Page 10 of January Blues
After the spell, I’d sat just wondering if this was my family trying to get rid of the black mark in their otherwise spotless life. There was no proof they were anywhere near Northarbor, though. They seemed to be perfectly happy wherever they had settled. I hadn’t been told where they had gone because no one wanted me to risk further rejection by contacting them and being rebuffed. If they were in the area, they would have to report to Poppy, just like the shifters reported to the nearest pack or pride, whatever was in their area for pass through rights.
“It’ll be okay, Cody. I’ll protect you.” Damon had held my hand sweetly, trying desperately to reassure me.
“I wish it was that easy. You can’t fight against magic.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to speak to the coven?”
“I’m sure. What if it’s one of them? Right now, only Zinna, Oak, and Poppy know about my magic. No one else was watching the blessing when it came to me. I think they all expected Zinna to do it for me, anyway. I made them swear not to say a word until I could figure it out.”
“Won’t you seem different to those with super senses? Like witches can sense other witches and shifters can scent the magic on you.”
“Maybe, but I’ve always registered as a witch. I’ve just never had the power to back that up.”
I’d gone days at work without my new magic causing a stir. No one had registered anything different with me aside from the dark circles under my eyes that were growing more pronounced.
Now that I’d successfully woken, I messaged Damon to tell him I was okay. I checked my reflection on my way to the shower, relieved to see that I was looking more like myself. I caught a glimpse of a shadow and frowned. Remembering it was all just magic helped me deal with it, but it still creeped me out.
I dressed with extra care. During my lunch break, I was heading to the orphanage to discuss funding with their board. There had been another shortfall in the cash flow. I’d plugged the gap with my money as best as I could, but this promotion was sure to help them long term. I knew Mars Acquisitions had pet charities they provided regular funding boosts to. With my new position, I’d be in the best place to influence future charity donations got to the right places, namely the orphanage and the soup kitchen I volunteered at.
After work, if my luck held, I was going to do a shift at the kitchen. I’d missed the regular faces and there were one or two people I wanted to check in with. This time of year, with the biting cold, was especially hard on the unhoused, though there were many families with lower incomes that struggled to heat their homes and eat. That was when the kitchen was useful.
Before I left my studio, I checked over the spell in the grimoire again, confident on the back of the sleep spell that I could pull this off. I drew on my well, gasping to find it deeper than the day before. With a few muttered words and complicated hand gestures, I drew the magic into the charcoal and etched the symbols on the doorframe. With a final push of magic, the glyphs glowed a magenta color and vanished. I ran my fingers through the air above the doorway, using my senses to feel the power there.
My new wards were perfect. Better than before. I had no idea what they had done to me. Whoever was after me must have caused this. All I knew was I didn’t care. This rocked.
January 14th-16th
Toth
Thiswasn’tworking.Iwas shadowing Cody every moment of the day where I could. At night, I was creeping past his broken wards to infect his dreams, yet that didn’t seem to affect him at all. He’d wake a little earlier each day, meditate, then go to work like nothing had happened to him. All kinds of “accidents” occurred around him daily, missed deadlines, slips and spills, missing paperwork. Somehow he came through them with a smile and apology and nothing was done. His bosses still adored him. It was almost like he’d charmed them.
Cody didn’t have magic. Or at least what little magic he had was undetectable. However, there was something very different about him. I’d felt it when I’d touched his hand that first day we’d “met”. A zing of something had passed from him to me, unnoticed by Cody. That thing was growing as the weeks passed.
I’d lingered over the feeling as the days went by without any real progress toward Austin’s goal. Cody was fine. He was handling everything that we were throwing at him. Frustrating. It was time for something else.
I’d gone to his apartment the other day to try another, stronger, dream, but had found my way blocked.
His wards were up.
There hadn’t been anyone else in his apartment building aside from his human friend, Damon, who was a regular visitor at his place. I had wondered if there was something between the pair, but the scent of sex was missing from Cody’s floor, and Damon regularly frequented bars without Cody. It was an odd relief to figure out that. I didn’t look at that feeling too closely. I was strictly in denial about my growing feelings for Cody Valentine.
Some digging had unearthed that Damon was the hitman Austin had hired. Unfortunately for Austin and luckily for Cody, Damon was one of the best in his line of work and held tight to a strict code of conduct. They had been close friends since their first meeting. Only Cody could charm a hitman into being his best friend. It created a problem for me, though.
Damon was a complication I hadn’t factored into my task. The man spent a lot of time with my target, making it more difficult for me to get close, undetected. I didn’t have it in me to hate the man. He was unlike most humans. Despite his career, he was principled. Unlike most humans, he was loyal. I briefly considered using him to get to Cody, but couldn’t bring myself to harm the one relationship that Cody seemed to have.
Cody. His name lingered in my mind. He was different from what I thought he would be. I already knew that Cody was somehow managing to see me while I was using magic to cloak myself. Using a lot of magic here was exhausting and I was always hungry. I just couldn’t keep this up long term. Cody wasn’t breaking, and with the wards now in place, he had magic on his side. It would take too much energy to continually break them. Also it was likely that he would be alerted if I did break them, getting me caught.
Time to face the music. I’d spent the last few days thinking myself into a headache as I mulled over the situation. I was more of an action demon. Plotting made me cranky. Okay, crankier. The problem was that the days of January were running down far too quickly for my liking, leaving me with no time to think of another way. Now, with this change in Cody—because there was a fundamental change in him—there was no chance that I could enact the original plan that Austin wanted. Not if what I suspected was true and he hadn’t just used a potion or something. If Cody had magic…
To ensure no punishment for my failures, I’d contacted Basil to update him on the situation. Bashing my head against a wall would have been more useful. Once I got out of this mess, I was going to hire Damon to take Basil out, or at least advise Damon of where the hit originated.
I could feel my contract’s end slipping out of my hands with every day that passed. As much as I liked Cody—he truly was rare among his kind—it was five years more of this torture, or him. I didn’t want to harm him in any way. I truly was conflicted about it.
If only there was a way to protect Cody and gain my freedom without pushing my contract onto someone else.
“Austin, it isn’t working. It’s time for the back-up plan,” I told him firmly as I entered his office that afternoon.
“You seem far too keen on this idea. Do you like the idea of breaking the guy’s heart?” I glared at how loudly he was talking. Thankfully, most of the office was on lunch. Cody was in his office on the other side of the floor. I could see his dark hair as he studied something with an uncharacteristic frown.
