Page 48 of Wildfire Witch

A smiling second waitress stopped by after a few minutes. “Hey there, I’m Liv. I’ll go ahead and take your orders,” she said cheerfully. She noted down the feast the four of us collectively ordered, her customer service expression never dimming.

Ceridor waited until we had our drinks delivered before he said, “I think we head into the ruins tomorrow. It’s a long, rough drive up the road and we don’t want to get caught in Spells Hollow after dark.”

“How do you know that?” Rusty asked, stirring a squeeze of lemon into his unsweet tea.

“I’ve been there many times.” The fae’s gaze landed squarely on me, and I nodded in understanding. He came back there looking for me. “In the meantime, we get two rooms in the motel. I’ll see if I can unearth my noise-canceling headphones from all our bags.”

Seth covered his mouth, hiding a snicker. Whatever Ceridor was implying went straight over my head until Rusty grinned over at me with the hint of sharp teeth. “Oh. You think he’s going to bethatloud?” I asked.

“One hundred percent,” Ceridor deadpanned.

I scowled up at Rusty. “Don’t get us kicked out of the motel.”

He rested an arm over my shoulders. “I make no promises, mate,” he said, full of draconic pride.

“I have an idea for that, anyway,” I said, waving vaguely. “I’ll tell you later.” Rusty cocked a curious brow, but didn’t press for details.

We waited a while from there for our food, but a still-smiling Liv delivered it just as my belly grumbled about how hollow it was.“Say, you folks heading to the ruins?” she asked, once all the plates were distributed.

“Yes, ma’am,” Seth answered her warily.

“Oh, how darling. It’s especially quaint after dark. I suggest you go as soon as possible. All the ghost hunters talk about how thrilling it is,” she said with a giggle. “Well, I’ll let you folks eat so you can go see it for yourself!”

The shivering, quiet phoenix in my heart cracked open a metaphorical eye and scoffed.“Odd,”she commented, before curling back up.

None of us seemed to know how to react to that, except for Ceridor, who shook his head. We tucked into the food instead. It was better by miles than what the fire bros ate. It was hot and filling, which was exactly what I needed.

Afterwards, we made our way to the motel, and Seth headed inside the main office. I was back in my blanket, more loosely wrapped and resting in Ceridor’s arms. “So, how are the woods? Are they safe?” I asked him.

“Last I noticed, there’s wolves. Not of a shifter sort,” he answered.

“Oh, okay.” Something I thought Rusty or I could handle if we spent some time outside.

“While you two are…getting acquainted,” he continued. “Seth and I will scout the town and surrounding area for any sign of fire bros.” After a while in the car together, I’d had to explain why I called the Fire Brotherhood members that, and it seemed to be sticking.

I drew breath to reply, while Rusty rumbled in excitement. Seth burst from the motel at the same time, adjusting his glasses and looking sheepish. I rolled down the window, and he said, “They only take cash.”

Ceridor threw up his hands. “Who carries cash nowadays?” he grumbled.

“Actually, I have some. Pop the trunk,” I said to Rusty. I got out and unburied my backpack, producing the wad of cash I’d stashed there. Running my thumb along the few bills coiled there, I remembered when I thought this was all the riches I had in this life. Things had changed so quickly for me. I passed it without a second glance to Seth, and he counted it out while we went back to the passenger’s side.

“It’s probably enough for a couple of days in one room. If that’s cool with you guys,” I continued. “We can check around town together, and then I can take Rusty out into the woods before bed.”

“What?” Ceridor asked, aghast.

Rusty pumped his fist. “Sounds like a roaring good time to me, mate,” he said.

Seth left with the money as the fae stated, “In thewoods.”

I leaned down, resting my crossed arms on the doorframe. “Well, I figured…I bonded with you and Seth while you had access to your elements. Maybe Rusty and I need to do the same thing.”

“I think it’s a fantastic idea,” the dragon said, speaking over Ceridor’s response.

Seth soon reappeared with a room key in hand, so we began unloading the car. Its back half lifted as we relieved it of all that weight. The room wasn’t anything special and was significantly smaller than the rooms at our last stop. But it had a large bed, which would have to fit all of us at some point, as the only other furniture was a chair in one corner.

Once everything was unloaded, we headed out in pairs to visit the town and surrounding area for any sign of a large group of shifters moving in. I was partnered with Rusty, who led me into the woods. While he scented the air and inspected the trees with his eyes shifted to his dragon side’s vision, I scoped out the ground for tracks.

“I don’t see anything,” I said.

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