretched. “Handkerchief, is that you?”

  “Meow!” Carlyle Handkerchief said happily.

  Oscar was half laughing and half crying as he pressed his forehead to Carlyle’s. The cat closed his eyes and rubbed his head on Oscar’s hair.

  Awww.

  “Why aren’t you at the library, you naughty kitty?”

  “Mrrr.”

  Huh. Oscar must not know that Handkerchief was really Carlyle, a cat shifter.

  Riley shot me a questioning glance. Should we tell him? she mouthed.

  I shook my head. No need to ruin his moment of joy at finding a kitty friend.

  “Order up,” Bob said behind us. “Wait…where’d everyone go?” He stood at the kitchen door, holding a plate of waffles.

  “I’m sorry about your parking lot…and losing your customers.”

  “That’s okay, April.” He frowned. “What happened to my customers and parking lot?”

  “Zoe at the Cleanly Den should be able to fix the pavement.” I placed his phone on the counter next to him. “I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve brought you. Stay safe.”

  “You can keep the phone, April! Until you find yours.”

  I gazed at Bob and sighed. I’d miss him and a dozen other locals too. “It’s okay, Bob. I’m sure I’ll catch mine soon.”

  The door jingled and I whirled, every muscle tensing to hold my magic in check. It pressed against my skin like it was trying to smash its way out.

  Sapphire strolled in with car keys in hand. Because it was the middle of the night, she didn’t have to cover herself against the sun. She donned jean shorts and a t
ank top despite the chilly spring weather.

  “April, I saw your car on fire at Danforth and Main. Purple fire.”

  My throat closed. Shit. Purple was a curse. The witches were tracking me.

  Oscar looked up from his kitty cuddles, and Sapphire’s gaze landed on him. Her eyes widened, and she went very still.

  I glanced at Oscar, who stared at Saph with a stricken look. They had met once before, right before Oscar was murdered.

  Of course, Sapphire was the first to break the silence. “Holy dick snacks!”

  “What is it, Saph?” Bob said cheerfully.

  “A ghost, Bob.”

  “Who? The red-haired…ooohhhh,” Bob said as he realized who Oscar was.

  “You’re alive,” Sapphire said to Oscar.

  “Only for a day,” he whispered. The heartbreak in his voice cracked my heart like that glass dildo I had fucked a bit too hard.

  Sapphire shot me a questioning glance.

  “Magic,” I said and wiggled my fingers like limp cocks bouncing around. I had seen lots of flopping cock on Sammy tonight.

  Sapphire turned back to Oscar. “I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry I didn’t save you.”

  He shook his head. “I never blamed you. I shouldn’t have trusted Volos…I shouldn’t have believed there was a late-night job interview or that I’d actually get to be a supervisor and afford my rent or—” His shoulders started shaking.

  I wrapped an arm around Oscar, and he pressed his face to my neck, sobbing silently. His cool blood tears dampened my skin.

  “It’s not your fault,” Sapphire said, her voice fierce.

  “You did nothing wrong except dream of a brighter future,” I said. “Don’t ever stop doing that.”

  “How? I’m going to die and go back to the factory and—and—” His voice hitched, and I squeezed him tighter.

  “I’ll set up an apartment in the factory for you!” Sapphire said. We hadn’t told her what was going on yet, but that didn’t stop her from jumping in to try to fix things. “It’ll have TV and radios and computers and everything!”

  “I’ll visit,” I said. I wouldn’t be able to see him or hear him, but he’d see me and know that he wasn’t alone.

  Except…I had to leave town before Ram and Alyssa cornered me.

  Oscar sobbed silently against me. Carlyle the cat pressed his head against Oscar’s hand and stayed there.

  The guilt gnawed at me like a wolf on a vertebra, because I couldn’t give him the brighter future he deserved. Fighting Ram to recover the Spellbinder would end with me turned to dust like the parking lot.

  I had made him too powerful by stealing artifacts for him, and now he couldn’t be stopped.

  That was probably why I said a dumb thing just then.

  “We’ll spend the next day together and make it amazing. Something to remember. Anything you want.” It was a lie—I was going on the run, and if we stayed in town, we’d be surrounded by dark witches. It was a rarity for me: a cruel lie. One that could break a heart.

  “Yarrrrr,” Sammy said and wrapped one arm around Oscar and me and another around Shakespeare. “The new crew sailing out on a land boat. I be the captain. Ye can be the quartermaster.” He kissed my hair.

  The gesture was so sudden—and oddly sweet from a man who kept trying to ride me to bone town—that I startled. My heart flipped over like a cat rocking back and forth in a sunbeam.

  “I’m the captain,” I said. “You’re the cabin boy.”

  “This shall be the greatest ensemble cast ever,” Shakes said. “Curse my lack of quill!”

  “Wait…none of you can come—” I was going to say that they couldn’t come, but that was pointless. I had already promised Oscar we’d be together until the spell broke. I was already putting the three of them in danger.

  Well, fuck. I had a new crew. Until tomorrow night, if no one killed us first.

  Saph tucked her car keys into my palm. “Don’t sploosh up my car.”

  Chapter 16

  “For the road,” Bob said, trotting out of the diner with a tote bag in his hand.

  I paused with my hand on the driver’s door of Sapphire’s car. Bob grinned and handed me the cotton bag. It said Yes Now Bob on the side in big bold letters.

  “We only have reusable bags, for the environment,” he said happily. “Enjoy the pancakes and real syrup.”

  I took the bag and glanced inside at a pile of take-out boxes. “Let me pay you for this.”

  “Nope!” Bob said. “Good luck chasing your phone shifter.” He nearly bounced back into his diner.

  I had fucked up his parking lot and maybe led dark witches to his diner, and he was still so happy and kind.

  Opening the car door, I leaned in and handed the bag to Oscar in the passenger seat. Shakespeare slouched in the backseat with his hand moving as though he wrote on the air with a pen.

  “Where the fuck is the pirate?” I asked.

  “He flew like a sparrow trapped in a train station,” Shakespeare said and pointed toward the diner and slightly up. I followed his finger to the Ferris wheel behind Yes Now Bob.

  Shit, we didn’t have time for this.

  Slamming the door, I shouldered my backpack of clothes and a magical butt plug and dashed into the diner.

  “Welcome back,” Bob said as I rushed by.

  “Not now, Bob, thanks,” I said and raced out the back door onto the patio.

  It was like a Parisian cafe. I had frequented a bunch when stalking out museums and hidden covens in France to steal their relics. The ground was made of gray stones while the tables were ornately wrought metal. It was too nice for the traditional diner with padded booths out front.

  The patio stood empty except for a waiter cleaning tables. Bob must be getting ready to close, or I scared everyone away. Even the Ferris wheel, Bob’s pride, stood still except for its blinking lights—and a lone figure in dark blue scaling its struts.

  I smiled to myself and jogged across the patio to the base of the wheel. The flashing lights this close up dazzled my eyes, forcing me to squint.

  I gripped the metal, planted my foot, and climbed after the mad pirate.

  It had been a long time since I’d scaled the side of a building or climbed down into ancient wells and catacombs. I was so used to climbing in the dark that I could do it blindly. So I closed my eyes against the flashing lights and felt my way up the wheel with fingers and feet.

  Fuck, it felt good to feel the sheer drop behind me and know I was defeating gravity with my own strength.

  “It be higher than a ship’s mast,” Sammy said.

  I opened my eyes and found I had reached the peak without even realizing it. Sammy perched on the top strut, balancing on his ass and nothing else.

  With a grunt, I pulled myself up and twisted around to plant my ass next to him. Our side butts touched, our thighs touched. They had to, because if I shifted over, I’d hit the downward curve of the wheel. Sammy smelled of sea and rum, and warmth radiated off his body. I wouldn’t have moved away even if I could.

  Below us stretched half of Silver Springs, glowing in the night like a star cluster. I was going to miss it. Strange. I had never missed a town or city before. They were all stops on a quest, locations for an adventure, never anything to pine after.

  “I can see my shop from here.” I pointed to the north end of the town and a block that stood dark in the night except for the streetlights.

  “What do ye sell?”

  “Cocks.”

  Sammy did a double-take. I smirked.

  “Ye lying again, Trouble Lass.”

  “Not this time. I craft and sell sex toys.”

  “Ah, that be why your quarters was full of glass dicks.”

  “No, those were security. They explode if someone breaks in.”

  “Clever,” he said with a chuckle. “What a couple we make. I be a thief and ye’re a merchant who’s an expert in stopping thieves.”

  I hesitated. Should I tell him that I
was an expert thief too?

  No, he’d probably tell the others, and they wouldn’t be forgiving of my past as a goon for a mad witch. Knowing dark magic was one thing—Shakes and Oscar were cool with that—but using it to hurt and steal was harder to accept.

  “The top of a ship’s mast was the highest a lad like me could get,” Sammy said. “This be even higher, and it stands here for anyone.”

  “You want to fly.”

  “Hmmm…never thought of it. Flying ain’t an option in my day, but these times be…weird. Impossible.”

  “What did you want in your time?” I laid a hand on top of his, and he laced his fingers through mine. No raunchy or wench talk, just a simple gesture of closeness.

  “I wanted to be free, I reckon. Height and sea be as free as I could get.”

  An ache bloomed in my chest. He might as well have tit-punched me. “Yet you were trapped for centuries on the same cliff.”

  “Aye,” he said and nothing else. That silence alone carried weight because Sammy rarely shut up.

  “I’m leaving,” I said. “If you want to stay here, you’ll have to hide—”

  “I’ve never been good at stayin’ in one place, and I ain’t intend to start.” He paused. “But…can we stay for a moment longer? It be a lovely view.”

  We didn’t really have the time, but I said ‘sure,’ like an idiot.

  He squeezed my hand, and I squeezed his back.

  “Can I ask something?” I said.

  “Aye.”

  “You said you were from Yorkshire, but you keep using words like lass and lad.”

  Sammy snorted. “I sailed with many a highlander. They must have rubbed off on me, ye ken.”

  I chuckled, and he smiled. He looked even more handsome when he smiled—it was even better than staring at his bare chest.

  “Who else did you sail with?”

  “Brits, Irish, Welsh, French, African, and dozens more. Everyone who needed to earn a livin’ and determine their own life. Me, I wanted to see the world, but the navy flogged ye if ye looked at an officer wrong. Fuck that.”

  Something in Sammy’s tone made me think he knew about those abuses firsthand. “I bet you pissed off your superiors often.”