Page 13 of Collar Me Crazy (Hollow Oak Mates #8)
SONYA
T he November air carried the sharp promise of winter as Sonya helped Freya string luminescent garlands between the lamp posts on Main Street.
Hollow Oak was transforming for the annual Founding Festival, scheduled for this weekend, and the entire town buzzed with preparation energy despite the early cold.
"Higher on your end," Freya called from her ladder, her copper hair whipping in the brisk wind. "These need to be even or Twyla will have our heads."
"Got it." Sonya adjusted her grip on the magical lights, which pulsed with a warm amber glow that would last through the winter months. "These are incredible. Do they run on magic or actual electricity?"
"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 stark landscape. "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 when that 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 mind immediately 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."
"You mean the light show?" called someone from the back. "Because my wards have been acting like a car alarm for two days."
A murmur of agreement rippled through the crowd.
"The magical fluctuations appear to be affecting all our protective systems," Elder Bram said, his austere face grave in the torchlight. "We've documented seventeen separate incidents of ward malfunction in the past forty-eight hours."
"What's causing it?" a shifter named Luka asked, his deep voice carrying concern for his fellow residents.
"We're still investigating," Varric replied carefully. "But the disturbances seem to be centered on the Veil itself. Something is affecting the barrier that keeps us hidden from the outside world while also protecting us from those that mean us harm."
Sonya's blood chilled. Her visions had shown the Veil fracturing, breaking apart like shattered glass. But she'd assumed those images were symbolic, not literal.
"How bad is it?" Miriam Caldwell asked from her seat near the front. "Are we talking minor adjustments or complete failure?"
"At present, the Veil remains stable," Elder Bram said. "But the fluctuations are increasing in both frequency and intensity. If the pattern continues..."
He didn't need to finish. Everyone understood the implications. Without the Veil, Hollow Oak would be exposed to the human world, vulnerable to discovery and all the chaos and dangers that would follow.
“Well, is it really so bad since we were already exposed last year? Can our agreement with the government aid us?” someone questioned.
“No. This is different. The agency helps when we help them and only marked us as a sanctuary, off limits for benign a threat. Not protecting us from any,” Sera responded.
"What can we do to help?" Callum asked, turning to action instead of excuses.
"For now, everyone should strengthen their personal wards and report any additional anomalies immediately," Varric said. "We're also implementing a buddy system for anyone who needs to travel outside town limits."
"Buddy system?" Kieran's tone held barely concealed skepticism.
"No one travels alone until we understand what we're dealing with," Varric clarified. "The Veil's instability could affect our ability to maintain the illusions that keep humans from finding us unless we are meant to be found by them."
As the meeting continued with practical discussions about patrol schedules and emergency protocols, Sonya became increasingly aware of Varric's attention. The elder wolf's storm-gray eyes kept finding her across the circle, studying her with an intensity that made her squirm.
He knew something. Or at least suspected something.
The question was, did he know about her visions of the Veil's destruction? And if so, why wasn't he asking her to share what she'd seen?
When the meeting finally ended and people began dispersing in small groups, Sonya found herself lingering near the carved stones. The urge to speak with Varric warred with the instinct to keep her visions private until she better understood what they meant.
"Troubled thoughts, young seer?"
She turned to find the him approaching, his long silver braids catching moonlight as he moved with the careful grace of someone who'd lived far longer than his apparent age suggested.
"Just processing everything," she said carefully. "It's a lot to take in."
"Indeed." His eyes searched her face. "Though I suspect you've seen more than most about what might be coming."
Her heart hammered against her ribs. "What makes you say that?"
"Because you have the look of someone carrying visions she's not ready to share." His voice was gentle but knowing. "When you are ready, child, you know where to find me."
He walked away without waiting for a response, leaving Sonya alone with the ancient stones and her increasingly urgent need to understand what her gift was trying to tell her.
Around her, the torches flickered in a wind that carried the scent of winter and change. Whatever was happening to the Veil, whatever her visions had been trying to warn her about, it was accelerating.
And she had the sinking feeling that time was running out for all of them.