Page 8 of The Witch & the Wolf

He snorted at that. “Apology accepted. For now.” The foul mood seemed to vanish, and Z’Hana continued her conversation with the driver, no longer concerned about there being a potential blowup in the back seat. “I admit, I’m a little envious of what I saw you do,” he said. “I had no idea that mediums could get that much information. We’re a little used to seeing charlatans and crackpots, but less so seeing the power being used in such a way.”

Charlatans and crackpots. Sounded about right. “Yeah, there are a few too many frauds,” Holly acknowledged. “It does drag down the power itself. I remember when my mom used to do psychic readings for her clients, they were always so skeptical. But she really could read the cards.”

“Can you card-read?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.

“No, that’s not really my strength. My mother did give me a deck to experiment with once, but it’s not really something my powers do. My mom can pick up emanations from living people and sense things about them. My talents veer more toward those who have already passed.”

“Huh.” Arlo looked beyond Holly as the swamp colored their view, growing darker as the sun sank beneath the horizon. “I suppose in that way, we’re similar. We only pick up from those who are deceased. But necromancers… they don’t have a good reputation.”

“Something else we have in common,” Holly replied with a smile. She took a hard look at Arlo, from the gleam in his golden eyes to his ruffled sandy hair to his strong jawline to his Adam’s apple. A jolt of electricity raced through her, causing her to shiver. He was handsome. Sure, she’d been aware of it before, but she had never scrutinized him in such detail, not this close up, not since she’d become painfully aware of his physicality. Plus, he’d spent the last couple of days masquerading in werewolf form, so it was hard to get a proper read of who he was.

“One thing I highly doubt we have in common,” he said, though he echoed a little of her smile, “is that you likely had more time to indulge your talent. That is – no one was really opposed to what you did.”

She had no real rebuttal for that. Her family never prevented her from trying her magic – they just had some pretty strong opinions on the magic itself. “It’s not the same for you?”

“No.” His gaze hardened like stone as if weighted by the thoughts in his head. “My family is split on the matter. And it doesn’t help that there’s a lot of tension going on – just over half of our branch is seriously considering splitting off and becoming our own distinct clan since there is a necromantic magical strain that goes through our family that is quite different from the normal magic. My mother and those who support her abhor the magic. They wouldn’t let me practice it. They said…” He sighed. “Never mind what they said. Just assume it wasn’t nice. My father and those who supported him – of course, they wanted me to train. So… I did get some training. But it was often interfered with.”

Holly shook her head. That sounded like quite the dysfunctional family dynamic. “Are there a lot of… issues with your parents? Are they still married? Divorced?”

He didn’t seem to mind the questions and shrugged. “My parents do love one another, but this is one of the things they are not able to find neutral ground on. They’re still together, but… I don’t really know for how much longer.”

Holly frowned. “I’m sorry.” She didn’t know what else to say. His family problems sounded a far cry from her own family situation, where at least, despite all their little dramas, everyone was more or less aligned on the same path. Nobody hated one another’s powers, and nobody felt threatened by the power either. Maybe there were a few digs about how weak some family members were. Nothing more. “I don’t know too much about werewolves and their families. But I take it there are ones with great influence.”

“Yes. The Sixclaws – my family – is one of the richest of the families. The Redclaw clan like Lujan and Skyla – they’re small fries in comparison to us – even though they share the combined name of two great families. But… me, my father, those who sympathize with the magic I have – we may soon be like the Redclaws. We will lose status, power, connections – but we will be our own.”

Surprised but happy he chose to share that much with her, Holly straightened up before saying, “Honestly, that freedom seems worth it. So… do you have an idea of the kind of surname you’d take?”

He shook his head, absently staring out of the window. “We’re considering a few – we want to reflect the magic in our name, maybe something of the Sixclaw. My dad likes the name Necroclaws. My brother thinks we should be called Deadwood, my aunt, Sixcrypt… suitably dramatic names, I suppose.”

“You have a brother?”

Now he turned to look at her, his attention no longer wandering. “Six years older. He went through Dreadmor before me.”

“That’s cool. I’m the first of my family to make it here in about forty years,” Holly admitted. “My mother, of course, is raving about it to every person who’ll listen and claiming it was all predicted in her cards. Anything to make her feel more important, I suppose.”

They smiled at each other, and a genuine sense of warmth emanated through Holly. Something twinkled in Arlo’s eyes, something knowing, which sent a strange, warm shiver of heat through her spine.

“Seems like, for now, we’re going to be working together a lot more because of the nature of our magic,” Arlo said. “We should probably get to know each other better. There’s a village down the main path from Dreadmor – it’s where the students go to shop and eat. Would you be interested in going there with me tomorrow after school?”

Heat surged to Holly’s cheeks. Is he asking me out? Someone like him? For real? Or just as a friend? Probably just as a friend. No need to make a big deal out of it.

“Sure, sounds like it could be fun. I haven’t had the chance to explore there yet. Chloe and Kati mentioned something about it, so…”

“You can bring your friends if you like. Or it can just be us.”

Just. Us. She struggled to keep the heat contained, finding her mind going haywire at the implications. Remember. Don’t make a big deal out of it. It’s just a friendly invitation.

“Yeah, I can bring some people, no problem,” she blurted before she could stop herself, then kicked herself for not being bolder.

“Definitely not a problem,” he said, his smile now inscrutable.

She couldn’t tell whether he was bothered by her offer to bring others along or if he thought she was too insecure to be alone with him. She just wasn’t good at these kinds of things.

They rolled through the swamp, and Dreadmor shimmered into view. Low furls of mist covered the ground in the distance, but not enough to hide the awesome structure of the castle-like building, with its peaked towers, crenelations, and Gothic architecture. To some, such a place might seem imposing and dismal and invoke a feeling of, well, dread. To Holly, it had now started feeling a little more like home.

Chapter Four – Arlo

His brother’s voice cut through the air. “Really, Arlo? You’re taking an interest in some medium girl?”

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