Page 23 of Collar Me Crazy
"Bit of both. Old fae craftsmanship passed down through Twyla's bloodline." Freya secured her end and climbed down. "They'll respond to the town's emotional state during the festival. The happier everyone is, the brighter they glow."
"That's beautiful." Sonya watched the garlands sway gently between the buildings, adding warmth to the increasingly starklandscape. "This is my first Founding Festival. What should I expect?"
"Food, music, dancing, and enough magical energy to power a small city." Cora's voice carried from across the street where she was helping Kieran hang banners from The Griddle & Grind's awning. "Plus Twyla's famous wassail, which is basically liquid magic."
"And the traditional storytelling," added Sera, emerging from the Book Nook with an armload of decorative scrolls. "Maddox always recites the founding legend by the bonfire. It's quite dramatic."
Sonya had been in Hollow Oak for over a week now, and the easy camaraderie among the mated couples still amazed her. They'd welcomed her into their circle with remarkable warmth, especially considering her complicated situation with Ryker.
Speaking of which, she hadn't seen him since the cabin incident two days ago. The man was clearly a master of avoidance.
"Any word from our resident hermit?" Katniss asked, appearing at Sonya's elbow with her usual directness. "Because the way you keep scanning the crowds suggests you're looking for someone specific."
Sonya felt her face flush. "I'm not scanning anything."
"Uh-huh." Katniss grinned. "For what it's worth, Emmett says Ryker's been just as distracted. Apparently he nearly fed the dryad fertilizer instead of healing tea yesterday."
"He's afraid," Freya said matter-of-factly, tying off another garland. "Men like him always are when they find something worth keeping."
"Men like him?" Sonya asked.
"Alphas who've been hurt." Cora joined their group, brushing dust from her hands. "They're protective by nature, but whenthat protectiveness gets tangled up with trauma, they start thinking love equals danger."
"Speaking from experience?" Sera asked with a knowing look.
"Callum spent our first month together trying to convince me I'd be safer in another state." Cora's smile turned fond. "Took a minor catastrophe for him to realize that pushing me away was actually putting me in more danger."
"Maybe Ryker needs his own catastrophe," Katniss mused.
Before Sonya could respond, the streetlights flickered. Not a brief blip, but a long, stuttering fade that made everyone pause in their decorating. The magical garlands dimmed in response, their warm glow becoming uncertain.
"That's the third time today," Freya said quietly, with a note of concern that made Sonya's seer instincts prickle.
"Fourth for me," Cora added. "The wards around our house have been humming since yesterday morning."
Sonya felt a familiar tingle at the base of her skull, the warning that usually preceded her visions. But instead of images, she got an impression of wrongness, like reality was slightly off-kilter.
"Has anyone talked to Varric about this?" she asked.
"He's called a town meeting for tonight," Sera said. "Emergency session in the Council Glade. Everyone's invited, which usually means something serious is happening."
The streetlights flickered again, longer this time, and somewhere off in the distance, Sonya could hear a low harmonic sound that made her teeth ache.
"What was that?" she asked.
"Protective ward," Freya said grimly. "And they're not supposed to make noise like that unless they're under stress."
The group fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts about what might be causing the disturbances. Sonya's mindimmediately went to her earlier visions of the Veil fracturing, but she'd hoped those were still far in the future.
Maybe not as far as she'd thought.
The Council Glade felt different at night, ancient stones casting long shadows in the flickering torchlight. Nearly the entire supernatural community had gathered, creating an amphitheater of concerned faces around the central circle where Varric stood with the other Council members.
Sonya found herself seated between Moira and Lucien, grateful for their familiar presence as nervous energy crackled through the crowd. She spotted Ryker across the clearing, his auburn hair catching the firelight as he stood with Emmett and the other protectors.
Their eyes met briefly, and she felt that familiar pull in her chest before he looked away.
"Thank you all for coming," Varric began, his voice carrying easily across the glade. "I know the short notice was inconvenient, but recent events require immediate discussion."
