Chapter Nine #2
“Too bad.” He thumbed at his chest. “I’m your wheels, remember?”
He had a point. Hickory Hollow wasn’t exactly overflowing with rideshares.
“All right,” I conceded. “Mr. McAllister, thank you. For all of this.”
“Anytime,” he said. “You two be careful.”
Owen nodded. We stepped out of the storeroom, then threaded our way through the main shop. We pushed out onto the sidewalk in front of Enchanted Blossoms—
—and stopped short.
A smear of black smoke hovered over Owen’s truck like a storm cloud testing the wind. It twisted once, twice, then darted toward us as if it had caught our scent.
“Owen,” I breathed.
“Piper, look out!”
He shoved me aside. My feet flew out from under me and I hit the pavement hands first. Pain tore across my palms, then up my arms as my elbows buckled and my cheek slammed into the sidewalk. The world flashed white for a heartbeat.
I rolled, heart pounding, and pushed myself up in time to see the smoke coalesce into the hulking demon from the flower shop. Horns. Tusks. Fur.
Owen stood between me and the beast, shoulders squared, fists clenched, staring it down like this happened every Tuesday.
“You’re not wanted here,” he said.
Before I could even form the word run, the door of Charmed my cheek throbbed. “I don’t understand any of this.”
Neither of them answered me. Owen’s hands were still fists. His jaw worked like he was grinding down words he didn’t want to say.
“I was protecting Piper,” he snapped at his father. “That’s my job, not yours.”
“Protecting Piper?” I echoed, my voice going thin.
They kept ignoring me.
“Next time, you get rid of the demon before it comes back a third time,” Dougal said. “I saw it at the funeral home, son. You did nothing.”
“I did what I thought I had to do,” Owen shot back. “I was trying not to draw unnecessary attention.”
I stepped between them, hands on my hips, forcing them both to look at me. My heart was still racing, fueled by fear and irritation in equal measure.
“What is going on here?” I demanded.
For a beat, both men blinked at me. Like they’d truly forgotten I existed.
“I think you’d better come inside, Piper,” Dougal said at last. He jerked his head toward the door. “My son and I will explain everything.”
Owen reached for my hand—then stilled when he saw my palms. His jaw tightened.
“You’re bleeding,” he said quietly. “Your hands—and your cheek.”
“I’m fine,” I said automatically.
His look said he didn’t believe me for a second. “We’ll deal with that,” he murmured. Then, more firmly, “He’s right. It’s time.”
I let him guide me back into the store and down the hall to Dougal’s office again. This time, Dougal shut the door firmly behind us before leaning against the desk.
The fluorescent lights hummed overhead. I sank into the same chair as before, my scraped hands resting gingerly in my lap, palms still stinging every time I flexed my fingers. Owen sat close enough that our shoulders brushed—close enough that his presence felt steady.
“There is something you don’t know about us, Piper,” Dougal said. He looked tired. Older. “Your aunt asked us to protect you.”
“Before she died?” I asked, glancing between them.
“Yes,” Owen said. “She knew you’d come back to Hickory Hollow with no idea what was happening here. She didn’t want you walking into it alone.”
“That’s right,” Dougal agreed. “And we’ve been trying to honor that. But there are rules. Lines. Timing.”
“Well, I don’t know anything,” I said, scowling. “And it seems like you two know a lot more than you’re letting on. Why didn’t you tell me from the beginning?”
“Because you weren’t ready,” Dougal said simply.
“That’s not fair.” The words snapped out before I could stop them. “If I’m supposed to do my ‘job’—whatever that is—I need all the information. First Alice keeps me in the dark. Now you. And why did it seem like no one in town could see that demon? Or the light? Or the fire?”
“Because they couldn’t,” Owen said. “My father and I have the ability to conceal things like that from the general populace. Glamours. Veils. Call them what you want.”
“How?” I demanded, looking between them.
Owen pressed his lips into a thin line. It was Dougal who answered.
“We are Druids, Piper. Most folks would call us witches,” he added with a wry smile, “but our order is older—and a bit more particular—than that. We’re Druids.”
I stared at him. “Druids,” I repeated flatly. “As in robes and stone circles and human sacrifice? That kind of druid?”
“Not that kind,” Dougal said dryly. “We’re Druids of the ancient Celts.
Our clans survived. We moved. We adapted.
But our purpose stayed the same. We’re here to protect—this world, and the ones brushing against it—from evil and from those who would seize too much power.
Though not all were interested in protecting the world. ”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Some decided guarding power wasn’t enough. They wanted to wield it for themselves.”
Demons. Ley lines. Druids. The potential Sword of Light sitting in a crate across the hall.
A shiver rippled over my skin.
“And my Aunt Alice was also a witch?” I asked.
“Yes,” Dougal said. “She was born that way. Magic ran strong in her blood.”
I thought of the pictures on the mantel. The way Alice always seemed to understand me without words. The way Gladys never did. “But my mother…?”
“Not a witch,” Owen said quietly. “Not like Alice.”
“If you tell me they’re muggles, my head might explode,” I muttered.
Owen snorted. Dougal’s mouth tugged in something like a smile.
“No, Piper,” Dougal said. “They’re mortal. Human. Not everyone is born with magic.”
“And you?” I turned to Owen. “You’re… what? Also a druid? A witch? A wizard? A sorcerer with questionable fashion choices?”
“Druid,” he said. “Magic manifests differently in our line, but the root is the same as my father’s. Mine’s… stronger. Wilder.” He shrugged one shoulder. “More of a pain in his backside.”
“That’s why I’m angry he didn’t deal with the demon sooner,” Dougal said. “What were you waiting for?”
“I was waiting for the right moment,” Owen shot back. “You jumping in the middle of the street wasn’t subtle, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“If I’d waited another second, that beast would have killed you and Piper,” Dougal said sharply. “Then where would we be?”
I leaned back in my chair, pressing my fingertips to my temples. “I don’t understand any of this,” I said. “Guardians. Druids. A ceiling-high demon with tusks. Queen of Hearts cosplay in my woods.”
“You will,” Dougal said. “In time.”
“Not the reassurance you think it is,” I muttered.
But something else niggled at the back of my mind. Something the Red Queen had said at the tree.
“The Red Queen told us Oberon is stuck in another realm,” I said slowly. “She said Titania is here trying to recover the Fae treasures to free him. Mr. McAllister, do you think Alice was keeping those treasures from Titania on purpose? Or does the queen not even know they’re here?”
He spread his hands. “I have no idea what arrangements Alice had with Titania. Or what Titania knows.”
I shot to my feet, ignoring the protest in my palms as energy buzzed through my veins like static. “Then I need to talk to her. Tani. Titania. Whatever she wants to call herself.”
“Now?” Owen asked.
“Yes, now.” I met his gaze. “You neutralized the demon. For the moment, at least. I need to get back to the house and find out what my fairy ‘friend’ has been lying about.”
“I’m coming with you,” Owen said immediately.
“Of course you are,” I said, a little softer. “Apparently you’re my official demon bodyguard.”
“Be careful,” Dougal warned. “That beast may be gone, but if the gate is still weakening, there may be more. And if someone was stealing bark from the hickory tree, someone else wanted that gate open.”
He was right. The thought of Alice alone in those woods, knowing danger was creeping closer, made my chest ache. Someone had killed my aunt. My guardian. My witch. My… something more, if the town gossip and mantel photos were anything to go by.
Whoever had done it was still out there.
“We’ll be careful,” Owen promised.
He took my hand again, gently to avoid my scrapes. His fingers were warm and steady around mine as he led me out of the office, through the antique shop, and back into the small-town late afternoon sunlight that suddenly felt a lot less safe.