He caught me close, kissing me again. “I wish I could, but I have an early morning. Maybe tomorrow night, if we can? I just wanted to see you before bed.” He kissed me once more before heading to the door. “You won’t be offended if I eat and run, will you?”
I laughed. “Not at all. Go home and get some rest.”
But as I closed the door, I had a sinking feeling that when the news did come out about Val, it was going to be ugly.
The next morning, I woke when Xi and Klaus decided to bounce on my stomach, both mewing at the top of their lungs.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, pushing myself up against the headboard.
I glanced at the clock. It was only six a.m.—an hour before I had to get up. Both cats curled up on my lap, purring and snuggling close. But something had worked them up, and I wasn’t sure what it was. I yawned, wondering whether I should try for another hour of sleep, or whether to just get up and start the day early. Finally, ten minutes later, I was dressed and ready to head downstairs. I had taken a shower the night before, so I felt clean enough to greet the day.
I glanced out the kitchen window and to my surprise, the snow was standing at a good three inches on the backyard.
“Crap, I wonder if we’re on for today,” I muttered. Even a couple inches of snow could shut down the cities around Puget Sound. The area wasn’t geared for high snowfall, with steep hills in the cities and very few snowplows on call. We didn’t get enough snow on average to prepare for it, and when we did get it, our roads were useless.
I glanced at my texts. Nothing from Tad, yet. I didn’t want to wake him, so decided to text him at seven. Instead, I filled a thermal travel mug with mocha and then, eating one of the leftover cornmeal muffins for breakfast, I headed out back.
I loved snow and decided to explore the backyard. I was slowly getting acquainted with my home again. At first, when I had moved back the month before, I had felt like an intruder, even though I had grown up here. But my parents’ home was now mine, and I was in charge of making decisions about it, and that felt odd.
I made sure my boots were securely tied. They were sturdy leather boots with a non-slip tread on them. As I slowly descended the stairs to the backyard, I could feel the ice crunching under my feet. The enclosed porch had very little snow in it—the snow tended to blow past the house rather than directly at it, but the stairs were slick and covered.
I took a deep breath and the chill air hit my lungs, piercing through to fully wake me up. I wandered across the backyard, drawn to the Mystic Wood that bordered the back of the massive lot. The tree line loomed overhead, and in the early morning, the lingering darkness still blanketed the sky. The snow had stopped, but it was still cold enough that it promised to start in again, the clouds packed so tight that not even a sliver of morning light broke through.
I neared the woodland and stared at the tree line. The Mystic Wood had beckoned me as a child. As an adult, I could feel the energy rumbling off of it and I hesitated, staring into the thicket. A stag and two does emerged from the trees, standing there, staring back at me. They were beautiful, and I began to slowly inch forward, wondering how close I could get. But when I was about twenty paces away, I decided to stop. They were too beautiful and I didn’t want to scare them off. They continued to stare at me, not moving, not startling, and I wondered if they were shifters. But the energy that flowed off of them was that of animal, and I thought that maybe they weren’t scared because they had interacted with other people.
Before I could make another move, they scattered. I glanced around, wondering what had spooked them, then froze. There she was—a figure I hadn’t seen since I was a child. A little girl, golden as the sun, stood there, with a wide innocent smile. But when she saw me, she bared her teeth and they turned into jagged spikes as a wave of anger rushed toward me.
“Rebecca,” I whispered. She had tried to lead me astray once, when I was little. That was the first time I had met Esmara. “What the hell are you still doing here?”
She lives in the thicket, with all the other spirits that crowd the Mystic Wood. Esmara’s voice echoed in my head.
What can I do to get rid of her? She unnerves me.
Find her tree and cut it down. That should take care of her. But I don’t recommend doing so. If you do, you risk incurring the wrath of the nature spirits that inhabit this wood.
Is she one of them?
No, she’s not a nature spirit. She’s an imp—a minor demon. She’s never been human, but she knows how to take the form of humans to draw them in. She feeds on flesh and energy, and it’s been a long, long time since she’s eaten. You can try to exorcise her, but given the nature of the wood, that might just lead to worse problems.
Then I guess I’d better leave her be for now. I straightened. “I know what you are,” I said, staring at the imp. “I’ll make you a deal. You leave me and my land alone, and I won’t come after you.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she hissed at me again, then turned and raced out of sight, vanishing into the undergrowth.
If I take a walk in the woods, can Rebecca attack me?
Oh, my dear, she could attack you anywhere. But I think, now that you are grown, she’ll leave you alone. I could be wrong but she’s vulnerable and weak in the way demons go, and sometimes all it takes is one good boot to kick her kind out. But for now, leave her alone.
I decided it was a good idea to listen to Esmara, and so I turned and headed back toward the house. Walking in the Mystic Wood was a good idea better left for another day. If I brought Killian with me, he would help scare off a number of the beasties. I made my breakfast and a caramel latte, and sat quietly, staring out the kitchen window as the snow started to fall.
Tad said he was in the office, so I decided to try to make my way in.
The drive to work was harrowing, with cars slipping and sliding all over. I slowed down, especially when I came to the intersections, and finally managed to make it to work without skidding off the road or running into anyone. As I entered the office, I saw that there was a note on the desk to ring the bell. I unlocked the inner door and peeked inside.
When I got there, Tad was at his desk, and Hank had made it in, but Caitlin and Wren were nowhere in sight.
“The others snowed in?” I asked, heading over to my desk.
“Right. Caitlin is snowed in—she lives up on a hill and the road’s so slick they’ve closed it off. Wren lives outside the outskirts of town and the plows don’t get out that far. So it’s just us today.” He paused, then asked, “Do you want to stay at work? We can close up shop for the day and go home, so you don’t get stuck if it snows much more.”
“No, as long as we’re here, I might as well get some research done. I’ll leave if it starts to pile up.” I slid out of my coat and hung it up, then pulled off my gloves and blew on my hands. “By the way, I found out where the flowers came from. And you’re not going to like the news.”
“Who left them here?” Hank came over and sat on the edge of my desk as I topped off my latte with a little hot coffee and returned to my seat.
“Val Slater. Tad, you didn’t leave the place unlocked. He mesmerized you and then made you forget he was here. He left the writing on the wall and the flowers. I haven’t told Killian yet because of that incident in the restaurant the other night, so please don’t mention it in front of him until I find a way to broach the subject.”