by Martha Carr
Laura scoffed. “No way you went back to the energy core too.”
“No. It’s more like admitting to not doing something.” Nickie bit her lip. “I should’ve told you guys about it Friday night at the show, but I didn’t want you to start worrying for no reason, because it stopped. I thought maybe it was just a fluke or something.”
Both sisters stared at her. All of Emily’s bubbling, wired energy deflated when she put the pieces together. “You did hear the drums at the end of your show, didn’t you?”
Nickie nodded. “And I heard them last night too.”
25
Nickie told them everything—hearing the Gorafrex’s stunted drumbeat after her show; what their dad had told her about music being magic and how she had to learn to control it; the drumming returning again in short bursts at Ronnie’s party; and having to pull over when they returned full force before she slipped into the Clubhouse to get away. When she finished, she felt better than she’d thought she would. I know I have to keep lying to Chuck, but not to my sisters. Definitely didn’t know it would feel this good to get it all out there.
“Wait.” Emily leaned over the table. “You must’ve showed up at the Clubhouse right after I left.”
“I think so, yeah.”
“And you didn’t wonder why the giant socket wrench was there on the futon?”
Nickie frowned. “I don’t think I was capable of noticing anything, Em. Why’d you leave it there?”
Emily shrugged. “I was gonna surprise Laura with it. Like a present.” She turned toward their oldest sister and grinned. “Surprise.”
Nickie snorted, and Laura just shook her head. “I appreciate you thinking about me, Em. But I’m kinda having a hard time finding anything funny right now.”
“Yeah…”
“Granted, I didn’t think about how powerful the wrench is. Rutilda just gave it to me and said it would help, so it’s good we have something we know can do serious damage to the energy cores.”
“And we know what the Gorafrex’s host looks like,” Emily added with a nod. “Assuming it stays there much longer. That’s a plus.”
“Yep.” Laura sighed. “But you shouldn’t have gone back there by yourself. If that thing had gotten you…”
“But it didn’t. I made it out just fine.”
“You don’t think that any of the things you’ve told us makes it okay that you disappeared, without telling us, and put yourself in that much danger, do you?”
Emily blinked and sat back in the chair. “No, Laura. Just tryin’ to stay positive.”
“Good. Stay positive. Just don’t do it again, okay?”
Emily nodded.
Laura turned toward Nickie. “And you should’ve told us about the drums Friday night. As soon as you walked off that stage, Nickie. We need to know these things.”
“Got it.”
“You promised you’d tell us whenever they came back. Any little sound. Any sign of another headache that you couldn’t be absolutely sure wasn’t just a headache.”
Nickie pressed her lips together. “I know. I promise I won’t keep anything else from you guys.”
“Anything.” Laura raised her eyebrows.
“Promise.”
“Good. ‘Cause, obviously, none of us can do this alone, and we definitely won’t be able to do it if we’re not together. That means no more secrets or lies just because we don’t wanna freak each other out.”
“Deal.”
Emily nodded. “Yep. Deal.”
“Okay.” Laura sighed and absently wiped coffee stain off the rim of her mug and set it down. “I think the airport is the next energy core to get to. That’s the other one with the most traffic and the most options for the Gorafrex to… switch hosts.” Her sisters nodded. “Today.”
Emily blinked. “Laura, I have to leave for work in fifteen minutes.”
“Seriously?” The oldest Hadstrom sister spread her arms and frowned. “That thing knows what we’re up to now, Em. That’s obviously a lot more important than making one shift at your restaurant job.”
Nickie sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth. Uh-oh.
Emily stood. “Okay…” She scooted the chair in behind her and nodded. “First of all, it’s not just a restaurant job. It’s actually the best step I’ve taken in my career, Laura.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Not really, no. ‘Cause I’m pretty sure if you had some presentation to give or a class to teach or some…rare and unusual magical artifact to go dig up out of who knows where, you’d be asking us to wait until you were done. And you’d let us have it if we even suggested you put down your work or hire a temp or step away from your career so all three of us can go finish this thing that you started.”
“Wait a minute, Em—”
“Nope. Sorry. You can wait a few more hours. When we hit all these energy cores and lock the Gorafrex up again—‘cause I know we will—all of us will still have a life to go back to. I’ve already given up too many things for this restaurant job to throw away the best opportunity I have.” Emily leaned toward her oldest sister, picked up Laura’s mug, and took a long drink. “My shift’s over at three. Maybe four. Text me where you want to meet.”
“Emily, wait.” Laura turned in her chair as her sister stalked through the living room toward the foyer. “Hey, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m—”
The front door closed with a soft click.
“Sorry,” Laura finished. She turned back to the table and closed her eyes. “I screwed that up, didn’t I?”
“Uh…just a little bit, yeah.” Nickie took a slow sip of coffee.
“You see where I’m coming from, though, right? I mean, it’s not an outrageous request, given the circumstances.”
Nickie shrugged. “Honestly, you both made valid points. And you’re both right. We just hafta make room for both of you to be right.”
“How?” Laura glanced at her with a concerned frown. “It’s not like the Gorafrex is gonna wait for our schedules to open up.”
“Compromise. Working around what we can do and what we need to do.” Nickie tilted her head. “She’ll go to work and blow off all that steam. Hopefully she eats something. And until her shift’s over, you and I can work on what we need to work on before we go destroy some ancient Valikan technology tonight. Together.”
Despite her frustration, Laura chuckled. “Destroy some ancient Valikan technology. That actually made me cringe.”
“Kinda hurts your soul, huh?” Nickie nodded, and when she smirked, they both laughed for a bit.
“All right. I’m gonna go see if I can pinpoint where that energy core is under the airport. More or less.”
“Good thing you’re better at mapping stuff out than Dad, huh?”
“Yeah. Really good. Maybe I can figure out how that socket wrench works too. Seeing as I’ve got a few hours, apparently.” Laura stood from the table and pushed her chair in. “What do you have goin’ on today?”
“Nothing until Emily’s off work.” Nickie shrugged. “Actually, I think I’m gonna try what Dad told me last night. You know, playing music like it’s an actual spell instead. Just in case we end up running into that thing again.”
Laura nodded and headed into the dining room. Then she turned and added, “Just as long as you don’t try to practice with Dad’s lullaby, okay?”
Nickie blinked and shook her head. “Why not?”
“What? Come on…”
“I’m kidding.” Nickie tossed her hand at her older sister, urging her to go do what she had to do. “Totally kidding.”
Laura’s chuckle was a little tense, and she eyed Nickie for a few seconds before slowly turning around. “Okay. I’ll be upstairs.”
“Got it.”
The staircase creaked under Laura’s footsteps as she headed up to her room. Nickie turned toward her cup of coffee for another long, slurping sip. “And I’ll be down here learning how to master the guitar. Again.”
2
6
Emily pulled into the Meadowlark Tavern’s back lot fifteen minutes before her shift started. “I still can’t believe she called this a restaurant job.” She unbuckled her seatbelt and grabbed her chef’s jacket from the passenger seat. “I literally just graduated college. She knows how much this means to me. And it’s not any less than her teaching job means to her.”
She stepped out of her car and shut the door a little harder than she meant to. “Great. Now I’m gonna have to work extra hard not to let any of this slip into the food and make everyone in the dining room all bent out of shape about their sister laughing at their dreams.” Stuffing her arms into her chef’s jacket, she turned around and stopped.
John stood there with his hands in his pockets, grinning beneath a small, confused frown. “That definitely wouldn’t make the dinner guests very happy, would it?” He chuckled. “You know, I like the way you think, Emily. Good thing that’s not actually possible.”
If he only knew… She tried to hide her surprise behind a smile. “Uh…hello to you too.”
“Oh, yeah. Hello.” John tilted his head and walked toward her.
“What are you doing here?” Emily stuffed her keys into her back pocket and patted the other one to feel her phone still there. “I thought servers didn’t come on ‘til eleven.”
“We don’t.”
“Okay…but it’s eight o’clock in the morning.”
He stopped about a foot away and smiled at her. “I just felt like stopping by.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Okay, actually, I was hoping you’d show up early so I could say hi. To you, specifically. ‘Cause I know I won’t get to do that once you’re on the line.”
That’s both creepy and really sweet. Emily grinned. “I don’t usually get here this early. So perfect timing, then.”
“Thank you.” John spun around on the asphalt and kicked his leg out before walking with her toward the restaurant. “Hey, so I really, really had a good time on Friday. Wanted to tell you that too.”
“You showed up to work three hours early to say hi and, ‘Thanks for an awesome night’?” Emily smirked, and he laughed. “I’m pretty sure that’s what texting’s for.”
“Yeah, but I don’t get to see you in a text.”
“True.” Where is he going with this? Feels like he’s working up to something. “I’m glad you had a good time. I did too. It’s been a while since I’ve gone to one of Nickie’s shows with someone who’s actually excited to be there.”
“What?” John laughed and scratched the back of his head. “Isn’t that why people buy tickets to go see her? ‘Cause they’re actually excited to be there?”
“Well, yeah. I just meant…”
“Oh, you meant going with someone else. Like a date.” He looked up at her and raised his eyebrows.
Not really a good time to start the conversation about exes. There’s never a good time for that. “Yep.” Emily folded her arms. “I guess that’s what I meant. But so you know, it’s been a really long time since I’ve been to any show at all with someone else. Except my sisters.”
“Naw, I’m not worried about it. I thought it was amazing. As long as you had fun, we’re all good.”
Emily cast him a sideways glance and grinned. “I did. I totally had fun.”
“Good.” They stopped beside the back door to the kitchen, and John leaned against the brick wall. “I know I could’ve texted this to you too, but that feels…not as awesome.”
She laughed. “Okay…”
“I wanna take you out. On another date.” He shrugged and glanced past her with a sheepish smile. “One where I’m not as nervous ‘cause it’s a date and I’m standing backstage to watch one of the best blues-rock guitarists from twenty feet away.”
“Wow.” Emily wiggled her eyebrows. “Didn’t realize how much pressure I put you under.”
“Yeah. It was a lot of pressure.”
She licked the smirk off her lips and asked, “When?”
“What?”
“When do you wanna take me out? On another date.”
“Oh.” He laughed and closed his eyes.
Those are the longest eyelashes I’ve ever seen on a guy. Didn’t know I was into that until right now.
John looked at her and cocked his head. “How ‘bout tonight?”
Emily wrinkled her nose. There’s no way in hell Laura’s gonna be okay with pushing back this energy-core hunt so I can have a date. Probably not a good idea to even try. “Tonight…”
“Doesn’t look like a good time, huh?”
She shook her head. “Sorry. Plans with my sisters.”
“Oh, yeah? You guys do a lotta stuff together, huh?”
“We sure do.” Emily nodded. That’s a pretty new thing since we moved in together, actually. “What about tomorrow?”
“Eh…” John grimaced and sucked in a breath through his teeth. “I’m closing tomorrow. Okay, if you tell me Tuesday’s off the table, I’m gonna have to rethink my strategy here.”
“Tuesday’s good.” She grinned at him. Maybe by then we’ll have the Gorafrex locked up with no more dead witches and no more awakened Peabrains running around. “Let’s go with Tuesday.”
“Perfect. Third time’s a charm, huh?” John ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Is there anywhere you don’t like to go? Just so I don’t ruin my chances by planning something that turns out to be the worst idea ever.”
Emily fought back a laugh. “Just as long as it’s not underground, we’re good.”
He wrinkled his nose. “What?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing. Just…an inside joke that, of course, you wouldn’t get. Sorry.”
“Okay. A club in a basement, though, that’s still good?”
“Definitely.”
“Cool.” He studied her face a few seconds, then leaned toward her and shook his head. “It’s not gonna be a club in a basement. Just so you know.”
“Even if it was, we’re all good.” Emily laughed and tilted her head.
“Good to know. So, I’ll just…call you before Tuesday and let you know where to meet? Or should I text you?”
“You could show up three hours early just to say hi and let me know.”
That made him laugh, and he nodded. “Touché. Just so many options.”
She raised her eyebrows. “You’ll pick the right one.”
His gaze steadied on hers, and his grin faded a little. “Yes, I will.” He looked like he was about to say more. He turned to glance at the back door. “Right. I know you have to work, so I’ll let you get to it.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.” He kicked himself off the brick wall and stepped closer. “I know I’ll still see you a few times before then, but now I’m just gonna be thinking about Tuesday.”
“Oh, yeah?” Emily blinked up at him.
“Yeah. And you.” John’s gaze slid down to her lips. When Emily didn’t pull away or say anything else, he finished what he started and kissed her.
His warm hand slid lightly against her cheek, and Emily kissed him back. Kissing John pushed everything else so far out of her head that by the time she realized she was just standing there with her arms at her sides, she also remembered she had to go to work. Maybe I don’t want to… She set her hands lightly on his chest and pulled away.
John sighed and lowered his hand from her face. “Yeah, I know.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“But you still have to go to work. And we have the same boss, so…” He stepped away from her and shrugged. “I’m running the risk of getting us both in trouble.”
Emily chuckled. “Definitely don’t wanna get you in trouble.”
Smirking, he took another step back and glanced at the door. “Well, too late for that. Just hasn’t spread to my job, yet.” He grinned and walked slowly backward across the parking lot. “Tuesday.”
Oh, he’s good. “Tuesday.” Emily licked her lips, trying to keep from grinning like a lunatic,
and forced herself to turn and open the door. She glanced back before she stepped inside to see him heading toward his truck.
He turned around to meet her gaze and smiled.
Really good. She chuckled and stepped into the kitchen.
27
After popping in and out of the Clubhouse, Laura sat at the desk in her bedroom, studying the Engineer’s socket wrench. “Okay, if I’d found you tucked away under a boulder somewhere, the only thing I’d wonder is why anyone would make a wrench this huge.” She rolled it over and examined the other side. “Nothing pins you as a magical artifact. Not even as a magical tool. Just one great, big hunk of metal shaped like a wrench that’s probably spent the last couple million years underground with Rutilda. Unused. Forgotten.” She chuckled. “Were you just lashing out when you knocked over the whole energy core?” One more time, she turned the wrench over and opened the top drawer of her desk. “As fun as that thought is, I don’t think that’s what happened.” Laura reached for the magnifying glass in the drawer, then her phone vibrated on her desk and made her jump.
She snorted. “I thought vibrate mode was supposed to keep phones from scaring the crap out of their owners…” She picked up her phone, recognized Nathan’s number—though she hadn’t saved it—and almost dropped it.
His text read: ‘I know I said get back to me by four. Turns out the host of said party is wanting a head count.’
“The party…” Laura sighed. “Totally forgot about that.” She unlocked her phone and started a reply, then received another text.
‘Also, I’m just really bad at being patient.’ At the end of that one was a simple smiley face.
“Yeah, I can see that.” She rolled her eyes and typed: ‘I’m sorry, Nathan. I won’t be able to make it tonight but thank you for inviting me.’
The minute she sent it, the three dots in the bottom corner blinked to life. He sent a sad-face emoji, followed by: ‘You sure?’