Page 3 of Solar Shadows

We’ll make this right, littlest brother,I thought to The Star.

I folded my arms, eyeing up the thick chain and padlock on the fairground gate, wondering who lurked in the darkness. Shadow witches? Shimmer witches? A goblin cult with lofty ambitions of world domination calling this shithole a lair?

Drake, my brother’s boyfriend and a scryingwitch, had already used his special searching power to confirm The Star wasn’t here. He wasn’t anywhere, his magic finding zero trace of him. And he scryed every day, constantly coming up empty. Bless him hard for trying, though.

One day…

A report from one of the supporters of House Aurora about strange activity inside the fairground brought us here. Weird noises, odd lights. One of them even mentioned starlight, and that was enough to get us moving.

These supporters were mysterious ‘friends’ of our cause, working on the downlow. I wasn’t sure if we’d ever encounter these people, but it was amazing to have strangers out there having our back.

Dropping my arms, I rolled my shoulders and said, “Let’s do this.”

Jake and Ollie exited the car, joining us.

“I hate his place,” Jake complained, scratching under his eyepatch.

Agent Jake Winter was a witchcop, our High Coven liaison, and totally part of our circle. He’d always worked as a secret contact for Erin Lovell until he got promoted to his new official position.

Agent Ollie Lovell had been appointed as an official witchcop last week. He was Erin’s son and used to be the mansion’s handyman. Now he wore the white uniform with blue piping and a blue beret, looking fine as fuck. He’d been ordered to work withJake as Assistant Liaison, and the pair of them were also good friends.

Tall and handsome with muscles for days, his rich dark-brown skin was destined to meet my tongue one day. Well, only in my dreams. In reality, Ollie looked at me with icy indifference.

There’d been a moment when I thought we’d sparked by the way he’d stared at me in a not-so-frosty way. Riley suggested maybe Ollie was seeing me outside of my supermodel persona for the first time. Only, it never happened again. He went right back to his default, and I just stuck to fancying the pants off him from the sidelines.

Darn it. Why did I have to be so disarmed by his hazel eyes? And why did his rejection only throw fuel on my sexy fires?

I blamed my loneliness and the serious love drought I’d been languishing in.

Jake stepped forward, getting to work on picking the padlock with a special witchcop tool.

Ollie glanced at me for the briefest of moments, then joined his fellow agent without a word.

Does he really hate me?

It’d suck hippo balls if he did. There were enough trolls out there who already sent me plenty of hate.

Riley took my arm. “Are you okay?”

“I’m good. You?” I gave his hand a gentle pat.

“Fine, apart from chilly.”

Drake, also on this mission with us, kissed him on the cheek. “Poor sexypie. I’ll warm you up later.”

My brother’s blue eyes twinkled, a flush of pink glowing in his pale, alabaster face.

I rolled my eyes. “PDA here? Really?”

Riley giggled, tracing a finger along the radiant copper skin of his boyfriend’s neck.

The scrying witch’s amber eyes were full of so much love for Riley, and vice versa. They were so smitten, so happy to have found each other, and it was lovely to see.

One day I’d like to make kissy faces at a guy and for it not to be a fleeting fling. To find a deeper connection, to have something beyond sex.

I doubted that guy would be Ollie.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I checked it to find my agent’s name on the screen.