It was probably Daisy checking in on me though, since she knew I’d be home alone.
I slipped the phone from my purse to see who was calling—Tess, my other best friend, who had been so busy I’d hardly talked to her at all lately.
I answered, “Hey, this is a pleasant surprise.”
“Hey,” she said. “Is this an okay time? I really needed to hear a friendly voice.”
“It’s the best time. I just got in and cracked open a bottle of wine.”
“I wish I was there with you.”
“Me, too.” I could really use her reassuring company and beautiful brain right now. “Where are you? If you’re allowed to say, of course.”
“Vietnam.”
“As in…the country? Or is this a weird town name somewhere out in the middle of North Dakota?”
“Country.” Tess sighed. “Dreadlord Doomface?—”
The nickname she used for her new boss, who I was pretty sure was not actually named Doomface. I was also pretty sure she’d picked up the Dreadlord title from Dungeons and Dragons.
“—demands his morning caffeine fix fresh from the source.”
Maybe I was too tired or too wired for this conversation. Or maybe I was just missing something. “I thought you were in Tokyo.”
The time difference would explain the whole morning thing when it was closer to bedtime here.
“He’s waiting in Tokyo for me to return—impatiently, I’m sure. One sec.” Scuffling sounds carried over the line, and her voice came muffled as she placed an order for what sounded like ‘salt coffee’.
I tucked my phone in the crook of my neck, poured some kettle corn into a bowl, and took my wine and snack with me to the sofa.
A few moments later, Tess’s voice came back at full volume. “I’m allowed to use an instantaneous travel device. They’re supposed to be for official use only. Pretty sure coffee doesn’t count as official use.”
Having a device for instantaneous travel sounded pretty handy. There was still so much about Tess’s job she hadn’t shared. Every little piece she did share was fascinating.
“There you go, write it down,” I told her. “If you collect enough blackmail, you can flip the power dynamic.”
“Maybe.” She sounded skeptical, which was fair. “Or maybe he’ll lock me up in some hell dimension as punishment for defying him.”
I sat up straighter. “Hell dimensions are real?”
Maybe that’s where the zombie rodents spawned from.
“Who knows. If they are, Dreadlord Doomface would surely make use of them.”
I shivered at the thought.
“I know I called you, and I’ve spent the whole time dumping on you and complaining and now I have to go. I’m sorry. Are you doing all right?”
“Yeah, of course.” I wasn’t sure if that was a lie or not.
Maybe a half truth. No, definitely more lie than truth.
I couldn’t get off the phone without asking my magically knowledgeable friend for her thoughts on what I’d been through.
“Okay, no, not really. I used to look forward to the times when the kids would go off to school, and I’d finally get some peace and quiet.
Then I got exactly what I’d thought I wanted.
Life is too quiet without them. I miss Carson, too.
Separation sucks so hard, and that’s not even the most depressing thing happening. Well, not the most pressing.”
“Tell me,” she said, her soft voice uncharacteristically stern.
“Are witches real?”
“Absolutely.”
That was a quicker and more concrete answer than I’d expected.
“Why?” she asked. “What happened?”
“I saw an undead army of rodents, then a blond woman told me to forget it happened.”
“But you didn’t forget.”
“No. I didn’t.”
“Probably because you’ve experienced magic before. If you’ve seen magic, you can see magic.”
“That’s a dumb rule. How are you ever supposed to see it the first time then?”
“I don’t know. That’s just how it works.” Beeping sounds carried through the line, an alarm probably, since she’d said she had to go. She inhaled sharply.
I couldn’t let her off the phone without laying everything out. I had no idea when I’d get to talk to her again. “Tonight I went back to the park where it happened and I ran into a second woman who was there that day. She threatened me not to mess with her coven.”
“What did she look like?”
“Uh…the perfect hire if Crayola is looking for an evil mascot.”
I expected a laugh, but Tess made a contemplative “hmm” instead.
“I took a picture.”
“Send it to me. I am so sorry I have to go. Stay away from both of these women. Call me if anything else happens. I really wish….” She again sucked in a sharp breath. “I love you and we need to catch up for real soon. And you need to stay safe until then, okay?”
“Yeah. Of course.”
“O—bu—Erika? Are—ou?—”
“I’m here,” I said.
But the call dropped, and Tess was gone.
At least I’d gotten a chance to tell her what was going on before I lost her. I texted her the photo of the rainbow witch. Then I set my phone on the coffee table and took a long swig of my wine.
My hands were still a bit shaky. The wine wasn’t doing its job and helping me relax. Maybe a bath would? It certainly couldn’t hurt.
I started the water, stripped, and placed my clothes in the hamper.
Everything changed in the blink of an eye.
One second I was standing inside my bathroom naked, the next I was standing somewhere else entirely—outside.
Bonus—I was still completely naked.