My stomach knotted as the final seconds of the game counted down. Our Southill Village Howlers were up by a field goal, and the ball was in the Ballycore Bulldogs’ control.
The game was the least of my worries. I’d spent the majority of my time watching Coach Jordan. He seemed so…normal. Other than the fact that he was extremely action-movie-star gorgeous. I had a million questions for Keir, but none that were appropriate for the non-magical company. Why hadn’t the Iron Grove already done something about this guy?
Keir’s phone call with Lu hadn’t gone as well as he’d hoped. She was currently in Nevada, just north of Reno, and it would take her at least two days of driving to get here.
“Come on, Kid!” my dad yelled. “Take his head off!”
Rose was up on her feet, too. “Defense!” She clapped her hands twice. “Defense!” Half the crowd joined in with her chant.
I looked at the field in time to see Michael speeding past the offensive line and right at the quarterback. My pulse kicked into high gear as my adrenaline spiked. “Hit him!” I screamed. “Sack ‘em!”
As easy as slicing butter, Michael slipped past the last defender, came around behind the quarterback and took him down. The ball popped out of the quarterback’s hand.
“Yasssssss!” The Howlers’ fans went wild. I flew up onto my feet, jumping and screaming along with everyone else when Michael crab-crawled to the fumbled ball for a defensive turnover.
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh.” Rose was holding on to Don’s shoulders, shaking her six-foot-four husband like a ragdoll. “Did you see that?”
Don was laughing. Dad was grinning from ear to ear. Rowan, who had shown up in the first quarter, turned around and high-fived me. He wore a Howlers’ hat over his dark red hair and a Howlers’ hoodie in a show of team spirit. Even stoic Dahlia, our eldest sister, was hooting and clapping.
Lauren grabbed my hands, and we raised them over our heads. She spoke loudly to get over the crowd noise, “We’re going to have some happy boys this week.”
“We sure are.” I was smiling so hard my cheeks hurt. There was nothing better than returning home a conquering hero to boost morale. Michael was going to be walking on cloud nine all week long.
“Finally,” Carla said. “Coach Jordan is the leadership our boys deserve.”
Leave it to Carla to sour a perfectly awesome moment. Music blared over the speakers as both teams left the field to gather their gear and head to the locker rooms. Game over. Final score was 10-7.
“Whew, that was a nail-biter,” Marigold said as the crowd began to disperse. “Both defenses were tough. Really pinned the offenses down.”
“They sure did,” I agreed.
“What happens now?” Keir asked.
“Now we go down to the sidelines and wait for the boys to come out of the locker room. Then the moms get to embarrass their sons with congratulatory hugs and kisses.” I raised my brows. “Plus, it’ll give me a chance to assess the new coach.”
Keir’s brow furrowed. “I’m not sure you should go near him until we find out why he’s in Southill Village.”
I gave him a bland look. “We know why, don’t we? Besides, he’s wormed his way into my kid’s life, which means I’m going to look him in the eye.”
Keir took my hand. “Can I come down there with you, or is it just the moms?”
“You can come,” I said, grateful for the backup. “But I doubt Coach Jordan plans to attack me in front of a crowd of people.” Still, it made me feel better to have Keir nearby.
I said goodbye to my family and promised Rose I’d be at the family meeting tomorrow. After, Keir and I made our way to the field. I couldn’t help but wonder why the Iron Grove hadn’t handled this guy. It didn’t seem as if he was trying to hide.
“Why haven’t they taken Coach Jordan out? Or imprisoned him or something?” I asked. “The druids, I mean. Isn’t that part of their job, to make sure magic isn’t being used or taken illegally?”
“We haven’t been able to touch him because we can’t prove how he obtained his magic or if he even has magic.”
I frowned. “He stole tru-craft to become a sorcerer. Isn’t that enough proof?”
Keir sighed. “He hasn’t technically stolen his power.”
“How is that possible?”
Keir’s hard gaze met mine. “There’s no proof other than the coven’s word. Besides, catching an unstable witch as the spark of tru-craft kills them, then taking the magic, isn’t a crime. At least not a crime that we can prosecute and punish him for.”
“But Bogmall....”
“She kidnapped you and was going to sacrifice you. Besides, she had also taken an oath to the Iron Grove. This sorcerer is not one of us. The original source of his power is unknown.”
It took about twenty minutes for the boys to retake the field. Michael, wearing jeans and a green sweatshirt, saw me and grinned. He made a beeline for me and gave me a hug. It was awesome. My teenage son was not only happy to see me, but he was also cheerfully hugging me in a public setting. My elation made me feel feather-light.
“Uh, Mom,” Michael said, still hugging me tightly. “You’re floating.”
“Yeah, I am,” I replied. “You were fantastic tonight. I’m so proud of you.”
“No,” Michael said. “You’re floating, and I’m having a hard time keeping my feet on the ground.”
I blinked as I flutter-kicked my feet. We slid a foot to the right.
“Not helping,” Michael said. “I thought you were working on getting your air stuff under control.”
Since telling Michael about tru-craft, I’d kept him mostly up to date with my progress. However, I might have exaggerated how well I was doing. “Down,” I hissed to my powers. “On the ground.”
I dropped like a stone, and Michael’s hug was the only thing that kept me from falling on my ass.
“Cripes, Mom.” His wet hair dripped on my face.
“Sorry,” I told him. “My emotions are messing with my control.”
He chuckled, then let me go. He parroted a phrase I used with him sometimes. “Do better.”
I patted his sweet, scruffy cheek. “I’m trying.”
Uncharacteristically, he gave me a quick peck on the forehead. “I know you are. See you tomorrow.”
“Yep. Great game out there tonight.”
“Thanks.”
Keir put his hand on Michael’s shoulder. “Congratulations. Well-played.”
Michael nodded, then gave us peace signs with both hands as he trotted backward, grabbed his buddy Doug, and headed down the field toward the parking lot.
Coach Jordan was talking with a handful of the moms. I looked at Keir. “I’m going over,” I said. “Safety in numbers.”
“Careful,” he cautioned.
“That’s my middle name.”
“I thought your middle name was Kleinkind.”
“According to Linda, that’s my first, middle, and last name.” I steeled my courage and cut through the new coach’s adoring fans. Keir hung back a few feet but stayed right behind me.
I thrust my hand out. “Congratulations, Coach,” I said. “Great game.”
His intensely blue eyes met my gaze. Then he smiled. “You must be Mike’s mom.”
“Michael,” I corrected automatically. He’d always been Michael, never Mike. “And yep, that’s me. His mom.” I was so smooth. Not. “And you have to be Coach Jordan.”
“You can call me Jordan.” His eyes softened as he held my gaze. “And what can I call you?”
As if he didn’t already know my name. Hah. Though I had to admit, he was as charming as he was good-looking. “You can call me Ms. Everlee,” I said out of spite.
Jordan arched a curious brow. “Mike, Michael,” he amended, “is a Callahan.”
“You are correct.” I didn’t elaborate. “Well, I just wanted to meet you and congratulate you on your first win.”
I hadn’t realized I was still holding out my hand until he took it. A surge of energy, almost like grabbing an electric fence, shot up my forearm and into my elbow. Uncomfortable and painful, but not lethal.
The man leaned in closer and said, “It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Everlee.”
The tingling sensation intensified but turned alarmingly pleasant. As I stared into Jordan’s eyes, I wanted the sensation to continue. Warm, silky comfort filled me. I was safe, I thought. Safe, happy, and relaxed.
A touch on my shoulder snapped me out of my reverie of contentment. Jordan’s touch was once again buzzing, electric, and prickly. I narrowed my gaze at the tall man as I drew upon metals and minerals in my blood and focused on my right palm.
I wanted nothing more than to wipe the smug expression from the coach’s face, but I settled for his hand. I stifled a squawk of pain as I shot short spikes of iron and bone out from my skin and into his firm grip.
His face pinched as I felt my magic strike. He jerked his hand away and gave me a wary, surprised look. “What the hell was that?”
I shuddered as my hand dropped to my side. Now that we were no longer connected, I felt suddenly, nonsensically, at a loss. “I could ask you the same question,” I accused him. Though, I wasn’t the one who’d gotten stabbed through the palm.
The touch on my shoulder chased the feeling away and replaced the emptiness with so much love.
Keir. My anchor.
I stared down at my hand for a moment. It was smeared with Jordan’s blood. Eeep. I wiped my hand on my jeans and then settled my gaze on him. “Don’t get comfortable in Southill Village.”
“I guess we’ll have to wait and see,” he said. He rubbed his hands together for a second, and when he was done, the puncture wounds were healed. “It’s been interesting meeting you, Ms. Everlee.” His frown shifted up again into a smile. “Until the next time.”
I needed “next time” to be as I watched him leave town. I needed this guy out of Southill Village and away from my son and me as soon as possible. Only, next time I wouldn’t be dumb enough to let him touch me.
There was a line of parents and boosters behind me, waiting to talk to their new hero. I gave Jordan a thin-lipped smile back. “Until then.”
I reached up and touched Keir’s fingers on my shoulder, the extra contact clearing any fog left behind by the sorcerer, as we walked down the sidelines toward the parking lot.
“You okay?” Keir asked when we were out of earshot.
“No,” I replied honestly. “I’m not. He….” I wasn’t sure how to put into words how Jordan had made me feel, but I tried. “He made me feel taken care of. Like, he was my protector.” I shivered. “It also felt…violating.”
“Magic?”
“It had to be.”
Keir put his arm around me. “He wasn’t expecting you to bite back.” I could hear the pride in his voice. “The look on his face when you hit him with Earth magic. Priceless.”
“I made him blink first.” But I’d also revealed some of my cards. “He knows I’m on to him. Do you think he’ll move faster on me now?”
“If he’s here for you, then it’s a possibility,” Keir said.
“Who else would he be here for?”
Keir shrugged. “Sorcerers gain power from unstable users of tru-craft. While you haven’t quite mastered your powers, you’re no longer unstable, Iris.”
“What does that mean?”
“Maybe there’s someone else on the mountain who has had their magic triggered.”
A laugh behind us kept me from asking who as my sister Marigold threw her arms over our shoulders and wedged herself between us. “Guess who’s got a date?”
“Who?” I asked, still thinking about the idea that another tru-craft witch might be in Southill Village.
“The spectacularly hot coach asked me if I was going to the bonfire tonight at Silver End Lake.” She made a teeth-sucking noise. “I guess that’s not a date-date, but at least he asked.”
I stopped and looked at her. “You can’t date Coach Jordan.”
“Like I said,” she started. Her tone sounded hurt and confused. “It’s not technically a date. I mean, he probably asked a lot of people if they were going to be at the booster bonfire.”
Crap. Michael was heading to the bonfire now that the game was over. I didn’t want him within a thousand miles of the sorcerer. Then another awful thought popped into my head.
I dug my phone out of my jacket and called my son’s cellphone. The call went straight to voicemail. Damn it, Michael. “Hey, call me as soon as you get this.”
“What’s wrong?” Marigold asked.
We were in the parking lot, moving quickly as I searched for Michael’s car. It was gone. Shit. He’d left already.
Marigold grabbed my arm. “You’re scaring me, Iris. What’s happening?”
I shook my head as my stomach turned icy cold with fear. “Michael,” I said to Keir. Michael hadn’t shown any spark of tru-craft, but maybe Jordan could sense something I couldn’t. “What if he’s after my son?”