up a hand for writing in a book. “I’m not doing anything sensitive yet, and I’m sure you want to sit.”
Rylie flushed and settled herself on the bottom step.
“I don’t think we were ever introduced,” she said. “I’m Rylie.”
“Nice to meet you, Rylie. My name is James.”
“Um…” She bit her bottom lip and tried to think of a nice way to phrase her next question. When she couldn’t come up with anything, she just asked, “What are you?”
“I’m a witch, much like Stephanie and Scott, although their abilities in magic are a far cry from mine.” He said it matter-of-factly, like he was stating an obvious truth rather than bragging. His irises were a very pale shade of blue, and she felt very uncomfortable when that gaze was directed on her. “What are you ?”
She focused on her feet. “I’m a werewolf.”
“Oh? Then you must be the Alpha.”
That was usually the point that people started acting weird around her, or too respectful, or even scared. But James returned to drawing the circle as if being an Alpha wasn’t interesting enough to suffice as a conversation starter.
He sprinkled the herbs he had been grinding on the floor. Then he painted swirly, looping lines from one side of the cellar to the other, encircling the agates and candles. It was fascinating to watch. Rylie had been stuck in the company of witches a lot lately, but she didn’t get to watch them work very often, and what James did was completely different from the California coven’s idea of magic. He didn’t have any of those creepy pentagrams in his symbols at all. In fact, she didn’t recognize anything he drew.
When he filled one entire quadrant of the room outside the circle, he set down the brush and joined her on the stairs. He smelled weird. Like sunshine and fertile soil and clean laundry hanging on the clothesline.
She edged away from him.
“I think that’s all I can do this morning,” James said, seemingly oblivious to her discomfort. “I’m out of ink, but I’ll have to wait for the Union to leave so I can prepare more.”
“Why are you hiding from them?”
“I’m on the very long list of people that the Union doesn’t like. Frankly, I think that list is much longer than their list of allies, so it’s really nothing worth getting excited about.”
His casual tone only made Rylie more suspicious. Had he killed someone?
She inched as far to the right side of the stairs as possible without falling off.
“How do you know Stephanie?” Rylie asked, just to change the subject.
“She’s my ex-girlfriend.” That wasn’t the answer that Rylie had expected. Stephanie seemed like the kind of person who would be married to her job. James noticed her surprise and chuckled. “She’s as wonderful a person as she is a doctor. I know that’s probably hard to see. She can be hostile at times.”
“Oh, no, I know that she’s great. I couldn’t do this without her.” Rylie pressed her palm against the side of her stomach. One of the babies kicked her hand.
“When are you due?”
“Um…Stephanie says early August, but she also said that twins often come prematurely, so…I don’t know. I guess it could be just about any time this summer.”
“Twins? Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” Rylie said, even though she still wasn’t one hundred percent certain that it was something she wanted to be congratulated for.
The babies started kicking harder, like they knew that people were talking about them. She could feel them tumbling around her navel. Rylie imagined them attacking each other and play-fighting like werewolves on a full moon.
They bumped around hard enough that her stomach visibly twitched. James watched intently. “May I…?”
She realized that he was asking to touch her stomach. It wasn’t an unusual request, but she eyed his gloved hands and felt the strong impulse to refuse. But the awkwardness factor of refusal beat out her unease. Reluctantly, Rylie nodded.
He pressed
Rylie flushed and settled herself on the bottom step.
“I don’t think we were ever introduced,” she said. “I’m Rylie.”
“Nice to meet you, Rylie. My name is James.”
“Um…” She bit her bottom lip and tried to think of a nice way to phrase her next question. When she couldn’t come up with anything, she just asked, “What are you?”
“I’m a witch, much like Stephanie and Scott, although their abilities in magic are a far cry from mine.” He said it matter-of-factly, like he was stating an obvious truth rather than bragging. His irises were a very pale shade of blue, and she felt very uncomfortable when that gaze was directed on her. “What are you ?”
She focused on her feet. “I’m a werewolf.”
“Oh? Then you must be the Alpha.”
That was usually the point that people started acting weird around her, or too respectful, or even scared. But James returned to drawing the circle as if being an Alpha wasn’t interesting enough to suffice as a conversation starter.
He sprinkled the herbs he had been grinding on the floor. Then he painted swirly, looping lines from one side of the cellar to the other, encircling the agates and candles. It was fascinating to watch. Rylie had been stuck in the company of witches a lot lately, but she didn’t get to watch them work very often, and what James did was completely different from the California coven’s idea of magic. He didn’t have any of those creepy pentagrams in his symbols at all. In fact, she didn’t recognize anything he drew.
When he filled one entire quadrant of the room outside the circle, he set down the brush and joined her on the stairs. He smelled weird. Like sunshine and fertile soil and clean laundry hanging on the clothesline.
She edged away from him.
“I think that’s all I can do this morning,” James said, seemingly oblivious to her discomfort. “I’m out of ink, but I’ll have to wait for the Union to leave so I can prepare more.”
“Why are you hiding from them?”
“I’m on the very long list of people that the Union doesn’t like. Frankly, I think that list is much longer than their list of allies, so it’s really nothing worth getting excited about.”
His casual tone only made Rylie more suspicious. Had he killed someone?
She inched as far to the right side of the stairs as possible without falling off.
“How do you know Stephanie?” Rylie asked, just to change the subject.
“She’s my ex-girlfriend.” That wasn’t the answer that Rylie had expected. Stephanie seemed like the kind of person who would be married to her job. James noticed her surprise and chuckled. “She’s as wonderful a person as she is a doctor. I know that’s probably hard to see. She can be hostile at times.”
“Oh, no, I know that she’s great. I couldn’t do this without her.” Rylie pressed her palm against the side of her stomach. One of the babies kicked her hand.
“When are you due?”
“Um…Stephanie says early August, but she also said that twins often come prematurely, so…I don’t know. I guess it could be just about any time this summer.”
“Twins? Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” Rylie said, even though she still wasn’t one hundred percent certain that it was something she wanted to be congratulated for.
The babies started kicking harder, like they knew that people were talking about them. She could feel them tumbling around her navel. Rylie imagined them attacking each other and play-fighting like werewolves on a full moon.
They bumped around hard enough that her stomach visibly twitched. James watched intently. “May I…?”
She realized that he was asking to touch her stomach. It wasn’t an unusual request, but she eyed his gloved hands and felt the strong impulse to refuse. But the awkwardness factor of refusal beat out her unease. Reluctantly, Rylie nodded.
He pressed
Similar Books
