Page 6 of Waltzing With Witches

Anger rushes through me, my fists balling. I roll onto my belly and spring upright, raising a finger at the Inn. “What the ever-loving fuck, Annabelle?! You could have killed me!”

The Inn doesn’t respond, but the lobby carpet rolls back up the steps like a tongue. Her front doors slam shut, and the house goes dark and still.

I stand in disbelief, my heart pounding as I stare at the front steps and the dark windows. Eventually, soft sounds break through my stupor. An owl hoots somewhere. Crickets chirp. A soft breeze rustles my chin-length bangs, brushing them into my face. I swipe them behind an ear and glance around.

Ever suddenly feels so ominous in the middle of the night. Everything’s dark, not a single light glowing from Main Street a block away.

I don’t know what to do. I’m the decisive triplet. I’m always ready for anything. I’m the oldest by seventeen minutes, and I’m in charge, damnit. But as I stare into the darkness, I don’t feel that way.

This might be the lowest I’ve felt since we came to Ever. I glance down at my bag as I lift my watch to comm my sisters. Something gives me pause, though. It’s three a.m., and they’re probably asleep with their mates. I don’t want to call them with some stupid issue.

Gritting my teeth, I round the Inn and grab a small pebble from the garden. I’ll throw it at Lou’s window and get her to get Catherine and fix this shit.

Seriously. What the everloving fuck?

But when I aim and throw, a plank of siding rips away and bats it like a goddamn baseball, sending the pebble over my head.

“What’s this about, huh?” I question, lifting both hands. I’d start shouting for Lou but somehow, I suspect she won’t hear me. So I stomp back around front, jogging up the steps. When I grip the double door handles, a lock snicks loudly into place.

Oh. My. God.

I step back, hurt consuming me. Annabelle’s interior is dark and silent. Her meaning is obvious—get out.

A part of me wonders if the entire town itself is simply trying to tell me I don’t belong here. The Keeper doesn’t want me, and now the Annabelle doesn’t want me either. Is that what’s going on?

I mull that over before deciding I’ll head up Main to Town Hall. Nobody uses the beautiful brick building, and nobody locks their doors here either. I can crash in one of the empty rooms and regroup with Thea and Wren in the morning.

I glare at the Annabelle’s front door. “This little standoff ain’t over, Annabelle,” I snap. “I’m telling Catherine!”

God, that sounded childish. Annabelle doesn’t bother to respond.

I stand there for another minute, still disbelieving that the fucking house kicked me out. Eventually, I realize she’s done with me, so I grab my bag and hike it over my shoulder. It’s fucking heavy, but I turn and trudge up Sycamore toward Main Street. When I get there, I pause on the corner and look around.

Not a soul is out this time of night. Maybe there would be in Shifter Hollow, since they have a bar, but that’s a long walk. And somehow I don’t want to see any of the shifters or centaurs and have to explain why I’m walking around with my luggage in the middle of the damn night.

Cursing Annabelle under my breath, I hook a right and walk quietly up Main Street past Herschel’s Fine Dining, Fleur, and the movie theater. My bag’s strap digs into my shoulder, piling onto my poor mood until I’m so angry, I could scream. I want to stand in the middle of the street and shout at this town that’s so magical for everybody but me.

Instead, I grit my teeth through the pressure on my shoulder and cross Main Street, skirting the white wood gazebo toward Town Hall. The stately two-story brick building is pitch-black, not a single light on inside. It’s always been the saddest building in town to me. The Keeper and the rest of Ever’s leadership all have offices here, but they never come here. In fact, every time the Keeper calls a town meeting, we meet in the gazebo. I’ve never even been inside Town Hall.

That fills me with a deep and inexplicable sadness.

My bag starts to slip off my shoulder, yanking my arm down with its weight. I grunt and haul it upright, staring at the quiet building. God, is she asleep too?

I clear my throat. I suppose I should be polite. “Erm, good evening. Well, good morning. I’m in a bit of a pickle and need a place to stay. Would you be—”

Town Hall cuts me off, the front doors swinging silently open. Lights cut on all the way down the main hallway. Relief floods through me, harder and heavier than I expected. I didn’t realize how worried I was that the building wouldn’t let me in until it did.

“Thank you.” I hurry up the steps and into the main hallway.

Beautiful burled wood doors line both sides, all the way to open double doors at the far end. A singular light is on in that room, but it kinda looks like an auditorium from here.

I’m not even sure where to start, so I stand there for a moment looking at all the closed doors. When a door creaks open at the end of the hall and another light comes on, I take that as my cue.

“Thank you!” I chirp, reaching out to pat the painted cinder block walls. The inside of Town Hall reminds me of a high school, but maybe a posh fancy high school somewhere in Manhattan or the Upper East Side. As I stride down the hall toward the open door, paintings on the wall grab my attention. I don’t recognize any of the monsters, but gold placards underneath list their names.

Ankylar Stonesmith.

Sky Kimora.

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