Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE
DAPHNE
I tapped my foot as I stopped in line at the coffee shop.
The man in front of me talked loudly into his phone, and my eyes darted to the barista.
They were having a conversation with the person in front of us.
I know. I know. My being late is not their emergency, but come on.
I rubbed my fingers together, and that spark of magic overcame the phone.
The voice on the other side faded, and a loud electronic screech filled the surrounding air.
I smiled wickedly as the man muttered to himself.
He pushed the side buttons to restart it, and I smirked wickedly.
I shouldn’t have done it, but I really hope that helped my day improve.
Maybe I was a wicked witch.
Or not. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and I’m running late for work.
A tingle hit the back of my head, and I subtly moved my head to look behind me.
Two men walked in with their hands on their hips.
They were human, just like everyone in this coffee shop.
The man in front of me also shifted, and his hand went to his hip.
My magic pulsed through my body as it tried to warn me.
Something bad was about to happen.
In a flash, the men at the door drew out guns, and before I could pull my magic to the surface, bullets filled the air.
In a panic, I stumbled to the side as I pulled my magic into use, but I stumbled into the man.
My magic didn’t just envelop me, but him, the asshole in front of me.
As the magic swirled around, we both burst into atoms and pieces as I moved us to my apartment.
I guess I was going to be late for work, but now I have more issues. This human was exposed to magic. Popping out would have been easy to dismiss in the middle of a gunfight. No, he’d know that magic existed now, which meant I was in trouble.
I stood up from where we tumbled solidly on my kitchen floor. I pulled my phone out and texted my boss that I had an emergency and wouldn’t be able to work. The man looked up, and I realized that there was a gun on his hip. Maybe I didn’t save him after all. He scrambled upward and looked around.
“Where? What happened?” he said.
“I don’t know. There were some gunmen in the coffee shop.” I tried to turn around as I thought about how I could get out of this pickle. I really had no way out.
“No. How are we here?”
“I think you passed out, and I brought you here?”
“Why here? Why don’t you sound sure about it?”
“Why not? We’re not hurt, and I’d rather be home. They might follow us to the cops.”
“We’re not going to call the cops, right?”
“No. Why should we? Are you in danger?” I asked as I looked into my fridge for coffee creamer. I never got my coffee, and I didn’t know what else to do.
“I’ve…I’m—”
“I saw your gun. So now I think you knew someone was after you.”
He sighed. From the corner of my eye, I saw him sit at the table. “I’ve been working with a cybersecurity company and something happened. I saw something I shouldn’t have seen.”
I paused with the door open as I looked at him in shock. What did he see? Murder? Embezzlement? Trafficking? “Oh, wow.”
He rubbed the back of his neck as he looked down. “I’ve had a feeling they would try to eliminate me.”
“Wow. That sucks. You should go to the police.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“I saw them bribing the police.”
I stilled. That had to be a lie. This was too much for the circumstances. I shut the door, forgetting the creamer. To be honest, I was just standing there by that point. “I know a cop who should be honest.”
“One rotten apple can spoil the whole batch.”
“I have secrets. You have secrets. I trust him.” Cause he was a wolf.
We had to have someone on the force who could keep our secrets and hide our sins.
I even knew a fire witch who was a firefighter, which was something because fire witches were rare.
Paranormals in various offices weren’t abnormal. We all had to eat and pay for food.
“What’s your name?” he asked. “I’m Ryder.”
“Daphne.”
“Like the cartoon?”
I made a retching face. “I really wish that wasn’t my name.”
“Why don’t you become a new person? Like you can be Ne-ne.”
Groaning, I rolled my eyes as I leaned against the fridge. “That’s worse.”
Ryder smiled. “Daphne?”
I tilted my head. “Maybe you’re daft.”
He chuckled as he pulled out his phone.
Crossing my arms, I sneered before moving towards the coffee machine. “By the way, your loud ass conversation in the line was rude as fuck.”