Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
A cold, wet nose pressed against Malcolm’s arm just before dawn, rousing him from sleep.
Hades rested his head on the edge of the bed, his puppy dog eyes were soft and his ears alert as he waited for Malcolm to drag himself out of bed.
With a groan and a stretch, he got up. Calli had healed his broken arm, but the rest of his body still ached after his unexpected and disastrous arrival in her garden.
He couldn’t believe he’d set fire to her garden…
and her rug. His magic was being a real pain in the ass right now.
Even though he didn’t really use his magic, he still had a few things he knew he could comfortably do, like dry his clothes after the rain or snap his fingers and light a nearby candle. But the cool stuff? The stuff his father could do with ease? Yeah… not so much.
But Calli’s magic? God, her magic wasn’t just powerful, it was beautiful.
He wondered if she was aware of just how powerful she was.
Her magic rivaled his father’s in sheer power, even if it was a slightly different kind.
She was connected to everything around her, he could sense that much.
Moreover, she made it seem so effortless.
He wasn’t jealous, not exactly, but he wished he could have that connection with his own magic, if only to keep him from hurting anyone by accident, if nothing else. But he’d given up a long time ago on learning how to control his magic.
He stepped out into the hallway. The house was quiet, surprisingly peaceful given all that had happened the previous evening. Not even the floorboards creaked as he padded down the staircase and into the kitchen.
Given the silence, he assumed Calli was asleep. He didn’t blame her after the chaos he’d brought to her door, including the kiss that started a rug fire. He glanced at the burned rug as he passed the living room before stepping into the kitchen, searching for food to satisfy his grumbling belly.
He stole two blueberry muffins from a plate in the kitchen and ate them.
Then he located the laundry room, put the wet clothes in the dryer, and folded everything that was dry until he found his shirt and pants.
He carefully set her clothing in a neat stack, including her panties, which he put at the bottom in the hopes she wouldn’t be embarrassed that he’d seen them.
Then he and Hades headed into the garden to sort out his bike. Hopefully it would still run.
Under the harsh light of morning, he could see just how much destruction he’d caused last night. Not a single pumpkin had survived, and the vines were now scorched, black ropes with crisp leaves. His magic had really destroyed Calli’s pumpkin crop.
“No wonder she broke my arm,” he muttered. He lifted up his hands, studying his palms with a frown. “And when I want to start a real fire in a fireplace? Where are you, huh? Not around, that’s where.” His hands tingled as if his magic was insulted at his words.
Hades stared balefully up at Malcolm and let out a low grumbling sort of growl.
“I know, I know,” he told the dog. “If I didn’t have magic, you wouldn’t be here, and trust me, bud, I need you here with me.
” He ruffled his hand in the dog’s fur and made his ears wriggle.
“I just wish I didn’t keep messing up everything.
” He looked once more at the burned up garden plants, his stomach twisting into knots.
His motorcycle was lying on its side, covered with smashed pumpkins.
It took some effort to get the bike upright and double-check that the sidecar was properly secured.
Then he used the garden hose to wash the pumpkin off.
When he tested the engine, it turned over with no issues.
He turned it off and pushed the bike through a gate to the long driveway, parking it next to a small Honda Civic that must belong to Calli.
With the sun now climbing in the sky, Malcolm made his way back inside the silent house and wondered what to do next. Hades’s growling stomach made their first stop the kitchen, where he tossed his familiar a pumpkin muffin.
With still no sign that Calli had woken up, he found a notepad and left her a note, telling her he and Hades were going into town to find Jasper if he was around, but he’d be back.
Malcolm touched his lips and chuckled. He could still taste Calli.
That kiss last night had been incredible, but far too short…
because he’d turned the moment into a pyrotechnic event.
If he had been able to control his damn magic, they might have had a chance to see where that kiss would have led.
That alone was enough reason to stay and take at least one magic lesson from Calli.
After the kiss they’d shared, the last thing he wanted to do was leave.
He’d wanted to wait for her to wake up, to see if that kiss had left her as electrified as it had him, but the whole situation was awkward as hell.
It was probably best if he got out of her hair for a few hours, until she was properly awake anyway.
He wasn’t sure he wanted to see what her hexing was like before she’d had her morning coffee.
What he needed to do was find Jasper and tell him what happened.
Even though Jasper was a non-magic, he was always rational, always calm and collected when Malcolm tended to spiral into disaster mode in any given situation.
His best friend would offer him sound, logical advice, and he could really use that right now.
A small part of him knew he could go back to New York immediately, but the very idea of leaving Moonstone Falls made his stomach hurt and his chest tight. He wasn’t going to leave.
Besides, he owed Calli at least one magical lesson, even if he made a total fool of himself. He just prayed he didn’t set fire to anything else in her house.
And who knew? Maybe she actually could teach him a bit of self-control, enough so he wouldn’t open up anymore witch wormholes or set fire to everything when he was kissing a beautiful woman.
He was worried. That had never happened to him before.
Not with any of the women he’d dated in the past. Was his control getting worse somehow?
Then again, he’d never kissed a witch, so maybe it was connected to that.
Regardless, he didn’t want that to happen again.
He wanted another kind of fire to start, one in his and Calli’s bodies, not on a rug.
Hades pawed at Malcolm’s leg and whined.
“Don’t worry, we’ll stay for a few days.”
The giant schnauzer harrumphed and licked his lips.
“Why do I have a feeling you only want to stay because treats are involved?” Malcolm ruffled Hades’s ears. “Come on, let’s go.”
Once Hades had settled into the sidecar, Malcolm put his helmet on and mounted his bike.
He glanced both ways down the street, wondering which way the town was and cursing himself for not having asked Calli last night.
As he turned the engine on, the magic made itself known and tugged at him.
He’d always been able to sense the magic and knew just which way to go.
He was really doing this—choosing to go into a town full of magic. At least he was choosing to do it, his father wasn’t forcing it on him. That was something, wasn’t it?
A patch of woods separated Calli’s house and the town. He marveled at the way the trees arched over the road, shadowing it with a fiery gold and red canopy of leaves.
He rounded a bend in the road and saw Moonstone Falls. A painted wooden sign depicting a moon above a waterfall welcomed him as he drove past. The asphalt road turned into cobblestones as he reached Main Street.
Colorful little shops lined each side. A tall Victorian house much like Calli’s had a sign out front that read Moonstone Inn.
He saw a fortuneteller’s shop, a candy shop, a coffee shop, a bookstore called Pages & Potions, which he guessed was the store Calli had mentioned, and a town hall next to old-school apothecary with a floating sign that said, “we carry human medicine too.” Next to the apothecary was the Black Wolf Pub, boasting a sign of a half-transformed wolf that looked like something out of an old black and white horror movie.
There was even a broom store selling nicely built broom models for the modern witch and warlocks.
His lips twitched as he noticed one of the broom models levitating in the window had fancy silver foot rests and a leather grip for the hands.
Malcolm had never been in a town like this before, where humans were the minority. He found a parking space in front of the coffee shop, Mystic Mornings, then set his helmet on the bike seat and released Hades from his travel harness.
“You might have to wait outside,” he said. When they approached the store, he glimpsed a sign that read, “Familiars Welcome.” He blinked. He wasn’t used to being able to take Hades inside a lot of places in New York or Boston. This felt strange… in a good way.
Malcolm shrugged. “I guess it’s okay.” He held the door open for his familiar and was instantly enveloped by the enticing scent of coffee. A bell chimed as he let the door close behind them.
Spells filled the air, floating above the heads of the shop patrons like glittering webs.
Curious. He wasn’t used to seeing so many in one place except at his parents’ home, but reading them wasn’t difficult.
A spell filled the air with autumnal spices, and another spell determined the next customer’s flavor desires.
Others still were simple spells like anti-fire charms. Even the door chime had been a spell.
But these were all coming from the same person.
Malcolm was actually impressed. A very talented witch must own this place.