Page 118 of The Cursed Fae

“It could be a lot of things.” His hands tightened on the steering wheel, and he shot me a sidelong glance. “The Taurus Fae and their wolves are pretty retro.”

I frowned to signal my confusion.

“Your mom probably paid them. In the human world, it’s the same as breaking a minor law and having to pay a fine. Except, it wouldn’t be money.” Laz risked another glimpse at me. “It might’ve been one of the artifacts we keep in the rooms beneath the Temple of Gaia.” He hesitated. “Or her magic. The Tauruses are eye-for-an-eye style.”

My mouth dropped open. Maybe it shouldn’t have surprised me. The pack’s alpha had exiled his son and heir. Still... it was all so archaic.

“Your mom is a member of the ruling Gemini family. She’s gotta be powerful. They probably decided it was a fair trade,” Laz continued, though I desperately wished he’d stop talking. “Obviously, they didn’t take much since they’d already banished Ewan. She seemed okay on the phone.”

His assurance did not make me feel better.

The more I thought about the Taurus faction of the Zodiac supes, the more I wanted to hit something, which wasn’t a normal compulsion for me. First, they cast out Ewan. Now they had the nerve to demand retribution? Almost worse, Nana had given it to them.

Admittedly, all that festering anger did wonders for drawing power from the elements. Even the stubborn ones, like air, gave me magic without much effort on my part. The portal into Nana’s house opened easily, and I got so excited that my hold on it wavered. Laz nearly lost a couple fingers when it snapped shut.

My hands flew to mouth. “I am so sorry.”

He laughed it off, but I could tell he was annoyed. “Next time, you can be the one to test it.”

I conjured the doorway several more times, and I ran my arm through to touch the quilt covering the bed. We didn’t walk through the opening, since Laz worried we might get stuck on the other side and have to explain to Nana how we got into her attic.

He rubbed his gloved hands together. “Ready to try somewhere a little farther away?”

“I don’t really have a lot of data points between here and California.” I shrugged. “Those are the only two places I’ve lived.”

He nodded, his jaw working back and forth as he considered the problem. “What about a hotel you stayed at on the trip?”

Mom had ridden the accelerator the entire time, desperate to reach Arcane Landing. We’d spent one night at a bed & breakfast before the last leg of the drive. It was remote, way off the highway exit, and there weren’t many other guests. The parking lot was behind the building, at the bottom of a steep hill. We hadn’t bothered taking our suitcases in, only overnight bags.

After a few attempts, it became clear I desperately needed to build up my magical muscles. Forming the portal was one thing. Even getting the vague outline of the parking lot wasn’t so bad. But making a true doorway that allowed us to travel from Arcane Cove to a motel two states away proved too strenuous.

“Hey, you’re doing really well,” Laz said as we trekked to the car. “By this weekend, you’ll have it.”

His confidence in my abilities inspired hope, though not quite the enthusiasm of the previous day. I walked back to my room alone. Good thing, too, because there was someone laying in the dark on Tina’s bed, waiting for me.

“Took you long enough,” Archer said, rolling onto his side and propping himself on an elbow. “I’ve been here for hours.”

Chapter forty

Cleanse Your Soul

“Yeah, well, I’ve been waiting forever,” I snapped, the anger from earlier returning with a vengeance. The door slammed shut with a satisfying bang. “Where have you been Archer?”

“Something came up,” he said, like he was a few minutes late instead of five days overdue. “I’m here now.” His gaze narrowed as he sat up. “Have you been using magic?”

“You don’t get to ask me that.” I unzipped my jacket and tried to shrug out of the sleeves indignantly. I only tangled myself in the fabric. “What I do is not your concern.” I freed myself and threw the coat on the bed.

“It is, though.” His voice dropped lower, to just above a whisper. “Particularly if you’re doing it with Lazlo.”

His audacity sent me over the edge.

“You abandoned me!” I shrieked.

Okay, my reaction was a tad dramatic. I was just so tired of people dropping in and out of my life at their convenience. Mom, Nana, and now Archer. They all wanted to tell me what to do. Then, when I needed them, they couldn’t be found.

Archer’s eyes bugged. “Keep your voice down. Someone might hear you.”

That was his biggest concern?

---