Page 11

POE

I ’m not afraid of Sparkle finding anything he shouldn’t because none of my secrets are stored in my house. If Beau chooses to tell his friend what I told him about me, then so be it.

My jaw twitches as Randy the Hex Grocer manager tells me why he never asked for Beau’s permit.

“He was in Hex. Everyone knows you can’t get in unless you know about it.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose, realizing it’s not the best type of ward. Even so, I should have been given a warning that someone new had entered and that’s what has me most concerned. “Do you have anyone else you didn’t check for a permit?”

“Nope, BB is the latest hire.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“Am I in trouble.”

“No, why do people keep asking me that?”

“Because you’re scary.” Randy shrugs and his wolf tail drops.

I blink back. “I don’t mean to be scary?” I sigh and my shoulders sag.

“It’s the whole king thing. No one’s afraid of demons around here. But you being a king of demons, none of us want to cross you.”

“Ah. I’m just a regular guy, well, demon.”

“Uh huh, sure, sure.” Randy won’t look me in the eyes now.

“What if I weren’t the king?”

“Dunno because you are.”

“But if I weren’t?”

“I guess you’d just be some regular demon, like you said.”

“Would you still be afraid of me?”

“Why would I be?”

I sigh. “Nevermind. Thanks for chatting with me and don’t forget to give me the info for the people working Beau’s shifts while he’s out.”

Randy wipes a hand through his hair. “He doing okay? We’re all worried about him.”

“Because he’s with me?”

“No.” Randy holds up his hands. “It’s because we’d never seen him have a panic attack before. We all like the kid.”

I give him a soft smile. “I think he’ll be okay. I’m going to see if he’ll talk to a therapist.”

“That’ll be good for him.”

I nod. “Thanks again.” I teleport to the Boots’s house and knock, hoping Mrs. Boots is home. I’m grateful the porch has a roof, I don’t like the idea of getting soaked through. Thunder rumbles and the rain pours harder.

It takes a few minutes, but one of the kids answers.

“Hi ya, Mr. King, sir.” It’s the littlest, a boy named Farris. He’s got the same white blond hair as Sparkle and the rest of the family.

“Hey, is your mama around?”

“One sec!” Farris shifts to his cat form, which looks so much like Sparkle’s. He runs back into the house and not two minutes later, Emily Boots follows.

“Poe, what do we owe this surprise visit for?” Emily presses a hand to her chest.

Farris pounces at her feet, and she bends to scratch his head. “Baby, can you go play in your room for me?” She loosely ties his fallen clothes around his waist and the kid runs back through the house. She smoothes down her shirt when she stands upright again. “Please come in.”

“This won’t take long. I was wondering why you hadn’t asked Beau for his permit before renting to him.”

She blinks up at me. “Because he’s in Hex. Everyone knows?—”

“I hold up a hand. Yes, I know. Which makes it hard to know when we have new residents. We need to know they’re here so we can put protections in place. Beau is a bat shifter. If someone with bad intentions came?—”

“I thought there was a ward against that kind of thing?” Emily chews on her bottom lip. “Are my babies not safe?” She looks behind her.

“They are perfectly safe. I have extra precautions in place until I can search for the tear in the ward.”

“Theres a tear in the wards?!” Her hand flutters to her mouth. “But?—”

“I have my best griffins and Hellhounds on it.”

Emily’s heart pounds so loud I can hear it.

“I’m sorry I scared you. There’s nothing to worry about. At least not that I know of. But if you have another resident when Beau eventually moves out, please be sure to check their permit.”

“Why would I though?”

“You’re supposed to? Randy was supposed to.” My fingers itch to pinch the bridge of my nose again.

“The permit is for the council to know who is here. The residents don’t need to nor care.”

My jaw twitches, and I take a deep breath. “I know you’re right. I’m just frustrated at the situation. Beau’s been without extra protection this entire time, which means your children could have been in danger.”

Her eyes go wide and I hold up my hand. “You’re safe now, though.”

“Do I need to remove BB from my house? Will his presence?—”

“You’re safe. I think Beau and Sparkle would be heartbroken if you kicked Beau out.”

“But if?—”

“Nothing’s happened in three months, correct?” Not that I think it matters. If someone followed him in, they probably would have taken him already.

“Yes.” Emily nods, and she seems to calm. A clap of thunder rings out making her jump.

“I think you’re okay. But I do have a Hellhound specifically watching your house until I get the tear taken care of.”

Emily nods. “We trust the council to take care of us.”

“Thank you. I do ask that you keep this under wraps and to let me know if you hear anything.”

She nods again. “Yes, sir.”

“Thank you.” Finally, I teleport to the one person I never thought I would, but I need her advice.

Cordia, the born witch that ruled Hex after her sons and husband, all perished one after the other. She gave up the leadership after messing with her grandson’s memory.

Of all the chaos I created to bring in love, the one pair I regret how everything went down aside from my original curse bringer is my crossroads demon Warwick and the born witch Ethan.

Yes, I set them up, but I never thought Cordia would rip Ethan away from Wick. I begged and pleaded with her to release the boy, but she refused every time. But... she led Hex the longest and the only former leader still alive.

I knock on the door again grateful for a roof on the porch.

“Poe?” Cordia opens her door and looks around. “Is everything okay?”

“I have a situation that I’m trying to understand before I take it to the entire council and I hoped you’d have some advice.”

She takes a step back and sweeps her arm down the hall. “By all means, I’m happy to help if I can.”

“Thanks.” I follow her to a sitting room off the side of the foyer.

“Tell me the situation. Oh! Would you like refreshments?”

“No, I’m good, but thank you.” I launch into Beau’s situation and she listens intently.

“Why don’t you want to go straight to the council with this?”

I throw my head back. “Because I was an ass yesterday and shot down concerns over the wards. I check them every day and I have no idea how there’s a tear.”

“There are always micro tears in wards, most can’t see or find them and everything is all peachy forever. However, Beau used echolocation. He found a tear you’d never know about to begin with. It’s nothing to beat yourself up over.”

“I’m more concerned about whether anyone followed him through. And why the hell didn’t the wards alert me that someone new came in?” I ball my fists. The wards should have alerted me.

“Because, a shifter, or demon, or witch, in need, the wards don’t alert for. It’s a safety mechanism just in case.”

“Oh.”

Cordia taps her temple.

“Then why the fuck did you start the registration process? I thought that was for safety as well. To make sure everyone has what they need.”

“That was the gist of it yes. However, wouldn’t it be easier to have the townsfolk just tell you what they need?”

“But nephilims and bat shifters need extra security.”

“They do.” Cordia shrugs. “But our wards have been strong enough for decades to keep out the most nefarious of threats, don’t you think?” She grimaces. “Let’s just not think about my sons or husband.”

I snort. “So you’re saying we should drop the registrations all together?”

“Perhaps. Set it to a vote during the next council meeting or next town hall. See what the people think.”

I nod. “I still feel we need the extra precautions for Beau, like we did for Gabe.”

“I agree. At least until you can find the tear in the ward and see if it’s in need of true repair or it’s a natural micro tear you don’t need to worry about. But don’t touch it until these storms blow through. You might expose the entire town if you mess with the wards during such strong energy.”

“That’s the plan. I have no desire to get electrocuted.”

“Good man. Is there anything else on your mind?” She lifts her brows.

“Not that I can think of at the moment, no.”

“Well, don’t hesitate to call on me. I’m happy to help whenever I can.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Being in charge? No. I thought I would, but I love being free from all those decisions.”

I nod. “It must be nice.” I hope the bitterness in my voice doesn’t come through, but the sympathetic look she gives me tells me she understands my plight more than most. “Thanks for this.” Before she can say anything else, I teleport to the council building.

Despite what Cordia says, I still register Beau, just in case everyone votes to keep doing it. I don’t want him to have to go through the trouble of it later. I grab his Proud To Be A Hexer pin and goody bag for new residents. I grab him extra candy and thow it in the bag, too.

Before I leave for home, I settle back into my desk and flip open my laptop. There’s a bat shifter colony in West Virginia that I have to wonder if Beau’s a part of, and if so, can I reunite him with his people? I just don’t have the contact number. I open NightFall, the search engine for us paranormals. About a decade ago, witches from Hellion, Illinois created it specifically for paranormals. If you’re purely human, the search engine won’t work without permission and a spell. I type in Bat Colony West Virginia and wait. Sometimes it takes a while for the magic to search out answers, but not today. In about three seconds, I have an answer and dial the number.

The phone rings and rings and rings and rings until it disconnects. My heart sinks until an email address pops up. I copy and paste the info, then type out a short email and hit send. With that done, I pop back home.

I stand in the foyer and listen for chatter, but there’s none until I make it to my bedroom and I hear a movie playing in the basement. I added the slide years ago to add a bit of whimsy to my life, but I teleport instead.

Beau, Sparkle, and Creamsicle are all curled together, asleep, as the projector continues to play whatever movie they were watching.

Creamsicle notices me first and phurmphs as she stretches in Beau’s lap.

“Mmmm?” Beau says as his eyes flutter open. “Poe,” he whispers.