by Sariah Skye
Xander and I blinked, looking at each other with confusion.
“Bash nor Trystan have seen her either; they’ve been all around here a few times; even back in that dark hallway,” Mathias said.
“But—how? We were only on the dance floor for like, five minutes—then the bathroom for maybe ten?” I said, looking to Xander for affirmation. He nodded.
“Fifteen minutes tops. We didn’t see them come in—and there’s no way you could have sent that many messages to her in that amount of time. I’ve seen how slow you text,” Xander added with a playful grin.
Mathias’ mouth set in a line, as he lifted his hand, flicking him off. “I’m not that slow. Besides it was more than fifteen minutes. It was about an hour.”
Xander and I looked at each other with shock. “An hour? There’s no way—we only heard like, two songs?”
Mathias shook his head. “I’m not sure what was happening on that dancefloor. But out here, it was close to an hour.”
“How is that possible?” I asked.
Xander shrugged. “Enchantress. Something in the music; anything is possible.”
I rolled my eyes. “Right…” I peeked at Mathias sheepishly. “How long were you watching us?”
He shook his head. “I was watching the crowd, mainly. I saw the little spat you had with that woman.” He grinned.
I groaned. “Whatever…”
“Where’s Bash and Trystan?” Xander asked.
Before Mathias could answer, both of them entered the room, and met us at the bar.
“Nothing. We found nothing,” Trystan said. “Not yer friend, not anything suspicious—not a goddamn thing. Just a normal club.”
“Not even any supes.” Bash scratched his chin. “Well, besides us.”
“We saw something.” And Xander recalled the dance floor scene—minus the kiss—and Mathias reiterated that we’d been dancing almost an hour.
“It only felt like a few minutes?” Bash looked uncomfortable. “That’s…weird. Time manipulation is not a common ability.” He retrieved his phone from his pocket and began typing with his thumbs. After a few moments he swore, and shoved it back into his pockets. “Dammit. I can’t access the void web in here. I need my computer.”
Mathias shuffled his feet. “We might as well go. Ava here smells like a liquor store—” He dodged my punch as my fist sailed through the air, hoping to make contact with his arm, “—and if your friend isn’t going to answer, we’re not going to find anything tonight.”
My face fell suddenly. “Oh.”
“Hey—you’re coming back to our place, right?” Bash asked, gently punching me in the shoulder.
“I—” I began, but hesitated. I wanted to. So bad. I couldn’t explain the pull, but I loved being around these guys. Not being invisible…
…but being seen.
Their property was beautiful, but it was insane to be so close or wanting to spend so much time with them already. We’d only just met.
“Ava?” Trystan asked. “We can’t just leave you by yourself.”
“My mom is there. And Sierra…”
“But—” Bash protested, but Mathias nudged him.
“We can’t force you to do anything.”
“But, the Collectors—” Xander objected.
Mathias turned, glowering at him fiercely.
“How about just bring me home, and we’ll see what happens? I need to change anyway, and grab Sierra,” I offered, with a smile.
They seemed appeased by this. “Okay.” Bash grabbed one of my arms, Xander the other, and we followed Mathias out of the club, Trystan in tow.
CHAPTER 21
We were chatting loudly about the club, as we arrived at my house. I reached for the key dangling in Mathias’ hand (no pockets in my dress, Mathias was my purse tonight) as we approached the front door, but Bash darted in front and stopped me.
“No—Ava wait. Someone’s been here.”
I dropped my keys in surprise. “What—how can you tell?”
Trystan bent over to pick them up, handing them back to me.
Mathias gripped my hand, Xander and Trystan flanked me as we approached the door. It wasn’t open, but the wood around the lock was shaved; tampered with.
“Oh shit. Sierra!” I cried frantically.
Bash slammed his body weight against the door; it opened easily. It wasn’t shut all the way, but it wasn’t obvious someone had been in here. He entered first, and I nearly rammed into him to get by.
The entire house was a complete mess. Pictures torn off the walls, flung on the ground, and shattered in their frames carelessly. The couch and all the furniture slashed, the carpeting had even been torn up.
I gasped, covering my mouth with my hands as tears stung at my eyes.
“I’ll find her,” Trystan said, patting my shoulder; and he darted off, calling my dog’s name.
“She might be outside, or at my mom’s!” I called after him.
“Stay here, with Bash,” Mathias instructed, and he nodded towards Xander. They each took a direction and started scanning the house for intruders.
Bash wrapped his arms around me, as I sobbed helplessly into his shoulder. “Who would do such a thing?”
He sighed. “I wish I could say it was just robbers, but it probably wasn’t. At least no one was home.”
I gasped again. “Mom?” I grabbed him, yanking him for the door that connected my mother’s house together with mine. It was locked, but I fumbled through my keys for the one that would unlock the door.
I shoved the door open, and entered my mom’s house; Bash in tow.
We entered the living room. Strange talismans hung in every corner, quirky art hung crookedly on the walls; clothing, papers, boxes, and knickknacks were strewn about haphazardly everywhere.
Bash gasped. “Oh god…”
I snickered, elbowing him. “What do you mean? It always looks like this.”
Bash gave me a strange look. “Seriously?”
I nodded. “My mother is a slob. She’s fine. Watch. Mom!” I called to her.
“Avie?” The stumble of awkward footsteps from the kitchen announced my mother’s arrival.
She looked surprised, upon seeing Bash.
“Oh—you have company!” She forced a smile through her shock.
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t look too surprised, Mother. This is Bash.”
“Bash?” She asked.
“Sebastian. It’s so good to meet you, Ms. Dawson.” He held out his hand politely to my mother, who took it reluctantly. “Is everything okay here?”
My mother forced a giggle, and an ungainly smile. “Of course! Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Ava’s house has been broken into; everything is torn up,” Bash explained.
My mother’s brown eyes widened. “Oh? How is that—I didn’t hear anything?”
I snickered. “Were you working on one of your projects?” I motioned to her paint-stained clothing, and her messy hair; purple paint streaked her cheek.
She grinned sheepishly. “Guilty.” She glanced at Bash once more before nervously looking away.
“That’s why,” I said, rolling my eyes, turning to Bash. “When she’s in a project, she’s gone. Oblivious to everything.”
Bash smiled politely. “Of course. I get that when I’m doing my computer work. Are you sure everything is okay?” He asked.
My mother shrugged. “Of course. Never better!”
“You see Sierra?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Not lately. She was here for a bit, then she took off. I assumed she was sleeping at your place.”
I nodded. It wasn’t unusual for Sierra to go back and forth between houses.
“Ava?” Mathias called.
“Sec!” I called back.
My mother’s forehead creased. “Who is that?”
“Mathias. You met him the other day remember?”
“Yes.” She forced a smile. “Of course. He has—friends?”
I s
nickered.
“Yes, ma’am. He, our friends Trystan and Xander, and I, live together outside of the Cities,” Bash explained. “We went to meet up with Summer at Stargazer tonight.”
“You were at Stargazer?” She sounded surprised.
“Yeah. Is that odd?” I asked.
She chuckled, waving us off. “No, just I don’t recall you going to a club this many times in a week before. Must be having fun!” She nudged me playfully. “Is that where you stayed last night—with them?” She nodded towards Bash.
I nodded. “Yeah. Nice big house. Like a hotel. Had my own room and everything,” I said pointedly.
She rolled her eyes. “Right. Say, can you come back in a bit—alone—so we can talk? I have something I want to ask you.”
“Sure,” I said.
“Okay. I hope everything is okay. Make sure to call the insurance agent; make a claim.” My mother pointed at me with a commanding finger.
“Of course,” I said.
“Okay. Talk to you in a bit.” She glanced at Bash momentarily before turning, and disappearing into her house.
I snorted, closing the door behind us. “That’s my mother.”
“She seems…” Bash began, but stopped mid-thought.
“Weird. Flighty?” I snickered. “Yeah that’s her.”
Bash chuckled. “Right…” We re-entered my house, meeting Xander, and Mathias in the kitchen. Trystan came trotting in from the backyard, with Sierra following.
“Aww, you’re okay!” I said, feeling relieved. I knelt down and let Sierra pelt me with slobbery doggy kisses as she wiggled and wagged her tail.
“Aye, she was spooked by the intruders,” Trystan explained, reaching over, and scratching the scruff on her back. “I got the impression they weren’t normal people, otherwise she would have attacked them.”
“Not normal?” I placed both hands on either side of her face and tilted her gaze upward. Her big, puppy-dog eyes were sad, but otherwise she appeared no worse for the wear.
“She feels bad for running off, but I told her she did the right thing. If these intruders are what we think they are…” Trystan trailed off, letting out a quiet whistle.
“The good news is it appears Summer’s room is unharmed,” Xander said. “But yours…” He looked away, sadly.
“Yeah?” I asked
“It’s all torn up.”
I whimpered. “No…” I dashed off for my bedroom, all four men following behind.
I gasped. Everything was demolished. All my furniture destroyed, clothes flung about everywhere, my bed torn up, my boxes and dresses overturned and thrown about everywhere.
A pair of strong hands grasped my shoulders as tears prickled in my eyes. “Oh god…”
“Don’t worry, Ava,” Mathias said, kneading my shoulders. “We have people who can take care of this. They’ll pick up the mess, work with insurance, get everything fixed. It’ll be okay, promise.”
Bash was scanning the room, bending, and running his hands over everything that he deemed suspicious.
“Should you be touching things?” I asked.
“Oh, it’s fine. Our people will know our prints. They will find others though, if there are any,” he explained.
Mathias spun me around and looked me square in the eyes. “You realize there is no way we can leave you here. You need to come back with us, at least until this can get fixed.”
“You really need training too. We can start tomorrow,” Xander said.
“But—” I pointed at my laptop, that was half buried under the contents of my underwear drawer. I was more horrified by it being strewn about like trash than I was the boys seeing my bras and undies on the floor. “I have to work.”
“What do you do?” Trystan asked.
I snorted. Something they should probably know, considering I’d had my tongue down the throats of three of them so far. “I do data entry. Medical bills and shit. Boring, but it pays the bills.”
“Can you do it from our place or do you have to be here?” Bash asked.
I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter where I am I guess…”
Bash nodded once, and retrieved the laptop from the ground, dusting it off. “Fine. I’ll get you set up.”
I wanted to protest, but they were right. I couldn’t stay here, everything was destroyed, but—
“What about Summer?” I protested.
“Suggest to Summer to stay somewhere else for a few days. We’ll get wards put up and keep the nasties away,” Bash replied. “They don’t seem to be interested in your mom, but just in case, we’ll put them up. Tonight even.”
“Tonight? How?”
Bash waved me off. “Simple. Most things are just household ingredients. Salt, sugar, various spices. Just takes some time. Meanwhile, you all should help her pack all her things and get her home.”
Xander mock saluted him. “Yes, captain.”
I snorted, rolling my eyes. “You know,” I turned to Bash. “My mom might have some things you can use too. I’m sure it hasn’t been used in a while, but I don’t think she’d mind if you used them.”
Bash considered this. “Yeah, I noticed a lot of her talismans hanging about were pretty dusty,” he observed, with a shrug. “Still, good to know.” He winked at me, while disappearing to the kitchen to rifle through the cupboards.
“I’ll go ask.” I pointed towards my mother’s house, and left the boys behind to do—whatever the hell it was they were going to do.
“Mom?” I called, opening her door again.
“Huh? Avie?” She called, from the back of the house. I pinpointed her location, figuring she must have been in her studio.
The rest of my mother’s house wasn’t any neater or less quirky than Bash had seen; a lot of mismatched art, funky furniture, and lots of antiques. I found her in her studio as expected, up to her arms in clay.
Her tiny dog, a Maltese mix named Joey, yapped, and nipped at my ankles as a greeting.
“Joey! Back off!” I said, kicking my foot gently at him. Not hurting him, just telling him I wouldn’t stand for his yapping. I wonder if Trystan could help figure out what’s wrong with this dog? I wondered, with a chuckle. Joey was…interesting. He didn’t like anyone—that I could relate to. But, instead of being mean, he would just nip at your feet. Or the feet of your chair, or attack table legs. He spent hours during the day, staring at shadows, and barking at things that weren’t there. Unless, he knew something I didn’t…
“What’s up, Avie? Leave your boy-toy already?” she said with a playful wink. She looked up from her mound of clay only briefly, before continuing to slap at it.
“Ha. No. They’re all still here; trying to help me get my things. Say…Ba—err, Sebastian is good with wards. Like, witch wards. Can he borrow some of your herbs and things? If you still have them?” I inquired.
She stopped pounding at the clay, wiping her hands on a black apron that covered her clothes. “He’s a witch?”
I shrugged. “More or less.”
My mother stood silent for a minute, looking to be in thought.
“Mom? Is that okay?” I asked.
“What? Oh, I’m sure. I better ask him what he thinks we’ll need,” she said, with a chuckle. “Wouldn’t want to inadvertently blow things up or invite demons in instead!”
I bit my lip, glancing away. “Haha, yeah, no demons. Don’t want any of those.” We wouldn’t discuss the fact that there were currently four demons—and one-half demon—in my house right now. Maybe another quarter of one, if you counted Joey. I snickered, watching the dog chase something unseen around the room. “Idiot dog…” I said, shaking my head.
“No, definitely not. No demons.” Grabbing a nearby towel, she wiped off her hands and pulled off her apron, following me into my part of the duplex.
Mathias and Xander were currently in the living room, picking up random objects, trying fruitlessly to put things back in their correct spots. Bash was currently in the kitchen, rifling through their destructed c
ontents, searching for anything useful. Trystan re-entered from the backyard, Sierra in tow. She snorted and huffed, and Trystan grinned; they almost seemed to be sharing some sort of inside joke.
My mother stopped, mid-step. “Wow…so this is everyone, huh?” She forced an awkward smile.
“Yes. Mathias you’ve met.” I gestured to the Roman. He briefly stood, and offered a polite bow at the waist. “This is Xander,” I said, as Xander abandoned his task and joined us, offering my mother a hand to shake.
“Good to meet you,” he said, with a polite smile.
“You too,” my mother replied, same awkward grin on her face.
“And this is Trystan.”
Sierra barked, and Trystan paused in his greeting my mother. “Och, sorry—she needs out again. I think,” he said quickly. Sierra whimpered. He waved briefly at my mother. “Pleased to meet ye, Ms. Dawson.”
She nodded once at him, watching him wide-eyed as Trystan followed my dog out of the door again.
“So, all of you live together?” She asked.
“We do, ma’am,” Bash said, joining us quickly. He held several spices, plus a large container of salt in his arms. “Ava said you were good at wards and might have some suggestions?”
“Oh,” she said, eyeballing what he had already. “That honestly looks good. Maybe some sage?”
“I didn’t see any of that.” Bash said.
“Oh well, let’s see if I have any.” My mother grabbed me by the arm, yanking me away. “We’ll be right back.” She flashed him a smile, and pulled me away. She shut behind us to her house, locking it.
“Ava! Are you sure you know what you’re doing with them?” She asked, speaking in muted tones.
“Huh? Mother they’ve saved my ass twice now!” I insisted. “They’re okay, I promise!”
She pressed her lips together, shaking her head. “Still…something strikes me as odd with them. Where did Sebastian learn his skills? What if it was from some dark magic cult? Do you really trust him to ward your house?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Why would you think that?”
She shrugged, turning away. “It’s just not common for people to have that kind of skill.”