Chapter 14
Chapter
Fourteen
“It’s nice. I promise.”
I watch as Jaak paces the bedroom. He’s been doing that for a solid five minutes looking for anything that might harm us but there’s nothing.
For as abandoned as the house was there wasn’t that much to do to make it comfortable, at least I didn’t think so.
There were sheets over everything and while the dust on the sheets was an inch thick the furniture beneath it was clean as a whistle.
Sure, the bedding was a little musty but that didn’t seem so big a deal in the grand scheme of things.
After a little light dusting and cobweb clearing in the bedroom, it was nice.
Cozy even. There’s a fire roaring in the fireplace at the far end of the room because yes, this place is so big that the bedroom is at least five times as big as the one I grew up in and comes with its own fireplace.
There’s an ensuite bathroom too and a closet that’s bigger than my current bedroom.
This place is massive. More castle feeling than the storybook cottage vibe I initially got outside.
There’s a grand staircase and a chandelier in the foyer.
Hallways went off in three different directions from the foyer and as tired as I was, I wanted to explore.
Badly. Every closed room we passed made me more and more curious about what we might find.
We opened a few until we found this bedroom.
The rooms we saw were a library, an office, another bedroom that Jaak turned his nose up at because it had a single wide bed, and lastly a massive room that was completely empty.
I might have overlooked the empty room if it wasn’t for the windows.
This was the room the wall of windows looked into.
The room was so big that it looked like it stretched the entire width of the house.
I wondered how far back it went, and made a mental note to come explore here first thing in the morning.
Jaak looks around the room with a frown. The demon looks stressed. Poor guy. “It’s passable,” he says.
“It’s cozy,” I counter with a smile and point to the fire. “Everyone knows a room with a fireplace is cozy. It’s pretty much a law.”
The corner of his mouth lifts into a smile at my words. “Is that so, my heart?”
My heart.
I suck in a sharp breath. I wasn’t expecting that from him. Witchling, maybe but my heart? Definitely not. As unexpected as it is, I decide I like the nickname.
“It is. And you’ve been pacing this room checking for booby traps for a while now, I don’t think anything is going to pop out at you. Didn’t you say you saw this in the real estate agent’s head? You’d know if it was compromised.”
He takes in a deep breath and then nods, big shoulders rising and falling as he does. The fireplace has zero to do with the way I feel warm watching the firelight and shadows move over Jaak’s body. He’s still wearing just my jacket and that means there’s a whole lot of him on display.
He stretches his arms over his head, the muscles in his arm and chest flex and my mouth goes dry, so dry that I start coughing when he looks my way.
“Meadow? Are you well?” Jaak is across the room in a second, hands on my back and side like he’s searching for a wound.
As nervous and overwhelmed as I am at how attractive Jaak is, I am going to be sad when he finds actual clothes.
I don’t have the heart to tell him that there's nothing wrong with me other than the fact that I choked on my own spit at the sight of him.
Get a grip, Meadow.
“I’m fine, I promise,” I tell him and put my hands on his to stop him from touching me.
“You must always tell me if something is wrong. We are partners now. It’s my duty to care for you.
Promise me you will.” His hands are on my hips now, the warm weight of them there is nice.
So nice that I almost start choking again when he moves in close, lips brushing my cheek lightly.
The kiss is so light and sweet that my chest aches from it.
I smile and nod when he strokes the side of my chin. “I promise.”
Jaak gives my sides a gentle squeeze. “Thank you, witchling. Now, I am going to walk the rest of the property. I intend to lay wards as I go.”
“But your power…it’s back?” I ask. I don’t like the thought of Jaak depleting himself to lay wards. “I can help you if you need a boost. I think I can pull some magic in like I did before,” I offer. I hold up my hands to try but stop when Jaak puts his hands over mine and shakes his head.
“No, witchling. You’ve done enough.”
“But-”
“You think I don’t know those powers are new? How long have you had them? Do you know your limits?”
He’s got me there. I don’t know my limits. I don’t know the first thing about my magic other than it’s silver and seems to regenerate at a snail’s place. Oh and that it can leak out of me which is a whole problem I would have never associated with being a witch. Wait a minute, does Sunday leak?
“How long?” Jaak asks, bringing me back to the here and now and out of my thoughts
“Ah, well, a day,” I answer him.
Jaak sucks in a breath and frowns. “It’s out of the question then. You will remain here while I patrol.”
“Patrol?” Immediately I think of Buffy. Gods, what if Charlie didn’t get to her in time?
I wring my hands and move to follow him when he goes towards the door.
He should look dashing, mildly heroic in the firelight going off to make sure we’re safe for the night but the jacket kilt ensemble he has takes some of the hero out of the moment.
“You’re just going around the house, right?”
“And the yard, probably the woods around us. As a precaution. It’s imperative we have a good buffer around the house secured.”
I nod and squeeze my hands against each other so tight that my knuckles feel like they’re going to split. I don’t like the thought of Jaak going into the woods. I feel sick at not knowing what’s happened with Buffy or Charlie.
What if something happens to Jaak?
“Yeah, that makes sense, but…don’t go far, okay?”
Jaak looks back at me and I swear my knees nearly give out when he smiles at me. “I won’t go far. I will return to you, I swear it. Lock this door and do not open it until I return.”
I nod, give him a tight smile and force myself to stay still even though I want to hug him. “Okay.” If I hug him I might not want to let him go and that’s not very save my friends and defeat the mages of me, so with another reassuring smile from Jaak he leaves the room.
I stand there for a few seconds as the fire pops and crackles in the quiet room. When a log falls in the fireplace, I jump and snap out of my staring contest with the closed door.
“Lock the door. Everything is going to be okay. You’ll see.
There’s no reason to worry,” I tell myself as I lock the door and double check it to make sure that it’s secure.
When I’m satisfied, I cross over to the windows to settle in and wait for Jaak.
I can’t hear him moving around in the house but it’s big enough that I know he can’t be done already.
I’ll have a few minutes of waiting until I see him again.
In the end, I manage a pretty comfy set up, a rocking chair with a cushion and a thick blanket that’s not dusty at all.
I wrap it around myself and lean close to the window to scan the yard. That’s when I see it.
Not Jaak but the Auger’s head.
Its white fur makes it easy to spy from where I’m sitting.
The angle of the house perfectly lined up with where we teleported.
From here I wouldn’t know what I’m looking at.
I might assume it was a stuffed animal or maybe a discarded blanket, something like that but because I know, I can’t unsee it.
There’s a glint and I know I’m looking at those earrings swaying in the wind.
I shake my head and close my eyes but that’s also not the smartest move.
The second I close them, I’m back in the stream of whatever it was Jaak brought us through.
I can feel that touch of the Auger on my back, feel the warm heat of its breath against the backs of my legs, hear its low growl in my ears.
My eyes shoot open and I shake my head. “Get a grip. It’s not real,” I say just like I always do coming out of a nightmare but then I see the Auger’s light bright head and I’m reminded that this isn’t a nightmare.
This is real and so is the Auger. My heart speeds up like it always does when I’m scared, the thud of it so familiar in my chest that it’s almost comforting.
I put a hand over my heart and lean forward, face down towards my feet so I don’t have to look at the dead monster out in the trees.
“It’s dead,” I correct myself quickly. “It’s dead and it can’t touch you. It couldn’t even when it was alive, not with Jaak there. He kept you safe.”
When I close my eyes and take another steadying breath it’s not the Auger, I see, it’s Jaak. I see him crouching at my feet, hands on the ropes, I see him watching me through the ash. I remember the way it felt to be in his arms in the forest, through time, crossing the threshold.
“You’re safe with him. You’re safe, Meadow.”