Page 29 of Tricky Magic
“Look, buddy, this is getting weird. Thanks for coming all the way out here, but you can go now.”
“It was no problem, I live across the lake,” he said with a point over his shoulder. Through the open windows, she could see a deep green cabin.
Great, I got a weirdo for a neighbor.
He stuck out his hand. “And the name is Rosier, but you can call me Ros.”
Ellea looked down at his hand and bolted back a step. She wouldn’t shake it, especially after what she’d been doing with her own hand barely five minutes ago. He followed with a step of his own, as though he didn’t want her to get further away from him. This had gone on for too long.
“Ros, I doubt you came here to check on my dog. I assure you she is fine. Please. Leave.”
“You’re right, I came to drop off the box for Agatha, and to see if you were a threat.” He took another step toward her, then paused. He took her in, openly checking her from head to toe. Finally, he headed toward the door. “I’m sorry for the interruption; I will let you get back to it.”
He left with a smirk over his shoulder, closing the door behind him.
There was no way this man was her savior if he pissed her off this much.
* * *
Ellea stoodin front of the windows overlooking the lake for far too long. She wasn’t admiring the view; she was glaring at the green cabin. What did he mean by “a threat?” She was no threat—well, that he knew of. Did he know something?
She started to pace in front of the long windows. Why would he think she was a threat? They’d only met once before now, and both of those encounters had been brief, if a bit unfriendly. That didn’t stop her from thinking about how freaking hot he was. She was very used to the pretty guys from the city, but he was rough, and deep, and so, so big.
Her mind began to wander, and she needed to quickly nip those thoughts in the ass. As a distraction, she wandered into the library to check out the box the very big, very sexy man had dropped off.
“Stop it!” she said out loud to the empty cabin.
Rubbing her face, she pulled the box toward her. There were twelve books with titles ranging from theNewhope Witch Trials, Fourteenth-Century Encounters with Demons,and what looked like a fairy tale.
“Leahpha Fairy Tales and Fablesby B.G. Ash, Illustrations by J. Barnacle,” Ellea read out loud. Glancing at the clock and realizing it was already the evening, she settled on the fairy tales and headed up to her bedroom. She’d always wondered how their world came by the nameLeahpha.It was something she’d regularly asked her tutors growing up, but they would wave her off, saying it didn’t matter. She sighed while falling into bed, remembering all she was taught and how it wasn’t ever enough to deal with her powers and her curiosity.
Ellea fell asleep after reading only ten pages. The book fell from her hand as she woke from an old nightmare. It was one with her parents, and one she hadn’t had in a while. There were too many colors, and her mother’s yells rang in her head, ordering her to try again and again, to use more power, always more power. When her mother grew tired of her failures, Ellea had been locked in the dark basement with no food, no light, nothing. The pressure of the darkness felt real, and the desperation to be free had her heart racing. Glancing at the clock, she realized she’d only been asleep for an hour. She angrily tossed the blankets aside and headed for the closet.
Ellea tried to remember to take a breath. It had only been a couple weeks, and thoughts of being on the wrong path were already creeping in. How did she know she was making the right decision? She thought about her uncle, her nana, and what the council thought of her recent outburst. It was only her and Billy right now—and an annoying neighbor. Ellea had spent so long in the city, where there was always to entertain her or keep her company.
Now she was stuck in a nowhere town with no lovers, a rude neighbor, and an even ruder home. With Billy gone, Ellea was going to hunt down some entertainment. There may be no way to contact the outside world, but there had to be booze somewhere. Preferably tequila, and a lot of it.
Putting on her favorite shirt, jeans, and her flat boots, she grabbed her keys and headed out to hunt down a distraction.
12
Ros
Ros’ truck pulled into the local bar at the edge of town. Sam had called him about fifteen minutes ago to let him know he needed to swing by. There were only a few trucks and cars in the lot, not bad for a Thursday night at Lucky Dogs, a mostly wolven bar until some unsuspecting mortal stumbled in while stopping off of the highway.
Sighing, Ros stomped across the worn parking lot and headed toward the old wooden doors. He didn’t know what he was getting into, but his dark powers surged with menace. As soon as he crossed the threshold, he spread his feet and let his hands hang loosely at his sides, ready for anything. He glanced to the right and could see the bartender wiping glasses and glaring at the small dance floor. To the left, he found a few guys drunkenly dancing and laughing. Then he realized he may have read this all wrong. He slowly relaxed, but then he saw her.
Her small frame came into view from behind one of the massive wolven men on the dance floor. She was clad in a deep green tee, dark jeans that hugged her ass, and boots that did nothing to help her height, and she was dancing. She looked so free as the wolven spun her and passed her around.
It had only been half a day since his powers had reached for her. Glancing around the dingy dive bar, he found Sam, and wondered why he’d called. Alone in a dark corner, his friend waved him over with a glass in his hand. Ros kept to the shadows to avoid being seen (not that she would notice) and made his way to the small table.
“Sam,” Ros said with a nod. “You called?”
“You asked me to keep an eye on your new toy. Well, I didn’t think anything was up until the bartender flagged me over earlier.” With a nod toward the bar, he continued, “Milly had to cut her off about thirty minutes ago.”
“She isn’t my toy,” Ros growled, beginning to regret asking Sam to keep an eye on her. “When I said keep an eye on her, I didn’t mean about her getting rowdy on a Thursday night.”
“Well, it’s more than that; she drank over three bottles of tequila. That’s enough to knock one of the biggest wolven on his hairy ass, and look at her.” He gestured to where she was dancing. “Oh, and when she paid, the cash disappeared when she turned around.”
