Page 17

“Ray of Darkness,” I corrected absently as I pulled on my clothes. I still felt like a zombie, but I’d slept really well. Amazingly well. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept that deeply. Give me a few more nights like that, and I’d be a brand-new person.

“My version is ironic. Yours is just depressed. Let’s try to avoid depression and go right to acceptance. Okay?”

I buttoned my shirt and shook my head. “That’s not how the stages of grief work.”

She made a face. “Whatever. Text Ray of Sunshine while I go find those wild things. The second we got home, they beelined it for the trees. I think they’re legitimately obsessed. You should probably do tick checks.”

Another thing to add to my list. But I could take off ironing Clark’s shirts and pressing his pants. I pulled out my phone and saw two missed calls from my husband. I’d slept through that. I needed to change the dial tone. I should call him back so he didn’t get a heads-up before the house sold and the divorce got properly filed. But I didn’t want to.

I went to messages and saved the number printed on the flier to my contacts as ‘Ray of Sunshine.’ Irony was better than depression. I texted him, The lights aren’t working. Is there a power switch we need to turn on?

He responded almost immediately. I’m at work. I’ll send my little brother to show you how to flip the breaker. It’s on the left of the porch.

Thanks.

I felt guilty texting him even something so necessary. Not that I’d ever kiss him again in a million years. He wasn’t my type. And I wasn’t a predator. The idea was laughable. I didn’t look at men and think how I could use them for my own pleasure. It was completely foreign to me. Alcohol was absolutely not okay for me.

I headed for the kitchen to put on a pot of decaf green tea and then started cleaning, top to bottom. I was spraying down the oven with toxic cleaner when a shriek had me running to the front, through the hall and out onto the porch. Standing in front of the house was the purple-haired kid from Sage’s school. He was holding a tool bag and staring at Sage like he was watching a monster.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded, her rage making her green eyes bright, almost glowing. It didn’t help that a wind picked up, blowing her hair around.

“You’re Ray’s brother?” I said, trying to give Sage a warning look, but she wasn’t paying attention to me.

The kid looked from me to her, clearly wary, like he might get hit with a garbage can at any moment. “Yeah. I’m here to flip the breaker. You guys shouldn’t be here. You don’t belong in Hoar House.”

“I don’t belong here? You don’t belong here!” And then Sage threw a flashlight at his head. That was the only way to explain the glowing light flying from her hand to him.

He dodged, like he’d expected to be pelted. The sun was going down, the sky was tinged with blood, so that was probably why I couldn’t tell what he shot back at her. It looked like green lines of light, but that made no sense. Some kind of tazer?

Sage shrieked and convulsed then raised her hands, and this enormous light show flickered at the tips of her fingers then slid down her arms until she held a huge ball of glowing light that looked like it had dark creatures flying inside it. Bats or demons. Something crazy like that.

“Sage, stop it right now!” I ordered, even though whatever she was doing made no sense.

She glanced at me, but the rage in her eyes was beyond rational thought. She turned back to the boy, who was backing up, like he was watching his death coming. She hurled the ball of light at the kid, but Ray of Sunshine leapt between them, raising his hands in a huge rush of flickering energy that took that burst of raw energy and sent it into the ground, leaving a crack of thunder and the air charged with energy that had everyone’s hair floating.

In the silence following that huge crack, I moved. I marched across the yard, grabbed Sage’s arm, and spun her around to face me.

“What do you think you’re doing? We don’t kill people! And we don’t hurt them! And we don’t…” I sputtered while words escaped, incapable of explaining what that I’d just seen.

Her eyes widened then her face went pale. “I didn’t do anything,” she started, frowning at me. “It was just⁠—”

I scowled at her. “Enough lies! You’re marching yourself into the kitchen and finishing scrubbing out the stove. Open the windows so you don’t gas yourself out.”

six

. . .

I spun around to stare at Ray of Sunshine, who looked at me like he wasn’t sure what to do with me. He also had some freaky balls of black energy in his hands, like he was waiting to attack.

I pointed at him. “No. You’re not throwing more of that crap around here. Someone’s going to get seriously hurt, and I am not driving anyone to the emergency room. Show me how to flip the breaker then you can be on your way.” I hesitated before I pushed past him and his pulsing hands to go over to the purple-haired kid. “Hey, are you okay?” I asked, searching his face for signs of damage, but there was just the bruise on his cheekbone from earlier.

He blinked then some of the strain changed to confusion. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” I grabbed his chin and turned his face to look at the cheekbone. “This looks even worse. And when she threw the…at your head, nothing hit you?”

He blinked at me, not trying to pull away, just paralyzed while his eyes filled with terror. “No, ma’am,” he whispered. “I shouldn’t have thrown any spells back at her. I apologize. If the house wants you to live here, you must belong. I just didn’t expect to see Sage.”

I smiled at him while my toes went numb. Spells? Right, because he believed in magic. But if it wasn’t magic, what was it? I took a deep breath and carefully traced over his cheek with my fingers. Pain and agony went through me, leaving me breathless and blinking stars out of my eyes.