Page 77 of Tricky Magic
“You can come back for more,” he said. “You don’t have to make a final choice right now. Grab some food, and let’s go sit.”
She grabbed two more cookies, a small handful of cheese cubes, and some fried things that reminded her of egg rolls. Ros led her toward four cozy chairs at the corner of the porch. Devon sat in one and Sam stood next to him with two drinks in his hand. He handed one to Ellea, and when she took a sip, she was greeted with the same delicious margarita he’d given her on Mabon.
“You need water too,” Ros scolded.
“I drank half a gallon on the way over here.” She looked up to Sam. “Speaking of that, where’s your bathroom?”
“There’s one attached to the kitchen,” he said, pointing to a side door. “You can’t miss it.”
“I’ll show you,” Ros offered.
Ellea arched a brow at him. “I can go by myself, thanks.”
Devon chuckled at her attitude. “Actually, I’ll show you. I have to grab something, anyway.”
Devon led the way into the old house. Everything in it was wide and open, as if it had been built for the many large wolven that peppered the property. Every inch of the walls seemed to be covered in picture frames. Ellea paused at one that caught her eye. The photo was faded and in black and white. Ros, clad in camo, knelt in front of an ancient truck, with Sam next to him. They were both clean shaven with short haircuts. They looked so young, but the timing of the photo…
“What is this?” she asked Devon’s retreating form. He turned and came to where she stood.
He looked at it for a moment and smiled warmly. “Sam and Ros.”
“No shit,” she said, looking up at him. “How long ago was this?”
“Mmm.” He thought for a moment. “1944, in Newhope, after the war.”
“But…” She did the math in her head. “But…wait, how old is Sam?”
“He turned one hundred and five this past summer,” he said as if it was a regular thing. “That’s where they met. They both enlisted, Ros when he was still an old man, and Sam when he was eighteen.”
There was so much Ellea didn’t know about…everything. “I’m going to go pee now and try to find a functioning brain.”
Devon laughed and directed her toward the bathroom. Ellea headed in mindlessly. She had so much to learn about the world and her magic. Why had she never questioned what it was like for other supernaturals? Her earlier accomplishment was now being overshadowed by feeling like an ignorant, sheltered child. She sighed as she scooted off the very large toilet.
Ellea jumped when she caught her reflection in the old mirror. Her hair was free of twigs and leaves from earlier, but it was wild. She cursed Ros for not telling her. No wonder that wolven had been rubbing against her; she must have thought Ellea was some wild woodland creature. She conjured a hairbrush and got to work. It took ten minutes just to get it partially untangled. A knock came, and Devon’s voice sounded from the other side of the door. Ellea opened it and grimaced.
“Oh,” Devon mouthed. He grabbed the brush from her and turned her away from him. “You looked fine earlier,” he scolded.
“Liar,” she groaned.
“Well, let’s hurry before Ros comes barreling in here,” he said and got to work on untangling her long hair.
“Ros seems so quick to be jealous.” It was easy to be honest with Devon, and besides Billy, he was the only one he could talk to about Ros. Sam would laugh at her and probably use it for fuel later.
“He may be ancient, but he didn’t grow up like we did,” he answered.
“I feel like I haven’t grown up at all,” she mumbled.
“What do you mean?” He placed the untangled parts of her hair over her right shoulder and started on the last section.
“I’ve never been to a barbecue, I don’t know how long wolven live for, I didn’t know demons were out in the world, and a number of other things.”
Devon chuckled at her whining and finished her hair. “Do you want me to braid it?”
Ellea nodded and summoned a hair tie out of thin air.
“I don’t know if I will ever get used to that,” he said, easily braiding her hair.
“Me either,” she said honestly. “There’s a lot I need to get used to.”
