“Who is she, Tony? Why is she here?” one of the girls asked.
“I don’t know. Just let me deal with it,” he snapped back.
Adelaide sunk into the bed.
“Great,” she whispered to the empty room.
Ten
Overnight the open window was cool and refreshing, but now, with the sun high in the sky, her room grew hot. She woke up when the heavy blankets suffocated her and she immediately shoved them off. The central air kicked in above her and blew persistently until she shut the window. Adelaide could see both cars still parked outside and no one on the porch. Her fingers lingered on the sill as she shook off the last of the sleep.
It had to be late morning, but with her schedule being so sporadic, she struggled to pin the time. The room lacked an alarm so she dug out her phone from her bed sheets. It was a quarter after nine. She had no missed calls which meant Bradley had thought better about calling her again. She replaced the phone and felt next for her necklace. She barely noticed the weight any more as she felt the smooth texture of the oval pendant. Tucking it back into her shirt, she turned her mind to other things. She changed into jeans, brushed through her hair, and made her cheeks rosy. Once she was happy, she dared to walk outside.
Tony was not waiting for her on the other side of the door this time. The third floor was just as quiet as it had been last night, but it looked different in the light. She headed down the stairs and listened intently to create a mental map of the coven member’s locations. Only when she reached the bottom floor did she hear voices, but they came from the television.
She stilled on the last step. If the entire coven was awake this late in the day, they were very quiet. And there was no way five people were down in the living room—it was much too tame. Swallowing her nerves, she headed straight for the living room with a smile on her face.
She saw the flat screen first. The bright screen flickered sporadic images of the local news station, but the long three couches that circled it only held one person. This was the first time Adelaide felt so happy to see the redhead.
“Hi,” Adelaide announced her entrance. Angie stole a glance backward for only a second before turning her attention to the flickers on the television.
“There are fresh bagels on the counter,” Angie said after a moment.
“Thank you.” Adelaide sized up the nearby kitchen but found no one. She obediently headed over and plucked a bagel from the platter. She grabbed a plate from the stack and jelly from the fridge when Angie said nothing.
“I can’t believe these are handmade. I only buy them premade. Did you make them?” Adelaide asked when she returned to the couches. She invited herself to sit on the sectional but still sat on the opposite side of the room from the other woman. Her stay would be brutal if they couldn’t talk to each other.
“Preeti did, but help yourself. Those bagels are meant for everyone.”
Adelaide took a bite to find the taste of cinnamon and raisins. She chewed in silence for a moment before she thought of anything to say.
“I can help cook. I’m not here to be a mooch,” Adelaide offered the rehearsed line for what it was worth but Angie’s face didn’t change. Her green eyes continued to relentlessly bore into the flat screen, but when Adelaide followed her gaze, she saw nothing special about the headlining news. The world continued turning, just like it always had.
“Don’t worry about it. Preeti won’t let you in the kitchen anyway.”
The conversation lulled again and Adelaide focused solely on polishing off the rest of her bagel. She wiped the crumbs on her jeans and set the plate down on the coffee table. When the first commercial interrupted the news, Adelaide spoke.
“Where is everyone else?”
“I think Adam’s in the shower. I don’t know where anyone else is. They should be down here.”
“Are they avoiding me?”
This got Angie to look at her and mute the television.
“I’m not sure…” Angie admitted, surprisingly honest. “I’m not going to take anything out on you and neither should they. I think it’ll blow over once everyone settles in. No one wanted to make this move. They’re frustrated and irritable so don’t take it personally.”
“It’s a nice house. I’m surprised no one wanted to come out here,” Adelaide said.
“Have you seen where we are? It gets boring fast, not to mention completely uprooting our lives for an indefinite amount of time.”
Angie apparently shared Adam’s sentiment—the same sentiment that brought her here. Angie continued.
“Anyway, I think it’ll be nice to have a new person to talk to in the meantime.”
Adelaide opened her mouth to answer, but Angie suddenly hit the volume to the television. The news came back on the screen and Angie returned to watching the television. Like before, she waited for the commercial until she muted it again and turned back to Adelaide.
“Can I get you anything else? Drink? Food?”
“No, I’m perfect. Thanks.”
“Well, feel free to help yourself…”
“Why are you so interested in the news?” Adelaide suddenly asked. It occurred to her earlier but she never considered voicing until now. Angie only looked momentarily startled.
“I like to know what’s going on in the rest of the world. Shade attacks make the news quite often…”
Adelaide nodded.
“I can imagine. They nearly blew half of my street to pieces just a few days ago.”
In fact Adelaide was always puzzled that the shades didn’t make the news more often. While mages tried to blend in, shades made little attempt to hide their appearances. She suspected it was always people’s disbelief coloring their perceptions about what actually happened.
“I can’t believe they showed up in your neighborhood. Adam was lucky. I know he’s strong but it’s always dangerous to encounter shade covens. I watch the news partly to see signs of any new ones moving into Denver. It seems like they all want to move into Denver.”
“Why?” Adelaide asked.
“They move in closer to find mages in the city. They need time and the ability to hunt them.” Angie’s face reddened and the woman looked at her lap. “Mages have been falling all over the place. The shades are getting hungrier... Are you okay?”
Adelaide stilled at the question.
“I’m fine. Why?” she asked and immediately worried something had shown on her face.
“It’s tough to realize that monsters are out there for the first time.”
Adelaide didn’t answer at first. She always knew that monsters existed. She probably knew it better than anyone else in the Colton coven. It occurred to her then that Angie noticeably didn’t have any close family. A pang of sadness came and went. At least Angie still had the other four in the house. Adelaide would never have anyone again and she would not apologize for that. Before her face could show her thoughts, she hurried to look back at the television.
“How can you tell shades moved into the city? Bad things happen on the news all day long,” Adelaide asked.
“We’re looking for big things. Remember the incident in Denver that leveled a building? It was called a gas explosion?”
“I don’t. Guess I didn’t pay attention…”
She hadn’t been in Denver long enough to even care. The break in conversation earned Adelaide’s full attention, but she never got a follow up. A door slammed on the second floor followed by the distinctive sound of footsteps descending the stairs.
“Mages won’t go down without a fight. That was one of them.”
“Did you know the people?”
Angie suddenly hesitated.
“I don’t understand. Who was involved?” Adelaide prompted a second time.
“Angie, what are you saying?” Tony barked from the foot of the stairs. Both of them jumped at the abrupt sound of his voice. He came down the stairs quickly and she whirled to look at him. His wife trailed him down the stairs and the two shared t
he same frown.
“Tony, nothing bad will come of it,” Angie snorted.
“I don’t know why she’s so interested in shades,” Tony answered as if Adelaide wasn’t even in the room.
“I’m not,” Adelaide piped in but gained no response. Tony walked out of the room as quickly as he’d come with Priya on his tail. Adelaide sunk back into the couch in his absence. All things considered, it wasn’t the worst encounter possible.
The news was back on and Angie’s attention was back into the television. A few minutes later, the sound of a clicking door made Adelaide stir. A door opened on the attached hallway and a faint cloud of steam rolled out of it. Adam was quick to follow. His hair was wet and slicked back, his clothes new, and the scent of aftershave clearly on him. She stood when he crossed into the living room.
“Good morning, Angie. Adelaide,” he greeted them both. Angie waved blindly from the couch. “Did you get something to eat? I thought you were going to sleep in or I would have cooked something.”
“I already helped her out, Adam. I wouldn’t let her starve,” Angie pointed out, seeming more than a little insulted.
“And she was very nice about it,” Adelaide seconded to make peace with both of them at once.
“It wouldn’t matter anyway. He can’t cook. He was just hoping you wouldn’t call his bluff.”
Adam grunted. Adelaide had no standing to say anything after three years of Hot Pockets and Ramen as her main meals.
“Anything interesting on the news?” he asked.
Angie shook her head, appearing surprisingly downtrodden over it.
“I haven’t seen anything yet but that could be good news for us…. Anyway, you haven’t dealt with Tony yet have you?” Angie called him out.
Angie finally turned off the television and tossed the remote onto the couch. She looked to Adam for an answer.
“I’ll deal with it,” he said.
Angie shook her head as if she didn’t believe him. “Whatever. I’ll leave you guys to it then.”
“Thank you, Angie,” Adam said overly sweetly. The woman grunted before disappearing up the stairs.
In her absence, Adelaide crept closer to Adam.
“Where is everyone else?” she asked. Tony had come and gone, but now she suspected he might be closer than she thought.
Adam rolled his head back as if he listened for them.
“Did you know you can sense a mage’s aura?” he asked. He wasn’t listening for them, she realized. He was feeling for them.
“What?”
“All mages have auras. It’s where our magic comes from—it’s the same thing I used to save you with on the mountain. You can feel them.”
She humored him by closing her eyes and concentrating. She was never good at this anyway.
“I barely feel anything,” she whispered and opened her eyes.
Adam whispered too.
“Well, it’s more apparent when they are conjuring magic. When they aren’t using magic, its very tame but its still there. Plus the strength of an aura depends on the strength of the mage. Stronger mages—even stronger shades—have bigger auras.”
“Does Tony know you are telling me this?”
“Tony is too far away to overhear us. If you feel the location of his aura, you could tell,” Adam said with a laugh.
“I’m impressed. You made it sound like you could never get privacy here,” she said.
If Adam blushed, he moved too quickly for her to see it. Stepping back into the living room, he held out a hand.
“I never finished giving you the tour,” he said.
She accepted his hand and he led them onto the patio outside. Comparable to the massive size of the house, the patio extended a long way with only a puny looking patio set. A breeze balanced the warmth of the sun and it was nice.
“It’s downstairs,” he pointed out when she slowed. Tugging at her hand, he led her to a wrap-around staircase. The patio was built into the first floor, but stood on stilts. The basement floor waited for them on the bottom landing. Dust made up the floor, and little light escaped in under the patio. There was no apparent entrance into the house from here.
“What grand part of the tour is this?” she asked in a light voice. The longer she looked around, the more disconcerting it seemed.
“Come here.” He encouraged her to follow him to one of the walls. She moved slowly until her eyes adjusted and then she took a second look. Now with his direction, she saw a detailed deformation in the rock. He touched it until the rock gave. She was suddenly intrigued.
“What is this?” Kneeling down into the dirt, she roamed her hand over the rock. She saw just the hint of green light illuminating the floor, but couldn’t see more.
“There’s a ladder but let me go first. It’s tricky with an angle,” he said.
He moved in front of her and climbed down with practiced ease. She hesitated in his wake.
“Come down,” he said.
“What is it?”
“Come down,” he parroted.
She struggled to steel her nerves. If Adam had ever intended to kill her, he wouldn’t need to drag her underground to do it. After a minute, he lit up his phone and shined the bright florescent light against the ladder. She followed slowly.
By the time her feet touched the ground, she considered it a miracle. The apparent tunnel was huge. Standing tall, it extended at least a foot and a half above her head. Adam killed his phone light and the darkness was only momentary. The green glow she’d seen earlier shined again. The green strips made a pattern along the ground and twisted around corners.
“This is your basement?” she asked after she calmed down.
“It’s not. It’s built under the house and part of the mountain. It’s a secret passage the old coven used for escape.”
“Secret passage?” she gasped. They couldn’t make this stuff up if they tried. He laughed.
“As cool as it is, it’s really not used as an escape route anymore. It shoots up half a mile north, but lets out in the middle of nowhere. Plus runoff water and bad terrain has deformed it so it opens up earlier in a spot or two. It’s not worth walking all of the way through.”
“If you haven’t walked through it all, where are we going?” she asked. He seemed focused on leading them blindly ahead.
He never answered but offered her a hand when she stumbled and she happily clutched it. The passage grew small at times and tight at others. It finally opened up and with it came beaming sunlight. Adelaide blinked madly until her vision adjusted. The passage opened up, just like Adam promised. There was open sky above them beyond the rock. On the ground, blue water sparkled.
“It’s safe, don’t worry. This is the first spot where the mountain ends. Water pooling here has broken open the ceiling. Below is a spring.”
She knew why he brought her here now. It was beautiful and a phenomenon like she’d never seen in the southeast. She walked carefully around the brim of the water. The space it carved out was massive, and based on the dark hue, it went fairly deep. Brushing her fingers over the water, she found it warm and inviting.
“Very cool. Can you swim in here?” she asked.
“I’m sure you could, but something tells me you don’t have a swimsuit.”
She never considered exploring the wilderness fun, but more of this and she might change her mind. Adam gestured her to shift again so she did. Ten feet down the tunnel and she found another phenomenon. The green service light glowed again and reflected off of the top of the cavern here; it sparkled.
“This is where I come to get away from my family. Distance makes the heart grow fonder.”
“I understand that. I just wish they would all like me.”
Adam nodded slowly.
“I think they will, but I meant to talk to you about that.”
His voice sounded nervous so she gave him her full attention.
“I think it’ll help them accept you that much more if they don’t think anything is going
on between us. I mean, so far as they’re concerned we are just friends.”
“Oh,” she quipped. She took another step forward until they were only an inch away. In the dim glow it was difficult to read his face but she could hear the waver in his voice.
“That’s fine. But are we just friends?” she asked.
Adam looked rigid and his posture uncomfortable. Her quiet words gained a tremendous reaction and it was easy. She plastered a sweet smile on her face, completely cognizant about how every inch of her body looked and moved in that moment.
“It depends. Do you want to be just friends?” he asked.
She was surprised he spoke at all and fought to keep the grin off of her face.
“No. Not really.”
He kissed her first, softly. She pressed closer until they stood pinned in the spot. The kiss was innocent. It was simple and easy. Much like Adam.
Eleven
Adelaide did not need anyone to call her for dinner. Rich and smoky, someone grilled fish downstairs and the scent permeated the house. After spending a day wandering through secret passageways with Adam, her stomach churned. They’d kissed, explored the place, and only returned when she got noticeably tired. The bruises on her back from the prior shade attack started to hurt again and zapped her strength. She’d excused herself before she started to limp and collected herself back in the bedroom.
The thought of food gave her some energy back. She double-checked her appearance in the mirror before heading out into the hall. There was no one else on the third story so she lingered on the landing. Her gaze slipped to spy the other door in the hallway. Adam had told her it was an unoccupied room. It looked more tempting by the second. An inescapable curiosity seized her until she gave into the urge. Treading carefully, she reached the end of the hall. Her fingers touched the door and she froze. The rush of nervousness surprised her and she took a long moment to fight it.
“Hello?” she called out quietly.
Receiving no answer, she gained the courage she needed to twist the knob. Once she opened the door, dust exploded and sent her into a coughing fit. She pushed her mouth into her sleeve to quiet the sound. By the time she finally got a clean breath, her face was red and her head spun to see if anyone was nearby. Once she confirmed that she was alone, she finally took the last step in and peered into the room.
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