Chapter 16 #3
“Thanks for letting me come to today’s meeting, everyone.
I’m Skylar Wright, and I’m opening up a hair salon on Main Street.
As a new business owner and member of this town, I want to get involved in the community and find ways to give back.
I know I haven’t been here long, but Mystic Hollow has really come to mean a lot to me, and Hal’s really impressed me with his enthusiasm and dedication for the Harvest Festival.
I know most of the hard work is done already, but I’m willing to pitch in wherever you need me. ”
Kassiel steeples his hands under his chin and grins. “What a wonderful sentiment, Skylar. I like your proactive approach. We business owners need to work together to stay afloat and keep the consumer needs of Mystic Hollow’s residents met as well as help our community thrive.”
Skylar leans forward in his seat, an eager glint in his eyes. “I’m glad you’re here, Kassiel, because I actually had an idea I wanted to run by you along those lines.”
The demon arches an intrigued eyebrow. “Do go on.”
I arch an eyebrow too because Skylar didn’t tell me any of this before today.
Skylar nods. “I was thinking we could do more to promote each other’s businesses. Especially since we are bound to have customer overlap.”
Kassiel grins, flashing a glint of fangs. “Those who want my couture garments will no doubt be equally concerned about their hair so that it may complement their sartorial splendor.”
“Uh… sure,” Skylar says, forcing an awkward smile.
“My thought was, what if we all had a way to support each other, especially when we have sales or events going on. In the salon, I’m planning to put up a bulletin board where other local businesses can pin flyers and such to advertise their latest news. ”
“That’s a great idea,” Sylvia chimes in with a smile.
I squeeze his hand under the table.
He squeezes back.
Bliss.
Kassiel strokes his chin. “Hmm. A display case would work better with the aesthetic of my shop, but it could be done.”
Skylar beams. “It’s also a great way to help tourists discover everything the town has to offer when they visit.
” He focuses his attention on the whole group.
“On that note, I think we could be doing more to advertise events like the Harvest Festival outside of Mystic Hollow. Bringing more people to town is good for business.”
Baxter frowns. “This year isn’t the best time to do that, especially with our protective magic going a bit haywire.”
“I hear what you’re saying,” Skylar agrees, “but I have some thoughts on how we can keep the magic under control so we can draw in more folks for the festival.”
Everyone stares at him in astonishment, me included. He hasn’t said a word to me about this until now either.
Baxter crosses his arms, eyebrows furrowed. “We’re all ears.”
Skylar tightens his hold on my hand under the table.
“This isn’t a long-term solution. More of a stopgap measure until Astraea’s son decides to show up.
” He takes a deep breath. “Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I did some research at the library, and couldn’t hiring a mage help us out, especially during the festival? ”
Kassiel arches an eyebrow. “Now there’s a bloody brilliant idea. I don’t know why it hasn’t been proposed until now.”
“To be fair, this is a relatively new problem, one none of us saw coming,” I interject.
Baxter scowls. “I don’t much care for mages.”
Sylvia snickers and gives him a knowing look. “That’s just because one broke your heart half a lifetime ago.”
My mouth drops open.
“Ooh! Baxter had a thing with a mage in his youth?” Max’s eyes sparkle with interest. “Tell us more!”
Baxter shoots him a warning gaze that could rival a laser beam, but it bounces off Max, who just laughs.
He’s quite remarkable in the way that no one and nothing intimidates him.
“Actually, I have to agree with Skylar and Kassiel,” Emrys chimes in. “Hiring a mage could be a valuable protective measure for the short term. And I do believe it would make everyone feel safer about staying in town and attending the festival too.”
I pull my phone out of my apron pocket and send a quick text to Astraea. Her input on this amazing new suggestion Skylar has offered up is important.
“Aren’t there any mages in Mystic Hollow?” Jayden asks.
Sylvia shakes her head, long beard swaying. “Not in a long time.”
“Small-town life doesn’t suit most mages.” I don’t miss a note of bitterness in my friend’s voice, which makes me concerned about how badly Baxter was hurt in his past. “They usually want to be where the excitement and action are happening.”
Kassiel nods in agreement. “Adrenaline junkies of the magically gifted variety, to be sure.”
There’s a loud crack of thunder and a bright flash of light as Astraea arrives, dragon-style, on a bolt of lightning. This time, I manage to keep my heart from racing too much. By golly, I do believe I’m getting used to her favorite form of arrival.
“Was that really necessary, darling?” Kassiel asks, blinking rapidly, probably to get rid of the spots in his eyes if that lightning impacted him the way it did me.
Astraea narrows her eyes at him. “Yes. This is something that can’t wait.” She turns to Skylar and grins. “Hal texted me about your proposal. Have I told you that you’re fucking brilliant?”
Skylar’s cheeks pinken. “Um, thanks? I wasn’t sure if you’d considered the mage option before, but I figured I should bring it up just in case.”
Astraea strides forward and pulls him to his feet, then yanks him into a fierce mama bear hug. “I could kiss you, dear. Thank you.” She lets him go and he looks dazed but pleased. “The stress of things lately has really thrown me off my game. I can’t believe I never considered the damn mage angle.”
“We’re better off finding your son than some mage,” Baxter grumbles.
I do a double take and frown. This isn’t like him.
“I don’t know what happened in the past, but I’m here for you if you ever need to talk,” I say, giving him a supportive smile.
Baxter looks away and murmurs, “Thanks, Hal.”
Astraea redirects the conversation. “My son’s still MIA, so I doubt that’ll happen anytime soon. In the meantime, Skylar’s idea is a fantastic temporary measure to keep the magic under control,” Astraea replies, giving Baxter a stern look of warning.
Baxter growls in annoyance but says no more.
“I thought the magic could only be controlled by your son?” The tone of confusion in Jayden’s voice mirrors my own. “How could a mage help?”
Astraea takes a seat and props her boot-clad feet on the table.
“A mage won’t be able to end the magic instability, but they could bring the situation under short-term control,” Astraea explains.
“Mages are a rare class of beings. They, like other half-fae beings, possess the ability to tap into the magical ley lines in this world. The magic in the Terran Realm was created millennia ago through the joint efforts of dragons and fae. Although I connected the node that powers Mystic Hollow’s protective magic to my son, there are ways the node’s power can be manipulated to our purposes.
” She sighs. “What we need is a mage who can cast and maintain barrier magic, a type of fae magic that will weaken the effects of instability for a time.”
“Won’t that cut off the town’s protective magic though?” I glance anxiously at Skylar, worried about how he might react to that possibility.
To my relief, apart from stiffening a little, he seems fairly calm.
“To a large extent, yes,” Astraea says. “That’s why we need a mage who has the power to simultaneously cast a protective barrier around the town.”
Skylar frowns. “I’m confused. Why would we need separate barriers. Wouldn’t one over the town be enough?”
“It’s complicated,” Astraea admits. “The node that powers the magical protection already in place is part of a larger ley line. Ley line energy continues to flow to and through it. Erecting one barrier over the town without containing the node could end up creating a kind of magical backlash. First, we need to cut off power to the node. A barrier that acts like a magical tourniquet, if you will. But that means the node’s protective spell for the town will also be cut off.
That’s why we need a second barrier. A mage can easily tap into another part of the ley line to achieve that. ”
“That’s a tall order. Finding a mage with that amount of skill and power is tricky,” Emrys says, shaking his head.
Kassiel brushes some nonexistent fluff off his suit lapel. “I doubt there are more than half a dozen mages with that level of mastery in this realm.”
Astraea’s eyes flare, but she doesn’t disagree.
“We’re looking for a fucking unicorn,” Baxter grumbles.
“To follow on what Skylar was saying, can’t you also tap into another part of the ley line to create these barriers?” I ask.
“Exactly, babe,” Skylar says, nodding at me.
Astraea gets a rather conflicted look on her face, her eyes going distant.
“I can’t go into a lot of details, but when the monarch of the Fae Realm and I had a final falling-out years ago, we signed a treaty that does not allow either of us, as leaders of our realms, to tap into the ley lines we created in this one.
We are beings who are already inherently superpowered, so to speak.
Our abilities are more limited outside of our own realms, but we learned the hard way that using similar levels of magic in this realm can only lead to disaster, especially if there’s any kind of feuding going on.
The Terran Realm is more… fragile than some of the other realms.”
“Like Spiderman teaches us, with great power comes great responsibility,” Jayden whispers.
“But you still have some magical abilities here,” Skylar says. “We’ve seen you in action.”
Astraea nods. “Of course. But it’s only a fraction of the power I possess when in my own realm. Or when I can tap into a magical source—like a ley line.”