“Bye, Gage,” I murmured as he stepped out. It was fully dark now, only the silvery glow of the moon, hung low and heavy in the sky, offered any light. In the black of the countryside, I heard a wolf howl and shivered. How had I not realised Wilding was so ... wild?
Across the room, Evan smiled at me. I dipped my head and uncurled my palm to see what Gage had pressed into it. There was a small round blue button. It had fallen from my shirt when he’d ripped it open as we kissed. I balled my hand again. Oh yes, I got the message all right. He wasn’t going to give up without a fight and he’d just made sure that I knew that, right under Evan’s watchful eyes.
Fifteen
Despite the most powerful displays of magic I had ever seen, with me in a front row seat, my visitors left by car. After the teleportations and banishments, it was pretty disappointing.
Hayley, Victoria and Chyler went first. After Hayley’s third bout of tears and a lot of hugging and reassurance from Victoria, to the point where Chyler needed rescuing, they seemed strangely calm and accepting of Chyler’s rejection of their way of life. I hope that meant she wouldn’t be punished for wanting a normal life, if she even really knew what that was. I hoped that losing her mom was all the punishment she would get.
“Thank you,” said Victoria, holding my hands between hers. We were stood on the porch watching Chyler buckle herself into the back seat. “Not just for saving her life, but for making sure she can call her magic back when she’s ready.”
“If she’s ready. She might never want it back,” I pointed out.
“But you gave her the option and we’ll look after her until then.”
“She’s going to really need people around her. It’s not easy going through all that when you’re so young.” Get me. I was only seven years older than Chyler. I could practically taste my teen years.
“And yet you’ve turned out rather well,” Victoria replied with a smile. “We’ll get her in therapy and back to school. She can go to college, have a career and, when she’s ready, we’ll all be waiting. She won’t be punished for any of this. We know Chyler didn’t kill her mother.” It didn’t seem to me like Victoria thought Chyler’s resolve would last. I didn’t have any hopes either way. I just wanted Chyler to be happy and I hoped her aunts agreed with that above anything else, especially above whatever they wanted. Magic was so ingrained in their way of life that I couldn’t be sure.
“I hope she finds happiness,” I said and Victoria nodded to me. I waved to them as their car pulled away and within minutes they were lost behind the tree line.
Seren and David were the next to go. They had stayed through the night and now it was early morning, they were eager to be going, sharing the car that they had arrived in after some squabbling about who was going to drive. I rather thought they just wanted to be together, in the same way that I wanted to sink down next to Evan and wish that this had all been just a bad dream.
“Are you sure you won’t come?” Seren asked her sister for the umpteenth time.
“I’m sure,” replied Étoile, hugging first her sister then David.
None of us had slept that night and I was busy stifling a series of increasingly larger yawns. Étoile had asked me, over breakfast, when it was just the two of us, if she could stay. After a moment of silence, in which her impeccably unreadable voice started to approach something close to pleading, I’d laughed. “Of course you can.”
“I won’t get under your feet,” she promised, slugging back a coffee that was so strong it should have blown her socks off.
“I’d rather you did,” I replied. “I’m done with being lonely and I’m glad you’re staying.”
“Will lover boy mind?” Étoile asked. Evan was stretched out on the sofa, asleep, having crashed out an hour before. After throwing a cover over him I’d left him there.
“It’s my house,” I reminded her, “and he’s a guest too.”
“I’ll pay rent.”
“You can help me get some furniture,” I countered, “Not that I’m expecting you to pay for it. I just need help getting it.”
“Sure,” said Étoile, but I wasn’t sure if she was disagreeing, or agreeing with me.
I’d showed Étoile the empty spare room and she’d looked around it, opening the closet door, looking out the window to see the view, and finally she gave me a pleased smile. “I really need a break. I’ve looked after Astra for so long and she’s getting better, but it’s exhausting. Even when she was missing, she was exhausting.”
“Seren won’t mind?”
“It’s Seren’s turn,” Étoile had said simply. “It’s not forever. She’ll be okay.”
“It’s a done deal, then,” I said, and it was settled. Étoile was here to stay for as long as she needed and I had got myself my first roommate.
The four of us were stood on the porch now going through the motions. Seren hugged me and David did too, with just as much affection as they had given Étoile. “We’ll be back as soon as we can. And maybe you’ll come out to us. There might be a wedding,” Seren added coyly with a wave as she backed away. “You’ll have to come home for that.”
“Of course,” Étoile agreed and then said so softly that only I could hear. “You’ll love our family. Most of them are nuts.”
“Couldn’t miss that.”
Étoile linked her arm in mind. “You might even find you need me if those two alpha males are going to keep on butting heads,” she murmured, looking from Gage’s house then through the window where we could see Evan roll onto his side, still deep in sleep.
Evan and Gage’s fight was still fresh on my mind. “They’ll just have to get along. I’m not here to be fought over. I’ve made my choice,” I said, even if a little part of me felt the sorrow of rejecting Gage. There was a part of me that deeply adored him and that part was going to have to stay dormant if we were to reach anything like a platonic friendship.
“Did you?” Étoile asked pointedly but I just pulled a face at her and she went inside muttering something about searching online for some decent furniture.
Despite the amount of coffee replacing red blood cells in my veins, I crashed out fully clothed in my bed. Six hours later I woke up feeling like, so far, I was a dreadful host. I’d provided my first housemate with a room without furniture and then promptly flaked out on her. As I dragged myself out of bed, I couldn’t bring myself to feel guilty. After all, we had spent the evening fighting, and defeating, evil. My stomach grumbled. Apparently taking on evil made me hungry.
Étoile and Evan were waiting for me in the kitchen when I stumbled through.
“I didn’t think you were ever going to wake up,” said Étoile, with a shake of her head. She had a stack of magazines spread out in front of her: Martha Stewart Living, Elle Decor, Living etc. I hoped she wasn’t planning on redecorating: I was only just getting the hang of having my own space, plus I didn’t think my budget ran along the same lines as hers, not that I was complaining.
“Hey,” Evan smiled at me. “Feeling better?”
I stretched my arms to the ceiling, feeling my aching muscles pop and settle. “Much.”
“No one came back through the night or today,” said Evan, like he was reading my mind. I’d been wondering if there would be any sneak reprisals, but sleep had insisted on taking me before I could even consider staying awake any longer.
“That’s good, right?” I said, searching through the fridge for something immediately edible. I gave up and sighed. If there was going to be three of us in my house, someone else was going to have to do the shopping asides from me. When I turned back to the table there was a full plate waiting for me.
“Did you do that?” I asked Evan who was looking smug.
“It was the least I could do.”
“Meals out of thin air. That could come in handy.”
“Out of your fridge, actually. I just sped up the cooking process.”
“To light speed?” I sat down and ate like I hadn’t seen food in weeks whil
e Étoile ignored me and Evan thumbed through the messages on his phone.
“Étoile’s staying,” I said to Evan between mouthfuls and he just nodded, saying, “She mentioned. Said you were going to have to get furniture.”
“I can stay at the inn until then,” Étoile chimed in, looking up from her magazine. “I’m paid up until the end of the week.”
“We can go get a bed, at least, tomorrow?” I suggested. “Hey, didn’t Seren and David take your car?”
“Yes, but don’t worry about giving me rides, I’ll just shimmer if I need to.”
“I guess I’m driving to the furniture store then.”
“Hmm. Guess you are.” Étoile gave me a warm smile and looked between the two of us. It was all very scrupulously polite. “I don’t suppose you’ll mind if I disappear? I need to sleep and I imagine you have some talking to do.” She didn’t give me a chance to protest, she just blinked out of my kitchen.
“Hah,” I said looking at the space she had left behind. “Will it ever get to the point when I think people walking out of doors is unusual?” I took my plate to the sink and rinsed it then sat down again. Étoile might have forced my hand but Evan and I did have some talking to do. The least I could do was make sure it was over a tidy table, Étoile’s magazines excepted.
“Why didn’t you contact me while you were gone?” I asked, throwing all my eggs into one basket. He might have given me his love, but he hadn’t offered up an explanation as to where he had been yet.
“I didn’t know what to say. I was angry, and worried, and pissed off that you lied to me.”
“I didn’t exactly lie. I just didn’t tell you what I knew about Chyler.”
“All the same, you should have said something.” Evan rocked back in his chair. “You have a lot of power, Stella, but you’re still new to this. You’re still untrained. You can’t fully control what you do yet. David told me what you did with Dina... but that was by chance, not by design. You can’t rely on luck like that to keep you safe. You’ll get hurt, others could get hurt.”
I breathed in. Everything he said was true. “I know.”
“But I should have kept in touch. I should have realised you would be worried,” Evan conceded.
“I thought you’d left me,” I said, my voice so thin it was just a whisper.
“Sweetheart, I would not leave you. But I can see why you thought that.”
“The last time I didn’t hear from you, I thought you were dead. I... panicked.”
Evan leant forward. “I want to be part of your life. I don’t want to be the guy you see occasionally. I want what we had at the safe house when we first met. I want you every day.”
“How can we have that when you want to be in Texas, and I want to be here for now?” I asked, feeling tears prick at the corners of my eyes. I blinked them back.
“I’ve been thinking about that. We could stay here. I can still run my business, though I’ll be away occasionally. You can start going to State if you want to go to school. We’re more out of the way here and it’s quieter so strangers will be recognised easier. It might even be safer than the city.”
“You would do that? For me?”
Evan nodded, sincerity and hope etched across the fine planes of his face. “Yes. I’m not saying forever. I’d want you to come with me sometimes and come to my home too, see how I live. You could transfer credits if, eventually, you wanted to move away from here. Maybe even work for me, if you wanted?”
“I could do that,” I said carefully, trying to think things through before I launched into any major decisions. All the things Evan was offering ran through my head: living with him, an education, a job... it was a lot to take in. It was everything I wanted, and more. “I’d like to see where you live. Wait, did you just offer me a job?”
“You need one, right? And I can do with someone with skills like yours.”
“What would I do?”
“We’ll deal with that when it comes up.”
“I’m not calling you boss.” I grinned.
“And I’m not going to sexually harass you in the photocopy room.”
“It’s not harassment if I’m enjoying it,” I pointed out.
“You’ll have to keep your mind on the job,” Evan quipped without missing a beat.
We were quiet for a moment, then I said, “You have to know that Annalise and Gage are my friends. If you’re staying here, you’ll see them. I’m sorry that I kissed Gage, and that that upsets you, but I’m not going to avoid him.”
“I can deal with the wolves. Annalise is a nice person. Gage ... I’m not too fond of him. I can’t help it that I don’t like that you’ve kissed each other, and maybe there was an attraction there and that’s made me jealous, but I won’t do anything that would make you uncomfortable.” Evan seemed sincere but a part of me wondered if it would be that easy. He seemed to think so. He didn’t know that Gage had already implied that he wasn’t giving up and I wasn’t going to fan the flames by telling him that. I was a one-man woman and I aimed to stay that way, attraction or not.
“So what now?” I asked, trying to temper the butterflies in my stomach. Evan was staying. My mind and body were both struggling to accept it as fact.
“We could celebrate?” The smile Evan gave me then was anything but friendly. Instead, it bordered firmly on the devastatingly carnal. Feelings that I had tempered bubbled to the surface.
“Oh?” I raised my eyebrows and barely had time to squeal before he’d scooped me up, his mouth on mine. A wave of worry rushed through me at the thought of him teleporting, and I mumbled against his lips. “Don’t shimmer, or whatever it is that you did before.”
“I’m familiar with using my legs to get about.” Evan carried me into my room and settled me on the bed, falling next to me, kissing me all the while. Struggling out of my clothes was a welcome chore and I pulled him to me, eager to finally have him in my arms again, to feel him as part of me and when he finally was, the pleasure was sweet and intense and I never wanted it to end.
~
I was engrossed in Étoile’s magazines when she came back, pinging into the living room quietly, making me jump. I really needed to find out how they were all so aware of when someone else was coming; at least, they never seemed to be surprised the way I was. Only Chyler’s entrance had given me any warning, indicating there was some difference between spell craft and innate magic.
Étoile had changed into skinny indigo jeans, a bright yellow silk blouse that billowed around her arms and long tan boots. Her hair was freshly washed and she’d applied a fresh layer of make-up. In short, she didn’t look like she had been up all night banishing dead witches. I, however, still did. I refused to feel bad about that.
“How’re things?” she asked, sitting next to me on the floor and curling her legs under her.
“Evan’s staying,” I told her with a smile.
“Thought he would.”
“As if I wouldn’t,” said Evan. He’d stretched out on the sofa, a book in his hand, a scene so familiar to me that it was like when we had first met. Back then he’d barely been without a book. He’d lit the grate too, kick starting the fire with a flame flung from his palm, so the living room was filled with warmth and the sounds of the logs crackling. I didn’t know what had happened to the floor but the chalk and paste was gone, and the hardwood looked buffed and shiny. I was never letting that happen in my house again. Any spells could be performed on the driveway in future... or in the next state. Or another country.
I looked up at Evan and smiled when he ran a hand over my hair. With him here, I had what I wanted. I had the chance of a home with him. He gave me love and I loved him back. He would protect me. Most of all, I was just happy at the thought of waking up every day knowing that he was part of my life.
“I’ve had quite enough of the gooey stuff with Seren and David,” sniffed Étoile, but she wasn’t upset when she added, “You people disgust me.”
I traded glances with Evan befor
e he put his nose back in his book. Neither of us bothered apologising. If Étoile was going to live with us, and dip into my head, she would just have to deal with it.
“What about your job and your apartment?” I asked Étoile as I flipped through a magazine. I wondered how she could leave her life behind on a whim, and then I remembered that I’d very easily walked out of my life and stepped into a new one.
Étoile sighed and sat back, her back warming against the fire. “Everything went on a hiatus when I was working for the council but now they’re gone, I can do as I please.”
“Are they really gone, or are they just regrouping?” I asked. I wanted to know more about the council and what was happening. It seemed strange to think that such an apparently powerful structure could disintegrate without something rising from the ashes, especially when people like Georgia Thomas wanted to pick up the pieces.
“Not quite.” Étoile paused and I could see her thinking about what I should know.
“Out with it,” I urged.
Étoile picked at a piece of thread from the hem of her top. “You know already that the council governed everything, but without a leadership it’s a shambles. A long time ago, before we were anything like organised, it was just lots of covens dotted about. Then we unionised, as it were, so witches could converse better, share knowledge, help each other... It used to be a good thing, but like all good things, there’s always someone who wants to be in charge. Controlling the council is a powerful job and it takes a powerful witch to keep everyone in line.”
Unruly Magic Page 25