by Nicole Hall
“Mm-hmm. This is my skeptical voice, just so you know. I remember you two before. You thought you were so sneaky, but a mother knows.”
“I don’t want to talk about my sex life with you, Mom. Besides, she’s been back a day. I think I can afford to give her time to at least unpack before I propose and attempt to fill her with grandbabies.”
“Don’t take too long, you’re not getting any younger.”
Oh my god, seriously? Time for a subject change.
“I think maybe Maddie is seeing someone,” Jake blurted. I’m a bad person.
His mom gasped. “She told you that? For how long? Do you know him? Is it a him? You know I’ve never been entirely sure with Maddie.”
Jake pinched the bridge of his nose, then sank down into his work chair and made random circles on his notepad. “I’m pretty sure she’s into guys, but now that you mention it, we’ve never directly talked about it.” It didn’t matter who his sister loved, but she was his baby sister, so he made an abrupt one-eighty from that line of thought. “She didn’t actually tell me she was dating, but she’s been happier than usual. You know how she gets. And she’s been over mooching food a lot less.”
“It’s not mooching. We told her she would always be welcome at the house.”
“It’s my house now, Mom, and my food. She always goes for the good stuff. I’ve had to start hiding the steaks.”
“Pssh, she’d never go through the effort of making a steak.”
Jake snorted. “Okay, yeah, but I have to hide the chocolate…and lasagna.” He added bitterly.
She laughed. “Now, that I believe.”
Jake was silent for a moment as that made him think about belief and all the stuff Zee had said this afternoon. He’d learned not to trust the Fae to be straight, but the incident with Sera and the binding made things pretty fucking serious.
“Do you need us to come back?” His mom was way too perceptive.
“What? No,” he barked, then tried to soften the abruptness. “Besides, I don’t want you to miss the igloo light thing you have planned next month.”
She hesitated. “It was non-refundable, but my children always come first. Are you sure? I can feel that there’s something…”
“Please stay in Norway, Mom.” He needed her far away from Mulligan if things didn’t go well with the Fae. On second thought, maybe he should send Maddie to her. Bonus, Maddie would hate Norway.
“Okay, we’ll stick with our schedule. For now, anyway. Anything else to report?”
Jake flipped through the pages of swirls and lied to his mother. “Nope. Everything’s great.”
“Well get some sleep, honey. I’ll try to call again next week. We love you.”
“Love you too, Mom.”
It was easier to lie when she couldn’t see his face, but she was usually able to figure him out anyway. He tossed the pad back on the counter and picked up the wood. Maybe he was getting better at lying? He started sketching a phoenix in the center and tried to shake off the feeling that he’d been lying to more than just his mom.
4
SERA
Sera opened her eyes to a blinding light and quickly shut them again. Either there was a sprite sitting on her face or the sun had already reached her windows. She groaned. That meant it was afternoon and she’d slept all day.
She flipped over and checked her phone on the nightstand. 4:03. Late afternoon then. Her stomach growled aggressively, and she realized that she’d failed to eat the day before. After Jake had left, her energy levels had dropped to nothing. She’d crawled up the stairs and into bed, where she’d proceeded to have dreams alternating between happy naked time with Jake and fighting off a tiny evil fairy that looked like Will with a flyswatter.
It wasn’t quite a nightmare, she’d have loved to squash him flat, but Torix’s voice kept echoing her mind. Come Samhain, I’ll find you myself. She shivered, not entirely sure it had only been a dream. And what the hell was Samhain?
She dressed in her last set of clean clothes, brushed her teeth, and pulled her long hair back in a ponytail before she admitted that she wanted to linger on the sexy Jake dreams. Seven years had changed a lot, but not her body’s reaction to him. Will paled in comparison in every single way, and Sera was feeling bitter about each wrong decision she’d made that had led her to him. Nothing like trusting someone to take care of you then having them turn around and drug you into compliance. And while it wasn’t the same, being bound to Jake almost against her will was rubbing her the wrong way.
Now that she knew the truth about magic, she wondered if the Fae had been punishing her. The glimmers she’d tried to explain had been sprites, and it seemed some people could see them and some people thought she was crazy. She was unclear if it was the sprite or the person who decided what was visible. The idea that magic was real… well, it hadn’t truly sunk in yet. It was all so far-fetched that she wanted to ignore the whole thing. Mundane issues like breakfast and coffee jumped well above learning to turn mice into horses or whatever magic was good for.
Halfway down the stairs, Sera remembered that there was no coffee in the house. True punishment at its finest.
A look out the window confirmed that Jake’s truck was gone from his driveway. The mower was put away, and his yard looked more or less finished. There were a couple of sections that were significantly shorter in a circular pattern. She guessed that was from him trying to keep an eye on her and Will. There went her brilliant plan of begging Jake for coffee. Maybe it was time to venture into town. She needed to get some food besides coffee anyway.
Wilson Market was still the de facto place to get groceries. Mrs. Wilson nearly threw her back out pulling Sera into a hug when she tried to check out, and Mr. Wilson insisted on carrying her bags to her car. She smiled when he suggested she come out for dinner, but didn’t commit. Who knew how long it would take to deal with Zee’s assignment.
The sun was already setting behind the one-story buildings that surrounded the square when she pulled into Rosie’s Pizzeria. Cheerful lights blinked in the window as the businesses started rolling up their awnings for the evening. Normal lights, not the sprites she’d gotten used to seeing everywhere. Glimmers had followed her around the market, the liquor store, through the single stoplight, and gathered in the square behind her, but none ventured into Rosie’s. Huh.
She’d managed to avoid thinking about naked Jake for the last two and a half hours, but she couldn’t avoid that she’d sort of promised him dinner. Seven years ago, they’d spent a lot of time at Rosie’s. As far as they could tell, no one named Rosie had ever worked there, but they made the best New York pizza in Texas.
It hadn’t taken long for the news to get around that Evie’s granddaughter was back in town because Jim Hogan wasn’t surprised in the least to see her in the restaurant. He rang up her regular without asking, and threw in a slice of her favorite cheesecake as a welcome back present. It was almost like no time had passed at all.
Back at the house, she put away the groceries while cleaning out the expired stuff. It brought up vivid memories of doing the same thing with Evie. Two days ago, all she’d wanted was to settle into her grandmother’s house and start a new life for herself. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do for a job once the trust ran out, but she’d always found something. Waitressing, temp work, retail…anything that didn’t require a commitment. College hadn’t worked out for her, but she was smart and organized, and she’d be a valuable employee. Especially now that she knew she wasn’t crazy.
It was supposed to be simple. House, job, future. She hadn’t considered Jake, or Will, or a town that didn’t forget, or magical forest creatures with ulterior motives, or Evie. Or Evie.
Sera stilled. More than anything else, she wanted to rescue Evie. The best way she could see to do that was to learn as much about magic as she could… and figure out a loophole that a powerful Fae hadn’t been able to come up with in generations, with magic that she couldn’t learn or use on her
own. Suuure. No problem.
Guess it’s time to confront Jake.
Armed with a six-pack and a steaming pizza box that smelled like heaven, Sera crossed her yard toward Jake’s house. If he was nice, she’d consider sharing her cheesecake with him. The traitorous part of her brain insisted it would be a lot more fun if he was naughty, and now she desperately wished she’d only had nightmares the night before.
Sera half expected him to answer the door shirtless, but he was in jeans and a dark tee that made it hard for her to look away from his brown eyes. He leaned against the doorjamb and crossed his arms. Relaxed was his default, but his smile looked distracted.
She held up the pizza box. “Dinner, as demanded.”
Jake’s grin widened. “Rosie’s.” She could see the effort it took to put away whatever was bothering him as he stepped back and motioned her in.
Not much had changed. The couch was new, as was the big flat-screen over the mantel, but it looked like his parents had left most of their stuff behind when they left for Europe. She guessed he hadn’t even noticed. It seemed both of them were living steeped in the past.
“To be clear, I’m always grateful for pizza, but what made you head out to Rosie’s?” Jake asked as he led the way to the kitchen.
Sera put the food and beer on the table and went looking for plates. “I was already in town, and I figured why not.”
Jake sat down and pulled out the first slice. “Ah, beautiful, it’s been too long.”
Sera’s head jerked around, but he wasn’t talking to her. He was chewing with his eyes closed, lost in cheesy bliss. A warm feeling spiked through her. Now is not the time. Sera tried to convince her traitorous body.
The dishes were where she remembered them, in the cabinet next to the fridge. She grabbed a glass of water before heading to the table in the hopes it would cool her down. He’d already finished his first piece and was halfway through his second when she finally joined him.
“I have questions I want you to answer.”
Jake swallowed and stole her water glass to take a swig. “For this, I’ll tell you every secret I have.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before?” Her voice broke on the last word. It wasn’t the question she’d intended to ask, but her brain had spit it out without warning.
For the first time since he’d opened the door, his eyes locked on hers. “Zee is very specific about who knows about the Fae. I agreed not to share their secret, and then I couldn’t. If I tried, my mouth stayed closed. Literally. You felt their magic. You know how hard it is to fight it.”
“I guess I’m on the approved list now. How did you find out?”
His lips tipped up. “They needed a builder. I can’t say more than that.”
“What about Ryan?”
“What about him?”
“How did he get involved? Why did they send him after me instead of you? How well do you know him?”
Jake put a slice of pizza on her plate. “Eat. I’ve known Ryan since high school. He moved to town not too long after you left. Smart guy, real into computers. Solid. He once defended Maddie against some meatheads on the football team.”
Sera blew on her pizza before taking a bite. “You were on the football team.”
He shrugged. “That’s how I knew they were meatheads. Anyway, it was impressive since they had at least sixty pounds on him each, but he talked them down and walked away with Maddie. Far as I know, they never even tried to retaliate.”
“Must have been nice for Maddie.”
He pushed his plate away after a third slice. Not that he’d ever slowed down enough to use it. “Yeah, although I was never convinced she didn’t start messing with those guys first. I don’t know when Ryan found out about Zee, but they’ve definitely called him in for tech support before.”
“Support for what?”
“Wi-Fi, the time I knew about. You’ll have to ask Ryan if you want more info than that. Or Zee, but she’s really good at telling you what she wants you to know and nothing more. As for why they sent him, I have no idea.”
Sera opened her mouth to argue but he held up a hand. “I really don’t. I don’t even have a guess. I’ve seen a summons exactly once before, and it involved Mr. Hogan. Honestly, I think they wanted pizza delivery, and you know how he feels about that.”
“That… makes a disturbing amount of sense. You think we can trust Ryan?”
“Yes.” Jake crossed his arms again and leaned back in his chair. “What else?”
Sera chewed silently for a moment, then swallowed. Now or never. “You let me go. It hadn’t been twenty-four hours, you abandoned me for a whole day, and then you didn’t even try to call.”
“What?” Jake leaned forward and braced his arms on his thighs. “That’s bullshit, Sera. As I remember it, I left you a note, spent the day walking on air at pre-season practice, and the next day when I came home from work, you’d moved away. No goodbye, nothing.” He laughed without any humor. “I did call. I even tried to follow you. I got your mom’s address from Evie and planned to drive out there in my shitty old Corolla one weekend. My parents thought I was crazy. Evie convinced me I should at least call first. I was dying to talk to you, but your mom answered. She wouldn’t let me talk to you and told me in no uncertain terms that if I showed up she’d have me arrested.”
Sera shook her head. “What? It wasn’t—”
“I was going to come anyway.” Jake reached over and took one of her hands, playing with her fingers. “But something she said finally stopped me. You were having nightmares. You’d wake up screaming my name, terrified. I’d bust through a thousand doors to get to you if you needed me, but I wasn’t going to be the reason you were afraid.”
She remembered those nights. Those dreams. She’d been reliving her last night in town, what she remembered of it. The night with Maddie that she’d never told him about. All these years he’d thought she was afraid of him, but he was only partly right. The dreams had terrified her, not because she was afraid of him, but because they’d all ended with Jake dead.
“I was never afraid of you.” Jake looked away but she gripped his fingers until he met her eyes. “Never.”
“Then what? What happened, Sera?”
She took a deep breath, but the kitchen was closing in on her, so she got up to pace the length of the room. “I can’t talk about it because I don’t remember most of it. Every time I try, I panic. My mom thought something was wrong with me since I was having panic attacks about nothing as far as she could tell. She convinced me I was sick. That I couldn’t handle things myself, and I needed her to help me.” Tears choked her. “I tried college, but Mom never let me get far away, then Will…”
Sera sank back into her chair, all her muscles tensing up. “Evie took my side. She said it didn’t matter if I remembered anything, and she didn’t care what I did or didn’t see. She believed I wasn’t delusional. But I wasn’t here with her, I was stuck there. I owe Evie every scrap of confidence and love in me.”
Her shoulders dropped. “And now in the end, it looks like my mom was right. Will was right. I can’t handle this myself. I have no idea how to help her. I don’t even know where to start.”
Jake leaned forward again and grabbed her hand. “You don’t have to handle this yourself. I know we’ll find a way to get her out.”
“How could you possibly know?” Sera’s breath was coming in quick gasps. “You don’t know what I’m capable of, even Zee said I wouldn’t be able to use my magic on my own. How useless is that? What if Evie’s stuck in that horrible tree until he kills her for real?” Sera couldn’t get enough air. Her heart was pounding and black spots danced in front of her eyes.
Jake scooped her out of her chair and carried her into the living room. Tears started to fall as she tried to calm down. He settled them on the couch with her in his lap and leaned back until she was mostly laying on top of him.
“Breathe,” he said. “I’ve got you. Breathe.”
He to
ok a deep breath, and she followed. Some of the tightness in her chest receded. Another breath and the black spots went away. They continued to breathe deeply in sync together for long moments.
She hadn’t always had panic attacks. They’d started after she’d left Mulligan, then as time passed, they’d stopped happening. After her marriage, they returned. She’d try to take initiative with a work function or a dinner, and Will would intercede. He’d take over, and she’d be relegated to arm candy. Even something as simple as picking out her clothes became a battle. Nothing she chose was ever good enough. Then the pills.
After that, it had been easy to let him take control of everything. She’d floated along for months before she’d realized she couldn’t remember what she’d done the day before. The week before. Her whole life was a blur. She was embarrassed it had taken her so long to realize he was drugging her. Then she’d wanted nothing but out.
Her body calmed, pressed against Jake’s, taking deep breaths together. She’d forgotten the strength he offered. Not to take over, but to support and give her a place to rest when she needed it. The freedom was a balm to her soul.
Her cheek rested against his shoulder. Tucked into his lap, she let her body relax and her eyes close. His hand rubbed up and down her back, but never ventured into more interesting territory. Sera was both grateful and disappointed. She breathed him in. Warmth and wood and cotton. There is was again. Home.
“Just like old times, huh?” he said.
“Yeah, except your parents aren’t pretending to sleep upstairs, my grandmother isn’t peeking out the window, and Maddie isn’t in her room watching tv way too loud to cover for us.”
“And I’m wearing a shirt.”
“That is weird.”
His chest moved under her cheek as he chuckled. “I can take it off if it makes you feel better.”
“Mm-hmm, because you know I always feel better when you’re naked.”