Light filtered in as the coverings were pulled away.
Disoriented, I blinked and took in the shelves lined with jars and bundles, their handwritten labels curling at the edges. Dried flowers hung from the ceiling beams like scented chandeliers, and a polished wooden counter stood at the back, behind which stood a man I recognized instantly.
“Mr. Calder,” I whispered.
A grey streak ran through his dark hair now, and faint lines bracketed his eyes, but otherwise he was the same as I remembered.
His mouth twitched into a small smile, until his expression sobered at the sight of my scarred skin and flimsy dress.
A flash of white fluttered above him as his cockatoo familiar stretched her wings, blinking at me with the same pity and worry.
“Well,” Calder said quietly, already locking the door and drawing the shades. “I would say it’s good to see you again, but…”
My knees buckled, and he caught me before I hit the floor, guiding me toward a chair near the back, where a kettle already steamed. Ember wriggled free and immediately disappeared beneath a worktable, tail flicking in annoyance.
He stopped me as I opened my mouth. “I don’t need any details,” Calder said, setting a mug into my shaking hands. “And I don’t want them. The less I know, the better. For both of us.”
I nodded, tears finally spilling over, splashing into the tea.
He then turned, already reaching for a charm on the table. Crushing it between his fingers in a puff of sparked smoke, the sharp scent of witch magic ignited the fire inside of me I thought Victor had effectively put out.
Was this all a dream? It hardly felt real.
Calder leaned against the counter, eyes flicking briefly toward the locked door, then back to me, when suddenly the mirror behind him clouded. A voice came through, strong and low.
“Vale.”
“She’s here,” Calder replied, eyes still on me.
There was a brief, charged pause before she responded.
“I’m on my way,” the voice said, and the mirror cleared.
My body was still on high alert, but I forced myself to sag back into the chair, if just for a moment of reprieve.
“Am I really getting out of here?” I asked, my lips trembling.
His familiar squawked and hopped from the perch to the counter to my knee, spreading her wings and bobbing her head. I reached out with a small smile, scratching her back.
Calder watched us. “That’s the plan. Hecara didn’t make us to survive on our own, you know,” he replied softly. “We’ll always help each other, especially when one of us is in trouble.”
28
The Code for a New Life
The woman arrived not long after Calder summoned her, her dark hair wind-swept from her broom ride and threaded with silver-white strands. She moved with the quiet authority of an alpha, warm and protective in a way Victor never had been. The kind of witch who didn’t need to remind you she was an alpha, because it was obvious from the moment you saw her.
Her gaze swept the room, taking in every detail until she landed on me. She assessed me quickly without comment and then started to move again.
“Car?” she asked, grabbing as many scent-blocking and altering charms from his shelves as she could find and stuffing them in her purse. Her crow familiar sailed through the shop, dropping runics to cover the cost on the counter.
He pointed behind him. “White Goblin in the back. Keys are in the ignition.”
She snapped her fingers at me, and I stood at attention, nearly dropping my empty mug. “Yes, alpha.”
The words came out of me automatically, programmed by years of conditioning from Victor. Only now, there wasn’t a hint of sarcasm in my tone.
Shetsked, but the small admonishment was tempered by a teasing smile. “I’m not that kind of alpha,omega.”
