“Why did you cast a reveal spell? I didn’t want her knowing where I live.” The look he sent my way was enough to make me cringe and tuck tail then crawl home.
“I don’t give a crap where you live. I’m trying to understand my role. We don’t have time to argue with you,” I informed him and continued walking. In the distance I caught sight of an iridescent bubble.
“I wasn’t arguing with you, Guardian. But you should leave before you’re hurt. You’re in over your head.”
I stopped walking and turned narrowed eyes on the guy. “I wouldn’t be in over my head if you’d pull that stick out of your ass and offer me some help.”
His jaw dropped open for a second before he snapped it closed. “Why would I do that? If I wanted to be involved in this shit I would be back in Faery. Not here close to the likes of you.”
“What is your problem?” I practically yelled at him. Violet sprang forward and grabbed my arm.
“Let’s continue on. I’ll be by to get my athame later this week, Bas,” she called over her shoulder as she dragged me away.
“That guy is an asshole. Does he like anyone? No, you know what? I don’t care. What’s an athame?” I deeply wanted to know why Sebastian loathed me. Not that I believed he was overly nice or anything. He was just as brooding when talking to others. Although he seemed to save his extreme dislike for me.
“An athame is a ceremonial blade. It’s the main ritual implement or magical tool among witches. We use them in ceremonial magic rituals. Your grandmother should have left you one, but if you can’t find it, Bas is the one you want to buy another from.”
“No offense, but I won’t be buying anything from that man, no matter how sexy he is.”
Violet made a choking sound that ended in a coughing fit. She looked back over her shoulder then picked up her pace. “Bas is a Fae with exceptional hearing.”
The blood drained from my head at the same time my entire body lit up. I refused to see if he was watching me. What I was feeling was nothing more than a hot flash. Or so I told myself. “You could have told me that sooner. Anyway, it doesn’t matter how attractive someone is if they’re an asshole.” I said the last louder hoping he would hear that.
Violet shook her head and pointed ahead of us. “We’ve reached the edge of the town border. That offers some protection for us.”
I lifted a hand and reached for the iridescent barrier in front of us. A zing traveled through my fingers when I touched it. “Is this like a protection spell or something?”
Violet shook her head. “Not really. It’s more of a warning to the town. When a human with no magic or Fae blood passes through it sends out a signal so those of us that stand out can hide before they are seen. It also helps hide the existence of the portal in our town. That’s why we aren’t overrun by Fae in this world.”
I scan the area around us and drop my arm. The cliffs were ahead of us with Cottlehill Wilds behind us. The barrier ended to the left but wasn’t visible to the right. “I had wondered how you manage to remain hidden. It must alert you to any newcomers. I never saw the pixies or gnomes when my kids and I first arrived. Now they’re everywhere.”
Violet headed back toward my house but took a path several feet from the one leading to Sebastian’s property. “You’re right. It tells us when someone that has magic and doesn’t live here crosses the border. Now that you’ve claimed your place here you won’t trigger the spell. Your kids will every time they come to visit.”
We walked in silence as I took in everything that had happened that day. The night was clear, and the sky was filled with stars. Everything looked familiar yet also felt so new and foreign.
Violet’s steps faltered when we came across an area where the foliage had died. All plant life was dried and brown in a three-foot circle. “This doesn’t look good.”
Violet’s blue eyes were pinched as they lifted to mine. “It’s not. I can’t say for sure what it is but be on alert. Something might have crossed the portal after your grandmother died and before you arrived. She gave us potions that should have prevented that but there were a couple hours between when she passed away and was found.”
My heart started pounding against my rib cage and my breath caught in my throat. “What do we do about it? Do we need to make a potion or something?”
Violet shook her head and walked so fast we were practically running back to my house. “No. You taking the role as new Guardian fortified the spell around the land, and blocked the portal. You need to find your family Grimoire, or at the very least the portal so you can physically monitor it. Sebastian was right about one thing. None of Voron’s minions will be able to cross over and take Cottlehill Wilds for their own now that you are here.”
“No pressure,” I retorted as I huffed and puffed. I wanted to get home, take a hot bath and go to bed. All of this bullshit could wait for morning. I had reached my limit. My crackly body needed the soft bed that had just arrived and several uninterrupted hours of sleep.
Chapter 5
We hadn’t made it twenty feet from the dead section of the forest when rabid dogs with glowing red eyes sprang out of the shadows. Violet came to a dead stop and I tripped over my feet and slammed into a tree before I managed to catch myself.
“What the hell is going on?” I was screeching but I couldn’t help it. There were giant black dogs with canines as long as fingers dripping with saliva. Plus, tiny grayish-brown things that were a grotesque cross between chihuahuas and alligators. Only these things had smooth, leather-like skin and long pointed ears.
“Seems like I was right. Dark Fae came through alright.” Violet’s hands were shaking as she watched the creatures circle us.
Keep your shit together. I was known for my calm in a storm. It’s one thing that made me a good nurse, but this was in a whole other spectrum. “And, what do we do about these things? Can we just keep walking?”
One of the dogs snapped its jaws and jumped toward me as soon as the question left my lips. “Apparently not.” I tried to concentrate on the self-defense classes I took back in college.
It was so long ago, but I never forgot the instructor telling us to hit the nose, groin and instep. Sensitive places that would injure the attacker. That applied to people. What about dogs and goblins, or whatever those small things were?
I saw angry red eyes heading for me as a dog lunged for me. I threw my hands up on instinct right as Violet shouted something in a foreign language. She was likely casting a spell. It sounded like what she’d spoken a few hours ago.
I needed to use my magic, too. But how? I knew nothing about being a witch. She mentioned magic being about intent.
When teeth sunk into my forearm, I screamed out in pain and kicked the dog latched onto my arm. The thing yelped and snarled at me but didn’t let go. My fist pummeled the beast’s nose over and over with no effect.
“Get off me,” I demanded and brought every ounce of desire to the front of my mind. I had no idea if I was performing magic and was about to give up when the dog yelped and let me go.
Warm liquid dripped from the wound on my arm, but I didn’t have time to think about that when two more headed my way. I couldn’t rely on whatever magic I had to fight off these creatures, so I snatched a stick from the ground right before one of the goblins launched himself into the air.