“That’s right,” Silas replies stiffly, indicating the rest of the guys. “Believe it or not, we’re the other shifters who the humans experimented on.”
“Is that so?” Edith asks, her eyes going wide as she sweeps her gaze from one face to the next. The corner of her mouth twitches, and her eyes linger on each of the guys a little longer than I’m comfortable with .
Landon shifts uncomfortably from foot to foot, coming to stand beside me and slides an arm around my waist. “Boots here is the common denominator,” he announces, clearly trying to inject some levity.
“Boots?” asks Edith, tilting her head to one side.
“It’s sort of our nickname for Millie,” Shade explains, nodding in my direction.
“Their nickname, not ours,” Hazel adds dryly.
“Well, it’s good to meet you all,” says Edith, beaming around at the assembled shifters. “It looks like we have more in common than I thought.”
“You could say so,” Hunter replies, and the witch shifter turns to look at him once more, her expression unreadable.
“Well,” says Mollie, clapping her hands together, either unaware of the tension or simply not caring. “There’s no need to stand on ceremony, folks. My place is your place. Make yourselves at home.” She points first towards the hallway on the left, and then the one on the right. “My bedroom is the last door on the left. There are two other empty rooms, although I’ve been told the couch is quite comfortable, too. Edith has taken one of the spare rooms, but…”
“I would be happy to share with someone,” the witch shifter hastens to assure us, giving me another one of those coy half-smiles. “After all, we might as well be family.”
“Ah, right,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck before turning to the others. “Guys? Thoughts?”
Landon shrugs his shoulders. “You’re the one calling the shots here, Boots.”
I snort, rolling my eyes, and make my way to the opposite hallway, pausing to peer into each of the unoccupied bedrooms. In spite of its size, the flat is sparsely furnished, with few accessories and even fewer decorations. As if reading my mind, Mollie says, “I know the trappings aren’t much, but I’m afraid we can’t get too comfortable here. There’s no telling when we might need to leave in a hurry.”
“So you’ve spent all this time sheltering shifters?” Silas asks as he comes to look around with me.
“More or less, yeah,” Mollie replies. “Most humans would call it insanity, but I would call it doing the right thing. Anyone who says things between us and the shifters are fine clearly hasn’t been paying attention.” Turning to address the others, she announces, “I’m going to go out and get some supplies -- we’ve got a full house now. You guys make yourselves comfortable, but don’t let your guards down. As far as I know, the Academy presence in London is pretty high.”
“What about wards?” asks Hunter, looking from Mollie to me. “I don’t want to pressure you, Boots, but it might be worth fortifying this place.”
“I…” I furrow my brow, biting my lip. The basic protection enchantments I can remember from my time at the Academy might hold against humans, but shifters are another story, and I barely passed that practical. “I mean, I could try… I’m still pretty beat from the teleportation, but maybe if I eat something first…”
“No need,” Edith announces. “Not to gloat, but I’m pretty skilled at warding.”
“Plot twist,” jokes Landon, crossing his arms.
“Have at it, Edith,” Mollie says, already pulling on her coat. “Don’t exhaust yourself. I’ll be back in a bit, everyone. Don’t get up to too much trouble while I’m gone.” She tips me a wink, the friendliness on her face bringing me momentarily back to a simpler time of my life, and I can’t help but rush back over to her, embracing her tightly.
“Thank you, Mollie,” I tell her, meaning it. “Seriously. We would’ve been fucked if you hadn’t found us.”
“Oh, hardly,” she laughs, “although I appreciate the compliment.” With that, she grabs her handbag and walks out the front door, leaving the rest of us to take in the new dynamic.
“Well,” says Ruby, putting her hands on her hips, “I guess we should probably --”
“Wards first,” announces Edith, already moving towards the door.
“Wait,” I protest. “What about when Mollie gets back?”
“Relax,” the witch shifter tells me. “She understands our magic. If it makes you feel better, though, I’ll make it semi-permeable.”
“I… didn’t know you could do that,” I mutter, feeling sheepish. Edith doesn’t respond. Instead closes her eyes, and when she transforms, it’s controlled and precise -- nothing like the struggle I always have when I change forms. Green eyes now onyx black, skin ruby red, she extends her arms, and within seconds the room is pulsing with magical energy.
I exchange a look with Shade, who looks incredulous, and Hunter, who looks dumbfounded, as a bright blue glyph manifests against the door, glowing more and more intensely until its power is nearly blinding. Almost as soon as it appears, it fades away, leaving behind an afterglow that I’ve come to identify as a sign of enchantment.
“Damn,” Hazel says, crossing her arms. “That’s impressive. Can you do that, Millie?”
“Not a chance,” I admit, swallowing hard. I can’t help but feel a twinge of envy at the ease with which she cast the spell -- how long did that take her to learn? I’ve been practising for almost two semesters and I still have trouble just getting into my form. Sour grapes, I tell myself. She’s on your side.
For some reason, that doesn’t make me feel much better.
With the flat secure, the rest of us are left to spread out and explore the place. I’m reminded of our time at the American Academy, but don’t find myself missing it all that much; at least there are no asshole RAs getting in our way this time.
“Ruby, Xander and I will take the room next to Edith’s, if that’s all right,” Hazel says, turning to the twins for confirmation.
“Of course,” I assure her listlessly. “Go for it.”
“I volunteer for the couch,” Landon announces, putting a sombre hand to his chest with a tone of mock-seriousness that gets a laugh out of me. “It’s a rough job, but someone has to do it.”
Shade elbows him. “Good luck getting away with anything squatting in the living room.”
“Unlike you, Ivis, we’re not all delinquents,” Landon fires back.
“Okay, okay,” I say, laughing. “Shade? Silas? Hunter?”
“The far room is fine with me,” Silas says. He turns to the wolf shifter, who shrugs.
“Fine by me,” Shade agrees. “Boots? Wanna join?” He raises an inquisitive eyebrow, making my face heat up.
“I mean…” I glance over at Hunter, the odd one out. “Hunter? What do you think?”
“Hunter can stay in my room,” Edith offers, coming to stand next to the vampire shifter. “There’s plenty of space. We can set up a sleeping bag on the floor, maybe.”