Edge of Magic (Tara Knightley Series Book 1)

by Jayne Faith

  By the time we all trooped inside, the shifters had departed, and Mom and the other witches were cleaning up the leftover food, paper plates, and plastic cups.

  Mom looked up from where she was wiping pizza sauce off the kitchen counter.

  “Judah is still here,” she said. She looked exhausted, but more at ease than I’d seen her in a long time. “He’s taking out the trash. He said he wanted to talk to you.”

  My pulse skipped. The surprise he’d promised.

  “Go ahead,” Felicity said to me. “Mom and I will get the kids to bed.”

  “Okay, but leave the rest of the clean-up and unpacking,” I said. “We’ve done enough for one day. That means you, Mom.”

  My mother whipped a kitchen towel at me, and I jumped out of the way with a squeak. She gave me a tired grin.

  After Mom turned back to the counters, I exchanged a silent look with my sister, one that she understood. Mom had pushed herself, and we needed to get her off her feet. The charm she wore kept the unnamed Cataclysm illness from killing her, but she was still vulnerable to other health problems.

  The door leading from the kitchen to the garage—we had an attached garage!—opened, and Judah came in.

  “Anything else I can take out?” he asked. I thought the question was meant for Mom and Fel, but his eyes were on me.

  “We’re good for tonight,” Fel said. She gave him a broad smile and went to him with her arms out. “And thank you, again, for everything.”

  From his expression, he hadn’t expected the embrace, but he returned it with ease. My sister cast me a furtive glance before she disappeared upstairs to wrangle the twins into their PJs.

  Mom dropped the sponge in the sink and dried her hands.

  “Thank you, Judah,” she said, also hugging him on her way out.

  My brows lifted slightly. Mom and Fel’s warmth toward him shouldn’t have surprised me, especially after all he’d done for us that day. And my family had, of course, known Judah very well back in the day. But for some reason it gave me a slight flutter of nerves that they were so happy to have him around.

  “Can we check out the treehouse?” Judah asked.

  I tilted my head. “Sure?” I said uncertainly, wondering if he planned to reveal the surprise up there.

  “Just for a minute,” he said.

  I followed him through the kitchen to the living room and the door that let out into the back yard. Our old place had an alley, but the yard here butted up against the back neighbor’s with a seven-foot fence in between. There really was a ton of space to run around. The kids were going to have a blast back there come summer.

  We walked toward the big old oak with its daringly high treehouse. It would have thrilled me back when I was Luna and Nolan’s age.

  “After you,” Judah said, gesturing for me to go up the ladder first.

  “Nah, you go ahead,” I said. I folded my arms, silently challenging him to argue.

  But he just shrugged, grinned, and began to climb. I watched him, noting the graceful yet sure and powerful way he moved. I couldn’t help thinking of him in his wolf form. I’d only seen him after shifting once, and that was back when we were kids. His wolf form probably looked different, growing and maturing just as his human body had.

  I waited until he was halfway up and then began my ascent. The ladder was nothing more than two-by-fours nailed into the tree. At the top, I grasped one of the rope handles mounted on either side of the doorway and hoisted myself onto the platform.

  The treehouse wasn’t much more than a wood box with two windows and a doorway cut out of it. There was nothing inside.

  Judah had crawled to the side and was situating his long legs so he could sit cross-legged.

  “This is pretty damn cool,” he said, looking around.

  “Yeah,” I said, my back against the opposite wall so I could face him. “The kids are stoked.”

  I tipped my head back until it rested against the wood, peering at Judah in the semi-dark. There was a sense of anticipation hanging between us.

  “I wanted to talk to you about the hunt,” he said.

  “Oh.” I straightened and moved my legs to one side, leaning on my hip and my hand. “Actually, I wanted to talk about that, too. Things have . . . changed.”

  “How so?”

  “I can’t get into the details. But I don’t think it would be a good idea for you to get involved. In fact, it’d probably be best if you stayed as far away from that mess as possible.”

  “Are you still planning to hunt?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Then I’m not going to stay away.”

  I ran a hand over my hair. “Seriously, Judah, things have gotten a lot more complicated. I’m, well, I’m taking a risk. I’m going to be walking a dangerous line, and I’m going to have to be really careful. If things go wrong, it’ll be ugly.”

  “All the more reason for someone to have your back.” His voice had deepened, taking on a harder edge of determination.

  “No, I appreciate what you want to do,” I said. “And if this situation hadn’t come about, I’d probably take you up on your offer. But now, I really can’t do that in good conscience.”

  He exhaled through parted lips. “I wish you could tell me what’s going on, Tara.”

  I shook my head. “Not a good idea.”

  “You’re not going to get rid of me that easily, you know.”

  I bit my lower lip for a second. “I’ve made a secret deal with someone in Faerie. If I find the bounty prize, I will take it to this person. And if that happens, shit will hit the fan with Shaw. I can’t give you any more details. Even that is too much.”

  He leaned forward. “But that’s exactly along the lines of what I was thinking, Tara. Screw Shaw. If he won’t pay you for it, someone else will. You need to find that damn thing and sell it to the highest bidder.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t do that now.”

  “An oath. You entered into another oath, didn’t you?” His tone was suddenly thick with worry.

  “Yes, but it’s not like the one I have with Shaw. And seriously, I can’t say anything else. I’ve already told you much more than I intended.”

  “I don’t care what the risks are,” he said with vehemence. “I promised to help you, and I’m sticking to it.”

  I let out a small laugh, shaking my head. “I don’t remember you being this stubborn.”

  “I’m not stubborn,” he said, ignoring my mild amusement. “I just take certain things much more seriously than I used to.”

  “Like what?”

  “Honoring my commitments.”

  A few seconds of silence passed.

  “I’m not going to dissuade you, am I?” I finally asked.

  “No, you’re not.” He leaned his elbows on his knees, peering at me. “I can’t be here all the time, but whenever you’re ready to hunt, I’ll drop everything to come with you. We’ll find a Faerie doorway in Portland so you can quickly come and get me. This is my priority.”

  My chest clenched, and I curled my hands into fists for a moment. Then I met his gaze.

  “I’m really uncomfortable getting you involved in something where you don’t fully understand the consequences,” I said. “Not to mention that I won’t be able to save us if things go wrong in Faerie. But . . . if you insist I’m not getting rid of you . . . okay. Help me with the hunt.”

  “Good. Thank you,” he said. He smiled broadly, and my heart skipped a beat. His brows rose. “Now, it’s time.”

  He started scooting over to the doorway.

  “Time for what?”

  “Your surprise.”

  He climbed down the ladder, and I was right behind him. When my feet touched the ground, Judah’s hand found mine, enclosing it in his warm grasp. My breath quickened as he silently led me around the house, through the side gate, and toward the front. He took me down the driveway and hung a right, continuing on the sidewalk.

  “Can’t you at least give
me a hint?” I asked. “A little one?”

  “No hints,” he said. “We’re almost there.”

  I grumbled under my breath. My heart was pattering away with anticipation, and I was hyper aware of the warmth of Judah’s palm against mine. We walked side-by-side, and except for our brisk pace, we might have looked like a couple out for a romantic stroll. I bit the inside of my cheek and pushed the thought away.

  I’d spilled too much to him in the treehouse, and it was becoming a pattern—me giving in when I hadn’t intended to and my thoughts spinning away from me when I was around Judah. We weren’t a couple, and I needed to keep my head.

  At the end of the block, he turned right.

  It was fully dark, and there were a few cars parked on the curb. The first one I recognized as the Lexus he’d been driving.

  I frowned. “Are we driving somewhere?”

  “Nope.”

  Judah towed me to the Lexus and then stopped, dropped my hand, and dug into the front pocket of his cargo pants. There was a soft jingle as he pulled out a key ring.

  “It’s yours,” he said.

  “Huh?”

  He pointed, his eyes focusing on something farther along the block. I twisted to see where he was looking.

  My mouth fell open, and I blinked several times. Taking a few steps closer to be sure I wasn’t imagining things, I squinted at the car parked on the corner.

  It was my Land Rover.

  I whirled around. “This is . . . how did you . . .?” I stuttered, not even sure where to begin.

  He was biting down on his bottom lip, but couldn’t stop the broad smile that spread over his face.

  “That guy!” I exclaimed, suddenly remembering one of the men who’d helped out that day. He’d looked familiar, but I hadn’t been able to place him. “The guy who bought my car was one of your friends.”

  Judah nodded. “Please tell me you’re surprised.”

  I turned back to look at the Rover, and anything I might have said snagged on the lump in my throat. I pressed my lips together for a moment to collect myself. Then I faced him.

  “I can’t take this, though,” I said. “Not for free.”

  “You are going to take it. You need it for work. Your job’s dangerous and important to your family, and I want you to be properly equipped for it,” he said. “You can pay me back over time.”

  “I can’t believe you did this,” I said softly, my voice quaking.

  I tried to hold back the tears, but the full force of the pure generosity that had swept in to save my family in the past twenty-four hours hit me hard. My hands drifted up, and my fingers pressed against my trembling lips.

  Just as a tear slipped from each of my eyes, Judah came forward and pulled me into his arms. His cheek rested on the top of my head, and he held me for several breaths. The headiness of feeling his arms around me, his body in contact with mine, began to cut through my emotions. I pulled back a little, and he released me. His fingers slid down my arm and curled around my hand, squeezing warmly. The trail of his touch set off a little shiver zipping deliciously along my skin.

  He turned my hand palm up and dropped the keys onto it. I stared at them, hardly believing I was actually holding them.

  “This car means more to me than it should, and I never thought I’d see it again,” I said, shaking my head. I looked up at him. “Thank you for rescuing it. And I will pay you.”

  “I know you will. I’m not worried about that,” he said.

  I was starting to feel self-conscious about getting so emotional. I turned toward the Rover.

  “I guess I should drive it home,” I said, grinning.

  “It’s been a long day,” Judah said. “You should get some sleep.”

  “Are you staying or going back to Portland?” I asked.

  “I’m going to fly out tomorrow afternoon.”

  A little stone of disappointment sank down through my middle.

  “But starting now, that part of my life is going to be flexible, and I’m ready to go on the hunt whenever you are,” he said.

  He came in for another hug, this time holding me harder but more briefly.

  “You find a doorway in Portland we can use,” he said, walking backward toward the Lexus. “We’ll talk soon, Rainbow.”

  “Okay. Thank you again, Judah. For everything.”

  He pointed at the Rover. “Enjoy your baby.”

  I grinned again and squeezed the keys.

  Sliding into the front seat of the Land Rover felt like home. Judah pulled away in the Lexus, but I just sat there in the dark for a minute or two, hanging onto the steering wheel with a dumb smile on my face.

  I pressed the ignition and the familiar sound of the engine filled my ears. Taking the long way around the block, I drove the Rover home and parked it in the driveway. Giving it one last long look, I locked it and went inside.

  Mom and Felicity were still up, sitting on the sofa drinking cups of herbal tea.

  “What did Judah want?” Mom asked.

  I told them about how he’d bought the Rover and then presented it to me.

  Fel shook her head slowly, a close-lipped smile stretching her mouth wide and a twinkle lighting up her blue eyes.

  “Wow. That was quite a heartfelt gesture,” she said.

  My cheeks heated, and I shoved my fists into the pockets of my jacket. I couldn’t argue with her.

  “I’m going to shower and turn in,” I said. “The two of you should get some sleep, too.”

  It felt strange to go down the hallway on the first floor to a room that I didn’t have to share with anyone. It was the smallest bedroom in the house by far, and probably meant to be used as a hobby room or office, but I didn’t care. It was all mine.

  I found a clean towel in a box in the hall. Standing under the hot spray of the shower a few minutes later felt like heaven.

  Back in my room and dressed in cutoff sweats and a tank top, I sat cross-legged on my bed, holding O’Malley’s card in one hand and my phone in the other.

  I sat there for a long moment, seeming to balance my past against my possible futures.

  My pulse quickened as I dialed the number and then put my phone to my ear.

  “Code?” a female voice answered.

  “Firefly,” I said.

  “State your message. Do not use any names, including your own.”

  I gripped my phone tighter. “I’m ready to hunt. Please contact me if you can aid me in any way.”

  “Is that it?” the operator asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Your message will be delivered.”

  There was an almost inaudible click, and the line went quiet. I ended the call.

  Chapter 27

  I WOKE WITH a start the next morning, and for a confusing moment, I sat in bed looking around at the unfamiliar room. Remembering we were in a new house, I collapsed back onto the pillow. The previous day came flooding back. The move. The return of my Land Rover. Judah holding me.

  And the message I’d left for O’Malley.

  I rolled over and reached for my phone, yanking it off the charger. I had no idea how he would get in touch with me, but there was no waiting message from an unknown sender.

  There was, however, a voice mail from Volkov Retrieval Services.

  I shoved the covers back and swung my feet to the carpet, my heart lurching as I played the message.

  “Tara,” came Katerina’s rich voice. “As much as I want to be the hard ass I’m known to be and have you serve out your full probation, an urgent job just came in from one of our long-standing clients, and you’re the only retriever I have available who’s suited for it. If you can do it tonight, you’ll get the usual triple rate for same-day off-schedule rush jobs. Call the office at your earliest convenience.”

  I jumped to my feet, let out celebratory holler and did a little victory dance. The triple pay for a single job would go a long way toward making up the deficit of two weeks of probation.

  There was a
knock on my bedroom door.

  “Come in,” I called, already rummaging for clean clothes in the bags and suitcases I hadn’t yet unpacked.

  Mom opened the door and poked her head in. “I thought I heard you. Everything okay?”

  “Yep!” I crowed. I told her about the job.

  She smiled broadly. “Wonderful news. Felicity just got a gift from the goddess, too. An international organization for allergy research wants to use some of her remedies in a medial trial they’re funding. The trial is for adults rather than children. But if Fel’s remedies work in the trial as well as we already know they do, the organization will spread the word.”

  I paused in my scramble. What was happening? Were things really looking up for the Knightleys? I skipped past the thought, afraid of jinxing us.

  “Wow. That’s amazing,” I said. “I’m sure her remedies will do spectacular in the trial.”

  Mom smiled again, her eyes lingering on mine for a long moment before she closed the door and left me alone to get dressed. I knew what that look meant. It was the start of a quiet hope that things were improving for us. We all knew better than to name it aloud.

  I pulled on clothes and retrieved my black Nikes from where I’d tossed them on the floor the night before. My room was a mess, but I wanted to get the common areas in order first. My things could wait.

  I dialed Volkov Retrieval. J.R. answered.

  “Hey, girl,” he said, whispering. “Heard Katerina is taking pity on you.”

  “Yep,” I said. “Lucky me, huh?”

  “Make the most of it. I’ll put you through. Hang on a sec.”

  J.R. put me on hold, and half a minute later Katerina picked up.

  “Tara,” she said, her tone brisk. “You’re available tonight?”

  “Absolutely.” I tried not to sound too jubilant.

  “And don’t think this is me going soft.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

  “Good. This is an important client, one of my oldest ones. So—”

  “Don’t screw up,” I finished her sentence for her. “I will give it my best, like I always do. Coming through for you is my highest priority.”