by LeAnn Mason
“Are they still here?”
“No, they have gone to your sisters for the time being. They are free to move where they are called until they find peace and move on.” Elsie soothed, wiping at the drying tears tracking my face with a serene smile. The silver of her braided hair glinted in the manufactured light of the hallway sconces, making it appear to almost shimmer and glow as if encircled by a halo.
Maybe she was, in truth, an angel. The errant thought made me smile.
“I hope they find it after seeing Tanya and Jess. My sisters are hearty. They will mourn, but they will move on. They are strong women.”
“You are strong, too. Do you think your sisters could have handled Seth the way you did? The knowledge there are others out there? Knowing humans are not the all-powerful masters of the Earth they think they are would not settle well on many shoulders. You, my child, are very special indeed. You will thrive in Grimm Hollow, but you will need to find your place in our world first.”
“Where would that be? I can’t be a Sentinel like Jason and Allya. I’m just not built for that.” Elsie and Jason had explained their roles within Grimm Hollow during their brief introduction before Allya had rejoined us.
“I had a spot ready for Allya at the Archives before she needed to step away and into her true role. I have a feeling the spot was supposed to be yours all along. Is that something you’d be interested in?”
“Archives? Like a library?” The fervor in my voice may have given away just how excited the thought made me, but I didn’t care. I imagined all the mysteries I could unravel with access to the history and lore of the creatures—people—calling Grimm Hollow home.
Knowledge was power and could help level the playing field for the little human in the midst of the creatures formerly only found in fables and legends. I pinched my mouth closed to keep an honest-to-God squeal from escaping at the older woman’s nod.
“The Archives are sacred. Very few humans are privy to much of the information within its walls. Marie will need to meet and speak with you. Your intentions will need to be read and approved of prior to admittance to anything more than would be provided in general schooling. That is something that would take time to discern and will not be granted lightly. But that is something that can be granted as needed in the future. Would you like me to arrange a meeting?”
“Yes, please!” This time, the response was emphatic and coupled with the smile I couldn’t wipe from my face. A far cry from when she’d asked me up here to say a farewell to my murdered parents. Maybe she knew I needed it. Something to occupy me and my mind. My mind was always so much clearer when working out a new problem. Crazy, I know. But this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. Didn’t want to. It wasn’t college. It wasn’t learning what countless others had before me and then trying to find an employer who would most likely be some kind of chemical company. It was a chance to uncover the knowledge and history of the supernatural.
There wouldn’t be a place for that in the human world. Well, not one that I would allow myself to be a part of. I couldn’t imagine what would happen in the world if people realized that things like Shifters, Witches, and true magic existed.
What else could I uncover with access to the Archives?
“You look exhausted. Again. Why don’t you get yourself cleaned up and maybe get some rest? You can stay in the spare room for as long as you’d like. I’m sure Allya won’t object to keeping you close. Tomorrow is a new day. I’ll let you know what my friend says.” With that, she turned on her heels and padded quietly down the stairs. “I’ll have Allya come up here and get you some clothes to get you through another day. We’ll get you some of your own tomorrow if you’d like.”
She disappeared around the corner at the base of the stairs, back into the confines of the kitchen. After some quiet murmuring, Allya emerged, a cautious smile gracing her beautiful face. Those eyes, while so different from what she’d had, seemed to suit her in a way that the others didn’t. There was a ferocity hiding in their depths, one that finally emerged to the fore. The girl had always had a core of steel, but her exterior was one of distrust and caution. A girl who avoided conflict because she didn’t think she had any power.
This Allya embraced her nature, whatever that truly meant. I had yet to see much of the new and improved Al. I had yet to meet the Scarlet Huntress. Though the garment for which she was named was firmly affixed to her back even now. Would she scare me? Was she still the girl that I knew and loved since childhood?
“C’mon, let’s get you some of my magicked clothes to wear.” She waggled her eyebrows at me as she passed where I stood frozen, lost in thought, in the same spot Elsie had left me. When I didn’t move to follow, Allya grabbed the sleeve of my already borrowed shirt and tugged me, tripping and flailing, into her room once again.
“Magicked?” I asked dumbly, finally breaking from my introspection.
“Yeah, this woman, Gloria, apparently had them conjured for me or something. I honestly don’t have a clue how it works, only that they just kind of showed up in the closet of my room at the Coven House. Sasha told me they were mine to keep.” She shrugged, her entire body radiating the same questions that bloomed on her face. Turning back to the open drawers of her dresser, Allya pulled a few articles from their confines, thrusting them backward into my arms to hold as if the bundle was a baby.
“Am I making the right decision, Al?” The question burst forth without conscious effort on my part. My mind, once again, overtaking my mouth. Something that happened regularly and was a major factor for me not having many friends. Luckily, Allya had always found it endearing.
“I can’t say what is right for you, Mae,” she answered solemnly, throwing a wad of fabric back into the furniture and shoving the drawer closed with enough effort to crack the panel. She stood, hands on the dark wood, head bowed. “This is a brutal world, even more so here. These people are so much… more than anything you’ve ever known. Hell, it’s so much more than I realized, and I grew up with a toe in the pool. I have abilities that help me survive, help me combat threats. You won’t have that. You’re a Norm, Mae. This town holds things that would love to kill you, and you won’t have a leg up on defending yourself.” She still wasn’t looking at me. She seemed so… overwhelmed? Conflicted, maybe?
“You’re worried about me,” I realized. She thought I couldn’t handle myself in her world. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I could either. But I was sure going to try. “I’m here. I made it through one hell of an introduction.”
“That’s exactly what I mean. Seth… I never wanted you to meet him. It’s why I downplayed our friendship, ran away whenever Griffin or one of his goons would loom in the shadows.” Finally, Allya turned to face me, taking several beats for her new whiskey eyes to meet mine. Searching her face, I realized that my glasses had, once again, slid into my eye-line.
With a quick push, I righted the errant plastic. “That man was a bad egg. I highly doubt that everyone in Grimm Hollow is as depraved as him.”
“I just don’t want to see you get hurt. You’re all I have. You’re my best friend.”
“You are not alone. Not by a longshot, Allya. Do you not realize how much love is around you?” There was no way she couldn’t see it. She was scared. Everyone she’d loved had been taken from her. “I’m resourceful. I’ll figure it out. Besides, I have you, the Scarlet Huntress. I think most quake in their boots at just the mention of your alter ego.”
“I’m not sure why. All I basically succeeded in doing was getting myself killed.” Her words held a biting edge. “You lost everything because of me.”
“I don’t know how to make you believe that only Seth is to blame for his actions. You are as much a victim… more so, considering all he did to you and your family. But we’re free of him now, and we have each other. You are my family now, Allya. If you stand by me, believe in me, then I will have the fortitude to make my place in this new world. All the history… the unexplainable phenomena that per
vade this town…”
She laughed quietly as she thrust another wad of clothes toward me, this one consisting of jeans and a shirt. “I should have known your curiosity wouldn’t be hindered by something as trivial as possible death. Be careful. Your bliss is showing. Now, go take your shower. You stink,” she chided playfully, pushing me back out into the hallway and toward the open door of the bathroom. “I need to say goodnight to Jason before Elsie shoos him out of the house. Then we can have a proper slumber party, one where we’re both coherent and participating.” With a quick wink, she started down the stairs toward where we could hear Elsie and Jason’s murmured conversation.
My smile grew to overtake my face as I shut myself into the confines of the little, pristine room with the white fixtures gleaming when I flipped on the light, quickly filling the space with clouds of humid steam as I waited for the water to heat.
I was about to have my first ever sleepover.
CHAPTER 9
“Rise and shine, girls!”
“My eyes,” Allya squealed, turning her ratted head toward the pillow at my right when the heavy quilt we’d been ensconced under was ripped away with a swift tug, exposing our sleep-deprived eyes to the light of the new day. A day that appeared to be quite sunny if the beam of searing agony was any indication.
I still basked in the glow of my first teenage rite of passage: the sleepover. I’d successfully stayed the night at my best friend’s house, eating cookie dough and squirting whipped cream into my open mouth as well as atop steaming mugs of cocoa Elsie had made for us. Fresh. From the stovetop, not the package.
Mind. Blown.
It was a night of reprieve. A night where I celebrated being with my best friend instead of dwelling on the loss of my parents. Reality was quick to seep back into my consciousness, my parents never far from my thoughts. Remembering that they were still proud of me and loved me made thinking of them easier as did the hope that I would see them again, hopefully soon.
A morbid hope maybe, but one I held all the same.
“Get up,” Elsie’s gruff words were accompanied by a swat to the rear.
“Hey now, that’s not nice,” Allya griped, grabbing a pillow and swiping at her aunt.
My entire body unfurled as it reached out in an effort to stretch the lethargy from where it had sunk deeply into my bones. A pleasurable shiver wracked my limbs as my body relaxed into a wakened—if tired—state.
“What is the meaning of this, old woman?” Allya continued to gripe irritably.
“You’re grumpy in the morning,” I mused. “Is this a new thing? Something tells me it isn’t.” It may be something she indulged in more now. I had a feeling that things were quite different under Seth’s thumb. We talked about a lot while we laughed and watched chick flicks into the early hours. Staying away from the heavier topics, we tried instead to enjoy each other’s company and being… alive.
It had been questionable for each of us in the last few days.
“Marie has agreed to meet with you before you go back to Winchester for the funeral, Mae. That means now if you want any position at the Archives.”
“Omigosh, really?” My voice was so high I made myself cringe, or would have if I hadn’t been in the middle of fleeing the mattress and hopping around like a deranged kangaroo.
“Holy crap, Mae. Only canines can hear you at that decibel. And I am one now so… ouch. Thank you so much for that.” Allya cringed, rubbing a palm against her ear.
“Noted,” I apologized, grabbing my glasses from the nightstand before continuing to flit around the room. It was fairly annoying that without the foldable plastic, I could very easily end up with a broken toe… or pairing plaids with stripes. “Can I borrow another outfit? I’ll try to get something when we get back to Winchester. Maybe my sisters will have some to spare or have met with the lawyers. I know my parents had… had a life insurance policy.” Melancholy flooded my mood, chasing away the lightness I'd felt only moments before.
A gentle hand landed on my shoulder where I stood rooted and unfocused on my task at the clothes chest. “We will be accompanying you home my dear, but do not worry about the necessities. Also, please consider this your home while you stay in Grimm Hollow. Our home is yours,” Elsie consoled. “Now, hurry so we can be on our way. Breakfast is ready in the kitchen when you are.”
From the moment we’d been close enough to catch a glimpse of the Archives building, I’d been in awe. In front of me stood a grand, stone, columned façade with intricate carvings set into the face. I couldn’t help but drag my fingers along the grooves, trying to work out what each engraving was by sight with what little knowledge I’d acquired so far. Allya pulled me through the heavy, wood, double doors well before I was ready, but the interior made me gasp.
It was breathtaking. Both open and filled to the brim, the two-story space had a center aisle that was open all the way to the wood-paneled arched ceiling. Along the open corridor, wooden columns supported room-sized arched alcoves, each with wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Each and every one filled to the brim with tomes.
It was a researcher’s dream, and I was in heaven. The air was dry, scented with various things I associated with books: leather, resin, a bit of mustiness, but absolutely no dust.
“Immaculate,” I whispered, spinning in awed circles so that I could see as much of this treasure chest as humanly possible. “I could live here.”
“I know you could. I wanted this gig before I realized I really wanted to be a Sentinel. It made me think I’d feel closer to you…” Allya reminisced, following my circles with quicker ones as we made our way to a point yet unknown to me.
“Head about halfway down then hook a left. Marie should be in the area of her desk if she’s expecting you.”
“You’re not coming?” I ceased my gawking to focus on my friend. The room spun just a little.
“Nah, I’m going to go with Elsie and grab a couple of things really quick. We’ll meet you out front in a bit. The phone she gave you this morning has our numbers already programmed in it. Just give a holler when you’re ready, and we’ll head out to meet your sisters.”
I fingered the phone that Elsie had given me as we’d filed out the front door of her cottage about thirty minutes before. She’d split off toward the main thoroughfare while Allya and I had continued past the “Coven House” and toward the school. The Archives were right next door. Maybe it doubled as the school library? I would have taken advantage of it if it were. I sighed contentedly as my eyes again began surveying my surroundings.
Amazing.
“Earth to Mae,” Allya snickered, flashing a hand in front of my glasses. “Boop.”
My hands batted ineffectually at her finger that had just poked me on the nose, making my spectacles fall further into my sightline. “Knock it off,” I giggled at her antics.
“All right, get going. We’re running low on time, so stop your gawking. You’ll have plenty of time for that once you wow Marie.” She shooed me forward then turned on her heel with a flourish, cloak arcing in her wake, and waved me off as she strode back toward the imposing entrance. Her boots clunked with every step, echoing throughout the cavernous space. She threw me a guilty look over her shoulder before she was gone. Back out into the too-bright sunshine that leaked into this secret space, exposing its treasures to the outside world for one brief moment before once again leaving it engulfed in shadowy dimness.
“Mae, is it?” a warm voice inquired from behind me. Her steps were soft. They didn’t echo like Allya’s had. And yes, my enraptured moment may have dulled my senses just a bit as well.
Turning, I greeted who I assumed was Marie. A middle-aged woman, she looked every bit the stereotypical librarian. Tall and thin with dirty blonde hair pulled back into a tight bun, her silver eyes partially obscured behind thin, wired, tortoiseshell frames. She wore a dark cardigan open over a white button-up blouse. Her features were soft and open as she took me in, her demeanor putting me at ease. The
tension drained from my spine and to the tips of my fingers where I tried to inconspicuously shake it from my fingertips.
“Yes, ma’am. Thank you so much for meeting with me this morning.” I plastered a smile on my face and extended my hand.
The woman stood stoically, her silver eyes swirling with what looked to be wisps of smoke within their depths. As I moved to drop my hand, convinced that I’d completely misread the woman in that first moment, several fluttering blinks returned her focus to my face, and a genuine smile split her coral shaded lips.
“It is very nice to meet you, Mae. I think you would be a wonderful fit here. I hope you will accept.” Her hand came up—thin fingers baby soft and perfectly manicured—to grasp my still extended appendage with surprising strength. “I understand you will be leaving Grimm Hollow for a couple of days?”
“Uh, yes ma’am,” I answered dumbly when the shake was finished, still caught off guard. “Is there going to be an interview? Do you need to know more about me and my qualifications?” This seemed way too easy.
“I’ve learned all I needed to. I think you are perfect for the betterment of our knowledge. It will also be a safe haven for you should you need it.”
Safe haven? “I’m sorry, what do you mean by that?”
“Come, let us sit so we have more privacy.”
I looked around. I didn’t see anyone else, didn’t hear the rustling of paper or the cough of a student who’d been too absorbed in their task to remember to breathe. I’d been guilty of the latter a time or two. Still, I acquiesced, and we found a wooden bench within the nearest alcove room on which to perch.
“The Archives are a sacred place of knowledge and history, and as such, it is completely forbidden to engage in aggressive acts on the premises. So, should you find that you are… ruffled by some of our inhabitants who may not like having a Norm from the outside privy to our home, this place will act as a sanctuary.”