Chapter 17 #2
He grimaced as he remembered coming home to his wife and that… that bloodsucker. The citizens of Moonstone would never know that they needed saving, but he was going to save them anyway, at any cost. Starting with the dark haired witch in the bookstore.
Cain crossed the street as soon as he recognized the witch that looked so familiar from his childhood memories.
She was a grown woman now, but he would have recognized that face anywhere.
She was beautiful, and duplicitous, like all magical creatures.
Witches were the worst. They bent men to their will with spells and potions, and then destroyed them. The only good witch was a dead one.
Cain pushed the bookstore door open and stepped inside. His skin prickled, sensing magic all around him. Plastering a smile on his face, he approached the desk as she handed a credit card back to a customer. He waited until the pretty witch with autumn colored eyes looked up at him.
“How can I help you?”
“I was interested in some good thrillers. Do you have any?” he asked.
“Absolutely. We have an entire section.” She led him through the store, weaving through the shelves until they reached the right one. “This is our mystery and thriller section. We’re having a buy one, get one sale today,” she said.
Even though her smile was big, Cain noticed the emptiness in her expression. It was as though her gaze had gone straight through him.
Cain pretended to examine the books on the shelves in front of him as she left. After an appropriate amount of time, he pulled two books off the shelf and returned to the counter to pay. After the books were bagged, he met the woman’s gaze.
“How late are you open tonight?”
“We stay open until four am this time of year because of our Halloween festival.”
“When do you get off?” He flashed her his most charming smile. One that had made more than one witch follow him into a dark alley.
“Me? Oh, I’m flattered.” Her pale face reddened. “But I’m seeing someone—” She seemed to halt herself and started over. “I mean—I just got out of a relationship.”
“Oh… Bummer.” He gave her an embarrassed laugh. “Well hey, I’ll be in town a few days if you change your mind.”
“Thank you, that’s very sweet,” the witch replied, but again her focus was distracted, as if her mind was miles away.
He took his books to the coffee shop across the street, Mystic Mornings.
Another witch was behind the counter working.
He had also tried to get her to meet him tonight, but she had glared at him.
Then some tall blond asshole stepped up beside him and politely told him to get lost. He hadn’t really wanted to go after the coffee witch, she’d merely been an easy one to target.
The one in the bookstore was who he’d come to find.
He couldn’t get that memory out of his head. Seeing her as a girl, running through the maze ahead of him. He’d almost caught up to her, then she’d hopped onto a small broom and just floated up in the sky, giggling… leaving him behind to stare after her in envy.
Now, the tables would turn. This time, she wouldn’t get away from him. He would catch her when she left the shop, tonight or tomorrow. He’d wait until the moment was right.
* * *
Malcolm dropped his bags on the floor of his new apartment in Boston.
It was comfortable enough, like his old one in New York, but nothing like Calli’s home on the edge of a magical town.
No spells laced the windows to channel sunlight to potted plants.
No heavenly smells of pumpkin and spices filled the air.
No cozy armchairs. No full bookshelves. No garden with an enchanted archway that glowed at night, or pumpkins as big as carriages growing amid curling vines.
There was no Calli.
This was his life now, and it would have to be enough.
Malcolm had retrieved his computers, monitors and clothes from his apartment in New York yesterday and had been taking the day off to set up.
He had dozens of emails from clients that he needed to respond to.
He hauled his boxes out of the small U-Haul into his apartment and unpacked them one by one.
The last box had a large rolled up dog bed along with food, water bowls and toys.
Hades.
Malcolm touched the bed, his hands shaking.
His familiar hadn’t returned since the night Malcolm shouted at him.
That had never happened to him before. Hades had never left him like this.
Yes, they’d had moments of separation when they were running about town, but not because of…
because of Malcolm driving him away. Hades had abandoned him…
and he couldn’t blame his familiar. Everything in his life was broken or missing.
He started to pull the dog bed out to set it up but stopped. Hades wasn’t coming back. Even if he did, he didn’t deserve his familiar anymore. He hadn’t murdered Calli’s parents… but he’d caused their deaths. That was too heavy, and too dark a burden to bear.
He pushed the dog bed back into the box and folded the lid down, sealing away those painful memories of that night.
Don’t think. Don’t feel. It was the only way he would be able to manage from now on.
He turned back to his desk in one corner of the second bedroom and started to hook up the computers.
“Knock, knock,” a familiar voice said from the other room. “Can I come in?”
“Mom?” He pushed his head out from the second bedroom and saw his mother lingering in the doorway of his new apartment.
She wore jeans and the navy blue peacoat she wore when she wasn’t going to work.
Whenever she was headed to the ocean, she wore her more beat up clothes and a thick rain slicker and boots.
“Honey!” She beamed as he came over to hug her.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, still surprised.
“I thought a little housewarming was in order.” She eyed the bare walls. “Are you sure you don’t want to move in with us for a while? Your father and I only use the downstairs these days. His latest expansion spell would give you an entire two floors above us for your living space.”
“Thanks, but no. I need some time on my own.”
His mother’s brow rose, “Your father thinks you’re staying away because you’re angry at him.”
That nearly destroyed Malcolm. “Oh God, please tell him that’s not it.”
“You should tell him.”
“I will. Just… not right now.” He tried to find the right words to explain.
“There’s a lot to unpack right now, and I’m not talking about the moving boxes.
When people talk about prophecy, I don’t think they ever really think about what it’s like to be on the receiving end.
I have a lot of anger right now. Boatloads of it. But it’s not aimed at dad.”
His mother searched his face, “I hope it’s not aimed at yourself…”
Malcolm turned away.
She put a hand on his cheek. “Oh honey, don’t…”
Malcolm sagged a little. “Because of me, Calli’s parents are dead. Because of me, dad almost died. Even if you could argue I’m not responsible for it, it’s still because of me. That’s the gift these damn prophecies gave me. The guilt of existence.”
His mother could only look at him with sympathy. She was such a big part of his life, yet not part of this world. She knew she couldn’t truly understand what he was going through.
“I’m upset too,” his mother confessed. “Upset at your father. I understand why he did what he did. I even understand why he didn’t tell me.
But that doesn’t make it any easier to accept.
Or forgive. Just understand, I will support you, whatever you do.
” Her voice was like a hand reaching through the sea of doubt and loathing that had closed over his head.
He let her pull him back above the surface and nodded.
“I promise, once I work through a few things, I’ll come by and see you.”
“See us?” Sarah asked.
Malcolm nodded. “See you both.”
She hugged him and left him alone. He stood at the doorway to watch her leave, giving each other one final wave as the elevator doors closed.
He worked on his desk setup a few hours before Jasper arrived. His friend had agreed to ride his motorcycle to Boston and return what little of Malcolm’s life he had left behind in Moonstone that terrible night.
Jasper studied the apartment. “Well… it’s not bad… bigger than your place in New York.”
Malcolm nodded as he moved to take some of the boxes Jasper had set down in the hall.
“How is she?” he finally asked.
“She’s getting by, but she’s lost that light.” His friend didn’t sugarcoat the truth for him.
“Tell her—” He stopped himself from saying something he’d only regret. “Never mind. Is Persephone okay?”
“She seems to be,” Jasper said. “She’s taken to hiding a lot when Calli is around. I think she’s upset. Speaking of familiars… Where’s Hades?”
“Gone. I lost my temper and he just left. I was hoping since he and Persephone were so close, he’d gone back to Moonstone Falls…”
“Can a familiar do that? Just leave you?” his friend asked.
“They can… or at least mine can. God forbid anything in my life is normal.” He’d bit out the words.
Jasper couldn’t fully understand the loneliness one felt without their familiar, but Jasper knew enough of Malcolm’s life with Hades to know the loss was devastating.
“How’s the Council? Is it as dreadful as you’d feared?” Jasper went over to the fridge and pulled out a beer and held it out to Malcolm who, with a wave of his hand, popped the bottle cap off with magic. It was a trick the two of them had done since college.
“Drink it,” Jasper encouraged.
Malcolm took the offered beer and drank it, but it tasted bitter. Everything tasted bitter these days.
“So… the Council?” his friend reminded gently.
Malcolm took another swig of beer and stared out the windows.
“It’s… not at all what I’d expected. I made them to be some bogeyman when I was a kid. And now… now I just see them as people trying to do good for our kind.”
“That’s good then, isn’t it?” Jasper said.