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“Liam,” I said, my heart wrenching all over again. “Granny, it’s the familiar. It’s done something to him.”

“Well, of course it did. We can’t just walk around with familiars and pretend everything’s okay. My goodness but you’re lost without me.”

“Trust me, I’m not without you,” I said, almost begrudgingly.

“That better not be sarcasm I hear. I’ve done saved you now more than a few times and I’m here to help again.”

I glared at her as she wore a path into the carpet in front of me. I loved the woman. I just needed to remember that, and that only. It may have just been me, but I think she was getting surlier in death. Weren’t dead people supposed to be all-knowing and all-caring? Her attitude had only about tripled since crossing over. I took a deep, relaxing breath because she was my grandma and I really did need her. “Please tell me you can find Liam for us. We’ve been searching.”

“Oh, you’ve been searching alright,” she said, motioning toward Travis. “You’ve been playing ‘hide the pickle’, that’s what you’ve been doing.”

I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. Along with getting surlier, she’d learned new terms, too. I bit down on my lip until it was safe to talk. “Granny, we need to find Liam. He’s not himself. He ran away because the familiar is getting too strong for him. We can’t leave him alone like that. He needs to know there are people out there who care for him.”

Granny stopped, her forehead wrinkling as she gazed at me. “The only thing that ruined that nice sentiment is the fact that you called me Granny. I know, Norah Girl. Liam—the one with the glasses. He needs you now more than ever, but I can’t help you with that.” She held her hand up when I tried to interrupt her. “I’ve tried. Believe me, I’ve tried. It’s the serpent. It’s blocking him from me.”

I ran a hand through my hair and laced my fingers behind my neck. Next to me, Travis still snoozed, looking peaceful as ever. All his asshole tendencies were gone when he was asleep. Maybe because there was no possible chance of him opening his mouth and ruining it all.

Granny snapped her fingers in front of my face again. I reached out to grab them, but my fingers went right through her. My heart lurched. When she came to me like this, she was so real, so true-to-life. It made me forget for a moment that she wasn’t really there. Granny had known me my whole life. She knew me deep down into my soul. What made me tick. Each and every thing that happened to me, she knew it. We loved to push each other’s buttons, but that didn’t mean we cared any less. We only pushed each other’s buttons because we knew how to.

Granny sat. A piece of magical furniture appeared just behind her before she fell through the coffee table. “I know, Girl. I know.” She reached out to brush my hair back but took her ethereal hand away. “You can’t afford to lose someone else. I get it. I tried, Norah. As soon as I saw him leave, I tried to keep track, but that familiar is a tricky one. He’s clouding him from me. I can’t get a read on him other than that he’s not so far away. He’s not so far away that you’ve lost him, baby. That much I do know.”

I pulled my legs up to my chest and placed my chin on my knees. A worry tugged at my heart. Gabe had thought Liam might be responsible for the girls drained of magic. I didn’t want to believe it. I looked up to find Granny still staring at me, her hard edges gone. “Have you seen what’s going on? With the drained witches, I mean?”

She nodded, her shoulders hunching over.

“Is it…him?”

Her eyebrows raised in a familiar gesture. “I don’t know. All I know is that the quest for power can destroy you. That much has always been true with those who wield magic. For some witches, what they have is never good enough. Magic has always been seen as power, not the gift that it is. Whether you can save the whole world or save one person, you should be happy with what’s within you. You determine the type of person you are, not the things around you or the magic within you. Some people, though…” She shook her head as she trailed off. “Some people never get it. Be satisfied with yourself, Norah Girl. Always.”

“I know, Granny.”

I’d heard the speech before. Not that it meant any less. Each time she said it, a spark of acknowledgment always formed in my belly. That was a truth nugget. A truth nugget not everyone believed in, but one all the same.

“I know you’re planning on going to that family—the Reid’s. Be careful. There are those who have one toe in the dark and one toe in the light. They straddle the line between what’s right and wrong, and you never know what side they’ll come down on.”

“Do you know about familiars? Anything at all?” I asked, not wanting to wait for a trip to the Reid’s to get an answer. Liam needed us now, not later. “Any rumors or fairy tales? You never know what might help.”

She shook her head. “I always lived within the light. I thought it best never to think about the dark, so I’d never have a reason to wonder.” Her shoulders lifted and then fell back down as if she was actually breathing. “I’m sorry you have to go through this, Norah. It’s not the life I wanted you to have. It’s the life I wanted to protect us from.”

And she was nothing if not overprotective in life. “I understand. Being an Enforcer means I have to think about these things though.”

“Not just that,” she said, her gaze focusing on me. “It’s these boys, too. You’re not just doing your job when it comes to helping Liam. You’re doing it to protect the ones you love. That’s just about all we can do with this life to make it perfect. I did my part and now you’re doing yours. I’m proud of you, Norah Girl.”

A small smile split my lips. “Thanks, Granny.”

Her gaze narrowed. “Don’t make me take that back.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

The wisps of clouds rolled in, pulling her away from me. I didn’t bother holding my hand out this time to try to touch her. It wouldn’t work, and I’d just leave myself with heartache. The room returned to normal, and I shut my eyes, knowing I was still sleeping, but understanding it was real all the same. If she’d told me before she passed that she’d be visiting me in my dreams and that it would be more real than real life, I would’ve thought she was going nuts. The truth was, I was happy she came to see me in any way she could. Though I was old enough to be on my own, and had been for years, that didn’t mean I didn’t want someone by my side to take the journey with me.

My eyes fluttered awake, for real this time. The room came right into focus, only proving that when Granny came to see me, though real, it was just a dream come true. Those things did actually happen.

I propped myself up on my elbow and smiled down at the still sleeping Travis. He looked the same as in the dream. His bare chest on full display, I almost smirked when I realized Granny hadn’t said anything about it. She commented on my lack of clothes, but not his. Probably because she liked it. I slipped the blanket down, and down further. Every inch it lowered, it revealed the dips of his abs, the shadows his muscles created, then finally, that v that led south. No wonder why the guy was a cocky asshole. He had what most women would call the perfect body. Not too slim, not too big, but generously muscled and sculpted.

I pulled the blanket down a little further, his cock head just revealing itself. He was hard under there. I peeked at his face, wondering if I’d woken him with my perusal of his body, but no, he was still asleep, the corners of his lips tilted up as if he was in some sort of good dream.