by Kristie Cook
I smiled and shook my head as she left the cottage for her own next door—the one I’d stayed in when I’d first arrived back in town. She seemed to be enjoying small-town life a little too much. I wondered how long it would last, especially once the snow began to fall. Would she stay, or would I have to say goodbye again?
As I crossed the town square for City Hall, people were already gathering in groups, preparing for the Founders Day games to begin. Most groups consisted of family members, or, at least, the same supernatural types—fae in one group, the McCabe mountain lion shifters in another, etc.—all to prove a point of who was faster and stronger. Although a couple adult teams were mixed, I was surprised to see a group of mixed teens, and I decided they’d be my pick for the winners, simply because of their courage. According to Aurelia, the supernaturals had become very cliquish since we’d been in school.
“That Kasun girl doesn’t know what she’s doing,” Irene Beckett gossiped as I passed by her on the corner of Town Square Park. “I know teenagers. I taught them for thirty years and could never get the different kinds to cooperate as a team for more than a few minutes. And she thinks she can get them to win? Foolishness, I tell ya.”
“Ah, give her a chance to prove herself,” I said. “You never know.”
The old woman lifted a silver brow. “Are you defending a wolf, Michaela Petran?”
Ugh. I hated to admit it, but I was. “I’m defending a girl boss. One girl boss supporting another. Maybe if you’d done that back when you were teaching, you’d have had more success.” I held back the cranky old bitch part as I walked off to cross Stuart Street.
After all of the studying and buildup about the power of the Court and keeping secrets and everything, the actual swearing in was more of a letdown than episodes one through three of Star Wars. Saundra Beaumont did some magical thing that made my skin tingle and said a few words, I recited the vows I had to take, they gave me a special phone, and then it was over. No letting of blood or drinking of it, Kool-Aid flavored or otherwise. As soon as we were done, everyone took off for the ribbon cutting at the new library.
“That was lame as shit,” I said to Addie as we left through the metal door and stepped out into the sunshine.
“They rushed through it, being Founders Day and all.” She stopped to switch out her regular glasses for shades.
“Why would they schedule my swearing in for today then?”
“Magic of the new moon combined with the equinox strengthens the spell. Trust me—the ritual may have seemed lame, but the magic binding you was not. Tonight will be freaking insane. I can’t wait.”
A chill ran down my spine, and I couldn’t help but wonder if Sindi had been right in her paranoia. On the other hand, I hadn’t heard Addie this excited about something in a long time. All that magical energy must have been crackling through her veins.
Sindi waited around the corner for us, and we all walked over to the library for the ribbon cutting. I was excited to see Graysin Ravenal in all her awkward gloriousness when she checked into the inn the other night. Not just because we had a lot of design work to do with the inn, but because I genuinely liked her. She’d been responsible for the library’s interior design, and I hoped her return to town for the ribbon cutting meant she was staying.
Although, I didn’t think anyone could miss the awkward tension between her and Everett, the guy she’d left behind, up on the porch as Mayor Barbie cut the ribbon. She stood slightly angled away from him, using her dark hair as a curtain between them. His normal, laid-back demeanor was replaced by a stiff stance, a clenched scruffy jaw, and dark eyes scanning over the crowd, but every once in a while, darting toward her when he thought Mayor Barbie’s bouffant hair hid him.
“What the hell?” Addie hissed from my side.
I looked at her to see what had her attention and followed her gaze. Across the street in Cook’s Corner Park, standing within one of the walled gardens, were two tall males, their heads just above the wall’s height. They appeared to be in deep discussion. One was unmistakably Tase. The other glanced up, and I sucked in a breath.
“Is that Ronan Bishop?” I whispered.
“It sure as hell looks like it.”
I glanced around the dispersing crowd, searching for the peasant top and flowy skirt that was signature Callie Montgomery. “I don’t see Callie. I wonder if she knows he’s back.”
“I want to know what the hell Tase is doing talking to him.” Addie stomped off in their direction, but Ronan saw her and immediately took off.
I looked up at Sindi, whose bright red lips were pulled into a smirk as she watched Addie.
“I kind of feel sorry for Tase,” she said.
“Don’t,” I muttered. We waited for Addie to rejoin us, but she and Tase disappeared behind the garden’s walls, and I wasn’t about to go see what they were doing. “So, I guess it’s you and me now. Addie will meet us there, and we’ll catch up with Graysin and Callie. We’ll need to distract Callie, if Ronan’s back.”
By the time we reached the square, though, we were too late. We crossed Eighth Street just in time to see Callie’s eyes connect with Ronan’s. I stopped in the middle of the street as they glared at each other, Callie in yoga pants and layered tanks, a pile of bracelets adorning her wrists, and her waist-length, dark hair pulled into a loose ponytail, and Ronan dressed for a night at the club. After one long, intense moment, she took off running toward her store, leaving Graysin standing there in bewilderment. Ronan sauntered after her.
“Oh, shit,” I breathed.
We hadn’t known Callie too well growing up because she’d traveled a lot with her family, so she hadn’t really been part of our crowd. After I left, though, she came back permanently to manage her family’s consignment store, and she and Addie had become closer friends. We’d hung out since I’d returned, and I’d learned just enough about her love life to know I didn’t want to be anywhere around when Ronan finally caught up to her.
“We need to rescue Graysin before she gets in the middle of something bad,” I said to Sindi as we finished crossing the street.
“I don’t think we need to worry about her.”
Graysin had already moved, but away from Callie, Ronan, and the sure disaster that was coming between the two. When I saw her headed toward Everett, I decided we didn’t need to interrupt that reunion, either. In fact, considering the tension between those two at the ribbon-cutting and the possible explosion about to take place at Callie’s Consignments, we probably needed to grab a bucket of popcorn and a seat for the show.
“So, what now?” I looked up at Sindi.
“Whoa.” That single word came out in a totally Sindi way—breathy and horny. “Who is that fine specimen of sex on legs?”
My gaze followed hers. “Oh, hell, no!”
Her tongue swiped over her lips as she stared at him, not even looking at me as she spoke. “You said Xandru didn’t have any other brothers besides Tase, but there’s no mistaking that’s a Roca.”
Grabbing her arm, I tried pulling her away toward Coffee Haven. “I said he didn’t have any you needed to be involved with.”
“Oh, I totally need to be involved with every inch of that.” Jerking her arm free, she strode away, making a beeline for Adrian Roca.
Crap. Of course, with Sindi being who she was … if anyone could handle a Roca, she could. I just wished she wouldn’t.
She glanced over her shoulder at me, batting her baby blues. “Aren’t you going to come and introduce me?”
I shook my head. “Nope. I will in no way be a part of this. You’re on your own.”
She threw me a stern look, then shrugged and smiled, flipping her red ponytail over her shoulder and continuing toward the biggest mistake of her life. Which was saying a lot.
I looked around town square, saw the teams were starting to prepare for the first races, and realized I was alone. “Well, so much for making this a girls’ day.”
I made my way to Coffee Haven to grab
a special coffee made by Harlow, the witch barista. The shop’s owner, Willow, who was a fae, offered up a secret menu that contained special ingredients for the supes. Harlow could make the drinks, as long as Davis, the new human manager, wasn’t around. For me, she topped my whipped cream with a sprinkle of what looked like red sugar crystals, but they weren’t made of sugar. The drink—coffee with a sprinkle of blood—was my personal heaven. When I saw Gabe standing alone outside, I ordered one for him, too.
I hurried past Callie’s Consignments, cringing at the sounds coming from inside the closed store, to where Gabe stood in front of Madame Tahini’s place.
“I don’t drink coffee,” he said when I held the cup out to him.
“Trust me. You’ll like this one.”
His eyes lit up when he took a sip.
“Right?” I smiled. “Just don’t tell anyone. So what are you doing out here alone? Aren’t you supposed to be helping for your volunteer work?”
“I did earlier with setup. Ms. Howe told me to take a break.” He took another swallow of coffee, licking the whipped cream off his upper lip. “So are you officially a member of the Court now?”
“Yep.”
“So you can get me back into regular school?”
“I’ll try after this semester. As long as everything goes well.”
He frowned. “I’m trying as best as I can.”
“I know you are. Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you. When you found all that stuff while they were working on the inn, you didn’t happen to find any pocket watches, did you?”
“No.”
Was it me, or did he answer that a little too quickly?
“None? Not even a timepiece for that leather cuff you found?”
He shifted his weight. “Well, yeah, there was one, but it was junk. Didn’t work.”
“What did it look like?”
He shrugged. “Like an old-fashioned pocket watch.”
“Was it decorated with moonstone?” He didn’t reply at first, and I thought maybe he didn’t know what moonstone was. “White but kind of pearly?”
“I don’t know,” he finally said, more of a growl than spoken words, though. “I mean, no. It was just plain. Old and boring.”
He started to walk off. Something wasn’t right, though. His entire energy had shifted. I didn’t need to be a witch to sense that.
“Gabe, are you sure? You didn’t find anything like that?”
“I think I’d know, Michaela! I don’t have anything like that,” he shouted, throwing his half-full cup in the trash can. “I have to get back to help.”
He hurried off, leaving me frowning.
“What did you find in that old inn of yours?” a raspy voice asked from my right. I turned to find Old Man Mills’s lanky frame standing in front of his pawn shop on the corner, his wild white hair, pale green eyes, and snowy skin making him look like an elderly version of Jack Frost. “Anything you want to sell?” He shuffled closer, and I inched away. “Maybe that timepiece that doesn’t work?”
“Gabe found it all. It’s up to him.”
“I’d be very interested in seeing what he found.”
Something in his tone made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. “Why?”
“Could be worth something, young lady. I’d pay him handsomely for it.”
“Do you think the timepiece is valuable?”
His white brows lifted. “I don’t know without seeing it, but I have a good hunch there was something valuable lost—or hidden—in that inn.”
The strange feeling intensified. “I’ll, uh, let him know.”
“Be sure you do. I insist.”
I took a bigger step away, not at all liking his tone or the way he looked at me. As if he wanted to eat me. Considering he was a dragon shifter, that could have very well been in his thoughts.
“Like I said, it’s up to him.”
“Just remember, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” His tongue seemed to slither on the word treasure.
Nodding, I turned to hurry off, only to crash into Addie.
“He’s so creepy,” I whispered as we crossed the street back to the park.
“What did he want?”
“He thinks we found treasure while renovating the inn.”
“Treasure, huh? As in dragon treasure?”
I snorted. “You’re such a dork. That’s a myth.”
“Is it?”
I looked sideways at her, and she rolled her eyes.
But perhaps she was on to something …
Based on my father’s journal, the Eye of Valerian could have been hidden somewhere in that inn. The date of the entry had been right around the time they’d been building it. And the more I thought about it, I couldn’t imagine Dad hiding a family heirloom, especially one with magical powers, anywhere else besides the inn or the house—the two places he had complete control over.
Until he died.
If Gabe hadn’t found the pocket watch, I wondered if someone else had. It definitely could have been valuable, considering Old Man Mills’s interest.
And then I recalled a certain somebody digging in the conservatory during the renovations. Somebody who’d already proven how far he’d go for money.
Chapter 12
Xandru
“Why do I feel like I’ve been hit by a Mack truck?” Tase asked from behind me.
I turned from the kitchen window that looked out on the backyard and the mountain behind us, which looked like the gods had dropped a million golden coins on it. It was a magazine-worthy picture of October in the Colorado mountains—the golden leaves of the aspen trees flickering in the breeze, the oranges and reds of oaks and maples scattered among them. The first snow could come any time.
My older brother walked into the kitchen wearing sweatpants and rubbing his wet head with a towel.
“Not a Mack truck, but you were hit by my fists a few times,” I answered.
He squinted at me. “Why?”
I chuckled. “You really don’t remember?” He shook his head and cringed. “I guess you were a lot drunker than I realized. You don’t remember the fight at Fallview?” He gave me a blank look. “Simon breaking us up? Almost falling over the railing and into the falls?”
“Shit. Wish I did. Sounds like fun.” He wrapped the towel around his neck, then opened the fridge and started digging around. “A lot more fun than this hangover bullshit. I can’t even remember the last time I had a hangover.”
“Probably the last time we got in a fight.” I was sure the pain he suffered was more from the blows we exchanged than the bourbon. My own body wasn’t feeling too great, and I hadn’t had much to drink. “And it wasn’t fun. It was stupid. I guess you don’t have any idea what the hell got into you?”
I’d moved past being angry, because the whole reason for the fight was ridiculous. I knew he hadn’t been in his right mind.
“Considering you don’t sound like you still want to hit me, must not have been too bad.”
“You accused me of messing around with Addie.”
Tase poured himself a glass of orange juice. “Oh.”
“Oh? That’s it?”
“What else should I say?” He turned around and leaned against the counter, taking a drink of his OJ. Then he walked over to the bar and added a dose of bottled blood and a shot of vodka. “Need a bit of the hair of the dog, methinks.”
“Tase, why in the hell were you possessive about Addie? You have no claim on her.”
He pulled a long draw on his drink, staring at me with that cocky look our whole family had mastered. Then he shrugged. “Don’t know, brother.”
“You’re lying. What’s going on? Wait. You’re not together, are you?”
Tase didn’t reply at first, and my chest tightened as anger built within. Then he scoffed. “Of course not.”
“Good. Because after everything she’s doing for you, she doesn’t deserve to be broken, which you know you would do.”
He nodded slowl
y. “Right. Because that’s all I can do.”
Turning, he walked back toward his bedroom. I watched him retreat, knowing he held something back. Again.
“Oh, hey,” I called after him, almost forgetting, not for the first time. Tase paused at the top of the stairs and looked down on me. “Michaela’s been riding my ass for a few weeks now to ask you if you found anything when you were working in the conservatory. Something that didn’t really belong there?”
He cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. “Like what?”
“Like a pocket watch or timepiece. She has a crazy idea it might have been buried out there, and since you were in there with a shovel …” I let my sentence trail off.
She hadn’t told me much about it, except that she’d learned about a family heirloom that might have been hidden in the inn somewhere. She was concerned that someone might have found it and sold it—that someone being Tase.
Tase shook his head. “Nope. She should ask that little brother of hers, though. Didn’t you say he’d found all kinds of things?”
“She already did. He had no idea what she was talking about.”
He stared, his nostrils flaring, his jaw muscle ticking, and a green glow flickering in his eyes before he forced a smile. “Then I don’t know what to tell you.”
Liar. I lifted my chin. “Another question. Have you been to the Petran estate in the last month or so?”
“Why the twenty fucking questions, man?”
“Have something to hide?”
“Always.” He gave his famous wicked grin. “But why would I have any reason to go there?”
“You tell me. I could smell you there.”
“Don’t know what to tell ya. I haven’t been there in years. I think you’re letting that woman get a little too deep into your head, little brother.”
I had no proof it had been him I smelled that day in Michaela’s family home. The scent was old, barely noticeable, so I had no real argument. But it had definitely been a moroi and of my family, so if not Tase, then one of my other brothers. None of whom belonged in that house.