A groan ran down the mental lines. Don’t tell me we’ve another vampire.
That I can’t say for sure as they’re not exactly traditional bite marks.
At least the new witch arrives today. He can deal with the damn problem.
Hopefully.
Hopefully? I’m not liking the sound of that.
It’s that whole thing about counting chickens. I just don’t want to jinx things.
I finished the sweep of the room and headed for the door. There was nothing untoward here—nothing other than the heat, anyway. Which should have been a relief but instead only ramped up the trepidation.
You can hardly jinx something that’s already a signed and sealed deal, Belle said.
But the witch isn’t yet here. Until he is, I’ll continue worrying.
And about more than his arrival. I had little doubt he’d get here; it was more the possibility it’d be someone we knew that worried me. There were a lot of witch families in Canberra, and the chances of that happening were remote. Extremely remote. And yet, I couldn’t escape the notion that that’s exactly what we were about to face.
Belle’s concern ran down the line. Is this another of your premonitions? Do I need to start packing?
I’m not running anymore, Belle. I hesitated. I’m not entirely sure it’d even be possible.
Her concern increased. Because of the wild magic?
For whatever reason, I’ve developed an affinity with the power of this place—and it’s an affinity that’s growing. I don’t think it’ll let me leave.
But you’ve been beyond the boundaries of the reservation more than a few times with both Aiden and me.
Yes, but none of them were permanent. The wild magic—or at least the portion controlled by Katie—would have been aware of that. I hesitated again. Of course, it’s possible these fears are nothing more than my natural instinct to expect the worse.
She snorted, the sound reverberating loudly through my brain. Given the wild magic has somehow mixed itself with your DNA, I doubt it. Besides, your instincts haven’t led you astray very often of late.
No, they hadn’t—and that in itself was somewhat scary. My instincts had been hit and miss my entire life—right up until the point we’d entered this reservation, in fact. I had no idea if the change was due to the wild magic or wh
ether something stranger was happening.
I walked down the hall, discovering two more bedrooms, a bathroom, and a laundry but no real source for the growing certainty something other than a vampire had been in this house.
I’ll keep all bits crossed that it’s wrong this time—at least when it comes to the new witch, she said. Especially if it turns out this place is the end of the line for us.
Would you be upset about that if it was?
Warmth and a mental hug briefly filled the link. Hell no. I love the café, I love this area, and I’m more than ready to settle down.
And finally have a real life somewhere. She didn’t add that bit, but we’d been friends for so long now that she didn’t need to. Guilt slithered through me; it’d been Belle who’d paid the greater price when we’d run from Canberra. Her entire family was very close, but the situation I’d run from had been so extreme that even her mother—one of the few people we’d actually confided in—had said it would be better if we stayed out of contact.
You didn’t force me to go with you, Belle chided softly. I might be your familiar, but I still had the choice. I did it because I wanted to.
I took a deep, somewhat shuddery breath and released it slowly. One of these days, I’ll make it up to you. I swear.
Her amusement swam around me. Can you really imagine me in Canberra? How long do you think it would have been before I said or did something inappropriate and ended up in the adjustment center for magical delinquents? Or worse, fall to the dark side and become just another witch on the Heretic Investigations Center’s hit list?
I snorted softly. Yeah, your mom would really have let that happen.
Maybe not, but you get the point. She yawned, a sound that echoed down the line. Do you need anything else? Because otherwise, I’m off back to bed.
Go for it. I’ll fill you in on events later this morning.