by Kallie Khan
Tobie wanted to make her feel better, but didn’t know what to say. So she shoved her feet in the boots dutifully, zipping them up alongside her ankles, and appreciated herself in the mirror. “It’s a really great outfit,” she said, smiling at Mystia through the glass.
“Suck-up.”
Tobie gave a laughing scoff. “Way to take a compliment.”
Mystia had the good grace to look a little embarrassed. “Sorry,” she said. “I just know you hate the Halloween theme,” she said by way of explanation, “so you kind of shot yourself in the foot there. Can’t be that sincere.” She grinned archly back at Tobie, all the embarrassment gone.
“There she is,” said Tobie, smiling dryly, as though the real Mystia had finally appeared.
“Shut up and come sit in front of me so I can do your makeup,” said Mystia happily.
Tobie followed, a smile blooming over her face.
Chapter 18
KAIDEN
“Don’t be nervous,” Kaiden said as he drove them out of Glimmerdale.
“I feel like the psychology behind telling someone to not be nervous as though it’ll help them actually not be nervous is deeply flawed,” said Tobie.
“No, but really! I mean, there’s no need to be nervous. I told my dad and my stepmom that I was bringing a good friend.”
“A professional friend?” she offered.
He laughed. “Not this time. Just ‘good’ friend. Because you are. I mean, we’ve been friends for like a week and a half, so normally, how would I know, right?” He lifted his free hand from the gear shift, raising it in an explanatory gesture. “But I know you’re a good friend because I said, ‘Hey will you go to my dad’s birthday with me like the third occasion we hang out,’ and you were like, ‘Yes because I’m the best and most sportingly good friend you will ever have.’”
She let out a bubbly laugh, which made him go all tingly and warm. He did his best to hide the goofy grin worming its way onto his lips.
But a klaxon-like warning buzz from both of his cell phone startled the smile off his lips.
Tobie may or may not have said a bad word as she jumped in the seat next to him.
“Sorry,” he said, smile returning as he tried not to laugh. “Could you take a look? That sounded like an emergency alert.”
“‘Severe weather alert,’” she read. “Looks like there’s a storm coming in tonight. Says ‘first real cold snap of the season.’ Well that sounds—oh no,” she said abruptly, interrupting herself in mild panic.
“It shouldn’t be too bad,” he said reassuringly.
“No, it’s not the weather—I think I left my phone at home.” She could’ve slapped herself in the face. Then she did, palm against forehead. It made a satisfying smack.
“Jeez, don’t hurt yourself! Want to go back and get it?”
“Nah,” she said, rubbing her forehead. “It’s actually the perfect excuse to ignore any sophisticatedly shaming texts my mom happens to send me this evening.”
He laughed. “And you’re not too bothered by the weather report? It’s not too late to turn around. I can take you back to your place. We may get caught in it.”
“Pffft,” she said, letting a hiss of air from between her lips and teeth and waving a nonchalant hand. “A little cold weather doesn’t scare me.”
“What about a lot?”
“I mean, if you want to turn around take me back, that’s another thing entirely,” she said, turning to him with a half-accusatory, half-arch raise of her eyebrow.
“Oh-ho! I said nothing of the sort. All right, Miss Moon, into the frozen bowels of Caper’s Brook we go.”
But for all his talk of telling Tobie not to be nervous, as they crossed the three little bridges, his own nervousness grew until it was a buzzing in his jaw. His nerves were not helped by the fact that the bridges were called, in order: Caper’s Brook; Caper’s Fjord; and Caper’s Folly—the last of which always disconcerted him despite its structural soundness, because the name was just too ominous for its own good.
But he let the nerves buzz there undisturbed, and turned to give Tobie a wide smile. “Almost there,” he said, and he should’ve added, “You look beautiful,” because in that moment, with her shy smile and her left dimple and the way she smoothed down her dress subconsciously, she looked utterly radiant, but he was suddenly afraid of the bite back she’d give him.
Afraid and delighted, because her sharp wit only made her all the more beautiful.
Chapter 19
TOBIE
She was so nervous, she felt slightly sick. But as they disembarked from the truck, Kaiden helping her down with gentlemanly attention, she caught a whiff of magic. Then she was still just as nervous and just as slightly sick, but a curiosity helped diffuse the nerves and the sick just enough to where she felt like she might not make a total fool of herself after all.
At the door, they were greeted by a delightful, shrieking teenager who was a full head taller than Tobie. She threw herself into Kaiden’s arms, all elbows and freckles and wide blue eyes. “I missed you!” she said, breathless, and then turned to Tobie. “Oh my goodness, it’s so nice to meet you!” she fairly shouted at Tobie, then scooped her up into a bone-crushing hug as well.
“All right, all right!” Kaiden said, laugh. “You’re going to squish her to death.”
But Tobie was laughing right along with both of them. “You must be Flora,” she said.
Flora beamed sweetly over at Kaiden. “So you do claim me in public,” she said.
Kaiden rolled his eyes. “Only when no one’s listening.”
“Well come in!” Flora said, braces glinting in the cool afternoon sun. “Mom’s got hors d'oeuvres out and music playing, and it’s oldies but I guess you’re old—just Kaiden, I mean—so it’ll be fine for you.”
Tobie laughed again. “I like her,” she said.
Kaiden pretended to be very distraught by this development. “What evil partnership have I enabled?” he lamented.
Kaiden’s stepmom turned out to be one of the kindest people Tobie had ever met. She greeted Kaiden like a son and gave Tobie just as warm of a welcome, if less crushing than Flora’s had been.
“It’s so good of you to come, Tobie,” she said. “I’m Gina. Kaiden’s told us all about you.”
“Well, I don’t know about ‘all about…’” Kaiden said bashfully, sticking is hands into his pockets.
“Oh, my apologies. Not ‘all about,’ but enough about you to where I hope you don’t mind, but I feel like we’re already friends.” Gina gave her a warm smile and gestured for them to head to the hors d’oeuvres. “Please,” she said. “Tuck in!” Then she turned her head toward the back threshold. “George! Kaiden and Tobie are here!” She rolled her eyes in a show of camaraderie with Kaiden and Tobie. “He takes forever,” she said. “Worse than usually today because he wanted to shave so Tobie wouldn’t be mortally offended by his scrappiness.”
Kaiden gave a short, incredulous laugh. “Dad? Shave?”
“I nearly fell out of my chair when he told me.”
When Kaiden’s father emerged, she realized two things immediately:
Kaiden looked incredibly like his father in structure; he was tall and broad, with dark curls (although Kaiden’s father’s hair was struck through with dignified gray at the temples and along his upper hairline), but she surmised that he probably took more after his mother in terms of coloring. George Farr was pale, almost to the point of unhealthy pallor, and his eyes were a sharp blue.
The second thing she realized (arguably more immediately than the first, even) was that George Farr was a werewolf. An old, powerful werewolf. Her magical detection allowed her to focus in on his magical energy and discern this instinctually, like breathing.
By the hitch in his eyes and step as he came forward (shyly, she noticed) to shake their hands, he realized she was a witch a few heartbeats later.
He shook Kaiden’s had first, and they didn’t say much to each other (a monosy
llabic “hi dad” and “hi son,” with a marked reservedness from Kaiden that she thought was wildly out of character). Then he turned to Tobie.
In polite preternatural company, it was best practice to greet a fellow preternatural as an equal in the generally accepted manner—a small bow and an abbreviated, “Well met, sister.”
When in the company of mundanes and mortals, one didn’t need to do this so formally. But Tobie was still surprised when George gave her a slight inclination of his head and said, “Well met, Tobie.”
She was so surprised, in fact, that she did the same back to him, but her bow was almost sweeping. “Well met, Mr. Farr.”
He gave her a small smile, eyes softening behind his glasses. “Call me George. It’s not every day we get a visit from Kaiden, or his friends.”
As they settled in to make polite small-talk (again, something that set Tobie’s insides churning), Kaiden leaned in to mutter, “What in the world was that?” and jab a concealed finger toward his father.
“It’s an old way of greeting,” she said softly back. “My mom’s one of the old guard,” she added ruefully, “so I know it pretty well.”
“Okay, but why’s my dad got to be so weird and use it on you?” He rubbed a temple irritatedly, an uncharacteristic exhaustion settling into his expression.
She gave him a reassuring look. “I just have one of those faces,” she said. “And you worry too much.”
The exhaustion faded, replaced by a small smile. “If only I were more like you,” he said, and she thought that was hilarious (although she kept her laughter at bay) because she yearned to be more like him—calm, unruffled, happy all the time.
But either he didn’t know his father was a werewolf or thought it was too big of a secret to tell Tobie. She rather had the feeling it was the former, based on the way Kaiden had been delighted and disbelieving when she’d done her trick in the antique store—he had no idea magic or preternaturals existed. Which made her think further that George had probably had a hard time adjusting to life as a werewolf if he couldn’t even tell his own son. Perhaps, she thought sadly, this was the cause of the rift that had settled between them?
But Flora got them all playing racing games on the game console, which proved to be such a hit with all of them that even Tobie was shouting and cheering avatar along with everyone else, and George, who seemed to be the reticent type, was rapidly and enthusiastically given Flora instructions on how best to draft behind other racers and exploit the track for the greatest speed gain.
Afterwards, when Flora and Kaiden were engrossed in a very deep conversation involving video game genres (RPGs versus JRPGs versus action RPGs—Tobie threw her vote in early for JRPGs, much to their mutual surprise), Tobie found herself talking to George when Gina got up to check on dinner.
“It was good of you to come,” said George.
“I was happy to. Thank you so much for having me—I know it’s your birthday and all, so I appreciate you letting me share it with you.”
He gave her a small smile. Whereas Kaiden always had a lot of joy in his smiles, even the smallest of them—and even when he was talking about his mother, whose death clearly was still hard on him—George’s smiles seemed touched with a melancholy she didn’t quite understand.
“He wouldn’t have come if you hadn’t come with him,” he said, and she knew he was talking about Kaiden.
“I think he would’ve,” she insisted gently.
George looked into his glass for a while. “It wasn’t easy for him,” he said. “I was...bitten...a few months after he was born. The transition from man to were was...painful. In many ways. I didn’t really have a support system. Kaiden suffered. So did his mother. I wasn’t there for my family when I needed to be.” He gave a small sigh. “I don’t blame him for not wanting to be here.”
Tobie’s heart gave a sad, angry little thump. “Did you ever explain?”
He was quiet for a moment. Kaiden and Flora laughed into the silence at something they’d said, then kept chattering at full volume. “I wanted to,” he said, watching his kids, then looking back to her. “But years went by...and at a certain point, well. What could I say?”
She nodded. Empathy and sadness swam through her, and although she knew it was silly, she wished desperately there were something she could do.
“I think you should tell him,” she said softly. “I think you should tell them all. Kaiden would understand. I know it.”
“Gina knows...she says the same thing to me. So does my support group. Says I should tell the kids. Kaiden especially. She thinks it’ll heal wounds. I think...I think it’s a little too late for that.” Then he looks up and turns to give her a sudden smile, full of melancholy but also a touch of sweetness. “But who knows? Does he know about you?” he added gently.
“No...not, uh, yet.” The truth was, she didn’t know if she could ever bring herself to tell him. She understood, even if only a fraction, of what George was grappling with. “My family is pretty traditional…”
“Ah,” he said, nodding knowingly. “Witching families are very highly respected, but I understand it can be hard to belong to one. Be true to yourself,” he said. “That’s the very best advice I can give. Don’t know that I can always take it, myself,” he added ruefully, “but from what Flora tells me about you, you seem like a young woman with the intellect and means to make things come true for yourself. And that’s a rare quality.”
“Th-thank you, George,” she said, a surprising familial warmth coming over her.
But at the same time, a bitterness touched her heart too. Why was it always other people telling her these things? Why couldn’t her mother—? But no. That was an old wound, and to try to rationalize it would be like ripping the scab off.
No thanks.
In fact, she was never more happy that she’d forgotten her phone. She didn’t spend much time on it anyway, but she could stay in this warm, accepting space for a few hours longer without the sporadic ding, ding, ding of her mother texting in a burst of pique, or to tell her she’d booked Tobie an appointment with the manicurist or her favorite hair stylist because she just knew Tobie was beginning to look like an overgrown plant herself (which Tobie stubbornly took as a compliment, despite Isidora very clearly insisting Tobie looked “homeless”).
Three hours later, after cake and ice cream and another round of intense gaming, as they were just getting ready to go, another news alert blared over Kaiden’s phone.
“Ooh, you two aren’t going anywhere if it’s icy,” said Gina, wagging a finger at them both.
It turned out to be deeply icy. The little bridges of Caper’s Brook and Fjord and Folly were frozen slick with ice, and they were the only way in and out of the little hamlet. Gina mobilized immediately to bed them down for the night.
Tobie borrowed Kaiden’s phone to text Mystia, and Mystia replied with a series of emojis that made her cheeks turn bright red. She deleted the text in a panicked fit before handing the phone back to Kaiden. “Mystia says she’s looking forward to having the house to herself so she can fart all night without offending me,” she said peevishly.
Kaiden nearly choked on his dessert coffee, he laughed so hard.
At bedtime, George and Gina begged off with well-wishes of good night’s sleep, since they’d each had a small glass of port and were feeling its somnambulant effects, which left Flora to show them to their room.
“Wait. Our room? Singular?”
Flora gave Kaiden an innocent smile in response. “You’re staying in the guest room. Didn’t Mom and Dad tell you?”
“No! Let me just go—”
“Wait! No! Okay.” Flora wrung her hands nervously. “I...may’ve told Mom you weren’t just friends.”
Kaiden slapped a hand to his face. “Flora.”
Flora looked guiltily between them. “I’m sorry. I thought…”
“It’s no big deal,” said Tobie, smiling reassuringly between them. Secretly, though, her heart was alight with equal par
ts anticipation and downright fear. “I can take the floor or something, or—”
“You’re not sleeping on the floor,” said Kaiden forcefully.
“I’m sorry,” said Flora again, plaintive and contrite.
“Seriously, don’t worry about it. It’ll be a good story to tell my own sister,” Tobie said, and gave Flora a wink.
Flora looked slightly less mortified, and gave Tobie a hesitant smile back while avoiding Kaiden’s gaze.
After a moment of logistical negotiations, Flora bid them goodnight and slipped off down the hall. Kaiden opened the guest room door. “After you, my best and most professional friend.”
“Why thank you, my likewise best and most professional friend.”
The door snicked shut behind them.
Chapter 20
KAIDEN
He could’ve, as Phoebe Wise would’ve put it, “skinned Flora alive,” except for the fact that Flora had clearly been trying to work some matchmaker magic, and had done it so earnestly, with such excitement, that he wasn’t nearly as mad as he should’ve been. As he brushed his teeth in the guest bathroom, he sent her a quick text.
I’m gonna kill you.
But luckily (or unluckily, depending on how one looked at it), Flora was totally unruffled by Kaiden’s attempt at an overblown sibling threat.
She just texted him several smiley faces and a kissey face back, and Kaiden felt the blush creeping hard up his neck.
“I’m sorry about this,” he said when he entered the bedroom.
“It’s okay,” replied Tobie, but her eyes were wide and her smile stuck a little too stiffly on her lips for it to be truly okay.
“Let me go see about setting us up in different rooms—”
“No, no!” Tobie cried, voice barely above a whisper. “No, please, I don’t want to make a huge fuss. It’s really not that big of a deal,” she said. She was in a borrowed pair of Flora’s pajamas, her small frame swimming in Flora’s long-limbed sleep shirt and pants. She grinned at him—a true, slightly less stiff grin—when she noticed him staring at the copious lengths of fabric dripping off her arms. “I think this set’s a little big,” she said.
