SPARKS OPENED THE vivarium and dropped in several crickets and mealworms onto the feeding ledge that adhered to the side of the glass wall with suction cups. The warm humid air inside the enclosure escaped as Sparks inhaled. He enjoyed the smell, reminding him of a tropical vacation he had taken years ago.
Bernadette and Ralph watched the morsels of food drop from above and made their way over to devour their treats.
Tully glanced up from his book and shook his head.
“I’ll never get used to that.” He shivered where he sat, reclining on a chaise set in front of a large stone fireplace, which currently had a roaring fire. His robe hung loosely, sashed at his waist, exposing most of his muscled and recently trimmed chest. He stared at Sparks and the lizards eyeing the whole scene with trepidation.
“Leave him be. The geckos enjoy the bugs.” Dev grinned from behind the desk. He flipped the page of an ancient book Bastien had lent them. He toyed with the idea of memorizing the placement and directionality of the world’s ley lines. There were hundreds of them.
Sparks laughed at the two of them. He had moved in only the week prior, giving notice on his apartment, and toting over the rest of his stuff.
They were still figuring things out, and there had been some bumps in the road. But as they had all agreed to talk things through, life went on, as it would, generally going well. Being part of a throuple still made Sparks nervous. A lot of folks would never understand, but the guys in the coven were all supportive. Amna, Dev’s sister, had made them each matching talismans for love and commitment, and they all wore them as necklaces.
You guys are the best. Sparks’s gaze meandered between his lovers.
“Back at ya.” Tully snuck a peek at Sparks and smiled a bit bigger.
Dev didn’t look up but he, too, beamed, enjoyed his evenings with the guys, and the lizards.
“I was talking to the geckos.” Sparks snickered, then winked at Tully.
Even though Sparks’s comment had been telepathic, the three were learning when and how to project their thoughts.
“You sure you don’t want to hold Bernadette while I give her a mealworm? She likes you.”
Tully looked suitably horrified.
“I’m good. Sorry, Bernie.” Tully apologized to the lizard.
The massive windows at the far end of the secret library cast a mirrored reflection of the guys as they attended to their tasks. Uncle Bart had shown them the hidden door in Tully’s office. He toured them through the magical addition. The library had been part of the house once before. Each of the shelves and curio cabinets had a purpose and were organized by subject matter or type of artifact. The various relics and witch tools belonging to the Magus Malefica were numerous, and the coven wouldn’t be needing much of anything in the near future.
Beyond the windows the purple of the night sky blanketed them, and the witch wood on the other side of the glass lay quiet. Snow had started to fall for the first time yesterday, and everything outside had been dusted in white. A tad early for winter to arrive, but after all, it was Alberta, and snow in early October was far from unusual.
If the snow kept up, as it likely would, Samhain would be chilly. They’d have to build a large bonfire to keep everyone warm. Perhaps the majority of the celebration would happen indoors.
A lonely howl came from outside.
“Ah, Everton has arrived for the night.” Dev stood and stretched. “I’ll go get him his dinner.”
The guys had taken to tossing a raw steak into the witch wood for the werewolf shortly after he showed up. The creature came every night and spent the dark hours protecting the tree where Cam rested. Cam occupied everyone’s thoughts from time to time, especially Dev, who missed his friend. He frequently went into the witch wood to visit the tree and talk to Cam.
Samhain was in a couple of weeks, but their task of setting up the neutral zone had progressed steadily. They hadn’t managed to get all the wards charged and working in unison. They kept sparking out.
Bastien from the Montreal coven and Scott had been paired together and were working on the problem. Turns out they got along well, and the guys all had bets on whether the two would end up together. If the Magus Malefica gained a new brother in the coven, Sparks already had an initiation ceremony planned. Or would they lose Scott to Montreal? He secretly hoped for the first scenario. Bastien was fun, flamboyant, and amazingly talented as a technomage. The man had an app for everything.
Franco had been spending more and more time with the guys as well, visiting often to make sure Everton behaved. After a couple of weeks of unannounced visits Franco inquired about Kerr’s relationship status. Seems an interest had been sparked during the Mabon ritual.
The guys were waiting to see how a relationship between the two would play out as a werewolf and witch pairing would certainly be interesting.
The only thing Dev hadn’t managed to resolve was the suspected possession of the boy who had scaled his office walls.
Wiatt worked diligently to find a spell to pull the demon out, but necromancy and demonology were not similar. He had managed to create a hex bag to keep the entity contained, but the child wasn’t free from the grasp of the insidious creature. After all, Wiatt’s talents were on dead things, not demonic things, and the two were different branches of magic. But Wiatt was up for the challenge and had been working on the problem with dogged determination.
Things were ticking along.
Their coven had formed and gelled well, and rumours were shared in the Shadow Realm community that the Magus Malefica were a boon to the community.
Everything was just as it should be.
For now.