Crossroads Burning

by Nash, Layla

  He took a swig from a flask, then offered it to me. “I won’t argue with that.”

  I took the flask and hesitated before I drank, letting the liquor burn my throat all the way down. I handed it back and took a deep breath. “Well, regardless of what happens, Eddie, thank you for being my friend. I understand if things have to change and I won’t hold it against you. I appreciate your help the last couple of years.”

  “Nothing is going to change, Luckett.” His tone went rocky and he frowned at me as if I were being ridiculous and uncouth.

  But I’d heard all that before.

  Chapter 21

  As the rice bubbled and hissed in the pot, becoming fragrant enough to outshine the wood smoke, I watched Hazel as she muttered and waved her hands and walked in ever-widening circles around our campsite. I must have looked skeptical, because Nelson laughed as he sat down across the fire. “It works. It’ll at least warn us if something approaches the fire.”

  “What is it? How does it work?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, not when I’d been so dead-set on Hazel not sharing what she might have learned from me with her other witch friends.

  He grinned and waved his fingers like I’d done earlier in the day. “Maaaaaaagic.”

  I couldn’t keep a smile back, though I tried to look stern instead as I leaned to stir the beans and rice. “Right. And you guys weren’t happy when I said that, were you?”

  “It’s fine,” he said. He ran a hand through his hair and winced a little as he stretched his legs out, trying to lean against his saddle as a backrest. “Damn. I haven’t felt this old in a long time. Still. This is an odd situation for us, too. Normally we’re in and out of a location like this, and no one remembers our names or even that we were there a couple months down the road. That we’re here and talking and revealing a bit of who and what we are... It’s disconcerting. Probably a bit of what you’re going through.”

  I shrugged, about to ruminate on the topic when I glanced up and caught Hazel and Lincoln conferring quietly beyond where she’d walked her last circle. I squinted, my head tilting as I studied them. Hazel seemed to glow very softly all over, like moonbeams got tangled around her, while there was a swell of green and gold waves around Lincoln’s legs and hands. Odd. I hadn’t thought he had magic, although there weren’t many other explanations for that kind of aura. So he wasn’t a shifter, but he probably wasn’t a witch, either. Could men be witches? Did those folk call them wizards? Sorcerers?

  I didn’t look away from them, particularly as Lincoln’s expression grew darker and somehow more controlled. “Are there male witches, Nelson?”

  “Not really,” he said. “Not like the female witches, anyway. Witches tend to rely on their internal power and a bit on nature, and men aren’t generally born with the same sort of intrinsic capability. There are sorcerers who rely on spells and herbs and rituals to build power and create certain effects, but they can be male or female or shifter or whatever. Almost anyone can learn to be a sorcerer.”

  “Hmm.” That didn’t help much. I squinted more and let some of the ley power ooze up out of the earth and through me, so maybe I could see a little bit more about how their power worked. A series of concentric circles lit up like bonfires around us, almost blinding me, and I absently threw up a hand to protect my eyes. It didn’t look anything like any magic I’d ever seen, but there was no arguing that it was magic.

  “See something interesting?”

  I blinked and let the ley energy dissipate as I caught Nelson, Mason, and Eddie all watching me. Nelson’s question was far too casual, and it was clear from the look on his face he wasn’t trying to tease me about Lincoln. I rubbed my jaw and checked on the beans again, dipping a spoon in to try it before I threw in some salt and more spices. “Just trying to figure out how she did what she was doin’.”

  “We have a school for witches, you know.” Mason sniffed in the direction of the pot and gave an appreciative grumble. “With Lincoln’s recommendation, you could walk right in and start taking classes. Figure out how to do what Hazel does, and figure out how to do it better.” He winked like he was joking, but there was a serious glint in his eyes.

  “You all sure are working hard to get me to leave Rattler’s Run,” I said. “But my answer won’t change. It can’t change. I can’t leave town. That’s just how it is.”

  Nelson held his bowl out, clearly ready to eat whether the food was ready or not. “We’ll see. Maybe we take out the werewolves and figure out what to do next. We can send other witches here to cover for you while you’re away. That’s the nice thing about having a whole bureau behind you—other teams to help out and carry the load when someone needs to take a knee.”

  I shook my head, though I got up to stir the rice and beans and dish some into his bowl. I didn’t want them to see the very tiny spark of hope that might have taken root in my heart. What if other witches were able to protect Rattler’s Run while Liv and Lucia and I spread our wings? We would come back eventually, but it would be such an unimaginable gift to be able to see the world. “So you say. We’ll see what you think after we’re done at the caves.”

  “Have they been spilling more secrets?” Hazel sounded far too cheerful after her conversation with Lincoln, who still wore a thundercloud on his face. The witch peered at what Mason dug into, then shrugged and held out her bowl as well. “That’s the thing with shifters, my dear. If you feed them, they’ll tell you almost anything. And like stray cats, the second they know you’ve got food, they’re apt to follow you home.”

  “Only if we’re invited,” Mason said, waggling his eyebrows at me. “But I’ll curl up on the foot of your bed and purr for you, darlin’, if you keep cooking like this.”

  I laughed, though my cheeks heated just a bit. He was a handsome devil and he knew it, and his features seemed more leonine in the firelight. Maybe just knowing he could turn into a beast made him more attractive, though it should have sent me running for the hills. What happened if he lost his temper? I must have lost my damn mind. He was exactly Olivia’s type, though, and I made a mental note to keep those two apart.

  “Ignore him,” Hazel said. She tasted the rice and beans and made a yummy noise before plopping to sit on the dirt next to Nelson. “Or get a spray bottle and spritz him until he leaves the furniture alone.”

  “Sounds like you’re talking from experience,” Eddie said. He had only half a smile on his face as he watched her shove Nelson’s boots out of the way so she could warm her feet up near the fire. The ranger sipped out of his flask once more before going on. “Know a few too many of these characters?”

  Hazel chuckled, shaking her head, but didn’t dignify it with a response. Nelson said something instead and then Mason piled on, though by then Lincoln stood in front of me and everything else faded away. He held out his bowl, attempting a smile despite the fierce anger in his eyes. “It smells great. Well done.”

  “Wait until you taste it,” I said. “If you dare.” And I tried to smile, to make a joke about the food and town and everything that went on around us. Sometimes laughing was the only way to get through it.

  So I scraped out most of the rest of the rice and beans, leaving a bit for me, and took a deep breath. It felt like there was more to say as we stood there by the fire, and the other four argued and joked about shifters and big cats and the Mother only knew what else. And Lincoln waited, making no move to sit down and eat the mess of food. He made my heart thump oddly in my chest, more so than the first time he’d walked into the bar. Because now he knew more about me, some of the worst things about me, and he was still there. He still wanted to talk to me despite all that, when he could have simply sat down with his friends and ignored me.

  Even not being sure about his intentions and motivations, it was still nerve-racking and gut-churning and ... nice. Even with the overwhelming masculine energy he brought with him. Even with the way his large hands gripped the bowl and I could just imagine them on my waist, maybe squeezing my ass...


  I cleared my throat and shifted my feet, looking away. “So did Hazel do all her voodoo out there? Will the werewolves sneak up on us?”

  “We’ll at least have warning,” he said. His voice, deep and rumbling, felt far too reassuring for the words he was saying. “And we’ll rotate a watch so someone is awake to raise the alarm just in case. You’ll be safe.”

  “I wasn’t worried about me,” I said. The ley lines would protect me. They always had, especially so close to the cave. Just like the fight with the werewolves in the storm. Although... There was no telling how the ley magic would react with Hazel’s funny witch stuff going on. A hint of unease crept up my back. What happened when different kinds of magic got together?

  He tilted his head to indicate a spot away from the fire, closer to where the horses grazed and snorted and stomped. “Then tell me what you were worried about.”

  He walked over there and I hesitated, wishing he’d just sat down with the others, but eventually I followed. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Besides, maybe Lucia was right. We had to have kids eventually, and a roll in the hay with Lincoln would no doubt get the job done. My cheeks heated at the thought. I’d definitely lost my mind.

  Lincoln rubbed his knee as he sat, frowning into his bowl as he appeared to think deep thoughts. “So what’s bothering you?”

  “Just trying to figure out how all of this fits together.” I gestured with my spoon out at where Hazel’s circles had blazed to life the moment I saw through the ley magic. “What she does, what the caves might hold, what you all are looking for... Seems like a lot of different little bits of the same puzzle, but I don’t know what it looks like when it’s put together.”

  He nodded. “And we’re trying to figure out how your piece fits into our puzzle as well. Whatever kind of magic you do, Luckett, it’s no kind of witch magic we’ve seen before. And so far you haven’t used any rituals, so I don’t think you’re a sorcerer. From everything I’ve seen, you shouldn’t have been able to kill those werewolves. And yet... they’re dead and you’re here—and still not a werewolf. So we’ve both got a couple things to figure out.”

  I tapped my spoon against the side of my bowl, pondering. I didn’t dare look back at the fire where the others laughed and joked and teased Mason about something. “I don’t know what to do about that.”

  “I’ve got a few ideas,” he said. “But those might have to wait until after we deal with the werewolves.”

  “Sure, why not.” I set aside my bowl, since I’d eaten it all and started wondering about the rest of the beef jerky. I’d been too generous in the servings for the others. And for some reason, I lay back in the soft grass and stared up at the night sky, watching the stars overhead and picking out a few satellites as they sailed through the dark expanse of space. “At least I’m not growling and sprouting hair.”

  “There’s one more blood test, then you’re in the clear. But it’s pretty obvious whatever spell you used to heal your wounds prevented the toxin from affecting your blood. If you can explain to Hazel how you did it, that would help us treat bites in the future. Save other lives.”

  “Maybe. I don’t know if I can explain it.” I linked my arms behind my head, trying to pick out the constellations one of Ma’s boyfriends had tried to teach me. I didn’t think I could tell them how I’d done the healing spell, since it was the disembodied Luckett voice that moved through me that cast it. “It’s just something that happens when the... when... I don’t think I can explain it.”

  I’d almost talked about the ley lines. My jaw ached from snapping it shut before I betrayed more of the Luckett legacy, and I could feel Lincoln’s attention on me as I stared at the stars and hoped he didn’t ask too many more questions. Except for the three I’d promised to answer. I pressed my lips together and hoped he didn’t ask me about the magic as one of those questions. I didn’t want to lie to him, but I didn’t think I could make myself explain. At least not until I’d had a chance to talk to Lucia and Olivia. If we were going to start sharing Luckett secrets, I wanted to make sure it was okay with them.

  The silence stretched between us long enough I worried he might have been gearing up to push for more on the ley lines, but instead he gestured at my bowl. “Did you get enough to eat?”

  “I’ll keep,” I said, not wanting to sit up or do anything but look at the stars.

  “It’s important you keep your strength up, to fight off the toxin if it remains in your blood.” He sounded too much like a boss and a federal agent when he said it, like he was giving an order instead of a recommendation. And Lincoln tipped about half of what was in his bowl into mine. “So eat up.”

  I smiled, not looking at him. “Does everyone always do what you say?”

  “Yes,” he said. And there was at least a hint of laughter in his tone, like he knew what I meant. “But you should still eat up. We might have to hunt and kill more werewolves tomorrow, and I can’t have you passing out from low blood sugar right in the middle of it.”

  “We don’t want that,” I said. I sat up and picked through the rice and beans. “So when are you going to ask me those questions?”

  Lincoln definitely chuckled, and it warmed my cheeks along with my blood. “I haven’t decided what I want to ask yet.”

  “I should have set an expiration date.” I heaved an exaggerated sigh and shook my head, like I regretted the agreement, and waited for him to react. He was pretty easy to needle, all things considered, regardless of what Hazel thought. “Or some other boundaries.”

  “Yeah, you should have.” And he left it at that. When I stole a look at him, Lincoln smiled—knowing perfectly well what I was trying.

  I laughed, my cheeks heating more, and tried to get myself under control. “I don’t know what would be worse—questions about the Lucketts and magic, or questions about anything else.”

  “Hmmm.” He slid me a sideways glance through the darkness, then nudged his arm against mine. “You could always just start talking and maybe I’ll check off some of those questions as we go.”

  “That sounds like a terrible idea.” I ate a few more spoonfuls of beans and rice, then set the bowl aside again. “Aren’t you supposed to be some super suave government agent? The James Bond of magic?”

  Lincoln snorted, collapsing back into the grass himself. “Don’t ever say that around Mason or Nelson, or they’ll take it to heart and I’ll never hear the end of it.”

  “You don’t know much about blackmail, do you?”

  That got a laugh. He exhaled in a gust and seemed to relax, and for a while we only listened to the crackle of the fire, some chirping crickets, and the occasional conspiratorial whispering from Mason or Nelson. I didn’t even want to imagine what they thought we were talking about.

  I hugged my knees to my chest as I sat there next to him, gazing at the grasslands around us and occasionally at the stars. The moon hung full and low on the horizon, casting eerie shadows and challenging the fire’s light. It might have been peaceful or even romantic if we weren’t set to face a bunch of crazy werewolves the next morning.

  “That night Hazel and I went to your house and your sister’s car had died in the driveway... What were those animals that ran away when we approached?”

  I didn’t look at him. “Is that one of your questions?”

  “No. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” I caught a hint of his smile in my peripheral vision. “Although this’ll be a long, boring trip if you don’t want to talk at all.”

  “Just got to keep an eye on the accounting.” I rested my cheek on my knees, frowning as I searched for some sign of what I should do in the stars. “They were dire wolves.”

  “Dire wolves?”

  “Bigger and stronger than normal wolves, but not like the werewolves. We’ve had a lot more of them this year, and it’s not even winter yet. Usually they wait for the deep snow to come before the packs run around town.”

  “Are they magic?”

  “They
’re not normal,” I said, though I hesitated. I’d never used magic to deal with the dire wolves. Usually bullets worked just fine. “But they usually only show themselves to my sisters and me, so maybe they are. They die when we shoot them. Silver works better than regular lead, but it all does the job eventually.”

  Lincoln propped his head up on his arm, still looking at the stars, and his other arm remained dangerously close to my hip. “Interesting. Maybe we can trap a dire wolf for study. I don’t think we’ve got any records of them back at headquarters. Stories, sure, but no specimens or first-hand accounts. Nelson can interview you and your sisters when we get back to Rattler’s Run.”

  Specimens? Interviews? I didn’t dare look at him. “How long are you all planning to stay?”

  “As long as necessary,” he said. “I’ll file an initial report on the werewolves when we get back to town, and fill headquarters in on some of the other... happenings.”

  I wondered if I were one of those happenings. It didn’t bode well for the Lucketts or Rattler’s Run if the government was there to stay, though a tiny piece of my heart really liked the idea of Lincoln sticking around for a while. I picked at a few blades of grass, twisting them in my fingers, and I kept my voice low so I could maybe deny asking the question if it went badly. “How much am I going to be in that report?”

  He waited long enough to answer that it made me even more nervous, as did his sigh. “I haven’t decided yet.”

  “Just keep Hazel from telling the witches about me. I don’t care about the rest.” It wasn’t quite true, but the last thing Rattler’s Run needed was a coven of witches descending on it and digging into secrets and the past. I couldn’t explain Aunt Bess or her episodes, or the other relatives who’d gone crazy slowly and quickly. And the regular folks might try to run us out for good if we brought more of our kind to stay.

  Lincoln’s fingers worked into the grass next to me, distracting me from the moon and everything else. “It might not be a bad thing if the witches came out here and poked around. They could take some of the burden off you, at least.”