CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CADI
Warm metal bit into Cadi’s bare legs as she shifted in her chair, tilting her phone up to check for any new messages.
It had been two days since Elias promised to talk to Sera, his last update being to let Cadi know that he had confirmed Sera’s interest in the sigils was purely artistic.
Yet, Sera still refused to return any of her texts, despite Cadi’s persistence.
She sighed, turning back to her book and propping her feet on the railing of the balcony, wiggling her toes against the warm wood.
Summer was unwilling to relinquish its grip on the city, which meant the sun was out again and Cadi had decided to spend her Saturday afternoon on the patio reading.
Warm light pooled over her arms and legs, her black workout shorts and slouchy, wide-armed band tee offering just enough coverage to keep the neighbors from talking.
The plastic cover of her library book crinkled against her knees, and a half grin tugged at her lips.
She was probably one of the only people who still borrowed books from the Fiddler’s Green library system, and she had no plans to stop.
Lifting the tome to her nose, she pulled in a deep breath, savoring the hints of old wood and ink.
In her opinion, the older the book the better the smell, and library books were top tier.
She skimmed the yellowing pages through the dark lenses of her sunglasses, willing the prose to transport her into the carefully curated fantasy world far from the worries of reality.
Her brain, however, had different plans, and continued to stubbornly flood itself with thoughts and theories as to why Sera wouldn’t talk to her.
With a groan, she slammed the book shut. At this point, she had read the same paragraph five times and still had no idea what was going on. Frustrated didn’t even begin to cover it.
She propped an elbow against the woven metal table and twisted a single curl around her finger, genuinely trying to ignore her growing agitation.
Tilting her phone up again, she checked her messages for what had to be the millionth time that day, and huffed at the screen when all she found were the five unanswered texts that she had sent to Sera, noting with a hint of bitterness that her friend still hadn’t turned off her read receipts.
The phone dropped onto the table with a metallic clang, and she leaned to let her head hang back. Ignoring her messages at this point was starting to feel like a calculated strategy: avoid contact until Cadi gave up and stopped asking questions.
All she wanted was to know how worried she should be. She didn’t love the idea of her relationship with Elias, or her friendship with Sera, having secrets. The whole situation had her on edge, and it was a constant battle to keep her mind from spiraling into old patterns.
Cadi pulled her head up as an idea began to take shape. One she never would have thought she’d have the guts to even consider, let alone follow through with. Sera’s strategy only worked if Cadi let it, and it would be pretty difficult to leave her on read if she was standing right in front of her.
She chewed the inside of her cheek as she checked the time: 3:15 p.m.
The Crow’s Nest didn’t open until five, but she knew Elias had the staff get there early to prepare everything for the weekend crowd. Sera would definitely be there, and she wouldn’t be able to use helping customers as an excuse to slip away.
Perfect.
Cadi swung her feet down and hopped up, gripping the table when a sudden head rush told her she had stood up just a hair too fast considering how long she had been sitting with her feet elevated.
Once the fuzziness in her head receded, she shuffled back inside to quickly throw on an actual shirt and pants before heading out.
As she walked to her car, she mentally prepared herself for every possible deflection Sera could throw her way. The determined fire in her belly grew hotter with every step, its hold on her almost enough to drown out the tiny voice of doubt still whispering at the back of her mind.
Cadi cut the engine, a heavy silence pressing in around her.
She leaned forward and rested her chin against the warm leather of her steering wheel to peer out the windshield at the back entrance of The Crow’s Nest. Part of her still felt a little awkward slipping in through the back, but they weren’t open yet, and she really didn’t feel like circumventing the building.
She pushed back her shoulders, ignoring the way her stomach dipped as she reached for the handle of her car door. The fears of the past would not talk her out of this; her friendship with Sera was too valuable for her to let what Elias claimed was just a misunderstanding come between them.
Even though she was fairly certain that story was total bullshit.
There was more to this than he was letting on, and there was no way he wasn’t involved. But it wasn’t like she could come out and ask him about that directly. At least with Sera, she had a plausible explanation for her curiosity beyond being a shameless snoop.
Blowing out a breath, she grabbed her phone and climbed out of her car. The sun outside beat down as she stepped onto the sidewalk, quickly forming a thin layer of sweat against her skin as she tugged open the door to the bar and stepped inside.
She strode with purpose down the narrow hallway, past the closed door of Elias’s office and toward the brightly lit clamor of the kitchen.
Nerves twisted into a knot in her stomach with every step she took closer to the swinging black door that would take her out into the main bar.
She thought about turning back at least twice, just letting this whole thing blow over in its own time, but she pushed herself forward with her fists clenched tightly at her sides.
The textured black plastic gave way beneath her palm, and Cadi stepped out into the vacant room.
The air was still and calm, the normal smells of sweat and spilled beer replaced by the pleasant scent of citrus cleaner.
Where she would normally find near-deafening chatter, instead, the sound of alternative hits from somewhere in the vicinity of thirty years prior reached her ears.
The clink of bottles drew her to where Sera was crouched in front of a small glass refrigerator, carefully pulling ciders from a box and arranging them on the shelves.
At first, Cadi wondered if she had even heard her come in, her flow uninterrupted by the thwack of the door swinging shut—until she spoke, but not to Cadi.
“Hey Danny, this is the last box of ciders, so we need to make sure Elias—”
Her words cut off when she looked up and realized it hadn’t been Danny who stepped through the door. Cadi’s throat went dry, forcing her to clear it before she could speak.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey,” Sera echoed, holding Cadi’s gaze for a beat before she turned her attention back to the fridge. “I think Elias is in his office.”
Something pinched behind Cadi’s ribs at the thinly veiled dismissal. She was already starting to prefer being left on read.
“Yeah, I know. I’m not here for him, though.”
Sera froze, the amber bottle in her hand hovering over the shelf. Her shoulders rose from a full breath before she pressed forward with her task. “Oh?”
Cadi picked at her nails, swallowing hard against the stubborn dryness that refused to leave her alone. As it turned out, having this type of conversation in real life was much more daunting than she had realized, but she forced herself to keep going.
“Are you mad at me?”
Sera let out a deep sigh, her hands pressing against her thighs as she pushed to stand. Cadi steeled herself, but when Sera turned to look at her, the softness in her eyes stole a small piece of the tension that had started to creep into her shoulders.
“No, sweetie. I’m not mad at you at all. I’ve just … I’ve just been really busy.” She bent low to pick up the now-empty box and toss it onto the bar before she crouched back down and pulled another toward her. “I’m sorry I went dark on you.”
Cadi smiled, though it felt strained through the rib-deep weight of her still unanswered questions. “It’s okay, I was just worried about you. That day on the train … honestly, that really freaked me out.”
Sera stood again, this time crossing the distance between them, a warm smile settling over her face. “You’re a good friend, Cadi Kismet,” she said, squeezing her shoulder with light affection. “And I appreciate you looking out for me, but I’m a big girl. I can handle myself.”
She gave Cadi a confident wink, then turned to grab the box from the counter to break it down.
Cadi was suddenly extremely grateful for her decision to prepare contingency responses on the drive over. She was ready for this.
Scenario #3: Sera refuses to share details out of the desire to shoulder it on her own.
Response: Show her she doesn’t have to do it alone.
Confidence level: Low, but determined.
“I know you can,” she said, taking a step forward with significantly more confidence than she felt. “But maybe I can help. I’m not particularly witchy or anything, but I could add a little extra brain power to the mix.”
Sera looked up with a smirk, a twinkle of mischief shining in her hazel eyes. “Every woman is a little witchy, babe. Even if they haven’t realized it yet.”
Cadi’s heart soared; she had prepared at least ten other possible arguments, but if one was all it took …
“But …”
Fuck.
“This is more of a solo project. Too many cooks and all that. I’ll keep you in mind, though, if anything comes up that needs a little extra oomph.”