by W. J. May
“Sweet dreams, love,” she whispered as she kissed him on the forehead. She slipped out into the hall, conjuring herself some clothes. The clothes were simple. The kind of outfit Molly would have hated, but Rae found herself trending towards whenever she was alone. Faded jeans with a warm knit sweater exactly the color of her deep blue eyes. Riding boots and a long trench coat completed the look. In the bathroom, just a touch of makeup and a ponytail later, she was ready to go.
“I really hope this works…”
The idea came to her in the middle of the night—er, early morning—and had woken her up with a gasp.
It was something that she had considered doing for a long time. A question she’d tossed back and forth, one that was made easier every time Devon let slip a stray comment, or she caught him in a wistful stare.
But it was really the scene at dinner last night that convinced her. In a way, it was a culmination of everything she had been waiting for all these years. The act of coming home to her beautiful house, full of her beautiful friends, where her beautiful fiancé was waiting for her.
There was only one thing missing…
It’s a new chapter, she thought with determination as she headed down the hall. It’s our time. And we need to make the most of it.
After slipping into Devon’s own tatù to be as silent as possible she ghosted down the stairs, conjuring herself a cup of coffee along the way. She hardly dared to breathe until she got to the first floor, but she needn’t have worried. The rest of the house was fast asleep. All its inhabitants had only recently gotten to bed, and would most likely be passed out for hours.
A trio of empty pizza boxes was stacked against the far wall of the kitchen, waiting to be taken out to the trash. Beside it, a pile of cider and beer bottles was awaiting the recycle. Rae and the others had thought themselves quite mature just in terms of making the piles. Baby steps, right? It didn’t look quite so grown-up now…
With a little grin, Rae picked up the stacks and raced them out to the side yard. The door swung shut behind her, clipping the heels of her bare feet, and the morning dew soaked through the hem of her jeans. But, to be honest, she couldn’t be happier. That same grin spread up the side of her face as she lifted the lids on the bins and quietly lowered the remains of their dinner inside.
I wanted a normal life, right? This is about as normal as it gets.
‘Normal’ being a relative term. As she slipped back into the house to grab the keys, she listened for any sounds of anybody stirring. The coast was clear.
Even once she was back outside, she took precaution. She changed her mind about the keys, deciding against taking any of the ‘family’ cars out of respect for the ones she’d lost. She left the gate at the end of the walkway open just a fraction of an inch so no one would hear it close. She even waited until she was a block and a half away to hail a taxi in case Devon should wake up and wander out to find her.
See? Piece of cake. She lifted her hand for a cab with a rather smug smile. All the superpowers in the world, but they’re still relatively easy to escape.
She should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy.
“Wait!”
There was a loud shout behind her, and Rae whirled around to see Julian sprinting towards her down the block. His dark hair trailed manically out behind him, and he was still very much in the process of getting dressed. His leather belt was threaded but unbuckled, and he was still stuffing his arms into the sleeves of his shirt as he skidded to a stop beside her.
“Jules!” She couldn’t help but keep the dismay from her voice. Of course, her perfect plan gets ruined by the psychic. “What are you doing here?”
He bent over and put his hands on his knees, struggling to catch his breath.
“You know exactly what I’m doing here,” he panted accusingly. “And how dare you think you could run off and do something like this without me.”
She crossed her arms petulantly as the cab got tired of waiting, and drove away. “Not everything is your business just because you see it, you know.”
“Oh, come on.” He straightened up with a grin, unable to contain his excitement. “Please let me come. This is too good... I can’t stay behind.”
She looked at him speculatively, considering her options. In a perfect world she had really wanted this to be a surprise, but she’d never pass up an opportunity to spend the day hanging out with Julian. Especially a day like this, when she’d need someone to help rein her in. “Will you at least zip up your pants?”
It was her only condition, but she was sticking to it.
He glanced down at once, and fixed his pants with a salute. A second later he was ready to go, bouncing excitedly in place like a kid who’d just been promised his favorite toy. “Rae, this is such a great idea! I can’t believe I didn’t come up with it myself!”
She tried to temper him, even though she wasn’t having any better luck keeping a huge, breathless smile off her face. “I know, I know. Just keep your voice down, okay? The last thing I want is Devon—”
“He won’t wake up,” Julian said quickly, speaking with that knowing authority that only he could possess. “Not until at least nine, and…oh man, Rae! He’s going to LOVE it!”
Her heart leapt in her chest but she smacked him quickly on the shoulder, trying to break through his futuristic trance.
“Don’t do that!” she shrieked. “You don’t get to see his reaction before I do!”
Too late.
As Julian’s eyes cleared back to the present, a beaming smile lit his handsome face. One look at it told Rae everything she needed to know. It also made her little idea a sudden reality. “I can’t believe this is happening,” she breathed, feeling like she might actually burst from the excitement of it all. “I can’t believe we’re getting a dog!”
After all these years of seeing that look of longing every time Devon passed one on the street, it was finally happening.
“Well, we have the house now,” Julian said practically. “We have a yard. Things have slowed down at work, and most of the people who want to kill us are dead. It’s the perfect time.”
She nodded excitedly, doing her best to ignore that ‘kill us’ part. And block out Samantha. Rae knew she’d be back. When was the question. A year? Ten years? Maybe never? “You don’t think he’s going to be mad? That I didn’t consult him?”
Asking leading questions like that to Julian wasn’t the same as asking them to anyone else. Mostly because Julian didn’t have to guess at the answer. He’d always know.
But he didn’t need to use his gift to answer with complete certainty.
“He’s going to love it.” His eyes twinkled as he pulled on his other shoe, then tied back his long hair. “Seriously, Rae, you couldn’t think of anything better.”
She exhaled with a giant sigh of relief. “Thank freakin’ goodness! Because I seriously…” she trailed off immediately as his eyes flashed white once again. This time when they cleared, he had a frown on his face. “What? What is it?”
He glanced back towards the house with a look of mild panic before clearing his face and grabbing her casually by the arm. “Nothing,” he said as he swiftly led her away. “We should get a move on if—”
“WAIT!”
For the second time that morning, Rae turned around to see yet another one of her friends streaking towards her from the house.
Angel was in a state of undress similar to the one Julian had been in. Her white hair trailed out behind her like a frantic cloud, and even as she ran she struggled to button up her coat. “Wait! I’m coming, too!”
Rae’s mouth fell open in dismay, but much to her surprise it was actually Julian who stepped forward to shut the notion down. “No, you’re not,” he said shortly. “This is Rae’s and my thing. Go back inside.”
“But Jules—”
She started to protest, when Rae cleared her throat discreetly and gestured to her backwards blouse. She glanced down impatiently and pulled the thing th
e right way around, inadvertently flashing a good portion of the street in the process.
Julian’s eyes lingered for a moment on her pale skin before Rae kicked him and he pulled himself back to the present. “I said no, Angie. You can’t come along.”
A look of furious disbelief flashed across her face, and Rae was struck with the sudden suspicion that her accidental flash of skin was no accident at all. “Well, fortunately, it’s not up to you!” she snapped. “It’s up to Rae!”
Before she could even turn and give her best ‘the sisterhood sticks together’ stare, Rae shook her head and held up her hand for another cab. “Absolutely not. You’re not coming.”
Angel’s exquisite face turned up in a look of absolute heartbreak.
“But why?” she whined, adding a good deal of whimper to her voice. “I swear I’ll be on my best behavior, and isn’t this exactly the sort of family bonding nonsense you two are always prattling on about?” There was a beat. “I mean…family bonding is super important. Not nonsense.”
Rae rolled her eyes, but Julian shook his head.
“You’re not coming, because I know what will happen if you do. You’ll want to get one for yourself, and that isn’t going to happen.” He gave her a gentle push back towards the house. “You’re a monster, my love. And sometimes, you must be contained.”
Angel’s look of supplication went right out the window, darkening down instead with a look of vindictive malice. “If you don’t let me come…I’ll tell Devon you guys are getting a dog.”
Rae gasped in rage, jabbing a cartoonish finger in Angel’s direction. “You wouldn’t dare!”
Angel simply cocked her eyebrows and folded her arms across her chest, daring them. “You willing to bet your future dog on that?”
Well aware of the fact that Angel had not been raised to ever bluff, Rae shot a rather nervous look at Julian instead.
His eyes paled over once more, checking the future for the validity of her threat, before returning to the present with a sullen glare. “She’ll tell Devon.”
Rae gasped again as Angel’s lips turned up in a triumphant smile. As if on cue, a taxi pulled up to the side of the road and she slid excitedly inside.
“Come on, you guys! This is going to be fun!”
Rae and Julian shared a long look, then followed in after her.
Normal life experience: murdering an insufferable roommate…
* * *
Instead of going to a pet shop nearby, the trio of friends headed to a rescue shelter on the outskirts of London. It was a place that Rae had stared at while cleaning the windows at Jake’s Grill, and she was over the moon to be returning there now. As the shelter itself wasn’t open yet when they arrived, they decided to grab some breakfast at the diner as they waited.
“Are you sure this is going to be okay?” Julian asked softly as they settled themselves down at a booth. “Your old boss isn’t going to ask where you disappeared to and fire you, is he?”
“You tell me,” Rae joked as she took a seat beside him. “But no. I believe this is actually his day off, so we won’t even see him.” She picked up the menu with a little frown, running her fingers along the worn edge. “I hadn’t even thought about it, but you’re right. I guess I am fired.”
Yet another normal life experience? Losing one’s waitressing job?
“I worked at a diner once,” Angel said conversationally, glancing over the list of breakfast items. The other two glanced up in shock, but she didn’t seem to notice. “How are the waffles—”
“You worked at a diner?” Julian interrupted. “I never knew that.”
“A few years ago. In Turkey.” She tossed her hair back with a casual flip. “I had to get close enough to a hybrid teleporter to dose his drink. Guy put up a hell of a fight. In the end, I had to set his jacket on fire.” She returned to the picture of the waffles. “Made some pretty good tips, though.”
Julian and Rae momentarily froze in place, staring across the table. Then they returned to their own menus without a single word.
It wasn’t until after the waiter took their order and left that Julian shook his head, murmuring. “This is why you’re not getting a dog…”
The rest of breakfast passed without incident. They kept an eye on the shelter all the while, drank coffee, and grew more and more excited the closer the clock ticked to opening. They had already paid the check by the time Rae turned with sudden curiosity back to Julian.
“Jules,” she began innocently, well aware that he had already brusquely dismissed the question when she’d asked before, “what did Luke’s dad say to you at dinner?”
Angel froze with a mug of coffee halfway to her lips, then shot her boyfriend a quick look as he lowered his eyes to stare fixedly at the table.
“I told you,” he said quietly, “he didn’t say a thing.”
Rae simply set down her cup and waited. He was in the center of the booth, fenced in between her and Angel. As long as she stayed put, he wasn’t going anywhere.
He seemed to register the problem at the same time, and his eyes shot to hers with a hint of a smile. “Really?”
She shrugged stiffly. “I do what I takes.”
He grinned faintly, but it faded the longer he sat there, eventually settling into something darker and angry in his eyes. A moment later Angel rested a light hand upon his shoulder, and he bowed his head with a tired sigh. “The Commander wanted to talk to me about my ability,” he said softly, tracing the serrated edge of his placemat. “He said he’d heard it had progressed, and wanted to know if I needed any help dealing with the aftermath.”
He abruptly stopped speaking, and Rae pulled back in surprise. She’d had no idea what had transpired between the two men to make Julian react the way he did, but she never would have expected anything like that. Moreover, she didn’t see the reason he was so upset.
“Well…that was really nice of him.” Her eyes grew wide with confusion as the couple looked up sharply, then averted their eyes. “Wasn’t it?”
Angel glanced discreetly at her boyfriend, a silent pillar of support, but made no move to push the conversation along either way.
As for Julian, he was clearly lost in his own world. His face tightened painfully, and when he finally spoke his voice was almost too quiet to hear. “That was always Carter’s job.”
Rae’s eyes snapped up, and her throat closed down. Of course it was. She should have put two and two together immediately.
Ever since they were just kids at Guilder Carter had always taken point in terms of guiding them through the confusing and, at times, overwhelming progression of their magical gifts. Given the uncharted magnitude of Julian’s clairvoyance, the two of them had bonded over it most of all.
“He was really nice about it,” Julian admitted softly. “Said that the two of them had talked about me, and Carter was really proud. Said that he knew he could never take his place, but that his door was always open if I needed someone to talk me through it.”
By now, he had shredded his napkin into a distracted pile. He didn’t seem to notice himself.
“I shouldn’t have acted the way I did. It was rude. It’s just…” For a split second the emotion took over, and words failed him. “I can’t do that. I can’t let him do that. I just…can’t.”
Those were the last words any of them said for a while. The second they were out Julian bowed his head, trying to gather himself. Angel grabbed his hand protectively and squeezed it with all her might; Rae stared out the window, lost in thought.
Eventually, after the clock had long passed the appointed hour, they came back to life.
“Come on.” Rae kicked him gently under the table, and pushed to her feet. “Let’s go get a dog.”
* * *
Considering how much build-up there had been and time spent waiting, the actual visit to the shelter was over and done rather quickly. Devon was obsessed with Golden Retrievers. He had been ever since he had nursed one back to health as a child. And th
e second Rae walked inside, she made a bee-line right for the row of kennels.
To be honest, the far bigger problem came when Angel demanded a puppy for herself.
“No,” Julian said for the hundredth time, freeing the wriggling ball of fur from her desperate arms and setting it back in the cage. “I told you this would happen.”
“But why?” she insisted, her eyes dancing with possibilities. “Give me one good reason.”
“Because I like dogs,” he replied matter-of-factly. “I’m not going to let you get a dog.”
Although it was expressly stated, it was still hard to argue with his logic.
“Okay, how about I start with something smaller?” she hedged her bets. “Like…a goldfish.”
Julian grinned and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, leading her back to the front of the building. “How about you start with a goldfish bowl?”
“Jules—”
“In a few weeks, if that’s not broken, we can add some rocks…”
On the far side of the shelter, Rae was rapidly falling in love. She had found the perfect little pup almost immediately, and was cradling it tenderly against her chest.
“Would you like to come home with me?” she asked softly, burying her lips in its fluffy golden fur. “There’s a guy back there who would very much like to meet you.”
A warm pink tongue licked up the side of her face, and she pulled out her wallet right then and there. Just a few minutes after that the three friends were headed back outside, a delightfully squirming puppy wedged happily in the middle.
The entire trip was a momentous success, until they were stopped by a frazzled-looking store clerk.
“Excuse me, miss? I’m sorry, it’s just…I saw you put that Labrador in your bag.”
Chapter 8
It forever to find a taxi was willing to transport an uncaged animal. And once they finally found one, Rae had a feeling there was a good chance he was never going to let them go. He seemed a bit dodgy.
“I’ve just never seen a more adorable animal in all my life!” He spoke in a thick German accent and kept swiveling around to look at the puppy, completely ignoring everything else on the streets around him. “Ach! So cute!! How old did you say it was again? It can’t be more than just a few weeks!”