“Dick can be used in a couple ways with that guy. How the hell did you find him? He was a real gem.”
“Clearly I am too gullible when it comes to online dating.”
“Ah. Yeah, that explains it. Online dating can be a nightmare, I hear. The undesirables can hide their little peccadilloes until they get you in person.” The burly guy stepped sideways, to the very edge of the doorframe, before curving around and looking through. “All clear.” He gave me a thumbs-up. “Guess I don’t need to go borrow a shovel from my neighbor.”
I grinned as I sighed. This town did like to joke about unmarked graves.
“Cool.” I looked around the room. No one moved. “What’s everyone waiting for, then? Does Austin need a cooling-off period or something?”
The guy studied his shoes. “Don’t expect so. He’s pretty clean about taking out the trash. Austin Steele takes care of this stuff all the time.”
“Right.” I nodded, chewing my lip. “Sooo…”
“Jessie, wine’s getting old,” Niamh hollered from within. “It’s turning to sludge before me eyes.”
“Vinegar,” Austin said.
“Sludge, vinegar, whatever. Would ye come on, Jessie? You must be chokin’. Come and get a drink.”
I hooked a thumbs-up at the burly guy, which he probably didn’t see, given he’d returned to studying his shoes, contorted my face in an expression that would have loudly declared my social awkwardness had anyone been looking, and returned to my stool.
Austin waited in front of a thankfully empty seat devoid of a gin and tonic and a guy I hoped to never see again. My wine sat where I’d left it, as did all the abandoned drinks from the people in the pool room.
“Austin, I have to hand it to you,” I said as I hovered behind my stool. “You can really clear a room. You might give them the all-clear, though. They’re just waiting in the other room, not drinking.”
“Here. Jessie, sit next to me. Logan can move.” Niamh pushed the burly guy’s drink away.
“Oh no, I’ll just—”
“It’ll be grand,” Niamh said. “He won’t mind.”
Austin studied me as he switched the positions of my glass and Logan’s beer, again without looking.
“It’s not my all-clear to give,” Austin finally said as Niamh gulped down some cider.
I lifted my eyebrows as I switched seats. “Why? Does this fall on me because I invited Gary here? I said I was sorry when I went in the other room, but the guy—Logan—gave me a weird response.” When they both stayed silent, I put up my hands. “I’m going to be honest, I’m lost. Did I cross a line by inviting a Dick here? Because I figured anyone was allowed in, and I just wanted—”
“You need to allow everyone back in the room,” Austin said in a low, even voice.
“After that,” Niamh said, “let’s chat about exactly how utter shite you are about choosing dates online, because I have to hand it to ye—”
Austin held up his hand, and Niamh’s mouth clicked shut, which meant she must have gotten one of Austin’s whip cracks of power (I’d yet to find anything else that would silence her). Her expression crumpled into a scowl.
“Okay, I realize you mean magically,” I told Austin, “but for the record, I’m still not clear on what’s happening. I don’t know why it’s my job.”
He braced himself against the edge of the bar, his arms flaring with muscle and his eyes fixed on me. “A wave of power swept the bar, urging—no, commanding—everyone to scatter. A magic unlike any I have ever felt called me to arms beside you. Called Niamh. Why Mr. Tom— Damn it.” A vein in his jaw flared as he gritted his teeth. “Why Earl hasn’t come barging in, I don’t know—maybe you kept it localized. It didn’t seem to reach the people on the outskirts of the bar area. Whatever you did, Jess, you had everyone fleeing this space faster than I ever have in my life. They are waiting out there because that is where you put them—out of harm’s way. Out of the action. There they will probably stay until you release your hold.”
The world spun. My head felt light. I blinked into that steady cobalt gaze more than was natural. It was hard to believe him, because I hadn’t felt anything, not a single thing. If I’d used that much magic, wouldn’t I know? A strange pulse had come with the summons.
And then a memory surfaced of my fingers tingling. That was all I’d felt, just anger and tingling fingers. The implications were troubling—if I could pull off magic like that without even trying, without even knowing I was doing anything, what else could I do by mistake?
“Are you positive it was me?” I asked quietly.
“Yes,” he said, just as quietly, comforting. “We’re probably in the most dangerous time for you. I hope we are, at any rate. Unlike mages or shifters or most other magical beings, you didn’t have the benefit of growing slowly into your magic—of learning it by trial and error in relative safety. Instead, you were given a large dose of magic upfront, are steadily working into a huge dose that will possibly trump all other magics in the world, and have zero instruction.”
“She has plenty of instruction—we were talking about this earlier,” Niamh said. “She has a senile vampire who found a magical book among the petunias that he can barely decipher. I’d say that’s her sorted.”
“You are reacting to your surroundings, as you always have,” Austin said, “but now your feelings are manifesting magically. Thankfully, you have a shining character and a good heart, because you sent everyone to safety while you handled what you deemed a threat against you. It’s what I would’ve done. Actually, this situation provided you with some good, low-stakes practice. A greater threat would have yielded a stronger reaction, and given you are not in direct control…”
“Anything could have happened, and we might not have been enough to set it to rights,” Niamh finished.
“And here I was worried about dealing with annoying old dudes and wearing sexy disco-ball dresses,” I murmured.
“You shouldn’t worry about either of those things. One you handled just fine, and the other…” That vein flared again, and Austin pushed back from the bar, his eyes intense.
“Would look absolutely lovely on ye,” Niamh said. “That, or it’d look like a clown suit. But sure, I can see you pulling that off, too. Ye have the jokes for it, like.”
I gave her a flat look. “Thanks.”
“Let them back in, Jess, and we’ll talk about it.” Austin jerked his head at the pool room.
“Sure, yeah, except I have no idea how.”
“Remember how you call Earl when he’s in his stone form?” Austin said. “You just think about what you want from him, right?”
“Ye’ve gotten good at that one.” Niamh pushed her empty glass forward for a refill. “That gobshite is changing in and out all the time these days, wantin’ to fly for this and that. He’s a little too excited, if ye ask me. It’s gone straight to his head and corroded what’s left of his brain.”
“Give them the all-clear, Jess,” Austin said, magic riding his words, a command hidden in their depths.
Instead of wanting to resist, like earlier, I fell into his power and command, letting him guide me. He might not have officially signed up for the alpha role, but he was a master at leading the people in this town. He could curb their behavior or bolster them, depending on what was needed to create a thriving magical society. I could learn a great deal from him, even if I just applied it to the current protectors of Ivy House. Getting Niamh and Mr. Tom to stop bickering would take all of what Austin knew, I was pretty sure.
I was lucky to have him for leadership, Niamh for battle strategy, Edgar for hunting lessons (I’d insisted he stick to theory) and reading that book’s instructions, and Mr. Tom for managing the house (and me) and teaching me close combat. That was a great start, but I still needed someone who knew something, anything about the practical application of my magic. Someone who could guide me to use it in increments—like the people who’d grown up with magic had learned to use their abilities. And I needed a safe place in which to learn, away from a bar full of people I, thankfully, hadn’t harmed this time, because in the future I might not get so lucky.
I’d always been a quick study. I was confident that with a little more insight and hands-on instruction, I could really roll with this thing. I would really roll with it. I’d stomp on the Garys of the world, I’d wear disco dresses with confidence, and I’d handle my magic like a champ.
Like I said, goals.
A blast of magic concussed the air and flowed out of me like a wave, rolling out of the bar and across the town and beyond, spreading out like the magical force from earlier. This one felt a little different, but I knew it was doing the same as the last. Summoning aid.
“Ah, Christ, she’s after doin’ it again.” Niamh shook her head. “Don’t tell Earl, or he’ll moan something awful.”
“He would’ve felt that,” Austin said, his expression grim.
Those in the pool room started returning to the bar. At least I’d managed that bit.
“Yeah, I s’pose,” Niamh replied. “Austin Steele, soon we’re going to get visitors. Lord only knows what kind.” She tapped her empty glass. “Get me a whiskey, will ya? I’m goin’ta get pissed. No need to face the future sober.”
6
Austin sat in his Jeep at the curb in front of Ivy House, staring straight ahead with his hands on the wheel, his knuckles white. He’d gotten as far as shutting off the engine.
He’d sworn he would never answer a magical summons from this house.
And there’d been many of them since the house had claimed him as one of its protectors. He’d ignored every single one. It didn’t matter how strong they were: if they were beating, or throbbing, or pulsing deeply within him, he’d shouldered his resolve and resisted the pull.