Page 33 of Magic's Dawn

“It means monsters can be overcome, Rowe. You have grown so much since you were last in Hartford Cove. You’ve fought a war. And you’re not alone.” She wraps an arm around me. “Whatever happened to that poor man in the woods, we’ll figure it out, and we’ll defeat it together.”

As she hugs me, I try to relax within her arms, but I can’t find the same glimmer of hope that shines within her. While I may have fought a war, my monsters are still out there, and now something new is disrupting our small town.

Something I can’t help but believe is here because of me.

BABYSITTER

A soft scratching jolts me from sleep, and my heart pounds as I stare up at the ceiling over my bed where the sound comes from.

Do we have rats? It sounds bigger than a rodent. Did a raccoon get into the attic?

The scratching stops, and I strain my ears for the sound of scurrying rodent feet. When nothing comes, my racing heart settles.

Sweat beads on my skin, the humid heat of the end of summer and the warmth of the man half on top of me combining into a stifling weight.

Wiggling an arm out from under the blanket, I poke Tris in the cheek.

With a soft snuffle, he rolls away from me to lie on his stomach, smashing his face into the pillow. If I hadn’t seen him do that a hundred times before, I’d worry he might suffocate in his sleep.

I turn my head to squint at the clock on the nightstand, the glowing red letters bright in the darkness of the room. Four in the morning. Way too early to be awake.

But now that I am, my bladder kicks up a fuss that won’t allow me to go back to sleep.

I ease back the comforter on my other side and scoot across the mattress to swing my legs out of bed. My feet land on the cool, hardwood floor, making my toes curl in reflex. Before fall fully sets in, I need to buy some slippers, or winter will be miserable.

A soft chuff comes from the end of the bed, and I glance over to where the moonlight coming through the window illuminates Greyson’s shadowed form.

His head points toward me, his ears flicking in question.

“Bathroom,” I whisper, then when he makes a move to stand, I add, “Stay.”

He huffs doggy breath at me and drops his head back to the comforter.

I reach out to scratch his fuzzy ear before sliding out of bed and padding out into the hall.

The door across from mine leads to my old bedroom, which Tris claimed as his when I moved to my grandma’s old bedroom. Owen sleeps in the one next to it, connected by a Jack-and-Jill bathroom, with Ros in the guest room next to mine.

I slip into my old room and tiptoe into the bathroom, relying on the nightlight plugged in above the sink to see so that I don’t disturb Owen’s sleep. It had been a long day for everyone, and we’d gone to bed late.

After finding the body, Dr. Lopez took it back to her clinic to run tests and try to figure out if this was an animal attack or something worse.

I can’t wrap my mind around what kind of animal could kill a wolf shifter in wolfman form. Unless we have grizzly bears? That idea terrifies me almost as much as the alternative.

Tris loved wildlife shows when we lived with my dad, and I’ve seen way too many episodes of When Bears Attack to ever want to live in grizzly country. Those monsters can break into houses if they want to, and I’m far too bite-sized for comfort.

Owen had escorted the witches home while Deputy Arden and Haut stayed in the woods to search for evidence. They were in there until after sunset, reappearing long after dinner had cooled on the stove.

If they found anything, they didn’t share their discoveries beyond Haut’s gruff instruction not to go outside alone.

My counter suggestion that I carry my gun was firmly denied.

It’s really not fair. Ros would have let me arm myself in his underground city filled with vampires. Maybe I should dig a tunnel under the house, name it Rowetopia, and make my own laws.

First one will be: No one bosses Rowe around.

Second one will be: All visitors must bring pie.

After quietly washing my hands, I step back out into the shadowed hall.

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