Page 15 of Calling Quarters

“What even is Mabon?”

“How are you a Graves and you know nothing about your own history?” she asked, dumbfounded.

I shrugged my response.

She grabbed a newspaper off the stand that sat against the wall beside us, pointing to the headlining story.

“It's a celebration of the Autumn equinox and the abundance of harvest Mother Earth Goddess has given us this year. I guess it's like Thanksgiving, but better.”

The barista called us to the counter to place our orders, and then we moved to the other side to join a small crowd of people also waiting for their drinks.

“Beacon Grove always has a huge festival with carnival rides and tents set up for each business. We get a ton of visitors from out of town, too. It's one of our busiest times of year.” She nudged her elbow into my side. “Lucky you showed up when you did, otherwise we might not have had a room for you.”

“I'm not sure I'd call that lucky,” a female voice snarked from behind. We both turned to see who it belonged to, and Blaire rolled her eyes, her body visibly tensing.

The girl sneered at my friend before offering her hand to me. “Julia Rist.”

I shook it hesitantly, irritated with the smug look she wore from insulting Blaire. She was a few inches shorter than me, though the confidence that shined out of her made her seem much taller. Her straight golden locks hung lifelessly against her pale face as dark brown eyes considered me. She was painfully average looking, and I was confused about what made her special enough to regard anyone the way she was Blaire.

“Storie Graves.”

“Oh, I know who you are. The whole town's talking about you. We should have lunch sometime.”

She gave Blaire a once-over and her tone suggested she'd be doing me a favor. A saccharine smile spread across her face then, and I immediately disliked her even more.

“You can get a real feel for Watchtower from someone who's actually on the inside.”

Our names were called for our drinks, so we turned away from Julia without another word. Blaire hadn't taken a breath until we exited the shop.

“Goddess, I hate her,” she hissed.

Her hands aggressively worked to roll up the thick newspaper, the ink turning her fingers black. We rounded a corner to take the back streets to the hotel.

“Who is she?”

“Her family works for the Wildes family.”

When I didn't have a reaction, she released an exasperated breath.

“The Wildes are the Quarters of the west. Their abilities are powered by the sea, and they're rumored to have a pull over the underworld. Julia's family has been their housekeepers for centuries.”

That sparked some recognition for me. I thought back to my scary walk with Remy and recalled that he mentioned his family's property was on the west side of town.

So, his last name was Wildes. And Julia worked for him.

“Housekeepers? Her mom is a maid, and she thinks that makes her something special?”

Blaire nodded. “It does. The Wildes especially treat their staff very well. I'm surprised she even bothered talking to you. No offense.”

“What did she mean about Watchtower? I thought it was your coven, too.”

Blaire's shoulders tensed back up. “That's just her group. They've always acted like Grangers aren't a part of Watchtower after everything that went down. It's their parents’ fault for feeding into the lies.”

We took another turn and the hotel appeared within view. I had no idea the streets wove together like this. I tried to keep track of each turn, hoping to use this new shortcut as a way to avoid the town altogether on my daily coffee runs but I kept getting lost. It was like the streets had shifted themselves to get us here.

Blaire was still seething as she walked through the hotel's office door, past Tabitha at the desk with a line of customers, and back into her room. I kept my mouth shut and hung back, allowing her the time she needed to work through this uncharacteristic rage. I'd yet to see her in such a foul mood. It was almost scary to watch.

Tabitha's hostile, questioning eyes swung to me through the open office window. I quickly looked away and ducked my head, returning back to my room before she had a chance to stop me.

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