“If only there were a way to really find out,” he said, deciding to get a little revenge. “We could just gaze into a crystal ball and know for sure. Like magic.”
Niamh choked.
“What could be possible with a talent like that?” he asked. “How invaluable to have in your corner.”
“If such a thing existed,” Siobhan said firmly.
Cat wasn’t laughing anymore; her eyes promised retribution as a shrill ringing sounded through the house, and Siobhan flew out of the room.
“You have a landline?” he asked, gobsmacked.
“Yeah?”
“I didn’t know they did that anymore. Just for audio calls?” The idea of an entire wired network just to hear each other’s voices in real time seemed like an incredible waste of infrastructure.
Siobhan stomped back before they could say anything else and looked at her sister with wide eyes. “We have to go. We all have to go.”
“Why?” Niamh asked.
“Because there’s been a sighting.”
“The yeti?” Mateo asked. He grinned at his own joke, but no one else laughed, and he cleared his throat. “I mean, with all the snow.”
“There is a possible olf-way near the op-shay,” Siobhan said through gritted teeth.
“An ulffy?” Niamh said, completely confused.
“A wolf near the shop!” Siobhan shouted.
“Oh no!” Mateo said. “Shall I call animal control?”
Cat jumped up. “They are animal control. Annie! Everybody! Out of the house!”
They ran for the front door, and Siobhan glanced back at Cat. “You coming?”
“I can’t leave him in the house! I’ll finish up and then get the woods to the north.”
Siobhan grabbed a crossbow and stuffed it into a large wicker shopping bag before heading out the door. Mateo fought the urge to call Nico and tell him to watch his tail. He’d only insult the wolf.
Two other younger women joined them, though they did not arm themselves.
“Did anybodyseethe wolf?” the younger woman with strawberry blonde hair asked, looking worried.
“He isn’t blond, Annie,” Cat said, and Mateo frowned at that non sequitur. How did she know? He let it go. Nico could worry about his own hair, too.
The witches trooped out, and the house went quiet around them except for a slight creaking in the wind. He looked at Cat, this woman whose life was so much stranger than he ever imagined, who he’d been willing to give up everything for.
“We didn’t say goodbye,” he said, which was not the grand speech he had planned to make at all. “So, um, goodbye.”
“That’s what you risked life and limb and one of your wolves to tell me?” she asked softly. Her eyes seemed to glow as they met his.
“Yes,” he said, even as he shook his head.
“What did you want to say to me?”
What seemed so simple in a cabin in the snow was now about as likely as a minuscule amount of coffee calming him down. “Thank you for saving my life.”
“Thank you for saving the kids,” she countered.
