by Evie Hart
More than that, he’d hit a sore spot. The guilt I felt over what had happened at the Town Hall was slowly disappearing day by day. That didn’t change the fact that I knew deep down that if I’d been able to control the magic, I’d have been able to pull Dotty out of wherever she was.
And honestly, I was terrified of ever using it again.
“Two seconds,” Nicole mouthed, disappearing to the back. She returned a moment later with a small animal carrier while the mom of the young girl filled a wicker basket with all the things she’d need for the rabbit.
She rung them up and sent a very happy little girl on her way with her new pet.
“Hey.” She beamed, her eyes shining brightly. “Whoa, who peed on your cereal?”
“Not important. Orion needs a pet for his niece. One to annoy his brother with. Orion, this is my cousin, Nicole. Nicole, Orion.” I made the introduction as they quickly shook hands, but I saw the appreciative glance Nic sent his way.
I barely stopped myself rolling my eyes. Again.
“What are you looking for?” she asked, obviously catching on that my bad mood was not going to tolerate any of this today.
“Ideally,” Orion said. “Something loud, obnoxious, and likely to annoy the hell out of my brother.”
“I’ll lend you Grandma,” I muttered.
Nicole choked on her laugh. “I wouldn’t call anyone loud and obnoxious here, but…” She trailed off and frowned at a pale-yellow Cockatoo. “No, I’m not going to sell Larry to the pointy-eared guy,” she said at the bird. “And he’s an elf, if you think you’re so polite.” Silence for a moment, then Nicole put her hands on her hips and frowned. “If you’re going to carry on, Miss Annabelle, I’m going to give you to him as a loud and obnoxious bird, because all they can hear is you squawking like you’re a watch bird telling us that the British are invading.”
Orion shot me a confused look.
“She can talk to animals,” I said, hiding a smile. “That’s her specialty.”
“Huh. That’s cool. So that obnoxious noise was the bird talking?”
“You asked for that,” Nicole said, wiggling her finger. “I’ve told you before that I’m the only one who can hear your complaining!”
“That’s a yes,” I muttered.
Orion leaned against the counter, smiling at me. “What’s your specialty?”
I froze. “It’s complicated.”
He opened his mouth to ask me something, but the bell above the door rang as it opened.
We all turned to look. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end at the sight of the tall, burly-looking man who had muscles on his muscles.
And I knew then that this was the guy who’d been tailing me all day.
I took a deep, steadying breath and turned back to Nicole. She was looking at me quizzically, but Snow’s voice burst into my mind before I could excuse myself to the back room.
You’re in danger, aren’t you? Whose eyes do I need to scratch?
I’m not. I don’t think. Where’s Samson?
With me.
Meet me at the pet store.
I rubbed my temple right as another, new voice entered it.
Come home immediately, Aristotle demanded. There is danger about you.
“Oh, Jesus,” I muttered, rubbing the other.
“Are you okay?” Nicole asked, taking a step forward.
“Yeah. There are too many people in my head.” I dropped my hands and forced a smile. “Do you have any painkillers in the back?”
She opened her mouth, paused, then nodded. “There’s some in the drawer by the sink. Help yourself.”
“Thanks.” I turned to Orion. “Sorry, but Nicole can help you better than I can.”
He reached out and touched my arm, concern crinkling the corners of his eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’ll be fine.” I stepped backward. “Thank you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
“WHAT’S GOING ON?” Snow demanded, pacing the kitchen back and forth as Samson sat lazily licking his paw. “Samson! This is an emergency!”
“Does she have tuna?” he asked.
Snow swiped at him with her paw, but he darted out of the way.
“The wolf alpha is tracking me,” I said. “He doesn’t like me investigating, and the guy he’s had tailing me is in the store right now.”
“I wondered what that vile smell was,” Samson said, staring at me.
I held up my hands. “I need you both to help. And I’ll pay.” Because apparently loyalty wasn’t good enough in the Thorn family if you had four legs.
The familiars both shared a look. “How much?” Samson asked, jutting his chin upward.
“That’s my question.” Snow glared at him before adopted the same position and looking at me. “How much?”
“Three sushi rolls each,” I replied. “And a chunk of cheese for dessert.”
“Done,” they both said.
“What do you need?” Snow asked.
I bent down to be closer to eye-level with them. “I need one of you to get me home and the other to make sure that guy doesn’t follow me.”
“I’ll follow the guy.” Samson made himself as big as he could. “I’m the male. That’s a man’s job.”
I wanted to tell him Snow was more vicious than him on a good day, but he was so sweet that I couldn’t. Instead, I scratched him under the chin and thanked him.
Snow bounded forward and jumped at me, almost making me fall over. “I’ll take you home. Let’s go.”
And with that, we slipped out of the back door.
• • •
“Grandma!” I slammed shut the door behind me. “Grandma!”
“Child, you’ll wake the dead,” Angus said, strolling into the hallway. “What’s the commotion?”
“Lorenzo Martinez has had one of his lackeys following me all day. I need a protection spell.”
“Cherry, bloody hell!” Angus shouted. “Now is not the time to be awkward!”
“What is going on?” Aunt Bella demanded, joining the party in the hall. “Why all the shouting? Mama is in the greenhouse with Terrence commiserating with him.”
I met her eyes. “What did you do this time?”
“Moved the tomato plant to the left an entire inch,” she replied dryly. “Why are you shouting?”
“Lorenzo Martinez has a lackey set on me. I escaped out the back of Paws. I need a protection spell to make him stop.”
Fire flared in Aunt Bella’s eyes. “He’s doing what?”
Uh-oh. I picked the wrong aunt to tell.
“He’s got someone following your nosy niece,” Angus said. “Do you need to clean out your ears?”
“I’ll clean you out of this house, you moody little—”
“Hello?” I said, waving my hands. “The spell, please? Before he shows up and watches the house?”
She snorted. “He can try. Follow me.” She crooked a finger and stalked toward the library as if she were on a mission to uncover the truth of the universe.
Or, you know, the secret to destroying it.
I’d bet on the latter first.
We’d all heard the stories about Aunt Bella and her personal path of destruction—which was why I wasn’t exactly surprised by her earlier jaunt at the police station with the sword.
I hurried after her with the cats on my heels. A flash of black swept over my head, and Snow’s hiss told me exactly what that was.
And that was Aristotle.
He hung from a perch that was set up for Honey. “What’s this about the rogue shifter?”
“Rogue shifter?” Aunt Bella dropped a book. “Explain yourself, fancy bat.”
“My name is Aristotle.”
“And whoever heard of a bat named Aristotle?” Grandma demanded, finally gracing us with her presence. “You’re fancy. Deal with it. You British types are.”
“Watch who you’re calling fancy!” Angus protested.
“Fancy people don’t
lick their backsides,” Snow agreed.
Angus’ fur stood on end.
“Can we get back to the point?” Aunt Bella snapped. “Y’all argue on your own time. Apparently, a rogue werewolf is chasing after one of our own, and we’re worried about who is and isn’t fancy.”
No wonder this family was such a disaster.
Too many cooks in the kitchen and all that, except in our case, it was too many animals with a voice.
“Check Praesidium,” Grandma Cherry said to Aunt Bella. “There’ll be a spell we can modify in there.”
“You don’t have magic, Mama,” Aunt Bella reminded her.
“No, but you two do, and it’s high time we taught these whippersnappers how the Thorns really do a protection spell.”
At that, my aunt’s eyes lit up. “Really? Finally?”
“If anyone can pull it off, it’ll be this one.” Grandma pointed at me.
“For the love of the Goddess, can someone tell me what you’re talking about?” I threw out my arms. “We seem to be going on numerous tangents here, and I’m the one in danger. Apparently.”
Aristotle nodded. “The wolf hired by the Haven Lake alpha is a rogue. A mercenary, if you will. He takes on jobs from surveillance to assassinations. This isn’t the first time I’ve met him.”
I literally felt the blood drain from my face.
“Chances are if the police know you’re being tailed, he’s only here for surveillance, but this needs to be a particularly strong spell.” He slid his beady eyes toward my aunt. “And if the rumors one has heard about the Thorn brand of protection spells are true, I would not be against it.”
“Does everyone know about these spells except for me?”
“Yes,” Aunt Bella said. “This is a spell Ophelia would be proud of.”
Oh, Goddess.
“What the…” I paused. “Oh, no. I’ve heard all those stories.”
“Yes, well, they’re not stories.” Grandma floated herself into a high-back chair and clasped her hands in her lap. “They’re all true. If the situation calls for it, personal protection spells in this family are laced with curses designed to target the person intending us harm.”
“What about the whole “do no harm” rule?”
“Didn’t you give the hot detective a permanent erection?” She raised an eyebrow.
“No. I gave him a temporary one, and he deserved it.” I shifted uncomfortably. “Besides, that didn’t hurt him.”
“The spells are worded a specific way.” Aunt Bella put a thick, leather-bound book on the table. “The curses will only be triggered if the person wants to do you harm. It’s incredibly accurate, and not once have we ever mis-targeted. All we’ll need is his name. Aristotle?”
“Patrick Hemingway,” Aristotle offered.
The two cats in the room rolled over onto their backs, meowing with laughter.
And hell, I thought Grandma was going to fall off her chair.
“That’s an excellent name for an assassin!” She chuckled. “How terrifying.”
“Shoop.” Aunt Bella said, making a closed-mouth motion with her hand. “Now, Avery, your choice. Every time he gets too close to you, we can either give him a debilitating migraine, itchy testicles, or chronic diarrhea.”
“I don’t—um.” I wrung my hands in front of my stomach. “Is there one more preferable than the others?”
“I’m not sure anything will beat your erection curse,” Grandma said, still chuckling. “But I’d go for the testicles here.”
“Of course you would.” Angus sniffed, curling his tail around his body.
“Okay,” Aunt Bella said, interjecting before they could bicker. “This particular spell is best served in a cream. Avery, I’m going to make this for you, and I want you to stay in the house until I’ve put the cream on you, okay?”
I hesitated, but I nodded. I didn’t know what I could do outside the house, and if there was a potential assassin tailing me, I didn’t want to do anything there.
“What if he comes here? Sooner or later, he’s going to realize I gave him the slip. What’s to stop him marching up to the front door?”
Aunt Bella’s eyes glittered as she closed the book and hugged it against her chest. “I seem to remember you put a pretty effective spell on that hot cop.”
“Can we stop calling him the hot cop?”
“I’ve got this one,” Grandma said. “We’ll do the blood barrier.”
The what?
“I’m sorry?”
Grandma slid her eyes to me—which was still freaky, considering I could see right through her eyeballs to the bookshelf behind her. “The blood barrier. The ultimate protection for a witch. Only those in the blood family can enter the property. And I don’t just mean the house, Avery. Every living being without Thorn blood will be unable to enter across the magically erected boundary.”
“What about Aunt Rose? She doesn’t have Thorn blood. And don’t you think it’s a little dramatic?”
For the flicker of a second, barely even half of one, Grandma solidified, and I saw the woman who’d both instilled the fear of the Goddess in me and baked the best dang peach pie in the county.
“My family’s safety is never dramatic,” she said in a firm voice. “You will perform this spell, Avery Thorn, because it’s about time you learned how. As for Rose—it’s fine. Our family spell recognizes her as our blood.”
Warmth spread through me at that. She and I hadn’t always seen eye to eye, but as far as I was concerned, she was my blood.
“If you don’t want to protect yourself,” Grandma said, floating to stand. “Then protect everyone else in this house. You have a duty of care to them, Avery.”
I swallowed. “What if—what if I can’t do it?”
“Dear child, you’ve excelled at every single spell you’ve ever performed.” She moved closer to me, raising her hand. She paused, as if she realized she couldn’t touch me, then sighed and dropped it. “You have the power within you to protect this entire town from outsiders. Trust in yourself and haul your ass to the back boundary. We’re going to protect this house.”
“I don’t know the spell!” I called after as she left.
“You don’t need to,” she tossed over her shoulder. “It knows you.”
I looked at the cats—and my newly acquired bat. “Do y’all know what she’s talking about?”
“Yes,” Angus said, right as Snow and Aristotle gave a resounding, “No.”
I didn’t know what was more shocking—that Angus knew, or that Snow and Aristotle agreed with each other. Judging by the disgust on my cat’s face, she felt the same as I did.
“Good. Angus, you’re with me.” I pointed at the cat. “You two…try not to kill each other,” I said to my familiars.
“Try again,” Angus said, stalking past me with his tail in the air. “You’ll need their power. Let’s go.”
I swear, both Snow and Aristotle sighed.
So did I.
• • •
“Why did I feel like I needed to pee the second I walked past the mailbox?” Aunt Shelly put her purse on the table in the living room. “Did someone set a blood spell?”
I slowly raised my hand. “That’d be me.”
“What did you do now?” Aunt Rose said, stepping up next to her.
Aunt Bella peered over the edge of her newspaper and relayed the basic story, which was all they needed to know. “Her cream is brewing right now.”
I wasn’t a fan of cream that needed to brew, but okay. Not to mention that I wasn’t a fan of the blood spell. I was still amazed I’d managed to pull it off the first time, and Grandma had been right.
The second I’d reached the boundary, I’d known. Snow had enhanced my power while Aristotle had always been at the edge of my consciousness, and I knew why. He was waiting and hoping that my power would show, that it’d come out and help me, but it hadn’t.
It hadn’t even flickered.
I had a feeling that it wouldn’t u
ntil I really needed it again.
Honestly, I really, really hoped I never did.
“Avery!” Nicole’s voice reverberated through the house. “Why did I want to pee when I walked up the path? And why did that damn elf talk my ear off about you?”
Well, she could have stopped at the first question. “Blood spell. Lorenzo is tracking me, and I protected the house and everyone in it,” I replied. “As for the second, I’m not a mind reader. I have no idea.”
“What elf?” My aunts all burst into conversation at this. “Who’s looking into this? An elf in the Thorn family? What is this? Who are we talking about? What is happening? A stalker and an elf? Modern-day romances confuse me.”
Nicole cocked her thumb toward them. “Who fed them sugar?”
I held up my hands. “Is Samson okay?”
She nodded, dropping onto the sofa next to me. “He is. He told me what was going on and asked my permission. I told him to stay out of the way, and he did.” She pulled one foot up under her and leaned against the back of the sofa. “I masked his scent from the guy just in case and cast a spell so he’d look different every time he saw him.”
“You can do that?”
“It’s related to my power,” Nic replied. “I don’t use it, but Samson asked. I can protect an animal in a potentially dangerous situation. He was worried about you, Aves. He trailed him to the house and he tried to get close, but then he got a phone call and got distracted.”
“I never wanted to put him in a dangerous situation. I’m sorry.”
She laughed, squeezing my hand. “You didn’t. He put himself in it! I heard all about how proud he was that he was your grand spy and protector.”
“I was!” Samson pounced into the room and stopped between us. “I did a good job, Avery.”
I tapped my thigh, and he jumped up onto my lap. “You sure did, Sammy. Thank you.”
He purred beneath my fingers as I tickled the top of his head.
TJ trundled into the library, showing his face for the first time in days. At least, that was what it felt like.
“Let me guess,” I said, still scratching Samson’s head. “You want to know why you felt like you needed to pee.”
“Yeah. I just got back from Joel’s.” He looked at me with the kind of innocence that came with being a child. “What was that?”