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That is true. It’s the first time in the history of our coven that a sorcerer hasn’t been in charge.

But do I want to be coven leader at the age of twenty?

Hell no. I’m still getting to grips with the full potential of my magic.

I’d hate to risk the safety of my coven due to being too young and inexperienced.

“There’s obviously more to leading a coven than being powerful. Maybe when you’re ready to retire I can take over for you, but right now? Come on, can you honestly see me running our entire coven?”

Nyoka snorts, perhaps agreeing with me a little too easily for my pride. Gah, I didn’t realise he’s been worried I might want to steal his job.

Now that he’s hopefully reassured that I’m not a threat, I carry on.

“I know last time we talked about me becoming a task force officer it didn’t go well.” Might as well address the elephant in the room head-on.

“You failed the test.”

“Yes.” I was eighteen and desperate to join the people who protect our city. I still am. “That folder contains evidence of my magical training over the past two and a half years.”

Nyoka opens it and starts flicking through the documents. “We’re not recruiting right now.”

“Because of the contract renewal?”

Nyoka looks up. “How much access do they give you over in that admin building?”

There’s a beat before we both laugh. It’s been a running joke for years that admins know everything.

Nyoka’s laugh falls away, and in its place, the tight smile and permanent bags under his eyes make him look older than his forty-four years. “Yes, the BSG contract is up for renewal. We can’t recruit when there’s even a small chance the mayor will choose another team.”

“Is that likely?” My stomach is in knots.

I refuse to give up. Not now, not after I’ve put in years of training. I want to make my parents proud. They did so much for this coven and our city.

“No, it’s virtually impossible, but the chance isn’t zero. Perhaps in a couple of months…”

“What about a temporary transfer?” I blurt out. A couple of months for Nyoka is at least six months in real time. I don’t think I can wait that long. “I want to help, Nyoka. Please. Bessie and Zoe deserve to have every person who’s willing and able investigating their deaths, and that includes me.”

I didn’t know the dead coven members well enough to call them friends, but I consider the coven my extended family. Every single one of them matters.

Mum and Dad taught me that.

Nyoka sighs and flicks through the folder again. “You’ve been working hard.”

“I have.”

He closes the folder, drops it on a pile on his desk, and stands.

He takes the massive bunch of keys from the top left hand drawer and crosses the room to his cabinet.

He purses his lips as he studies the contents before selecting a ring, swapping it for one of the many on his fingers.

After locking the cabinet, he shoves the keys into his trouser pocket and heads for the door.

“Well? Are you coming?”

I scramble to my feet. “Where?”

“The basement.”

My heart starts pounding. The task force train in the basement. It’s also where testing takes place.

“Does this mean…?”

Nyoka glances at me as we head down the corridor to the back of the manor. “No promises, Ayo. Let’s see how the testing goes first.”

I struggle to hide my grin. I shake off my nerves, belatedly remembering the envelope I’m still clutching. “What’s this, by the way?”

Nyoka glances at it and sighs, stopping in the middle of the corridor. “We probably shouldn’t talk about that now.”

I frown at the envelope, then rip it open. Whatever it is, I don’t need to be wondering during the testing. I don’t need the distraction.

“Ayo…”

I read a few lines as my stomach fills with lead. “What the fuck? You’re evicting me?”

Nyoka winces. “I wish it wasn’t necessary, but ever since Gina and Fraser had baby Maisie, Fraser’s been working crazy hours on this murder case and Gina isn’t coping on her own.

Lola wants her sister to move in. I can’t exactly say no when my wife wants to look after her family and your apartment is the best place for them. I’m genuinely sorry, Ayo.”

There are only two apartments in the manor, one in each wing, with the central part of the building devoted to the task force and various other coven activities. In theory, we could convert the building to have more self-contained apartments, but it would take months.

I swallow hard. I visited baby Maisie last week and Nyoka’s right, Gina looked like shit.

I thought it was just a sleep deprivation thing, what with Maisie only being a few weeks old, but what if it’s postpartum depression?

Fraser is one of the enforcers on the task force.

He’s probably barely home at the moment.

I can’t get between a new mother and the support she needs.

I’m not sure where the fuck I’m going to live, but I’ll figure something out. This eviction notice says I’ve got a month.

“I understand.” My voice is weaker than I’d like it to be, so I force a smile onto my face and try again. “This is a great house for a family. I’m sure they’ll love it.”

Ok, I don’t sound entirely convincing, and Nyoka pats my shoulder awkwardly. He’s not really a physical affection kind of guy, my cousin. “Look at it this way; now you can get your own place without us cramping your style.”

I thought my apartment was my own place, but hey, at least I won’t have to see Lola’s sneering face every day.

Although I don’t have any savings to use as a deposit. It’s not like being an admin pays great, and between rent and bills on my apartment, coven tithes, and stuff like clothes and food, there’s never anything left over at the end of the month.

I also don’t relish moving out of the only home I’ve ever known. Still, it’s a normal thing to do at my age, right? Moving out of the family home?

Right.

Fuck, am I glad I’ve already got a night out planned tonight with my best friend. Zaiden will help me figure this out.

But I’ve got a test to ace first. I stuff the letter back into the envelope, fold it, and shove it into the pocket of my trousers. “Shall we?”

The basement looks just like I remember it from the last time I was tested down here.

It’s a huge space that’s been split into different rooms that are little more than mats and wards to prevent the structure from being destabilised by all the spells that get thrown around.

There’s some gym equipment too, because while the task force rely almost entirely on magic to police the city, they try to stay in shape as well.

Not that it would do them much good when facing off against other supes, since shifters, vampires, fae…

basically everyone is physically stronger than us.

We’re human, after all. Except with magic.

Nyoka leads me into one of the rooms, where Fraser and another task force officer, Andy, are sparring.

Every so often they use a stylus to hastily refresh the runes on their palms that enable them to throw spells around like confetti.

They move fast, many of the spells bouncing off the wards that form a square around them as we watch from the perimeter.

A gap of about three feet that isn’t warded borders the room.

I’m surprised to see them down here. I thought they’d be out investigating, but I suppose keeping your skills sharp when there’s a murderer on the loose is important too.

They’re barely out of breath when they’re finished. They shake hands and cross to us.

Fraser glances at his watch. “Did you want us out on patrol early?”

“No,” Nyoka says. “Ayo is here for testing.”

Andy slaps Fraser on the shoulder. “I’ll leave you to it. Good luck, Ayo.”

“Thanks, mate.” I accept his handshake, wishing like hell he was the one I’d be facing and not Fraser. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t mind, but knowing the man I’m facing is about to move into my place? Yeah, literally anyone else would be a better choice.

Nyoka stands to one side, hands clasped. “Proceed whenever you’re ready.”

“He had you test against the guy who’s kicking you out of your own home? What an absolute dick!” Zaiden’s outrage has me feeling a tiny smidge better.

I swirl the ice cubes in my vodka and coke. “I can’t believe I blew my chance again. It was a fucking disaster.”

Zaiden frowns, shoving his messy black hair off his forehead. “That bad?”

“Worse,” I groan. My glass is leaving wet circles on the wooden tabletop and I run my finger through one of them.

“It’s like I was eighteen again. Or fucking sixteen, for that matter.

All my practice went out the fucking window.

And when Nyoka said afterwards that task force officers don’t get to choose ideal circumstances to work in, that they have to be able to fight even while distracted or whatever, I said I get that, but I can’t be an admin forever… ”

When I trail off and don’t continue, Zaiden nudges my foot with his boot. Being best friends with a wolf shifter sucks. He can probably scent that there’s more. His senses are insane.

I look around the busy bar for a distraction, but nothing and no one catches my attention.

It’s mostly supes in here, yet there’s no fight brewing or even any stare-offs, just general chatter and the clink of glasses.

It’s one of the few places in Birchester where everyone respects the rules of the neutral zone.

“Come on, don’t leave me hanging. What happened?” Zaiden nudges me with his boot again.

I wince. “I quit.”

Zaiden’s storm-blue eyes widen and he blows out a breath. “Fuck, I never thought you’d do it. Congrats. We should celebrate. Shots?”

I slump down in my seat and cover my eyes with one hand. Zaiden’s an amazing friend, literally my ride-or-die, but he’s the brother of the local wolf pack alpha. Whatever trouble Zaiden gets in, Dante always bails him out of it. I don’t have that luxury.

“How can I possibly celebrate? In a month I’ll have no job and nowhere to live. I am so screwed.”

Zaiden sighs, then gets up and comes around the table with his pint, dropping into the chair next to me.

He puts his muscular arm around my shoulders, dwarfing me, of course, and I lean into his side.

I might not be a wolf, but he’s the only one who shows me this much physical affection.

Wolves are physical types, and I don’t hate it.

Sure enough, he scents my neck. I used to think it was weird back when we were kids, but I get it now.

“I know it doesn’t seem like it, but this is a good thing. We’ll find you a place, okay? You can stay with me for a few days if you need to.”

“I know.”

“I wish you could move in, but…”

“Yeah.” The only way to live on Connor Pack lands is to be part of the pack. And while the wolf pack are relatively friendly to me, considering I’m a magic-user, the only way to be pack is to renounce the coven completely and swear an oath to them.

There’s no way in hell I’m leaving my people, so living with Zaiden is out. A small part of me wishes he’d move into the city centre with me. Living in the neutral zone, we’d be able to share a place.

It would be really unfair of me to ask, though. Wolves need their packs, and unfortunately, I wouldn’t be enough for him. He’d do it in a heartbeat if I asked, I know he would. It would take time, but eventually, he’d miss his pack too much and our friendship would suffer.

I won’t do that to him.

“I’m more worried about a job, to be honest.”

Zaiden lets me go, pulling out his phone. “I have an idea about that.”

I take a large gulp of my drink. Zaiden often has crazy ideas and I likely need the fortification. “Let’s hear it.”

He taps the screen a few times, then shows me a website for Soldati Security. I frown at the screen. That’s the group they were talking about in the meeting.

“You’re gonna need to elaborate.”

Zaiden smirks and there’s a familiar look of mischief in his eyes. “Heard of them?”

“A bit, yeah.”

“According to Dante, they’re this new supe group. Ex-military, all badass and shit. Word is they’ve gone up against your coven a few times already, vying for the same jobs. There’s a rumour going around that they’re bidding against your coven for the BSG contract. If they win…”

“They’d be the new task force. What’s that got to do with me?”

Zaiden’s smirk deepens and he scrolls down the screen. “They’re looking for a local liaison. Initially for three months, with the possibility of making it permanent. I saw it the other day and thought of you, but figured you’d never go for it. Now, though…”

I snatch his phone from him and scan the job advert. There’s nothing in there that explicitly states it’s supernatural in nature, of course, since humans don’t know we exist, but reading between the lines…

“You want me to apply for a job that will pitch me against my coven?”

Zaiden snorts. “Ayo, you’re about to be jobless and homeless. Nyoka won’t give you the chance you deserve, but these folks might. I literally can’t think of anyone better for this job than you. You’re one of the few people who could walk into any territory and be greeted as a friend.”

“That’s true.”

Most people trying to do this job would be discriminated against by one species or another. Thanks to my mum, that’s not the case for me.

It’s definitely worth considering, and the salary is a lot better than my old job. Even if it were just for three months to get myself on my feet, it would give me breathing room to find something else. “But going against my coven…”

My best friend’s eyes twinkle. “You’re not going against your coven though, are you? It’s just a job thing. Local liaison. Help the new guys settle into the city.”

I look up from the screen and narrow my eyes. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Zaiden looks around the bar, then leans in close, lowering his voice. “According to Dante, Nyoka and the boss of this Soldati Security can’t stand each other. What better way to show your cousin how wrong he is about you?”

“Do this to get back at Nyoka, you mean?” I don’t know about that. It’s not like it’s Nyoka’s fault I keep messing up the tests. Or that I quit my job in a fit of frustration and despair.

But Zaiden’s been able to talk me into bad ideas since the day we met when we were eight years old. Sometimes they even work out.

“You know what?” I tip my head back and swallow the last of my drink, then slam my glass down on the table. “I’ll do it. I’ll apply.”

Zaiden whoops and hugs me hard. “Best idea ever.”

I laugh into his shoulder. I really hope he’s right.