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“If you don’t want to come…” Randy started.

I stared up at him. “I’m coming. I just can’t help but think that Liam wouldn’t like this idea either.”

“He’d fucking hate it. But he hasn’t found anything in any of our texts, so we have to take a different route. I just want Liam back to himself again. He won’t say how much that familiar is bothering him, but I know it is. I don’t want it to change him.”

“Is that possible?” I asked, afraid to even voice the question. What if the answer was yes?

“I have no clue,” Randy confessed. “But the sooner it comes off, the better.”

“Okay, we’ll head out tonight. Agreed. We won’t say anything; just act like we’re going for a ride.”

“Don’t act weird around them.”

“Me?” I asked, pointing at myself.

“You,” he clarified. “You’re a terrible liar.”

“I don’t think that’s actually true.” It wasn’t. I’d known something for weeks only Gabe and I knew, and I hadn’t come out with it yet. It was amazing the things you would do to the ones you loved out of love, or in the name of protecting them. Sometimes it just felt wrong and icky.

Randy told me he’d see me tonight and then left. I took a deep breath. I was willing to do this to help Liam. It wasn’t even an option not to in my head. I just wished I didn’t have to. If I hadn’t worn the bracelet that night, the familiar would’ve attached itself to me, and we wouldn’t even be going through this mess.

If only.

Chapter Three

As promised, Randy picked me up on his bike at six that evening. We’d texted on and off throughout the day and he told me how he’d called Gabe and informed him we were going out that night. Just for a bike ride and nothing special. That part felt like a little white lie. Weweregoing for a bike ride. It was just what we were doing at the end of that bike ride that we were keeping a secret from the rest of them.

I locked up the shop and Randy and I walked together down the cobblestone street. The evening hours in Salem was full of tourists and residents leaving work or walking around trying to figure out where to eat. Most of the stores were still open, and one of these days, I’d have to commit to staying later, or possibly even hiring someone else to run the shop while I wasn’t there. Order business took priority, especially when it involved Liam and magic of the evil variety. The tourists who wanted their little trinket bags and magic candles could wait.

We got on the bike and drove South out of town. The wind whipped against my face and I held onto Randy tight. Usually his big muscles relaxed me and made me feel safe, but he’d been on edge ever since he’d picked me up, which only made me more nervous. The city of Salem turned into country roads. The further we traveled, more houses started to pop up here and there. Old, broken down farm houses that would’ve been beautiful in their day were dotted across the countryside. We stopped at a four-way intersection and Randy dropped his feet to the road to steady us. He turned toward me. “We’re almost there.”

“So close?” I thought for sure this place with questionable people would be further away from Salem and the Enforcers. Wasn’t that like throwing things in their face?

Randy nodded and pulled his feet up again. He throttled the bike and pulled away from the stop sign. Just to the right a dilapidated gas station seemed to grow out of the weeds. Next to that stood the dingiest diner I’d seen in a while despite there being several cars out front. Just down the road, we came upon a small village. A church, a convenience store, pizza places, all of which looked like they’d seen better days. Just on the edge of where it looked as if the road was going to turn back into the country, Randy pulled over and cut the engine. “This is it,” he said, motioning toward the falling down house we parked in front of. “Ren’s den.”

“The dude’s name is Ren?”

Randy shrugged, throwing his leg over the bike and helping me off afterward. “I’ve never met him before. I only know of him.”

Randy placed both our helmets on the bike and then ran a hand through his hair. I watched as he did this, his movements jerky. Even a cricket in the nearby woods made him jump.

“You seem worried,” I said, cautiously. “Should I be? What if they want to fight us?”

“I doubt it will come to that, but just stick with me. Don’t go off with anyone else.”

I gave him a look. “And just who am I going to go off with?”

The corner of his lip tipped up. “I don’t know. It just felt like the right thing to say.”

I shook my head. “Let’s just get in there. We’ll figure it out as we go. We’re asking for Ren, right?’

Randy nodded. “It’s the only name I had…from before. It should get us to where we need to be.”

Wonderful.

He took my hand, and we turned to make the walk up to the decaying porch. The wood sagged under our weight as I knocked on the door. A woman answered, her eyes dark with heavy shadows under her eyes that she tried to cover up with makeup. She looked both of us up and down but spent quite a bit of time looking over Randy. It raised my hackles, but I kept my cool. “We’re here to see Ren,” I told her, hoping I wouldn’t have to explain anything else.

She leaned against the doorjamb and crossed her arms over her chest. “Both of you?” She eyed Randy.