Chapter 9
Selene
It’s been a slow day. Not that any day at Threads of Magic is ever really what I’d describe as busy.
Enchanted clothing is expensive, so most residents can’t afford to make regular purchases.
Luckily we’ve got a strong enough reputation that any visiting supernaturals usually make sure to stop by, and we’re able to fulfil online orders thanks to the supe network.
But today has been slower than usual. Glacially slow.
Bored out of my mind without a soul to talk to slow.
I’m pretty sure I know the reason for the lull too.
So far there’s been no sign of the new guy, and I guarantee this nosy lot are all too busy camped out at Sweet Dreams and the other eat-in businesses or twitching their curtains at home hoping to catch a glimpse of him to come shopping.
I look around in search of something else to do—I’ve already deep-cleaned the entire shop.
Maybe I can draft a few floor plans for where to place the Halloween stock.
I’m emerging from the office, notepad and pen in hand, when the bell above the door rings, making me perk up at the promise of a customer. “Sorry, I was just grabbing a—”
The apology dies on my tongue, and I freeze in the middle of the shop, staring at the man who’s just entered. It’s him. The man from my recurring vision—my mate. Here in my shop.
“Golden Boy.” The nickname tumbles from my lips without permission.
“Pardon?” He asks, cocking his head, and I about swallow my own tongue at the rich timbre of his voice.
I clear my suddenly dry throat. “Nothing.” I don’t remember deciding to move closer to him, but the next thing I know I’m looking up at hazel eyes framed by a pair of tortoiseshell glasses, my heartbeat fluttering. “Hi, I’m Selene. You must be the new resident.”
“Jared,” he replies, offering his hand for me to shake.
The moment our palms connect, I’m struck by an intense feeling of rightness unlike anything I’ve ever felt before.
It’s like everything I didn’t know I’d been waiting for has arrived all at once, and it’s him.
Jared. It’s the feeling I listened to my sister describe the day she met Brooks.
Something I hoped to find for myself one day but, before my trip to the library, I never dared to hope that day might arrive so soon. My mate.
“The books were right,” I whisper reverently, still holding onto his large hand.
I feel a lot less silly about taking extra care in choosing my outfits since learning what my visions meant now that my mate has actually shown up.
Today’s wide-leg tartan trousers make my legs look great, and my dark-brown jumper is both cute and cosy.
“Sorry?” Jared extracts his hand from my grip and nudges those sexy glasses up the bridge of his nose. He looks… uncomfortable. Does he not feel this?
As far as I’m aware, out of all supernatural species, witches are the ones who feel the mate bond the least, often requiring physical contact to recognise their mates.
Jared isn’t a witch—I’m sure of that much.
But his magical signature is incredibly faint.
Strange. I reach out with my magic, trying to figure out what he is.
Usually I’d be able to tell the moment he walked into the room, but it’s like there’s something blocking him…
Ah, there it is. He’s a demon, but I still can’t tell what kind.
My magic focuses just below the base of his throat, and my eyes zero in on the spot.
There’s something beneath his crisp, white shirt.
My attention slides upwards to his open top button, where I catch a glimpse of a gold chain.
He’s wearing a dampening amulet—a powerful one at that.
Maybe he really can’t feel the mate pull—shit, no wonder he looks uncomfortable. I drop his hand.
“Sorry, I zoned out for a minute there.” Act normal. I can bring up the mate thing later. “Welcome to Crystal Lake. How are you liking it so far?”
“Thanks.” Luckily Jared shrugs off my weirdness, smiling warmly.
“It’s been great. For the most part, the people here are very friendly.
So far, the only downside has been discovering my phone doesn’t work—well, that and it took me forever to find the town on Saturday.
Kendra sent me a map, but I got turned around,” he admits sheepishly.
There’s a boy-next-door charm about him that’s deeply endearing. Most demons are a lot more… intense.
“Stop by Bells and Whistles and you can get a SIM card that will work here. If you need to contact anyone out of town, you’ll have to use the phone up at the library or town hall,” I explain. “As for getting lost on your way into town, your dampener probably confused the wards.”
His blonde brows pull together. “My what?”
“Your dampener,” I repeat. When he still looks confused, I continue, “Your amulet.” I nod at his chest. “It’s one of the strongest dampening spells I’ve ever encountered.
I could barely feel your magical signature until we touched.
The amulet probably confused the wards enough on your way into town that they registered you as human, activating the shielding and repelling spells woven in. ”
“My magical what? Wards?”
“Yeah, wards. You know, because we’re a sanctuary town?
” Now we’re both frowning. “You knew that before you took the job here, right?” I ask, concerned.
Surely The Chronicle made it clear in its job ad, or at the very least in the interview, that Crystal Lake is a sanctuary town.
But the blanched look of Jared’s previously lightly tanned skin suggests otherwise.
If he’s lived among humans for a long time, I suppose suddenly finding himself in a sanctuary town could be a little intimidating.
What if he wants to leave? I shake off the worry.
I’m sure the freedom to use his abilities without fear of discovery will help him adjust to sanctuary living soon enough.
“A sanctuary? I knew there was something going on here, but I never imagined…” he trails off, looking unsteady.
“Do you want to sit down?” I ask, glancing over at the chaise by the curtained-off changing area.
“I can brew some tea and answer any questions you may have. I promise it’s not so bad here.
In fact, most supernaturals think life here and in other sanctuary towns is much more inclusive—especially for demons like yourself or witches like me with a less ‘acceptable’ gift. ”
“Did you just call me a—wait, you’re a… witch?” Yikes. Golden Boy’s not looking so hot—he’s gone from pale to green, and I don’t think that’s his demon form slipping out. “An actual witch with magic? Not just one of those people who believes in the healing powers of crystals or whatever?”
I snort. “I think you’ll find most of those people are actual witches—crystals can be extremely useful tools when practicing magic—but yes.
Of course I’m a real witch.” What else would I be?
Truthfully I’m surprised he can’t tell—most supes can sense each other to some degree.
Maybe the amulet is interfering with that too?
I really want to get a closer look at that thing to examine the spells on it, but that’s hardly appropriate for a first meeting.
Even if we are mates. Wait, is that why he’s freaked out I’m a witch?
A small but vocal number of supes outside sanctuary towns don’t approve of dating outside your species—it comes from the old days when there were concerns about hybrids but now we know those are extremely rare, most children from a union of more than one species of supe will take after one parent over the other.
“No.” Jared shakes his head, gaze darting around the shop. “This is a joke, right? Some kind of initiation for the paper?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I admit, tracking the way his attention still ping-pongs around the shop.
“This.” Jared waves a hand between us, looking frantic, the leather strap of his satchel slipping from his shoulder. “This can’t be real. I can’t be a… a… demon.”
Wait a minute. Does he not know? How in the name of the stars is that possible?
The bell dings over the door behind him, and two things happen. First, Eve and her gargoyle friend Michael enter the shop. Second, Jared takes one look at them and drops like a… well, like a stone.
JARED
I’m lying on something cold and hard—the ground. Why am I on the floor? This can’t be happening again. I can’t be back there. I—
“Stop fussing, he’s fine,” a youngish-sounding female grumbles. What? That’s not right. There wasn’t a girl there when he took me. And is there something soft under my head?
“Easy for you to say. You didn’t smack someone who thought they were a human over the head with the big supernatural secret so hard they fainted.” A woman’s voice. One I recognise. Selene, something in me whispers. Yes, the equally beautiful and strange salesperson.
The girl giggles. “That was probably Michael’s fault.”
“Hey,” Michael, presumably, objects. Sounds like he’s a teenage boy. “That’s not fair.”
“Maybe not, but it’s the truth. If one of us is going to make a human faint on-sight alone, it’s going to be you even though I’m way scarier.”
“Since when do you know anything about humans?”
“Since I actually spend time in the library where we can access their version of the internet,” the girl replies with enough sass that I can practically hear her eye roll.
“Will you two please take your bickering somewhere else. He’ll wake up soon, and the last thing we need to do is frighten him any more than we already have.”
They grumble, but two sets of footsteps shuffle away. I dare to open my eyes only to find myself face-to-face with the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.
“Oh, you’re awake.” She leans back, and I realise she’s kneeling on the floor next to me. “How do you feel?”
“Confused.” Slowly, I sit up, then lightly press my fingertips to the tenderness at the back of my head.