Twilight Siege

6

“Thank you so much for coming,” I offered with a warm hug. “I’m glad to help. I love your place, I’m so jealous.” Cat was twenty and still stuck living at home with an over-protective mother. Her family was part of a long line of druids who had been living in secrecy for centuries after the Wild Hunt had attempted to eradicate all humans who had knowledge of the Fae. Her mother had good reason to worry but it strained their relationship. “Thanks. It’s nothing fancy but it works great for me. Not much longer and you’ll have a place of your own.” She set her coat over the back of the couch and looked around my small living area. “Hopefully, otherwise I’m going to end up killing the old cow.” I snickered on a cough. “Whatever, you know you love her. What did you bring?” I pointed toward the plastic sack she held dangling from her hands as I encouraged her to have a seat on the couch with me. “Well, I wasn’t sure exactly what type of spells you were looking for, so I brought this as an option.” “Great, tell me about it.” “The first thing we do is ward the home against any Fae entering the building.” Oh crap! I didn’t want to ward the apartment against myself but I wasn’t ready to tell her that I was well on my way to becoming Fae. Not to mention I had a brownie living in the place and I didn’t feel a need to kick him out of his home. “I really hate to create such a broad spell—what if I want to have Lochlan in my house or something? Is there a more generalized spell?” She looked at me for a brief moment with raised brows before responding. “I’ve got two different broad protection spells—one uses these ashes I brought, the other will involve wards on the threshold.” “That sounds good. How exactly do they protect?” “They should stop anyone who wishes you harm from entering your home. I’m hoping the ashes work all right, they’re a bit old but should do the trick.” “That sounds perfect, Cat, that’s exactly what I was hoping for—let’s get this party started.” We spent the next hour laying ashes, drawing protection runes, and saying charms over both to activate the magic. Even if my good senses failed me and I tried to let in someone dangerous, I was hoping that the magic would act as a security net and repel anyone who wished to do me harm. As Cat was gathering her things an idea occurred to me. “Hey Cat, I was supposed to go on a weekend tour of Northern Ireland this weekend with my parents but they ended up having to cut their trip short—any chance you’re interested in coming with me instead? All the reservations are already made and the hotel had to be paid in advance, plus I could really use the getaway.” “That sounds amazing, I’d love to go! When do we leave?” I let out a chuckle at her enthusiasm. “First thing Saturday morning give me your address and I’ll swing by and get you on my way out of town.” She whipped out her phone and began typing. “Address sent—I’ll be ready bright and early!” I made sure Cat knew how grateful I was for her help and told her to text me when she got home so that I would know she arrived safely. Once she was gone, I shot a quick text to my best friend Ashley. She had stayed with me the first two weeks after I moved to Belfast and she had shared in my journey of learning about the Fae. I hadn’t been thrilled about her being involved since the Fae were dangerous. She had been injured when we were attacked by a Shadow Fae and was still in a full arm cast from the incident. I was relieved when she had returned home, somewhat begrudgingly, to New York. Since then I had kept most of my Fae dealings a secret to keep her out of danger. I wouldn’t put it past her to jump on a plane if she thought I needed her help. I didn’t get an immediate response from Ash, but I did get a text from Cat saying she had made it home. I crawled upstairs after my long day and curled up in bed, hoping I wouldn’t be plagued by one of my frequent nightmares. OceanofPDF.com 3 After work Friday, I had dinner with my parents before Lochlan was scheduled to stop by. When my Mom told me they were going to visit I had tried half-heartedly to keep them from coming. If I had been adamant that they not come, they would have been concerned about why I didn’t want them to visit, but they also would have stayed in Texas where it was safe. At that point, I was still struggling to comprehend the changes in my life, and I had allowed my common sense to be overruled by my childish desire to have my parents near me. It had been two weeks since that phone conversation and so much had happened in that short amount of time. I now recognized that the dangers in Belfast were all too real, and having my parents present was a risk I was unwilling to take. I adored my parents and would have loved to have spent more time with them, but it was safer for them to go. I tried to sear every one of my mom’s smiles and all of my dad’s anecdotes into my memory to keep with me in the days ahead. My eyes welled with tears as I watched my parents’ eyes glaze over from Lochlan’s magically laced words. We booked them tickets for the following morning and Lochlan wove a story about them needing to get home for an unexpected work deadline. I was relieved to see them go but that didn’t mean I didn’t cry as I fell asleep that night. Saturday morning I bumbled around my room throwing together an overnight bag for my weekend with Cat. Between work and sending off my parents, I hadn’t taken the time to pack. I had texted her that I would be there around eight and I had yet to pick up the rental car so I was never going to make it on time. I made sure to leave out some crackers and a few grapes for the brownie before I locked up and hurried to catch a cab to the rental car place. The reservation had been in my mom’s name, but the teenage clerk let me pick up the car on her behalf and I made it to Cat’s place just after eight-fifteen. “You Europeans and your clown cars—I’m five-four but I feel like a giraffe squeezing into this thing,” I grumbled as Cat situated herself in the passenger side.