Ronin leaned forward and whispered in my ear. “Man. Why does the dude hate you so much? It’s like you murdered his puppy or something.”
I wanted to know too. It couldn’t just be that he thought my mother was a “waste of space.” There had to be more to it than that. “No idea. Maybe he’s jealous I defeated the demon, and he missed out on the party.”
Marcus’s eyes snapped back at me, his brow cocked in question, and my breath caught. Crap. Did he just hear that? Could his hearing be that good? Sure it could. He was paranormal like the rest of us. I just didn’t know which kind. I made a mental note to watch what I was saying around the chief.
Gilbert slammed his gavel, making me flinch as the sound echoed around us. “Order! This meeting is now in session.” He waited for silence. “Good.” He let go of the gavel and interlaced his fingers on the desk. “Now. The first order of business.” He looked at Marcus before he continued. “The chief has requested an emergency town meeting after the debacle of the pixie incident and the demon in the town square.”
“My kids play in that square,” said a man in the row in front of me as he stood up. I hadn’t noticed how large he was until now, like if a rhinoceros was his close cousin. Maybe it was. “This town is supposed to be safe. You told me it was safe. It’s why I brought my family here. You said we’d be protected.”
“Calm down, Clive,” said Marcus, his jaw clenching. “The town is safe. I promise.”
Clive pointed a finger toward the exit. “Tell that to the demon that’s plastered all over the ground.”
Ronin whistled excitedly. “The crowd’s going wild. Excellent. If all goes well, we might get a mob.” He tossed a few more gummy bears into his mouth.
I leaned over to my Aunt Dolores. “I thought they cleaned it up?”
“They did,” answered my aunt, “but not before the whole town got a good look.”
Great.
Gilbert smacked his gavel. “Sit down, Clive, or I’ll have you escorted out. You’ll have your chance at the question round after we’re done here.”
Clive’s wife pulled on his arm until the sizeable man sat down with his arms crossed over his chest, breathing heavily.
Gilbert cleared his throat. “Now, I was saying before I was rudely interrupted… after much debate with the town councilors, we have put it to a vote.” He swallowed and waited to get everyone’s attention back on him again. “The town has called in the Unseen.”
There was a general murmur of shock and agitation from the gathered townspeople in the community center. Before I could ask Dolores who the hell the Unseen were, she shot to her feet like a girl in her twenties.
“You cannot be serious!” she cried with a voice just as youthful and strong.
Gilbert gave Dolores a pointed look. “They have agreed to aid in surveying our town until we can figure out what is happening.”
Dolores raised her hands. “The wards were tampered with. That’s what’s happening.”
The little man made a noise in his throat. “Yes. Wards that the Merlin Group specifically said were unbreakable.”
“I never said that,” she countered. “I said it would take a great amount of magic to break them.”
“In any case,” continued Gilbert as he dismissed her with a wave of his hand, which I knew he would regret later. I had a feeling this was payback for Dolores slapping him. “Your wards failed,” continued Gilbert. “You were sworn to protect us—and failed. And we’ve already lost one member of our community—”
“Eight pixies were killed,” interrupted Martha.
Gilbert shot her a glare and then turned to face the room. “Nine. We’ve lost nine members of our community. We won’t lose another.”
“You cannot let those goons into our town,” cried Dolores.
Gilbert flashed her a little smile. “The decision’s already been made, Dolores. The Unseen arrive tomorrow.”
“You stupid little man,” hissed Dolores, and I felt waves of power rolling off of her. Oh. Dear.
Gilbert’s face went tomato red. “Why you… you—”
Marcus put a hand on the smaller man’s arm, but he was looking at my aunt. “I know you’re upset, Dolores.”
Dolores laughed bitterly. “Upset? I’m livid,” spat my aunt.
“But you see that we have the town’s best interest at heart.” Marcus moved his gaze around the room. “Right now, we don’t have the necessary… people… we need to police the town. I don’t have the men, and well, you don’t have the magic.”
I gave a tiny gasp. What the hell did he just say to my aunt?
“He’s so dead,” Ronin whispered excitedly. “Oh, man. He’s dead.”
I had to agree. What the hell was he trying to do? Dig himself an early grave? He was beautiful but clearly had a brain like a stone.
Gilbert gave Dolores an icy smile. “Marcus is right. The Merlin Group is not what it used to be. Sorry, but how are three old witches supposed to protect us?” He sneered, a victory smile on its way.
Beverly shot to her feet. “Who you calling old, you miserably tiny, little man.”
Ruth joined her. “Yeah. She’s only fifty-two.”
Beverly gasped, her eyes round. “Ruth!”
Ruth gave her a wide-eyed shrug. “What?”
Dolores squeezed her way through the row of seats and reached the front desk, all the eyes of the room homed in on her. Her face was a mask of deep frowns and wrinkles. I’d never seen her so angry.
With her signature hand on her hip, she used her free hand to point at me.
Oh. No.
“We’ve got Tessa now,” said Dolores. “A Davenport witch. And a powerful one.”
Gilbert threw back his head and laughed like a gremlin. I was going to punch that little owl.
“Tessa?” he said. “She’s inexperienced. She can’t help us. You’d get more help from Martha and her beauty spells.”
Martha leaned in close. “Watch it, Gilbert. Or I’ll spell you a perm.”
The little man grimaced. “I’m just telling it like is it.”
“Tessa proved herself tonight.” Dolores’s voice rose. “If it weren’t for her, the demon would have probably eaten all the pixies and then moved on to bigger and better meals.”
“Ha!” Gilbert laughed. “If your niece is a powerful witch, then I’m the president of the United States.”
My face flamed. I wasn’t sure whether to get the hell out or stay and play tetherball with Gilbert’s face.
Ronin spat out some gummy bears and shot to his feet. “Dude. You need to stop double-dipping in your crazy sauce. And you need to seriously reconsider that shirt—”
“Ronin, sit down!” cried Gilbert. He leaned forward and pointed a pudgy finger at him. “You owe me twenty dollars for that broom you broke.”
Ronin’s jaw fell. “What? Are you serious? The demon broke it. Bill the Netherworld. I saved this town with that broom. So, the way I see it, you owe me.”
Gilbert leaned back in his chair. “You broke it. You buy it.” He hit his gavel on the desk as though that was final.
Ronin let out a few curses and fell back in his chair. “I hate him. I really hate that guy.”
“Totally understandable,” I muttered. “He is wearing an ugly shirt.”
I shifted in my seat, my temper reaching a dangerously explosive level. Though Ronin had been unconscious toward the end, I had risked my life. Maybe it had been stupid to fight the demon on my own, but it was the only thing I could think of. I just never thought it would come back and bite me in the ass like this.
But I stayed because I wanted to know who the hell these Unseen characters were. I was a curious beast.
“The Unseen can’t be trusted.” Dolores turned to Marcus. Her posture was stiff with anger. “Please. You know I’m right. Don’t do this, Marcus. I beg you.”
Marcus looked straight at her, and even from a distance, I could see he was struggling with something internally. “My hands are tied, D
olores. I have no choice. The town’s in trouble, and it’s my job to make sure it’s protected.”
“It’s our job too,” said Dolores, though I didn’t think anyone heard her.
“The Unseen will patrol Hollow Cove starting tomorrow,” said the chief. “I need to keep everyone safe.”
“And the Merlin Group?” asked Beverly, her voice beautiful and clear, though with an underlying tone of fear. “What happens to us?”
Marcus’s eyes focused on me. “The Merlin Group… is off the job.”
11
Even after popping two Tylenol, sleep didn’t come easily. My body ached from my fight with the demon, and though Ruth had prepared a healing elixir for me that would help me sleep, I was still sore. Magic didn’t always make the pain go away.
And it did nothing to snuff out my burning anger. My pillow became my enemy all night long. More like it was Marcus’s face as I kept punching it, trying to get comfortable for hours. But I’d dozed off sometime in the night, only to be woken a few hours later with my heart thrashing and my body covered in sweat.
It went on like that all night long.
As the hours went by, my anger lessened as despair crept over me at the looks of misery on my aunts’ faces at the meeting last night. My aunts were out of a job.
The Merlin Group was over.
No one uttered a word on the ride back home. Either my aunts were in shock, their feelings of betrayal running too deeply, or they were too hurt to speak for fear that they might break down. They probably didn’t want me to see them like that. I know I wouldn’t either.
I’d been dying to ask them about the Unseen. But one dark look from Dolores as I shut the front door of Davenport House a bit too forcefully told me that if I didn’t want to end up like burnt toast, I better keep my mouth shut.
Yes, I was angry. Angry for my aunts but also angry that I thought I’d finally found my true calling, where I truly belonged—and that was working for the Merlin Group.
I would polish my own magical skills and learn as much as I could to be as proficient as my aunts. I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn’t my mother, and I wouldn’t abandon them. I was better than that.
And then just like that, the Merlin Group was no more.
Hell no. I would not lie here all morning and wallow in self-pity. That wasn’t me. I got shit done. I would get the Merlin Group back on its feet if it was the last thing I did.
And what better way to help my aunts, to help relieve some of the stress, than to make them a special dinner tonight. They could relax while I tried to cook. Yeah. That would be an adventure.
I leaped out of bed feeling energized. I had a mission. After a quick shower, I went downstairs to the kitchen where my aunts were already assembled. The united feeling of gloom was almost palpable.
That would change.
“Can I borrow the car?” I asked as I grabbed a carrot muffin off the kitchen island.
Dolores took a sip of her coffee at the kitchen table. “Why do you need the car at nine in the morning?”
“It’s a surprise.” I broke off the muffin’s top and shoved it in my mouth.
Ruth clapped her hands together. “Oh. I love surprises.”
Beverly choked on her coffee. “You love everything. It’s not natural.”
“Don’t you start,” snapped Dolores, her magic crackling in the surrounding air.
Beverly raised a perfectly groomed brow, her magic rising in a challenge that had my skin riddling in goosebumps. “Don’t you tempt me.”
This was not going as well as I had imagined. “Who are the Unseen?” I blurted, wanting to change the subject. Their eyes all snapped to me, and I swallowed. “Well?”
Dolores looked down at her coffee mug. “The Unseen are mercenaries. Hired killers.”
“Really?” Now that was a surprise. I was really intrigued now.
“Dreadful lot,” muttered Ruth as she made a face. “Unlawful. Scary. Ugly. They’re no better than demons.”
Beverly wiped her brow with her fingers. “We’ve had the pleasure of working with them in the past. I don’t care to work with them again.”
“You won’t,” said Dolores, her fingers around her mug turning white. “The town made sure of that. The town made sure we never work again.”
My heart beat loudly in the silence. My once strong, able aunts looked defeated and angry. Ruth clutched her arms around herself, a sad look in her eye.
This was wrong. All wrong.
“Are they witches?” I asked.
“Some are, yes.” Dolores met my gaze. “They’re a mix of paranormal thugs. Cutthroats that only care about the size of their wallets. The worst of the worst, if you ask me.”
“And the town thought hiring this group was a good idea?” Were they smoking crack? My aunts had been replaced by these thugs? That didn’t sound right. How could the town council agree to this?
Dolores sighed. “They do. They did.” She took a wary sip of her coffee. “I’m sorry, Tessa. We made you come all this way for nothing. The Merlin Group is finished.”
I frowned. “Don’t. This isn’t over.”
The three women went silent again, and I knew I wasn’t going to get much else out of them. Grabbing the car keys from the small wooden bowl in the middle of the table, I walked out the front door with my bag wrapped around my shoulder and got in the old Volvo. The car roared to life as I turned the ignition and pulled out of the long driveway. I didn’t have far to go. There was only one grocery store in Hollow Cove. But I didn’t want to have to walk back with all those bags. After a two-minute drive, I pulled the Volvo to the curb on Shifter Lane and stepped out.
Someone called my name, and I turned to see Ronin across the street, leaning on the side of a gleaming black car and flanked by two pretty women. He waved, and I waved back, smiling. Looked like he was working early.
Most of the lore about vampires was crap. Even if Ronin had been a full-fledged vampire, sunlight would not affect him, and neither would a cross. Vampires had human blood flowing in their veins. And unlike demons, it protected them from the sun.
My eyes drifted past him to a bland, gray brick building. The sign read HOLLOW COVE SECURITY AGENCY. My chest tightened in anger. This was Marcus’s office. The way he’d just dismissed the Merlin Group had me wanting to throw a brick through his stupid window.
I turned around before I did something stupid—like throw a brick through his window. Gilbert’s Grocer & Gifts stood before me. I had a moment of second-guessing myself, but then I took a breath, pulled open the front glass door and walked in.
And walked right into Gilbert.
“Hey, watch it,” I growled, stepping back, or rather bouncing back from his protruding belly.
“Me?” Gilbert made a face. “I don’t like your tone, young lady. I’m not the one who’s not looking where she’s going. Head in the clouds, just like your aunts.”
A growl escaped my lips. “Don’t talk about my aunts, Gilly.”
“It’s Gilbert.”
“Okay, Gilly.”
Gilbert’s face darkened into an angry red. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be back on a bus to New York City?”
I smiled, though my mood was souring by the second. “Shopping for worms. Looks like I’m in the right place.” Ignoring his outrage, I moved past him and grabbed a shopping cart. I wasn’t here to argue with that old fool. I was here to get what I needed, and then I was going to get out.
Fuming, I grabbed my phone and went through my list of items. There were ten aisles in the entire store, not huge, but at least it wouldn’t take me too long to grab everything.
I pushed the cart down the first aisle and grabbed some milk and two cartons of eggs. Whispers reached me, and I spotted Martha in the canned goods aisle next to mine.
“… don’t know how they can afford to live now that the council has cut them off,” Martha was saying to a short, dangerously thin woman I didn’t recognize. “At their age, they�
��ll never find work again. Believe me. Who wants to hire old, battered witches when you can find much younger, more beautiful ones?”
“I know,” answered the woman, her eyes wide. “Tragic.”
“It’s worse than tragic, hon. It’s a catastrophe. You should let me do your roots. Gray doesn’t suit you, darling.”
I rolled my eyes and spun the cart the other way. I was in no mood to talk to Martha, who’d apparently been part of the vote to get the Unseen to replace my aunts.
Head down, I rolled the cart through the store, grabbing everything on my list in under five minutes.
Thrilled with my new shopping skills, I pushed the cart back toward the front to the cashier, only to find myself sandwiched between Martha and that woman she was speaking with.
“Tessa!” said Martha. Her blue eyeshadow matched her blue blouse. “Tell me. How are you aunts doing? The poor things. Such a sad, sad day for the community.”
I placed my milk, eggs, four tomatoes, and cheese on the conveyor belt. “You don’t look sad.” I reached down in my cart and grabbed a box of organic corn flakes and three cans of organic red beans.
“I know you’re upset, hon,” said Martha as she grabbed her single grocery bag, standing way too close so I could see her purple lipstick was applied way too perfectly to have been anything but magical. “But this is no one’s fault. Unfortunately, we women age. And with it, so does our power.”
I wanted to smack that fake smile off of her face. I shook my head as I emptied the rest of my cart. “You’re wrong.” I watched the cashier—a young teenager with overly drawn eyebrows and lips that looked like a duck’s bill—scan the items. I took a calming breath, and after she was done, I gave her my credit card.
“Your aunts are practically ancient, hon,” Martha prattled on. “It was time for them to retire. No harm done. It leaves room for the next generation to rise.”
“No harm done?” I seethed, my voice rising dangerously, as I snatched up my card from the cashier. The poor girl looked frightened as she bagged my items. “I should have let the pixies destroy your salon.” There I said it.
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