It had been weeks since that terrible heat, since he’d come to her on his own, helping her get through it, keeping her close every night. They’d made plans for her escape, and she told him about her childhood, told him about the dance classes she loved and how she wanted to fly again. And all along, all through the days and nights as they made their plans, she’d felt a familiar weight settle around her wrists and ankles, tendrils of shadow, spools of him, keeping her close.
She didn’t know if he’d been with her all along, or if he’d caught up somehow — catching her at dawn, maybe, when the light was low and shadows were long, easy for him to slip through. It didn’t matter when, for he was here now.A new start.
He stayed wrapped around her leg as she debarked and left the bus station, following the directions on her phone until she arrived at another transit depot, boarding the small light rail train that would take her to her new home.
“Welcome to Cambric Creek,” she narrated as the train whizzed past a sign, about twenty minutes into their high-speed journey. She had never felt so light, so weightless, so impossibly free. “This is it, shadow man. A new beginning.”
“A fresh start,” he agreed, his voice a whisper at her neck. “I have the number you’re supposed to call when you arrive,” he murmured. “They’ll pick you up and take you to the house.”
“And what about you, Lux?” she murmured against the glass of the window. “Are you moving on? Or are you ready for a fresh start too?”
The train pulled into the station with a hiss, the hydraulic doors opening, and the dozen or so passengers aboard spillingout, an array of minotaurs and lizard folk and goblins. Jude stepped out of the car, dodging out of the way of trolls in school uniforms, heads bent with their eyes glued to their phone screens, and waved to a small orc in a stroller, being pushed by its mother, who chatted with a fox-eared woman, five luxurious-looking tails swishing behind her. She’d never seen so many species together at one time.Trapp was right. This is a nice place. Lux had not answered her, she realized as she gawked at the passersby, turning once another entourage of teenagers had passed.
“Well?”
“I don’t want to hold you back, princess. I don’t want you to keep from living the life you should because of me.”
“That’s not going to happen,” she shot back. “And if-if either of us changes our mind, the other can walk away. But Iwantthis. I’ve never had anyone who cared about me. Do you realize that? No one. Until you. An invisible bodyguard.”
“Private security,” he huffed, and she grinned through the tears that burned at her eyes.
“I want a fresh start, Lux. I want to do all the things I only ever dreamed of doing. I used to hope one day I’d wake up with someone else’s life. It kinda feels like I have it now. And I want you to be there. I want to leave the house every morning and know that someone is waiting for me somewhere.”
It took him a long time to answer. She considered what she’d do if he said no, her heart folding like the petals of a flower.Turn on a dime. Make the best of the dregs you’re given. Happiness is for other people.
“I think . . . we could both use a fresh start.”
The whole world seemed to sway as she looked up, holding her breath.
“If this is where you want to stay, little wolf . . .then this is where we stay. I’ll follow wherever you lead.”
Her tears broke, tracking down her cheeks, but Jude had never felt quite so light. She’d never been in charge of anything before, had never been the leader, had never been trusted enough for that. Now though, Jude beamed at the thought.
“I know I’m supposed to call the number, but there’s somewhere I want to go first. They’re going to put me in seclusion in a few days and we might not get the chance until next month. Come on, he said it’s right off of Main Street.”
The entire downtown area was walkable, she realized. A long, green park was ringed in trees and municipal lots, a giant loop of old-fashioned buildings housing boutiques and restaurants everywhere she turned. They turned down the wrong street several times before she asked a petite goblin for directions to the tea shop.
The bell above the door sounded more like a clang, and as she stepped over the threshold, a small tufted-eared cat leapt from a cushion, meowing at her and bumping her ankles. The dining room was dimly lit, cleverly placed bookshelves forming long shadows across the floor. She realized after a few moments that the cat was attempting to shepherd her away from the doorway, nudging her until she followed it past a long bookshelf, to a small table next to what appeared to be a taxidermied duck with eagle wings. When the cat turned, continuing to vocalize at the air, Jude realized it was attempting to seat Lux as well.
“It can see you! Holy shit, that’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. The cat is the hostess!”
“I don’t think I like cats that can see me,” he grumbled, his form solidifying before her, inky black and towering tall, shrinking himself down to an adequate height to sit comfortably in the small chair across from her.
The table before them contained a tarot deck and a template for three card spread was inlaid in the enamel tabletop. The entire shop was crowded with bookshelves and books on thefloor in twisting towers. The shelf beside their table held a small bowl of incense, a gong, a small pile of animal skulls artfully arranged under a glass dome, and a severed ear, mounted on a small golden plaque. The table across the aisle from them was a spirit board, and the one before that a roll of parchment with a quill. The entire atmosphere of the shop was cramped and cozy, interesting and esoteric, and Jude was delighted
“Oh, this issocool, that werewolf is crazy. I love this!”
She took up the deck, shuffling it several times before spreading it before Lux. She giggled at the world-weary sigh he gave her, reluctantly pulling three cards from the spread and setting them in his own template. When she did the same, a small gong sounded from the shelf beside their table. She felt the weight of eyes on the back of her neck, the creeping sensation that someone was standing over her, and across the table Lux’s form rippled.
“I do apologize,” a voice melted from the shadows beside her. “I do think you ought to pull another draw. There were some children in here earlier, and they were playing with the deck. Two cards in reverse won’t lend itself to a very good brew.”
When the shadow beside her shifted, Jude barely reacted. She’d grown accustomed to such things, after all.
“It’s not often I meet others of my kind. I don’t usually approach tables, it sort of ruins the effect here, but I couldn’t resist saying hello. Are you two visiting? Or are you new to town?”
“We’re new,” she answered for both of them, her eyes starting to Lux. “We’ve only just arrived this morning, but we were told about this tea room, and I couldn’t resist checking it out.”
The shadow beside her fluffed out, chuffed over the recommendation.
