The basement walkout opened to a pergola-covered outdoor kitchen. Coach Jordan, wearing a Howlers’ cap and holding a spatula, stood in front of a large grill with his back to me. Burgers sizzled, smoke wafted, and Air Supply played in the background. Jordan was alone, his hips swaying back and forth to All Out of Love as he flipped a patty.
My anger for the six-and-a-half-foot man replaced my self-pity. I hated that he was another threat to me and the people I loved. No matter what he said about not being in Southill Village because of me, he’d taken a job at my kid’s school and was in a position of power over Michael. And frankly, I didn’t trust him even a little bit.
Stone, stone, hard and cold, up, up, lock and hold. I sent out my intention to the ground beneath the demi-god and felt a small surge of triumph as his patio paving stones swallowed his feet.
“What the—” He windmilled his arms to keep himself upright as he tried to circle around.
“Hilarious,” Luanne said dryly, then she arched her brow at Jordan. “You’re shorter than the last time I saw you.”
The demi-god twisted sideways and looked over his shoulder at Lu. His eyes glowed with power. “What are you? The comic relief?”
“I’m the hammer.” She smirked. “And the nail.”
Jordan gave her a brief assessment before turning his attention to me. “Did you really have to do all this?” He pointed to his feet. “It’s a little overkill.”
“But it makes me feel better,” I told him.
“Hey, Coach,” Darrell Franks said as he rounded the corner. “When are the burgers going to be ready?”
The glow disappeared from Jordan’s eyes, and he dropped a hand towel over his feet. “Ten minutes.” He waved his spatula at the boy. “Anyone asks again, the whole team will be doing wind sprints tomorrow at practice.”
From Michael, I knew that wind sprints were leg killers where the boys had to run from the endzone to the twenty-five-yard line, back to the endzone, then down to the fifty-yard line and back, then down to the twenty-five on the other side, then back, then down to the opposite endzone and back. In other words, it was Hell.
Darrell’s eyes widened. “Got it, Coach!” I could see a crooked grin on his face as he turned on his heel and jogged off. I got the impression this wasn’t the first, second, or third time he’d asked Jordan about dinner.
Jordan shook his head. “They’ve been playing the are-we-there-yet game. Only, it’s been the are-you-done-yet version. They think it’s a big joke.” He reached down and picked the towel up. I winced when I saw the stone that had encased his feet had crumbled to dust. “You have ten minutes before forty hungry boys round that corner.”
“Nifty trick,” Lu said. She sounded casual and relaxed, but I knew her well enough to know she’d be ready to fight when it was necessary. “What else you got?”
He crossed his arms over his expansive chest, his biceps bulging out of his short-sleeved polo shirt. “I’d be happy to show you.”
Okay, this was verging on hostile flirting. “Why are you in Southill Village?” The tension I’d felt earlier and the despair had faded a little in Jordan’s company. I forced myself to stay on high alert. “And don’t give me no bullshit about it being an available job because I’m not buying the narrative.”
“I’ve been coaching the kids for weeks now, spending a lot of time with them one-on-one because I’m trying to what? Spend a lot of time with them one-on-one.” His expression was incredulous. “Look. If I wanted to harm your son or any of the young men on the team, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to do it. I don’t need to cook burgers for them first.”
His reasoning was sound, but I still couldn’t shake the ominous feeling that something terrible was coming to destroy me and the people I loved. I shook my head. “Tell me why you’re here.”
“Ms. Everlee, I’ve already told you. There was a notice on a teacher vacancy website, and I was looking for a fresh start far away from Wisconsin. If I had known I was coming to a town full of magical drama, I might’ve looked somewhere else, but regardless of who my father is, I’m not omnipotent.”
“What do you know about the magical drama in Southill Village?” Luanne asked shrewdly. “I mean, if you aren’t here for any nefarious reasons, then you should be blissfully unaware, right?”
He narrowed his gaze on her. “I haven’t been blissfully unaware since my last girlfriend turned to dust in my arms.” His expression pinched with something akin to grief.
Months earlier, I’d been seconds away from turning to dust because of my wild earth magic. Was it a coincidence that Jordan’s girlfriend had been a tru-craft witch like me? He’d been on the Iron Grove’s watch list for several years, so the two incidents didn’t coincide. Maybe he’d liked the power he’d gained by absorbing her magic. Maybe he wanted to feel that again, so he was lulling me into a false sense of safety until I could die in his arms the same way.
“How did you find out about me?” I asked.
“When you stuck your bone spikes through my hand Friday night,” he answered. “That was my first big clue. Tying me up with the vines was my second.”
“You didn’t know I existed before then?”
“I knew Michael had a mom, but, no, I didn’t know that you possessed tru-craft. It’s not like you’re holding up a sign.” He shook his head. “Though I have been feeling a pull of sorts,” he admitted. “I don’t know what it is, though. It’s like nothing I’ve experienced before. It’s made me want to avoid going to town.”
I grimaced. Was he feeling the pixies’ mating ritual signal? He was a magical creature, after all, but he was also part human. Whatever the reason, I wasn’t about to give him information on Fair Konig and his troupe, especially since he didn’t seem to know about them. “Avoiding town is a good plan,” I said. “Frankly, avoiding Southill Village would’ve been your best move. You should pack up and get out while you can.”
His lips thinned as he stared at me. “Yeah, not going to happen.”
“You could always disappear one night.” Luanne had pulled her knife. She tapped the tip and said, “Ouch.”
“Lu.” I gave a quick headshake.
Jordan jumped as flames shot up from the grill. Not my doing. “Damn it.” He started scooping the meat patties off the grill and onto a cookie sheet. “I hope the boys like them well-done.”
Nothing about Jordan screamed killer or bad guy, but I couldn’t fight this feeling of intense dread and anguish. My fear for Michael was at a ten.
Moments before my final showdown with Volres, the fire god, he’d tried to strike a bargain with me.
“Give me your body,” he’d demanded, “and I’ll spare your offspring. He does have it in him, you know.”
“Has what in him?” I’d asked.
“The ability for magic. Although, like you, I think it will come to him late.” The asshole had smiled when he’d threatened, “And then I will make him mine.”
How could I trust that Jordan wasn’t after the same power? My power? And if he couldn’t have mine, maybe he was trying to build trust with Michael so that when my son finally sparked to tru-craft, he could take the magic from him. I’d made Volres pay for his words. He’d been an elemental creature, and as a tru-craft witch, the elements were mine to command. But Jordan wasn’t an elemental creature, was he? He came from a line of immortals. He broke my magical efforts to bind him without any effort. If he wanted me, if he wanted Michael, I wasn’t sure I could stop him.
“Iris,” Lu said.
I heard her, but I couldn’t stop the dozens of awful scenarios playing out in my head. In every single one, I lost. And as a result, I lost Michael. I lost my son.
“Iris,” Lu said more sharply. “What’s going on?”
“No,” I muttered as I shook my head. “You can’t have him.”
“What are you doing to her?” Luanne demanded.
“I’m not doing anything,” Jordan said.
Only, he was. He would be my destroyer, then he would kill Michael. My grimoire line would be concluded. It would be over. It would be as if we never existed.
“She’s crying.” Lu sounded freaked out. “If you don’t stop, I’m going to slit your throat and gut you, and when you begin to heal, I’ll do it again. I’ll give you an eternity of torture. Stop whatever you’re doing now.”
Oh, Michael. My poor boy. He’d never asked for any of this. A father he couldn’t rely on and an unstable mother. Maybe that’s why Evan had cheated. I ruined lives. Maybe he saw that in me even before I’d sparked to tru-craft.
“Mom?” I heard Michael’s voice distantly as if he were an echo.
“Michael, go back inside,” Lu said.
I was a failure. My whole family thought so. I’d been useless when my mother was dying. My father was getting older, and he wasn’t doing well. I hadn’t even known about the fall. I was a terrible daughter. Marigold had to lie for me, keeping my secret from my other siblings. I’d made her an accomplice in the mess I’d called my life. And Keir…. I felt a sob catch in my throat. I was ruining his life as well. I’d died. I’d fucking died, and he’d been left alone. It had only been eight minutes. But the next time, it would be permanent. He said he couldn’t live without me. Would he take his own life if I died? The pressure and responsibility was too much. It was all too much. Everyone would be better off if I’d never existed. Could I do that? Could I turn back time? Or better yet, could I craft a spell that would make everyone forget about me?
“There,” Michael said. Then he said, “Son of a bitch. It went inside.”
“Take your mom into the sunlight,” Jordan said.
I felt Michael’s arm wrap around my shoulders. “Come on, Mom,” he said. “It’s going to be all right.”
The feeling of intense internal torment eased as the sun’s rays kissed my skin. The physical connection to Michael helped too. The fog of shame and blame slowly lifted. “Michael?”
“I’m here,” he said. His hand was a fist on my back, and his body was rigid with distress. “It’s the wraith,” he added. “It flew into the basement. Coach and Lu went after it. Are you…are you okay?”
I nodded, feeling anything but okay. “Better. How did the wraith find me here?”
“I don’t know, but you look worse,” Michael’s voice was strained. “You…. You’re disappearing more.”
I looked down and saw that my good hand had turned to a swirling translucence. Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Your neck too,” he added. “What can I do?”
I wish I knew the answer. I hated that Michael had to see this. I wanted to keep this side of my life, the dangerous parts, as far from him as possible. I couldn’t, not if I wanted to protect him in the long run. I owed him the truth. What was happening to me might happen to him one day if I didn’t prepare him for the spark. Good, bad, or ugly.
“I’ll work a spell when I get home,” I told him. “It’ll slow the progress of the wild aero-craft until I can figure out how to wrangle it.” Harness was what the grimoire had said. Harness the wind. As far as instructions went, it might as well have been in a foreign language. Too bad the grimoire didn’t come with diagrams. “Honestly, though. I’m not sure I can stop what’s happening. I don’t say this to frighten you, but I want you to be prepared for….”
“No,” Michael said. “You’re going to figure this out. You always do.”
“Always, huh?” The sun eased the deep sorrow inside me, and I felt some of my strength return. “I wish that was true.”
“It is true,” he said. “You’re the strongest person I know.” There was a catch in his voice that made my heart break a little. “You’ll find a way to beat this, Mom.” His words were a demand.
I nodded. I wanted to be the person my son thought I was. Strong, brave, and able to tackle the toughest problem and make it my bitch. “All right,” I told him. “I’m going to figure this shit out.”
He gave me a half-smile. “Damn straight.”
My head was clear again, the melancholy gone. “The wraith,” I said to Michael. “Did you say it was here?”
“Yes.” He shivered. “When I came outside, I saw you standing there crying, and when you didn’t respond, I knew it had to be the wraith. You looked like you did when it was in your room. I saw it in the corner above the doorway, hiding in the shadows.”
Keir had said he didn’t know a way to defeat a wraith and that fighting it was bad. “Oh, crap. Luanne.” I scrambled to my feet. “I have to help her.”
“But you can’t,” Michael protested. “You’re missing an arm.”
I was technically missing two, but one was made of air magic, and the other was missing for the same reason.
I reached down and grabbed dirt from the ground with the hand that worked. I didn’t have the right ingredients to cast the air spell Thomas had taught me, but I could
“Eastern wind and binding dust, healing breath in you I trust. As the air blows, time slows, and the dirt will form a crust. Bend to my will.” I blew on the dirt over where my arm should be and sprinkled some around my neck, adding my intention to be solid and whole once more. My arm reformed, and I made a fist pump at my hip in way of celebration. I’d managed an air spell without a chaperone and hadn’t killed myself. It was a point in the win column.
“Cool,” Michael said, sounding sincerely impressed.
“Yeah, it is,” I agreed. “Stay out here, okay. Don’t go anywhere there are shadows.”
“I’m going with you,” Michael told me. “You can’t be around that thing without me.”
Before I could argue with him, Lu exited the sliding glass doors. “He’s got it.” She was breathing hard and looked like she’d been in a fight with a Tasmanian devil. “Jordan captured the wraith.”