Winds of Change

by Nova Nelson

  “Just got to grab a jacket,” he said, disappearing into the hallway. When he reappeared again, he was pulling a navy blue warm-up jacket over each arm. Down the sleeves ran two light blue stripes a bright as his eyes.

  Gah, this was not what I needed. Was he about to take the field at a soccer game? It was like he knew I had a weakness for those jackets on men. Freaking Donovan.

  “Where’s Eva?” I asked.

  “She’s out hunting with Zola before she meets us.”

  “With who?”

  “Oh, you haven’t heard?” He adjusted his jacket so his wand was easy to grab where it rested in his waistband. “Eva discovered her familiar. A mountain lioness up on Fluke Mountain where she stays.”

  “A mountain lion?”

  He nodded.

  “That’s good and terrifying.”

  Donovan nodded. “Yeah, Zola is still getting used to being around people. Eva’s struggling to keep her from hunting … especially the leprechauns. Ready?”

  “Yep. Let’s get this show on the road.”

  He chuckled. “You’re always so eager to run headfirst into danger.” He opened the door for me, and as I passed, he wagged a finger and added, “One of these days, Nora Ashcroft, I’m gonna figure out what’s wrong with you.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Streetlights guided our way as Donovan, Grim, and I headed toward the Catacombs. Landon had stayed late at work to unlock the door from the inside for us. Apparently, the place kept a strict work schedule and everybody hustled out promptly at five each afternoon. I could hardly blame them. I wouldn’t want to be in the Catacombs a second longer than I had to be.

  And yet here I was, heading that way.

  Without thinking too much about it, I said, “Tanner stopped by right before I left for your place.”

  Donovan probably didn’t want to hear this, but he was nice enough to pretend it didn’t bother him.

  “And? You two back together?”

  A chill arrived in on the wind, and I pulled my hands into the sleeves of my coat before crossing my arms over my chest. “No. I blew him off. It wasn’t a good time.”

  “But he wants to get back together?”

  I shrugged. “Grim seems to think so.”

  Donovan was silent for a moment then he said, “You should. You two are annoyingly good for each other.”

  I cast him a sideways glance. “Is it weird I was hoping you’d say that?”

  He laughed. “You’ve needed my blessing? Fine then. You got it. I’ve got other things to focus on.”

  “Eva.”

  “Yep.”

  “Does she know you refer to her as ‘other things’?”

  “Not a chance, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention it.”

  “Least I can do.”

  We entered the Willow Grove neighborhood and the buildings on either side of us narrowed on the lane, age creeping like a shadow over each one. But at least they provided a shield from the strengthening winds, so I decided to be grateful for that.

  “Do you genuinely believe we can be friends?” I asked. “No secretly wishing the worst on each other, no … other activities?”

  He glanced over at me. “I’m not sure. But I’d be up for giving it a shot.”

  “Maybe after we make sure neither of us dies, we can get started on it.”

  “Deal,” he said, nudging me with a shoulder.

  “Shouldn’t we shake on it?” I said.

  “Not if we want to stick to it. Remember the last time we grasped hands?”

  I cleared my throat quickly. “Yes. Um, right. Good call.”

  I spent the rest of the time catching up Donovan on the details of our plan, and major credit to him, because he nodded along without protest.

  Grim trotted ahead the last few yards to a small shack that was actually the entrance to the Catacombs, at least the entrance I knew about, though I assumed there were multiple ones. Eastwind might not have unions, but anyone with a brain could see that having only one entrance and exit, and a tiny one at that, for a place as big as the Catacombs was a huge fire hazard.

  “Grim, no! Bad boy!” I hustled after him, clapping my hands when I saw his back leg hike. “Not on the entrance. For fang’s sake …”

  “Oh, come on. It would be so good. Everyone would know who owned it.”

  “That’s not how it works.” I paused, shutting my eyes and pinching the bridge of my nose. “Why don’t you go own a bush? And make sure we’re not downwind of it when you do.”

  “Killjoy.” But he did as I’d suggested anyway, finding some greenery twenty feet off.

  “Just so we’re clear,” Donovan said, pausing at the dark entrance to the shack, “my job is to do nothing until you give the word. Just hide in the shadows.”

  “Yep.”

  He inhaled deeply, scanning our surroundings. “Okay, I can do that.”

  The torch that usually burned from a sconce on the wall above the stairway leading down into the Catacombs had been extinguished, probably at the end of the work day. That made the small space a dark pit, which I was more than happy to let Donovan enter ahead of me.

  The door to the catacombs that Landon would need to unlock for us was at the bottom of the stairs. Supposedly he would be waiting to hear our knock. I didn’t like to think about waiting at the bottom of the long, dark tunnel for more than a few minutes.

  Donovan drew his wand and lit the end so we didn’t have to travel down the spiraling stairs in pitch blackness.

  I stared down into the abyss. “Should we wait for Eva?”

  “She might already be down there. If she’s not, I’ll come back up and wait for her.”

  Grim’s hulking silhouette appeared in the doorway, just as Donovan took the first step down onto the worn stone stairs.

  Donovan paused. “This is a little bit of deja vu. You, me, and Grim entering a dark tunnel …”

  “Don’t get any big ideas,” I said, nudging him with a closed fist to keep going.

  “Big ideas? You think I want to repeat getting attacked by hellhounds? Or maybe I want the water sucked out of me by a drought demon?”

  I followed closely behind him so I could see where to place each step.

  “Oh wait,” he continued. “You mean the part where we kissed and you almost couldn’t stop yourself. Or are you talking about the part where you most definitely kissed me in the bridge between the realms?”

  “Sweet baby jackalope, Donovan. Shut up. Didn’t we just agree to be friends?”

  “Is this not what friends do? Reminisce about the good times?”

  “He’s got you there,” said Grim.

  “Nobody asked you.”

  “Just like nobody asked me before the two of you rolled around on that cliff right before my very eyes.”

  “We weren’t rolling!”

  “You were rolling.”

  “Fine,” I said to Donovan. “You’re right. But could you stop talking about it?”

  He glanced back at me, smirking. One of his hands felt the inside wall to keep his balance while the other held his wand out for light. “Why?” He arched an eyebrow at me. “Secret’s out already about that. We might as well own our truths and— Oof!”

  I chuckled. “Watch out for that door. It’ll jump out at you.”

  There was a slight tick in his jaw after he stumbled back and regained his footing just in time.

  I knocked on the door and waited.

  When I heard footsteps approaching they didn’t sound like they were coming from behind the door. Instead, they were coming from above us.

  “Donovan,” I whispered. He shot me a sharp glance, probably expecting me to continue laughing at him for walking into a door, but instead, I pointed upward. We listened for a moment and agreed with a nod that there was definitely someone coming down after us. Eva? Or had Grace’s circle come early?

  He tapped quietly four times on the thick wooden door. I was worried no one would hear it, but a mome
nt later, it opened and light from the entry hall of the Parchment Catacombs flooded out.

  As soon as I saw Landon open his mouth, I put a finger to my lips, and the three of us hurried by.

  As we entered and my eyes adjusted to the dim light that felt overwhelming by comparison, I saw that Eva was already there, her mountain lion familiar by her side.

  Zola lowered to the ground in a stalking position as she spotted Grim, and his hackles stood straight up.

  I could deal with that in a minute, though. “Shut the door quick,” I whispered at Landon. “Quietly.”

  He followed orders and then I said, “I think they got here early. We just heard footsteps at the top of the stairs when we reached the bottom.”

  Landon’s gaped. “What? They shouldn’t be here for another half hour!”

  “I don’t know what to tell you,” I replied. “They’re here.”

  Donovan crossed quickly to Eva, and I could have sworn I heard him whisper, “Hey, babe,” before leading her past the reception desk toward the tunnels.

  I met Landon’s eyes and the two of us headed after them, but I paused when I realized we were missing a member of our party. “Grim,” I hissed. “Let’s go.”

  “You really can’t hear worth a bone, can you?”

  “Yes, I can. And I hear the footsteps, so we—”

  “Two footsteps. Not six.”

  “What?” I said aloud.

  “What is it?” Landon asked. “Does he sense something?”

  “Bet your hide I sense something. Specifically, my sense of smell. I’d recognize that scent anywhere.”

  “Whose scent, Grim?”

  The door swung open then, and when I saw who was standing there and the expression on his face, I was speechless.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “Did you follow me here?” I demanded.

  Tanner took in the scene slowly. “What the spell is going on? Landon?” He blinked quickly. “But I saw you come down here with Donovan.”

  “Yep,” echoed a voice from behind me. I twisted to see Donovan emerge from the shadows of the tunnel. “Right here. Long time no chat.”

  Tanner wandered the first few steps into the entry hall, looking back and forth from me to Landon to Donovan. Then he shot me a sharp and puzzled look. “Both of them?”

  “What? No! Tanner!”

  He snapped out of jealousy mode instantly, shaking his head slightly and backtracking. “No, that’s not what I meant. I just … what’s going on here? Why are you sneaking into the Catacombs with Donovan and Landon?”

  “And Eva,” said Eva’s voice as she stepped forward.

  Tanner’s mouth fell open for a moment before he recovered. “Anyone else hiding back there?”

  Eva shook her head. “Nope. This is the extent of it.”

  “Seriously, what is going on?” Tanner demanded.

  “It’s complicated,” I said. “I’ll explain everything to you tomorrow if you just turn around and head back home. Now.”

  “Too late. I just heard more footsteps at the top.”

  “Fangs and claws!” I turned to Landon. “They’re early after all. We gotta go.” I ran up to Tanner and gabbed the front of his black shirt. “You’re in this now.”

  “In what now? Nora, what’s going on?”

  I pulled him after me as we took up the rear of the group, heading to cavern sixteen where we would set up. “Grace. She’s alive, but we need to get the people who staged the murder to confess.”

  “Holy smokes … how many are there?”

  “Three, we think.”

  He groaned. “That explains the back-up. But why didn’t you just call Manchester?”

  “Manchester already has his guy for the murder. Besides, this may not be entirely legal. Entrapment laws are a little iffy, and technically we’re all trespassing on government property.”

  “Oh, Nora,” he said. “You’re gonna get me fired before I’ve even started.”

  “That’s why I didn’t invite you, genius.”

  We had to jog to get ahead of Grace’s circle and leave ourselves time to set up. It wouldn’t require much, and Landon had done the majority of the work already while he waited for us to arrive, but there was also the mental component of being caught off-guard. That was probably why they’d shown up early in the first place. They wanted the element of surprise.

  What they didn’t know was that we had that on our side, since Grace wouldn’t be here, at least not in the way they suspected.

  “What’s the plan?” Tanner asked. “Whatever it is, I’m in. Just let me know what to do.”

  We entered into another large cavern and Landon said, “This is it.”

  Eva waved her wand and a circle of candles lit at the center.

  “All you need to do is stay hidden,” I told Tanner. “And if things go south, try not to get yourself killed, okay?”

  “What about you?”

  I conceded with a nod. “Sure, try not to let me get killed, either. I’d appreciate that.”

  He steadied his jaw and nodded, then he joined the rest as they disappeared into the shadows of the dark catacomb tunnels leading off of the cavern.

  I took my seat in the center of the candles and waited.

  The whole setup was silly, of course. I didn’t need these candles to do what I claimed to be doing. That was the benefit of being one of the only Fifth Wind witches in town, though—no one had a clue how anything I could do actually worked.

  And because of that, I could use the candles as a distraction to draw their focus and create effect without them thinking twice about it.

  I waited and shut my eyes, trying to steady myself.

  That’s when I felt the cold air on my left arm.

  I tell you, there was bad timing, and then there was Roland’s timing.

  “What do you want?” I whispered, hoping the others were far enough away that they couldn’t hear. He sat on the cold stone beside me, staring straight at me.

  “I believe I’ve found a way for us to be together, my love.”

  “Now’s not the best time for this.”

  “I disagree. Now might be the perfect time.”

  I snuck a glance at him and if I hadn’t already been sitting, my knees might have gone out from under me. The draw of his rugged and masculine face was overpowering, even in such a bleak setting.

  Or maybe especially in such a bleak setting. He glowed so bright, I had a hard time believing no one else could see him, but of course they couldn’t.

  Well, except Grim.

  “Tell lover boy to scram. He’s gonna distract you, get you killed, and then I’ll have to go live in Zoe Clementine’s sunshine and giggles sanctuary until I can find a way to kill myself.”

  “Elaborate,” I whispered to Roland.

  “You’re in grave danger, my love. I’ve been watching the ones who are on their way to meet you, and I have my doubts your friends are up to the task of handling them.”

  “Remind me never to ask you for reassurance.”

  “Death,” he said quickly, and the sound of it crossed the space between us, brushing against my face like a feather. “If you die while I’m here with you, I believe we can cross into the afterlife together. We could spend eternity on that green hillside or wherever else you’d like to go. We could hide ourselves away, lose ourselves in each other’s bodies, emerging from each other’s embrace only for sustenance.”

  Except we wouldn’t have bodies, I wanted to say. Or would we? We seemed to have bodies in that in-between place I could visit. Maybe …

  “Focus, Nora!” Grim hollered at me. “They’re here. I’m not going to the sanctuary! I will tear every one of you to shreds if it means I don’t end up there.”

  “Get lost, Roland” I whispered.

  “Aye. There’ll be plenty of time to decide. After all, you have the rest of your life to die.”

  “Please let me focus.” I shut my eyes.

  “As you wish, my love.”
r />   The footsteps grew louder and then stopped.

  I opened my eyes. Roland was gone, but ahead of me stood three figures.

  Hunter was at the front with Annabel and Jackie behind him on either side.

  “You?” he said, chuckling confidently. “Where’s Grace?” He marched forward and the women trailed behind him.

  “She’s here,” I said.

  He paused and looked around.

  I held my breath, hoping everyone was properly hidden.

  “You can’t see her,” I said. “Only I can.”

  “Only …” I saw his gaze drop to the candles.

  “I suggest you stay outside the circle. It won’t be good for anyone if you enter while I’m in the middle of a seance.”

  He chuckled bitterly. “A seance? Are you telling me you’re speaking to Grace’s ghost?”

  “Now you’re getting it.”

  He shook his head. “Not possible.”

  “Why not? They found her body, didn’t they?”

  He paused, cocking his head to the side. I could tell he was trying to gauge how much I actually knew. “Indeed, they did.”

  “She’s told me everything she knows, too. Some really interesting stuff going on in the Coven lately.” I smiled, lips pressed together, jaw clenched. I hoped he couldn’t spot my nervousness.

  “Not sure what you’re talking about,” he said airily.

  “Let me ask you this: you received a letter from Grace asking you to meet her here. If you really thought she was dead, why did you come?”

  He didn’t answer immediately, but from only a few feet away from him now, I could see that my question had rattled him.

  There were plenty of legitimate answers to it that might have sprung to mind, had the real answer, that he knew she wasn’t dead, not been blocking their path. If I had gotten a letter from a deceased relative (back before the psychic stuff kicked in, of course), I would have investigated it further, if for no other reason than to figure out who had forged it.

  But sometimes it’s hard to see past our truth to make up a viable lie, and that seemed to be the case for Hunter.