Callie
At first, I halfway considered having the witches flash me back to my house, just wanting to be home. But Willa and the others couldn't travel that way, so I went with them on a long plane ride back to the states.
When we arrived at the airport, I froze halfway to the security check in. Willa looked at me curiously. "What's wrong?"
I shook my head. "I don't have an ID, or a passport, or anything."
"Oh," Willa chirped, reaching in her back pocket.
She handed me a card and I looked at it, my eyebrow raising. "Willa, I think you've been here long enough to know that I can't go through an airport check with your grocery store rewards card."
She smiled. "Look again."
With a furrowed brow, I looked down at the card again but instead of staring at her VIP card, it was a passport. I looked back up at her. "I really don't want to know how… I just want to go home." We turned to walk but I stopped her. "And by the way, this would've come in really handy when we wanted to go backpacking in Europe."
She giggled, and we headed through the security check. The entire time I was nervous, but they saw exactly what I had, a passport. Our plane was already boarding when we arrived at the gate. I climbed aboard, finding it strange to be among so many normal people. If I wasn't sitting right next to Willa, I would've questioned the last few days altogether. It was like being in another world. I guess in a way, I was.
Up until that point, I hadn't been tired. My mind was racing far too much to rest. However, as I sat down in the plane seat, leaning my head against the window, I felt Willa's hand against mine. At first, I wanted to pull it away, not wanting to be subdued by any more magic. But as the calmness began to spread over me, I gave in. I had been tense for days, fighting back dark magic, healing from wounds, and trying to come to terms with the fact that there was a bracelet possibly permanently attached my body that held the magic of the Fae.
At that point, I welcomed sleep.
I drifted off almost instantly, before the plane was even in the air. I dreamt of flowering fields, pleasant things, flying over beautiful lands and hearing the voices of the people that I loved. At one point during my dreams, I even found myself with my parents and my pets, laughing and smiling with the absence of any heartbreak that I had been dealing with since college. It was nice, so nice that when the plane landed and jolted me awake, I was slightly disappointed.
I looked around and rubbed my eyes. "Are we at our layover?"
Willa stood up and scooted out, reaching up to grab her carry-on bag from overhead. "No, we're home. You slept the whole way."
My mouth hung open and I rubbed the sore spot on the side of my head from leaning against the window. "That was like a fourteen-hour plane ride."
She shrugged. "You needed the sleep. Come on, let's get out of here. The witches will probably be at your house by the time we get there."
I had stopped asking questions at that point, far too tired of strange answers, at least mentally. I still hadn't had a chance to really think about everything that had happened. I knew there was more to come, but that was definitely not on my mind.
We took a rental car back to town, and it was quite a drive from the airport, but the scenery helped to keep me calm. It was like coming home after a semester in college. There was a nostalgic feeling to it, happiness and comfort. When we pulled up in front of my house, I didn't see the witches at all. However, as we moved up the driveway, it was as if they were standing behind an invisible barrier and suddenly, they appeared.
I looked over at Willa and she just shrugged as we got out of the car. Shade was standing in the center of the lawn, watching the witches work. He looked over at us, his eyes lingering on me for just a second before moving to Willa. "Any trouble on the plane?"
"Nope," she replied with a smile. "And Callie got sleep like you told me you wanted her to."
I stepped up to them and looked back and forth between them. "You do realize that I'm a grown woman, right? You two don't need to talk about me behind my back like I'm a child."
Willa put her hand on my shoulder. "We just want what's best for you."
I sighed exhaustively and turned to walk toward the house. Shade called after me. "We checked the house for you and everything's good. You have strange pets though."
I looked up at the door, and back at him, about to ask how they got inside, but then I remembered they were witches. I wasn't sure whether to feel thankful or concerned about the fact that they broke into my house so easily and not a single one of my neighbors called the police. "Thanks, dad."
I walked away without looking at his reaction. When I walked inside, both Bean and Mr. Hobbles came running down the hallway to greet me. I smiled big and dropped to my knees, putting my arms out. Bean jumped up and licked me in the face and Mr. Hobbles purred as he rubbed against me. Willa walked in behind me and I looked up with a grin. "Look, my fan base still loves me."
She was narrowing her eyes at both the animals, and I chuckled. "I thought you liked them. You don't have to give them the death stare."
She shook the look from her face. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something. So, I'm just going to stay here with you for a while, to make sure you're okay."
I grunted as I stood up, feeling my bones creak as if I were seventy-eight years old. "You really don't need to do that. I'm sure your gnomes miss you. It's not like you're that far away. Besides, I'll be okay. You don't have to watch over me every second."
"Yes, she does," Shade said from the doorway as he entered. "Until we can figure everything out, and ensure your safety, you need to be watched at all times. I offered to have several of my witches stay behind, but Willa insisted that it be her. She said you would feel more comfortable going about your normal routine if it were just her. However, anytime you need some of our witches, you need only ask."
Willa rolled her eyes at me, and turned around, patting Shade on the chest. "Thanks, witchy boy, but I think I can handle this. Besides, you have research to do. Are you guys almost done with your protection spells?"
Shade narrowed his eyes at her and then looked over his shoulder. "We're done here. We are going to go over to your shop and do a little protection spell there and then we'll be heading back. I can come here at any point."
I could tell it was taking everything in Shade's body to be nice to Willa, so I spoke up before she could say anything else smartass to him. "I appreciate it. I'll try not to knock this one down."
He gave a half smile, but it quickly faded away. "Well, if you have everything, I will be on my way." He turned and opened the door, pausing and looking back at us. "I'll be back."
Willa's lip trembled and she chuckled. "Okay Terminator. Have a good teleportation."
I rolled my eyes at Willa and she mouthed, "What?" Hurrying after him, I skipped down the steps and out to the yard where the other witches were gathering to head over to the bookstore. "Shade."
He stopped and turned toward me. "Yeah?"
I shoved my hands in my pockets and looked down at the grass. "I just… You know, I just wanted to thank you for… Everything. Well, maybe not everything. But I definitely want to thank you for saving me from the bogeyman and doing all this for me here."
"It's my fault you're in this to begin with."
"Well," I replied, glancing up at the sky. "Technically, it's the Fae's fault that I'm in all of this. But I have a feeling that, if they hadn't kidnapped me from the house, you probably would have and then it would've been your fault."
We stood there in the grass, not really looking at each other, not talking, but at a standstill. There was a big part of me that didn't want him to leave, but I couldn't tell him that. It was weird. He kept glancing over at me and then glancing away as if he wanted to say something as well, but he didn't. I wasn't sure how long we stood there for, but after a little while, Willa jogged up and stood between us, looking back and forth at me and then him and then back again. She narrowed her eyes and slowly, a smile curled on the corner of her lips.
She pointed her finger between the two of us. "So, who's gonna go first? Are you gonna be the chivalrous guy and tell her how much you like her first? Or are you gonna be the new age strong woman that tells him that you've totally got a crush on him?"
I groaned and slapped my hand to my forehead. Shade stood up tall and squared his shoulders. "Don't be ridiculous. I didn't want to be rude. Unlike you, I don't spend copious amounts of time with humans, so interaction is…"
"Awkward?" Willa offered. "Painful?"
I furled my brow. "Hey."
Shade pulled his coat closely around him. "We're wasting time. There's a lot to do back in Rome and… Whatever it is you do here."
He was pointing that question at Willa, but she didn't take the bait. Besides, she had given him hell from the moment she met him, so it really wasn't that out of the question that he did the same back. I pressed my lips together and didn't say a word. Willa took a step back and stood next to me as we watched the witches gather around together.
Shade looked over at Willa. "You need to get that bracelet off of her and fast. The sooner the better…"
Before Willa could respond, the witches disappeared, a swirl of magical mist whipping up into the air and then dissipating into nothingness. Willa frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. She scratched her face and mimicked Shade. "You need to get the bracelet off her and fast… Ugh, I don't know why he thinks he's so important, but he drives me crazy." She elbowed me. "And I can see he drives you crazy as well, just not the same way."
I looked over at Willa and she was wiggling her eyebrows. I rolled my eyes and turned around, heading back to the porch. Willa walked past me giggling and into the house. I looked out over the front yard, finding it so strange how peaceful and quiet everything was. If it hadn't been for the every-once-in-a-while shimmer of the protection over the house that I could see at just the right angle, it would've felt like everything was just the way it was supposed to be. Of course, that wasn't the truth and the bracelet around my wrist that hummed energy through my body was definitely a reminder of that. I may have not wanted Shade to leave, but I knew it wouldn't be the last time that I saw him. Unfortunately, I had a feeling that when I did, things weren't going to be simple and quiet.