Chapter Five
Hazel
No matter how many times I told myself that living among the tall looming trees and walking alongside the shadows that danced day and night was temporary…
No matter how much the smell of the wind and the comforting sounds of the falling leaves wrapped me up in an eerie comfort…
this gloomy place buttressed me in security, a place to belong.
An encompassing, haunting nest for people who had nowhere else to feel at home.
All four of us—Augustine, Marigold, who we called Goldie, and Clover, and me—had ideas about what we could be in the Belladonna Woods.
Temporary would be easier if I hadn’t taken over the shop below our shared apartment and turned it into the aromatherapy shop of my dreams.
The owner of the shop and the apartment was waiting for me this morning. We had contracts and rent to discuss. I had not one clue about how I was going to pay rent and get supplies, but the four of us were in this together, and we would make it work somehow.
“Good morning,” Alice said as I stepped onto the floor of the shop, coffee in hand.
The older woman’s curly gray hair fell around her shoulders and down her back in thick, lustrous layers.
She wore a forest-green skirt and light-rust sweater and flip-flops that looked to be made of straw.
Her toes had to be cold. I pulled my sweater, borrowed from Goldie, tighter around my chest.
The shop was old as well, with built-in shelves and cabinets. Apothecary cabinets perfect for keeping herbs and dried flowers and other things organized, lined the wall behind the counter.
I’d found a blank journal on my first tour of the shop, and Alice said I could have it. It came with a pen. Like it was waiting for me to pick it up and make my plans.
Plans were good. Not so good for temporary wishes but for me and my omega side…comforting.
“Good morning.”
“Not having second thoughts, are you, dear? You’re quite pale this morning.”
Augustine stomped down the stairs after me. Made her presence known way before she opened her sarcastic mouth. “She’s always pale. We came to the wrong place for a tan, though.”
I elbowed her in the ribs as she passed me. “Stine,” I warned.
“What? You are. It’s not like it’s a secret. Everybody knows.”
“Let’s get started, then,” Alice said. “I have all the contracts, but everything is negotiable. This used to be a healer’s shop, and it hasn’t been occupied in decades. It will take some cleaning up, and you’ll have to get supplies.”
Her words weighed on me and added to lists I hadn’t written down yet.
“We’ll make it work.” Clover was the next to come down.
This place, if it worked, this run away from our lives, was mostly because of her.
Yes, I was the catalyst because of a silly notion of not wanting to be sold to thugs, but the money backing us?
All Clover. Her trust fund had been released to her only days before our departure.
I would find a way to pay her back, but as I looked around at warped shelves and empty glass displays, I wondered how long that would take. Years.
Goddess, when we came here, it was supposed to be a temporary stop, and now I was opening a business—we were opening a business and renting an apartment, and my friends were making lists of their own on pages torn from my found journal.
Maybe the pages were made with magic and all our wishes would come true.
An omega could hope.
Clover came to stand next to me while Goldie read over the contract.
Alice’s rental agreement was written in perfect cursive, with hand-drawn lines for signatures at the bottom.
Nothing in this place was the least bit modern, and I was kind of in love with it.
A breath of fresh air. I patted my pocket and felt my spirits lift.
My burner phone was upstairs. I hadn’t checked it once.
Everyone that I cared about was right here, surrounding me while we stepped into our new life.
“I want to give you three months with no rent so you can get started,” Alice said.
It was all there in the contract. Goldie showed me.
“You don’t have to do that, Alice. We have the money.”
“Who cares,” the owner and our landlord replied. “I haven’t made a dime off the apartment or the shop in years. Let me do this for you. You’ll need time to get supplies and a new sign. I’ll help by spreading the word. You have your friends to help. Let me do this.”
The four of us shared a look. Clover nodded. Goldie put the contract down and patted it, her own approval. Augustine had picked up a rag from somewhere and was already on dusting duty.
I sighed as the back door opened. I heard it and saw a splice of sunlight draw a line on the dingy floors. A cat, all gray with black socks came in and jumped on top of the counter in front of us.
“Three legs,” Goldie murmured. “Good luck.”
“And not afraid of our wolves,” I added. That was interesting. Cats usually kept their distance from us.
“She’s right. Divina has always been a good luck charm for me. And others, I’ve heard. So, what do you say? Do we have a deal?”
Fear pulsed in my chest. It should’ve. Even though we’d all made our decisions that night, I was the firestarter here. If we burned, I’d struck the match. They’d left their lives for me, well, me and other reasons. Our future was on my back, a weight I might never rid myself of.
We had the opportunity to make a life we wanted here, not one given to us or expected of us.
A life worth living.
“Let’s do this.”
We all signed because it felt good that I wasn’t the only one responsible. Alice reached for the contract but paused.
“Oh, Divina, dear, you have something to say?”
The gray cat walked over and swiped one of her black-socked feet through the dust, gathering her ink. She lifted the paw and pressed it to the contract, right next to all of our signatures, and then bounced off the counter with a staccato meow.
“Looks like we’re in this together. Let me know if you need anything from me. You know where to find me, dears.”
Alice and Divina left, each through different doors. “We’re doing this,” I said, my voice shaking.