I walked into the back room and a roar went up. When Bibbi had said “they,” I’d expected my roommates, not everyone who’d sweated out every moment of the last few months with us. The place had expanded to full capacity and they still barely fit.
Hawk walked over and put a glass of wine or something in my hand. Bibbi was right next to me a moment later, smiling and without fisted hands.
“Everyone is so excited about Dread being gone that they insisted on coming over. Nice, right?” She scanned the room as people began to notice my presence.
My stomach dropped.
Was that what they were being told? That it was totally over? I looked around, wondering how I was going to break it to them that it might not hold. We might have a week, or maybe a year, but I believed Lou when he’d said that it could only be temporary.
Oscar beat the crowd on their way over. “Why is the woman of the hour looking so glum?”
“She’s afraid you’re all going to be disappointed because we don’t know how long it’ll last,” Hawk said, standing right beside me. He turned to me to me with a smile that shocked me almost more than what he said next: “They already know. They don’t care. They’re happy anyway.”
Oscar waved a hand in the air. “Are you kidding? Anything is a relief. Plus, you did it once, you’ll do it again.” He shrugged and then topped off my glass with the bottle he was carrying.
“Yes, you will,” Bertha said, walking over with a plate of my favorite pastries heaped up high. “I made these just for you.”
I grabbed one off the top. I mean, as long as they all knew, who was I to ruin the party?
“You got this,” Zab said, squeezing in between Musso and Bertha and stealing a pastry off Bertha’s plate.
“Heard you were pretty damned impressive,” Musso said, and then was pushed out of the way for Zark and the burned beard guy as they all made their way over to thank me.
They all made a hole as Mertie walked over, her hooves clopping on the wood floor.
“Heard you didn’t screw up? Good to hear.” She grinned for a split second. It was the nicest expression she’d ever given me.
“Thanks, Mertie.”
“Don’t let it go to your head,” she said, before walking away. “This place is too damned happy.”
One by one, it seemed like half of Xest made their way over, either congratulating me or thanking me. Even Gillian nodded in my direction from across the room.
Several hours later, I dropped onto the couch, only the housemates left, except for Gillian, who’d left the party early to go check on her shop.
Oscar was playing a game with Zab, who kept losing. For which Hawk and Oscar teased him.
Bertha and Musso were sitting by the fireplace together, shoulder to shoulder, sipping tea and looking like they’d only been dating a week.
Bibbi came and sat down beside me.
“So it’s over—for now, anyway. Are you relieved? Tired? How are you feeling?”
“At this very second?” I took a moment, letting the setting marinate into my soul. It was hard to put a finger on the exact feeling. “I feel warm and gooey, like the center of an apple pie warmed up.”
“You’re happy,” Bibbi said.
“Yeah, I am.” No lies, vague answers, subterfuge—just the unadulterated truth. I was happy.
She smiled. “I’m glad. You deserve it.”
“Only a couple things, or people, left to handle and then maybe we can get back to life for a while.” Life? Here? I wasn’t sure what that was like without something crazy going on, someone hunting me down, or trying to kick me out. What would living here be like when it was peaceful for a spell? Would I stay at the broker building, or should I get another place? The idea of leaving here felt alien to me, but there was no reason to remain. I’d have to wait and see what came. It would be foolish to make any hasty decisions.
“Do you think you’ll stay for a while?” I asked, not wanting to pressure her either way, but I’d come to like the company. I wasn’t sure what had happened to me, but the idea of this place empty made my heart feel like it was chilled. This place was changing me, and as much as I’d resisted it, maybe it was in a good way.
“I don’t know. Maybe for a while, if I’m not in the way?”
“You’re definitely not in the way. None of you are. Hawk made all these additions. It would be a shame to waste them.”
“Do you think he’ll mind?” she asked, her gaze shooting across the room to Hawk, before moving on to settle on Oscar and linger.
“Hawk? Not at all. Oscar might be staying on too, for a while.” He would if I had anything to do with it. The two of them had meddled in my life enough. Only fitting I return the favor a bit if something was brewing.
I’d have to talk to Hawk about that. I glanced in his direction, and his gaze shot to mine, as if he knew the second my attention turned to him. And then it froze there as something warm fizzled in my chest.
Then a puff of smoke entered the room, breaking our connection as it made its way over to me. It shifted into ash next, and then, slowly, parchment, as everyone watched. We all knew what it was, having seen Xazier’s messages before.
The parchment complete, it floated down and dropped onto my lap.
My gooey feeling was hardening. I didn’t want to touch it or read it, but that wasn’t an option.
It would be the last time. I’d meet him and tell him we’d fixed the problem. It would be over. It might ruin this evening, but by tomorrow, I’d wake up without this hanging over my head and be back to gooey pie feelings.
Hawk walked over, waiting for me to open it. “He wants a meeting, I assume.”
I felt Bibbi shifting closer, everyone waiting for the inevitable.
I opened the parchment.
“Yes, he does.”
35
“You don’t need to come with me. I can handle it. You should be resting,” Hawk said, stealing my lines.
“I rested all day and it’s my meeting, remember? The invite was for me.”
He was walking beside me toward the square, and for the first time in a long time, things felt like they were getting back to normal. I hadn’t spotted a grouslie since we started out, and the ever-present feeling of Dread that had plagued Xest was gone. Lou had said that the hill we’d trapped it in might not hold, but I was beginning to feel like everyone else. I was going to enjoy the reprieve and revel in the success we did have.
“After what you did yesterday, most witches wouldn’t be alive.” There was a heavy pause before he added, “I’ve never seen anything like that.”
He spoke in a tone I’d never heard him use, ever.
“Why, Hawk, you sound surprised. I didn’t realize that was possible.”
“I’ve known for a long time you were different, but that was an entirely different level.”
There was that tone again, the one that made my spine feel an inch longer. As much as I wanted to thank him coolly, say something suave and sophisticated, I was afraid to speak. I felt like a dog that had just robbed a cupcake off the counter and gotten away with it. That the golden retriever inside of me would end up doing something goofy, like slobbering all over him for giving me praise.