by Nicole Hall
The front door opened, and Sera prepared for battle. With Jake and with herself, because a large part of her still wanted to drag him and his stupid hero complex back upstairs for round three. Except it wasn’t Jake that appeared in the doorway.
Ryan pulled up short at the sight of Sera in one of Jake’s shirts eating cereal at the table. “Well this is going to complicate things.”
Sera decided to be polite, even though she could feel a breeze all the way up her thighs. There was no reason to take her anger out on him. Yet. “Want some breakfast?”
“Is Jake making it?”
“He’s not here. He had to run off to save the world all by his lonesome.”
Ryan raised both brows. “Then no.” He hesitated. “You seem upset. Everything okay?”
Sera swallowed another spoonful of soggy flakes. She must have been out of practice with her poker face. Something to work on.
“What is wrong with men that they think I’m incapable of making smart decisions on my own? They’re possessive and stupid and so sure they’re right all the time. Yeah, it was amazing sex, but that doesn’t mean he gets to trap me here. And what makes him so convinced he can protect me? I’m the one with the power. What’s he going to do, punch Torix? One night of mind-blowing orgasms and suddenly he’s invulnerable?”
Ryan looked askance at her, then pointed to his face. “This is my ‘I immediately regret my decision to be polite’ face. Please stop talking.”
“You should be taking notes, maybe you’ll learn something.”
“Mm-hmm, like I should stop coming over uninvited.”
Despite his words, he sat down at the table with her. Sera knew she was cranky, partly because the coffee hadn’t kicked in yet, but mostly because it was taking time for her to work through her anger with Jake. Taking her keys didn’t really stop her from doing anything. All she had to do was walk across the street to go into the magical forest. He was trying to exert control, and she was going to make sure he understood the consequences.
Her stomach cramped at the thought that she’d been about to follow him blindly. She’d certainly learned her lesson there. Again. Jake’s actions had made her doubt herself. Again. Tears formed in her eyes, but she’d be damned if she’d let them fall in front of Ryan. The last thing she needed was him telling Jake all about how she’d cried into her cereal.
Sera didn’t take orders well on the best of days, so she was definitely going to be gone by the time Jake got back. She was half-worried seeing him might weaken her resolve to stay away from him, so she needed to be strong. Her chest got tight imagining living next to Jake for the foreseeable future, and she considered leaving for a while after everything was over. Jake could do as he pleased.
Ryan had waited patiently while her relationship silently imploded, surprisingly nice for a snarky dude, but Sera wasn’t feeling very charitable.
“What are you doing here, anyway?” she grumbled.
“It’s Halloween, and I don’t want to be sucked dry and left as a shriveled-up husk. It’s not a good look for me. I’m here to strategize. As a side note, Jake makes amazing pancakes, and I was hoping to score some.”
Her heart squeezed painfully at the mention of Jake’s pancakes. “Priorities.”
He hesitated. “There was one other thing. There was another break-in at school.”
Sera winced. She was pissed and hurting, but not enough to welcome another set of zombie bunnies to distract her. “Not more dead animals?”
“Dead? As far as I know those rabbits are still categorized as missing.”
“Right. That’s what I meant.”
He watched her, and she fought the urge to fidget. “No, not animals this time. It sounds like it was part of a series of break-ins yesterday in town. The sheriff is blaming teenagers causing trouble before Halloween, but the missing items rang some bells for me.”
“You think it was Torix’s minion?”
“I think it’s likely.”
“Okay, what was missing?”
“Candles, a cauldron, matches, a lot of salt, beakers, two filet knives, a couple of cubic feet of garden dirt, and three packages of gummy dinosaurs.”
Sera blinked at him a few times. “I know I should be concerned, and we’re going to circle back to where one might swipe an actual cauldron, but all I can think about is what does an evil minion need with gummy dinosaurs? And what exactly are gummy dinosaurs again?”
“Well, my best guess is that even evil minions probably need tasty snacks. Gummy dinos are the local version of gummy bears, and thievery, if done right, can really work up a good appetite, so our intrepid evil-doer snagged some treats.” Ryan shot her an adorable grin, but then sobered. “One of the grannies in town makes and sells them at the student store. Everyone loves them, so it doesn’t narrow much down. The rest of the stuff is all pretty useful for a summoning circle.”
Sera shook her head at him and went to take a drink of her coffee but found her cup empty. She wanted to get a refill, but the shirt was downright indecent when she was standing, at least she wouldn’t have this problem any more once she gathered her things and left. There would be no more surprise overnights at Jake’s house. “Would you like some coffee?”
He grinned. “Need a refill?”
She crossed her hands primly in front of her. “Yes, thank you.”
Ryan grabbed her cup and didn’t have to rummage through the cabinets looking for another one. He knew right where they were. Sera wondered how often Ryan popped in for breakfast, and how often he became an awkward third wheel during a morning after. Judging by his surprise when he came in, not often. No warm fuzzy feelings, we’re still mad. Yeah, mad!
He brought her newly filled cup and his own and sat down across from her at the table. “We need a plan.”
Sera pulled her thoughts away from Jake’s dating habits. “What happens if we leave. Let Torix have his moment. We go to California or Tahiti or something and let the Fae handle their own problems.”
Ryan scrubbed his hand down his face. “Oh, how I’d love that, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned since moving here, it’s that the Fae don’t solve their own problems. Torix would get free, he’d eat your grandmother and his minion and any other humans stupid enough to be in the Wood on Halloween at midnight. So, a large population of the high school probably. Zee would try to stop him, but he never agreed to be bound like the rest of them, so he could leave the woods and rampage through town. The more power he eats, the more powerful he becomes. Eventually he’d finish with Mulligan and move on to another place. By the time he hit Tahiti, he’d be a god and we’d be doomed.”
Sera blinked. “That was surprisingly detailed, and with some new information in there, so good to know. Not that I could do that anyway, leave someone else to deal with this mess. It would piss me off to no end if I died because someone else screwed it up. Also, how do you know all that?”
“One of the first things they had me do was upload all their texts into a database in case of disaster. I’m still an admin, so I have access. It’s searchable.”
“Does Zee know you still have access?”
“We haven’t discussed it, but I think she does. And Tahiti won’t be that great if I’m being tortured by Torix. Did I mention that part? The more intense the emotion, the more he likes it. It’s unclear if it gives him more power or if it tastes better, but he was very into the torture scene during his last rampage.”
“Why didn’t you bring this up the last time?”
“I wasn’t sure there would be much useful information in there. Some of the Fae were crap at note-taking.”
“Is there information about humans with power? Maybe a guidebook on how to use it?”
Ryan cocked his head. “Probably, but I thought you’d already figured it out. Wasn’t that what you and Jake have been doing all week?”
“Seriously? All this would have been very useful a week ago.” She tried to push away the frustration and anger at stupid, clo
sed-mouthed, controlling men, not to mention the painful memories of laughing with Jake, and focus on the problem at hand. Based on the alarmed look Ryan was giving her, Sera wasn’t sure she was doing a very good job. Deep breaths. In and out. In... and out.
Ryan hurried on. “Zee believes you learn more by figuring it out yourself. I tried to tell her the same thing about how to work her smartphone, but she wasn’t amused.”
Sera almost growled, but she really wanted access to that database. Maybe there was something in there about how to defeat Torix for good. The Fae may have trapped themselves in their little area, but she could roam freely, as could the other people in town with power. Her mind was racing with possibilities, but Ryan interrupted her by tapping her hand.
“Nothing it could teach you would help with Torix,” he said.
“But what if the others and I worked together—”
“Even if that was possible, in the time we have, you wouldn’t be able to master it. And what about all the people who’ve never used their power or use it passively? They’d show up and get eaten, and we’d have to deal with a more powerful Torix.”
“Well if I’d know all this a week ago, we could have been practicing this whole time and wouldn’t be completely unprepared now would we?” The rage still simmering under the surface began to bubble up again.
Ryan wouldn't meet her eyes. He just stared at the table and mumbled, “Nothing we can do about it now.”
Sera slumped back in her chair. He was right. “So what do we do? Samhain is tonight, we have no idea who’s helping Torix, and weird shit is happening all over the place.”
Ryan’s head snapped up. “What weird shit?”
“I went by Maddie’s yesterday and it was shielded. The wolf was there but he didn’t attack me. He followed me back here and looked like he was going to attack Will until I got rid of him. Will, not the wolf, though they both went away at the same time. And I slept with Jake. More than once.”
“Maddie’s was shielded? How?”
“I don’t know. That’s why it’s weird. I figured out how to get through the shields, and there’s all this magical stuff in her place, but Jake swears she’s powerless.”
“You broke into Maddie’s magically warded house?”
“Yes. I’m a badass. Keep up. The wolf was watching me, but he didn’t move, even after I had to run through the open to get to my car.”
Ryan’s eyebrows came together. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“I know. Again, that’s why it’s weird.”
“Are you sure the magic you felt in Maddie’s wasn’t you doing something on accident?”
Sera held up a finger. “I’ll let that one pass because it’s a valid concern, but I’m getting better at keeping the power controlled. It was magic from people all over town.”
He nodded. “Okay, we’ll shelve that for now. The wolf followed you here? Why did you come here instead of your place? What was Will doing here?”
“Yes. None of your business. I don’t know.” Sera hesitated then continued. “He was looking for me, I think. The wolf looked pissed. All spiky along his back, and he was slinking forward out of the woods.”
“What did you do?”
“I blasted Will’s fancy car with magic until the alarm went off and he left. The wolf retreated back into the trees once Will was in his car.”
“I assume Jake wasn’t here?”
“Why would you assume that?”
“Because Will was still in one piece on the front porch.”
Sera raised a brow. “He was at work. He came home right after that.”
“We can skip the nookie. I don’t want to know why it was weird.”
Sera tugged at the shirt not quite covering her thighs. “Now that you’re all caught up, can you turn around or get out or something so I can change?”
“Why don’t you glamour it?”
“Because I’ll look clothed, but still feel mostly naked. Turn around.”
Ryan turned his chair with a loud scrape, and Sera ran back upstairs to retrieve her clothes from the dryer. She’d explained the day twice now, and she wasn’t any closer to answers. Time was ticking by, and she had to find some way to stop the servant or Torix or both, ideally both, and rescue Evie. Oh, and keep herself from running back to Jake’s bed at the first opportunity. That ship had sailed.
Nervous energy had her itching to make a list, but she wasn’t feeling the telltale signs of panic. Another weird development, shouldn’t she be panicking at the thought of failing and dooming the town, maybe the world, to being tortured and eaten by an evil fairy?
The laundry room was really more of a laundry nook, so Sera took her clothes back into the bedroom to change. The rumpled bed brought back memories of Jake, not only last night, but years ago.
She’d been so happy to feel normal for the first time in her life. Jake had made her feel wanted, and she’d been planning to stay with Evie permanently. The summer was coming to a close, and she’d looked forward to starting school in an entirely new place. It was a chance to reinvent herself. Evie had hinted heavily that she wanted Sera to start training in the family business. At the time, she’d assumed that meant working at the antique shop Evie had owned, but in hindsight, she’d probably meant the magic.
If she’d stayed, would she have been properly trained? Could she have stopped Evie from going against Torix in the end? Or would they both be trapped in Fae limbo?
Sera shook off the feeling of foreboding. She quickly made the bed and found a picture of Jake’s parents under one of the pillows on the floor. They must have knocked it off the nightstand at some point. She said a silent thanks that they hadn’t broken anything, and picked it up to get a closer look. His dad had his arm around his mom, and she was giving him a smacking kiss on the cheek.
She set the picture down. As far as she knew, there were no pictures of her parents together. Her mom refused to tell her anything about her father. She wouldn’t even acknowledge that there’d been another person involved in making Sera. Evie had commented once that her mom had been hurt badly and wanted to forget everything. Sera had been hurt at first because she felt like she was part of the everything, but her mom never made her feel like she regretted having a daughter. This specific daughter, yes. She was pretty sure her mom had cursed the gods for the daughter she got, but she’d never tried to ignore her.
The summer she was with Evie, her mom had called every day, and though she’d wanted so badly to stay, she’d hesitated because it would mean hurting her mom. After she returned home, she’d wondered why both Evie and her mom went to such great lengths to avoid each other. They wouldn’t even say the other woman’s name if they could avoid it. What kind of rift could split a mother and daughter so severely? Her own relationship with her mom wasn’t exactly healthy, and Will made it way worse, but she still picked up the phone most of the time when her mom called.
The room was clean, Jake’s bed was piled high with bedding once more, for a guy, he was really into pillows, and she was running out of ways to procrastinate. Once she left, there would be no going back. Her eyes returned to the picture of Jake’s parents. They looked normal, and she knew Jake didn’t have any magic. She’d have felt it. It was clear she’d gotten her magic from Evie, but what about her mom? Sera was one hundred percent convinced her mom didn’t know. Something they were going to have a long discussion about once Evie was free. What else had Evie kept secret?
Looking back, Sera was pretty sure Evie’d been hiding something that last night before Sera left. She’d been distracted and more accommodating than usual. Evie had trusted her, but she’d always required that Sera be home by eleven. When Sera had asked if she could go out with Jake then stay the night with Maddie, Evie had given in without a fuss. Jake had planned to take her out to a fancy dinner, but his parents had decided to go away for the weekend at the last minute and left him to watch Maddie. They’d ended up eating Rosie’s on the back patio.
Ser
a sank down on the bed and let the memories take her for once. She hadn’t meant to lie to Evie, but Maddie had decided to go off to a friend’s house. Sera had stayed the night with Jake instead. The next morning Maddie had called, and Jake had rushed off to help her. Sera hadn’t realized it until just now, but that last disastrous day and night were turning out to be very similar to this one. He’d even left a stupid note the last time too.
I love you. See you soon.
She’d thought that had meant he’d be back soon. Except he wasn’t. After an hour, she’d gone home to find Evie already at the shop. She hadn’t seen him again and he hadn’t called, but Maddie had come over later that evening. She wanted to go to a bonfire at a friend’s house on the other side of the woods, but she didn’t want to go alone. Her parents would never have let her go, but Sera was feeling abandoned by Jake and rebellious.
Evie had asked that she take a flashlight, and Sera had left with her blessing. The rest of the night was fuzzy. When Maddie’d turned to cut through the woods, Sera had followed her down a path she’d never noticed before. Minutes later, Sera’s head was swimming and she was gliding through tiny golden glimmers. Sprites. She didn’t remember drinking anything, but she’d felt drunk. The trees loomed above them, and Maddie danced and laughed ahead of her.
They never made it to the bonfire.
The last thing Sera remembered about that night was a horned black shadow figure chasing them through the brush. She’d looked back and been slapped by a sharp branch that’d left a series of small cuts across her cheek. Everything after that was dark. She’d woken several hours later on Evie’s back patio, curled up under a blanket on the swing.
Evie had been waiting inside with tea. Sera hadn’t known where Maddie was, and every time she’d tried to bring up any memories, she’d been drenched in fear. Even now, in the relative safety of Jake’s bedroom, her heart sped up and her breath came short. After a lifetime of being told she was mentally ill, Sera had been convinced that she’d snapped and done something to Maddie. Sometime later, Maddie showed up at home, seemingly drunk, covered in twigs, and with a broken wrist. The guilt and fear made Sera pack up and leave that night.