‘Do you want to leave?’
‘No,’ I told him. ‘I should stay, just in case.’
‘So there is something—’
There was an anxious question in his voice but he stopped himself, raising his chin with confidence.
‘I’m not worried, I know you can handle it, whatever it is.’
His words made me feel both better and worse. It was nice to know he was so certain but what if his confidence was misplaced?
‘There’s something – someone – here,’ I said, keeping my voice as soft and unbothered as I could. ‘Someone with magic. It took me by surprise, is all.’
‘Your grandmother?’ he suggested.
‘No. Definitely not. But if I can sense them, they can almost certainly sense me.’
Now the shock had worn off, I was more curious than anything. It was strange, an unknown energy, nothing I’d ever felt before, but the thought of meeting another witch or magical creature was beyond exciting. I’d seen what they could do, not what theywoulddo. There was every chance they would be ten times more afraid of me than I was of them. And not without reason.
‘No one is going to mess with Savannah’s legendary super witch.’ Jackson’s lips twitched with a smile. ‘Even if they did,they’d have to get through her useless but dedicated sidekick first.’
‘You’re no one’s sidekick, useless or otherwise,’ I told him, meaning every word. ‘You’re the definition of main character.’
‘Hmm, I don’t know about that,’ he replied. ‘Doesn’t the main character usually get the girl?’
His shoulder blades squeezed together under the thin fabric of his shirt; the white cotton contrasted against his gorgeous brown skin. When he dipped his head to let the looser curls on top fall forward, I noticed how much his hair had grown out in the last month; the colour at the ends had been lifted by the relentless sun, but the sides were still tight in a flawless fade that looked freshly done. Jackson definitely wasn’t letting his sister cut his hair. Unlike me. He tilted his head to squint in my direction.
‘I’m joking, I’m joking,’ he said when I didn’t reply. ‘I know you and Wyn are fated mates or whatever.’
‘Fated mates? Have you been raiding Lydia’s fantasy bookshelf?’
‘No, but she introduced me to the concept. Didn’t shoot my shot when I had the chance, wasn’t meant to be. I might not know much about magic, but I do know you can’t fight fate.’
‘That’s what I hear,’ I said, too brightly. ‘Although, whoever the Fates are, I would like to have a word with them.’
‘He’s doing OK, though?’ Jackson asked, looking at me through squinting eyes. ‘Wyn, I mean?’
The smile on my face did not match the tumble of emotion I felt in the pit of my stomach.
‘Doing great. Fantastic actually.’
‘That’s good.’ He pinched his shoulders up around his ears and my too-big smile faded by a fraction. ‘Only, Lyds said you hadn’t heard from him in a while. I figured he’d have been back by now.’
I didn’t have an answer. Lydia was correct and to be honest, I’d figured the same. Jackson looked down at the ground while I raised my eyes to the sky to see the full moon peering down, quietly keeping an eye on us. Spying. I felt a tug around my heart and a small gasp slipped through my lips. The invisible string that kept me connected to Wyn, the one that had nothing to do with magic and everything to do with love. I clutched the railing to keep myself upright as the sensation rolled through, sweeping me hundreds of miles away from Savannah to where he was, out in the woods, lost in the smell of earth, moss and mud, bowed down on hands and knees. He was thinking of me right as his phase took hold, sharing the moment with me, the apprehension and the anticipation. When he lifted his head, I saw through his eyes. Wolves. Wolves everywhere. But I wasn’t afraid. Wyn wasn’t afraid. Any fear in his heart melted away, replaced by a sense of purpose and exhilaration. Suddenly, he threw his head back to release an ear-splitting howl as the wolf took over.
And then he disappeared.
‘Emily?’
Jackson grabbed my forearms as I returned to myself, to the DeSoto. I looked over at him, dazed, displaced. It was the first time I’d lost track of Wyn since he left Savannah and I was completely unmoored.
‘It’s OK—’ I started, but he wasn’t going to take my word for it this time.
‘So help me, if you say you’re fine one more time, I think I’m going to scream,’ he said. ‘Tell me what you saw.’
He truly looked as though he wanted to help, just like his sister, only Lydia wanted to run toward the magic, while Jackson wanted to run away from it.
‘Wyn.’ I nodded up toward the sky. ‘The moon just peaked. His pack is in its phase.’
