Chapter Fourteen
Imani led me up the suspiciously well-scrubbed stairs to the second floor bedrooms.
I wondered if I should have been upset that my midnight visitor had trashed my staircase too.
In the end though, I just let the worry trickle past the anxious walls I’d built up on the way back home.
Wanda was right. It had been a victory, even if it wasn’t the total smackdown I’d grown accustomed to giving beasties that invaded my house.
That was what had really bothered me, if I was being totally honest with myself.
I’d started off my tenure here in Haven Hollow by roundly defeating a hulking wendigo.
Then I’d outfoxed vampires and out maneuvered faeries.
I’d wed my magic to a group of dark witches and graduated into a new and confusing world of alchemy.
How the hell had one comparatively tiny dragon or whatever the hell it was beaten me?
“Penny for your thoughts?” Imani asked, an amused lilt to her voice.
My head whipped toward the sound of her voice fast enough to pinch something in my neck.
I winced, fighting the urge to massage the pain away.
But I decided not to just so I could spare myself the conversation in which Imani would, no doubt, offer some kind of potion or cream, and I didn’t need to add more magic to my already precarious situation.
Besides, this was just a natural part of being forty-eight.
Things ached. Things you never even knew you had before.
And why should I be any different than the average peri-menopausal woman just because I had powers?
“Thoughts?” I laughed. “My brain is a mess at the moment.”
Heat rose in my cheeks when I realized I’d paused halfway up the steps.
Imani had already reached the top and was leaning one leanly muscled arm against the bannister, watching me with knowing eyes.
She’d pulled her hair back, leaving her face strikingly bare.
Between the cheekbones and the piercing shade of her eyes, I couldn’t help but feel like I was being x-rayed.
“Sorry, I’m not exactly good company at the moment,” I mumbled.
“Don’t be,” she said with a shrug. “Just share. Maybe I can help.”
“You’re already helping. Cleanup wasn’t even on my list of priorities.” I paused as I contemplated everything they’d already done. “It means a lot that you guys were thinking of me.”
“You would have done the same for any of us. In fact, you have in the past.”
“Well,” I started.
“No being humble, Poppy. Or were the tales of Blood Witch Wanda exaggerated? Because I recall that she made… messes on occasion.”
I bit back a smile. Mess was the understatement of the century. Wanda didn’t always wreck her house in a fit of uncontrolled magic, but I had spent a few afternoons picking up after her. More than a few, if I were being honest.
“There,” Imani said with a nod. “Now we’re getting somewhere. Spill the tea, Poppy. What’s wrong? Other than the obvious.”
I sighed and trudged up the rest of the stairs. I felt a little lighter now that Imani had finally framed her request (or demand) the way she had. It wasn’t pity or charity. These weren’t just my fellow coven members. They were my friends. As I’d always told Finn, friends always help out friends.
“I guess I think I’m arrogant. I’ve been defeated before, but this feels different. I guess… I guess I’m used to being strong enough to protect the people I care about. But that creature, whatever it was, was so small! Like how can I defeat a wendigo but not drop-kick a micro-dragon?”
Imani’s lips twitched. “Of course you’re arrogant. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be a witch.”
I might have argued that distinction a few months ago.
I wasn’t a witch by birth. I’d been roped into a coven by necessity and a sense of loyalty to my best friend.
She’d wanted to include me, which had meant the world to me then and now.
Still, I felt like a counterfeit when I claimed the title.
But when you looked at my abilities, at my (dare I even say it) magic, it did seem to fit.
When I’d joined the coven, I’d become something else, something more.
Something dangerous. Something with a dark side.
“Am I being stupid?”
Imani wrapped an arm around my waist and gave me a squeeze. “No, honey. This thing invaded your house. This is your turf, and it’s perfectly normal to be upset that something attacked you and yours. I don’t think any of us could have done any better in your place.”
I wasn’t sure I believed that. All the witches in Wanda’s coven were beautiful, strong, smart, and magically talented.
Still, it was nice to hear that Imani thought I’d done well.
I might have leaned into her and returned the hug if Finn hadn’t rounded the doorway to my room.
His hair was sticking up in every direction as though he’d spent most of the night tossing and turning.
Shadowy half moons had settled beneath his eyes, but they brightened when they locked onto me.
Imani let her hand drop at almost the same instant that Finn began to run to me. I barely had time to brace myself against the wall before he hit home. His long, gangly arms wound around my neck and dragged me into a smothering hug.
“Mom!” he gasped.
“Hi Buddy,” I said, returning the hug with as much strength as I could muster. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
Finn yanked his arms back a moment later, eyes flying open wide. “Oh no, your back! Did I hurt you?”
Honestly, I hadn’t even been thinking about my back. I was just so relieved to see him whole and healthy.
“I’m fine, Finn. I barely feel it.”
“Liar,” he said with a soft frown. “I know it hurts.”
“It’s not bad right now, I promise. I’m just so glad you’re safe.”
“What happened to your back, Poppy?” Imani asked, giving me a look that said I shouldn’t even try to downplay it.
I was spared having to answer when we rounded the corner and found another witch waiting for us. Indigo. She was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, shoulders tight.
She didn’t look up at us immediately. Her posture was defensive, rigid, almost as if she were bracing for judgment. The fluorescent light from the ceiling caught her sharp features and pale blue eyes, making her seem colder than she really was.
“Hi,” I said softly, easing into the hall as I wondered what she was doing here. Then I remembered she was sort of part of the coven.
Indigo’s eyes flicked in my direction, gaze wary, before she uncrossed her arms. Her posture made it look like she was ready to bolt.
“I just… wanted to let you know that I was… working on figuring this out,” she said, her tone clipped and borderline impatient as she rolled her hand in the air as if to say she was figuring out everything that was going on around her.
And then something occurred to me. “This doesn’t have anything to do with the Masked Lords, does it?”
I really didn’t want that to be the case, because they were like the worst of the worst.
A faint crease appeared between Indigo’s brows. “I would say not. If it were them, I would have expected a more demonic presence. The thing that broke in here wasn’t a demon.”
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. “Oh, well, that’s good.”
“You wouldn’t be a likely first target anyway,” Indigo continued, voice low and tinged with an edge of bitterness. “You wouldn’t be considered powerful enough to bother disposing of.”
Finn gave my hand a soft squeeze. “See, Mom? Nothing to worry about.”
Imani gave a short nod, as if to say, I told you so.
Still, the tension in my muscles didn’t ease. If anything, Indigo’s attitude only made me feel more on edge.
I took a careful step closer, lowering my voice slightly. “Do you know what broke into Finn’s room?”
Indigo flinched as though I’d shouted, her eyes widening in surprise. For a heartbeat, she looked entirely like a child caught off guard, not some demon-infused turncoat witch from the league of supernatural badasses.
“I… I don’t know,” she admitted finally, voice tight. “It’s not something I’m familiar with and it isn’t hailing from any of the infernal realms. That’s all I can tell you.”
“Okay,” I said softly. “Thank you for taking a look.”
Indigo’s shoulders relaxed just slightly, and the tiniest hint of a real smile flickered across her face. I let myself hope it was the beginning of a truce or at least, a step toward one.
Indigo motioned me forward, and I got my first good look at Finn’s room in the daylight.
It was even worse than I’d feared. The closet door hung crooked on its hinges, splintered at the edges where the creature had forced its way through.
Inside, the wood floor was gouged and scratched, little shards scattered across the carpet like tiny teeth.
The hole in the wall wasn’t just a tear.
It looked as if the wall had been chewed and shoved outward, a jagged oval of splintered wood and plaster.
Clumps of clothing were thrown to the side, crushed under the weight of whatever had tunneled its way through. The faint smell of scorched dust lingered in the air, and small tufts of insulation poked out from the walls.
I knelt beside the jagged hole, my fingers brushing over splintered wood and scattered clothing, and felt my eyes prick. My chest tightened and I swallowed hard, trying to hold the tears back, but a few slipped free.
Finn came up beside me quietly, his hand slipping into mine. It was so much bigger than it used to be. My boy. My beautiful, grown-up boy.
“It’s okay, Mom,” he said softly, his voice calm and steady. “We’ll fix it. Don’t worry.”
I looked down at him, my heart swelling with a mixture of awe and affection. He was thoughtful, brave, and steady in the face of things that would have scared me half to death at his age.
“I know, buddy. We’ll get through it like we always do. It’s just... a lot.”
Finn offered me a small, reassuring smile. “We’ve got each other, right?”
I nodded, blinking away the tears. Warmth pooled in my chest. I hugged him to me tightly.
“Yeah, buddy,” I whispered. “We do.”
“Now, Poppy, I believe we have some wounds we need to heal?” Imani asked, eyeing me in a way that said she hadn’t forgotten.
Finn looked at me. “Yeah, Mom, what Imani said.”
The stern tone he took with me might have made me laugh and ruffle his hair any other day. But today, it just warmed me. He definitely wasn’t a child anymore. No—he was a young man, and I was so very proud of him.
“Okay, okay,” I said, raising my hands in defeat when Finn’s stare didn’t waver. “I’ll let Imani look at my back. But I need to talk to Betanya and Olga about what they think broke in here first.”
“They don’t know what it is,” Finn said.
I frowned down at him. “You don’t know that.”
“Yeah, I kind of do. I think Olga’s hearing might be going because she was talking super loud. They think the creature burrowed through the walls and entered through my closet. Hence the huge hole in the bottom.”
“So they don’t know what it was?”
Finn shrugged. “Olga and Franz seem convinced it’s something they’ve encountered before, but they can’t put their finger on what. They just know it somehow crossed the threshold, whatever that means. Do you know what that means, mom?”
I hugged him to me again to disguise a shiver.
A threshold came with the ownership of a place.
If a space was truly yours, you could layer magic on its surface.
I’d been able to bless and secure my home in such a way for years.
If something could burst through all those enchantments to reach Finn anyway, it wasn’t something to be trifled with.
“It means this monster is strong,” I said, deciding the truth was best. Finn never reacted well when I lied to him, even for good reasons. “And that means I’m going to want you to stay at the coven house with Astrid for a while.”
“No,” Finn said stubbornly, stepping back so he could cross his arms against his chest. He was getting longer and skinnier with each passing month. Now he was over six feet tall and weighed the same as me. “Not without you.”
“But…”
“But nothing, Mom,” Finn argued. “You’re hurt. Andre is hurt. Staying here when that thing could come back at any time is just stupid. I know you want to catch it, but at this point you’d just slow people down. Just sit this one out, please.”
Imani gave me a helpless shrug. “The kid does have a point—all three of you shouldn’t be here.”
I gave her a once-over before conceding with another, deeper sigh. “I’m not going to get another swing at this thing, am I?”
“Not if we can help it,” she said. “When we’re done here, I’ll help you pack up. You deserve a nice, long nap somewhere safe.”
“Thanks, Imani.”
Her answering smile was uncharacteristically warm and open. “Of course. Anything for a friend.” Then she paused. “Now, let’s see that back of yours.”