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The shop was only a few blocks away and, despite the bruise-like clouds that loomed on the horizon, it hadn't started snowing yet, so we walked. People passing by on the sidewalk kept giving us strange looks. I smiled to myself when I realized what a sight we must be. A hulking blond woman, a tiny redheaded runway model, and a couple of gorgeous young guys in complimenting shades of cocoa and albino.
I sighed. So much for ever blending in anywhere. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out, immediately sending the call to voicemail when I saw my mother's toad icon on the screen. She still hadn't given up trying to lure me back home.
For a second I wondered whether it might be worth it to go back to the clan and ask for help for Oisin—and now Hisashi too. My family might be able to pull some sort of strings...but probably not. They weren't as powerful as the fae. Or mages.
I was walking along, caught up in my own thoughts when Oisin stopped on the sidewalk in front of me and I slammed into him. "What the shit?" I gasped, grabbing his arm as he almost went over. Even his fae reflexes were slow to react.
I glanced between him and Hisashi. Great. Now what were they snarking at each other about?
"Where did you get that?" Oisin demanded, pointing a graceful finger at Hisashi's wrist. The fox wore a bracelet of smooth black stones, just visible in flashes from under his sweatshirt when he moved his arm.
The fox slowed to a stop and gave Oisin a penetrating, confused look. "Now my jewelry is offending you? Dude you need to lighten up."
I grabbed Hisashi's wrist and turned it so I could see the bracelet. There was a little rune etched in each stone bead, and the barest hint of foreign magic came from it, flavored differently than Hasashi’s own aura. "What is it?"
The fox shrugged, but a hint of pink tinged his pale cheeks. "It's just a charm. It helps...make it so the spirits aren't so loud. So their pain doesn't get inside me."
I let go of his wrist and gave his shoulder a squeeze. Jesus, Buddha and Odin that sounded...not good. And here he was, being harassed into talking about it on the street in front of his new roomies. I rounded on Oisin. "What the fuck is your problem? It’s a damned stone bracelet, not a grenade."
The fae put his hands on his hips and glared up at me. "It's obsidian infused with wards that act on a person's own magic to dampen it. Who the hell do you think makes something like that, gryphon?"
I rubbed my forehead. "I don't know. Fae? Unicorns?"
"A mage," Hisashi added helpfully. "He came to my carnival tent, probably to see where the magic signature was coming from." He shrugged. "It's no big deal. I told him about the mediumship I can do, and how it can get...overwhelming." His pale blue eyes darted to me and away. He was clearly uncomfortable talking about the part of his powers that he struggled to control, but he did it anyway. Open and honest, even if it hurt. "He made the charm for me in exchange for a tarot reading about his new job."
He looked down at Oisin, who had gone a shade paler than usual, his eyes gone blank and distant as he stared past us all. "Are you okay? Damn it...I'm sorry?" The confused fox reached for Oisin's shoulder and the fae didn't even flinch away, lost in his own personal visions of hell.
"There's a mage here in the city," he whispered. "I thought I sensed it in the wards, but then they went quiet."
My heart rate kicked up a notch and I stepped closer to Oisin, as if I could shield him from all the bad things in the world. "Oisin?"
He snapped out of his contemplation and stopped muttering to himself. "Why are we standing here," he said, shrugging pointedly out from under Hisashi's hand "when we have a damsel in distress to rescue?" He started walking again and I shot our two confused companions an apologetic look before hustling to catch up to the fae.
"Oisin, are you okay?" I glanced over at my shoulder at a frowning Hisashi, then back to Oisin. "Are both of you okay? Do we need to...I don't fucking know, call my clan? Or," I sucked in a breath. "White maybe? I bet if I offered to work for him for the rest of my life, he'd do...something." I had no idea what, but it would probably be something fucking awful, knowing that bastard. I still didn't even know what kind of supe he was. But it was something that made my gryphon want to run away and hide.
Oisin sighed. "It's fine, Gesa. I was just caught off guard. I'm sure if we haven't been attacked yet, then the mage isn't here for me. You know, there are magic users who don't work for my father out there somewhere, I'm sure."
I didn't believe him at all. I could feel the lie shiver in the air between us. He wasn't sure. He was scared, if his bitchy demeanor was any indication. And he didn't want to talk about it with Hisashi in earshot. "It's so cute when you worry about other people," I said, nudging him with an elbow. I got a raised eyebrow and an unimpressed look for that. "Don't be ridiculous. You know fae are too shallow to care about anyone except themselves. You're going to ruin my reputation with your slander."
I gave him an innocent look as I fought not to smile. There was my old fae. The one who snarked a mile a minute and wasn't afraid of anything. We were going to be okay. I hoped.
We reached the shop in one piece. I was feeling a bit jumpy now, just waiting for someone to attack us and start lobbing balls of lightning or something. But the day remained anticlimactically boring. Con opened the shop door and held it for the rest of us as we entered. There was only one other customer milling about—a middle-aged woman who was clearly trying to decide if the resin seagull figure she was eyeing was worth the price.
The mute woman was behind the counter, drawing swirls in the sand of a silly desk-sized Zen garden with her finger. Her deep blue eyes widened when they landed on me and the guys and she jumped to her feet. The lady with the seagull approached the counter and I waited impatiently for her to leave the shop. Then I braced myself as the shop worker flung herself at me, squeezing my hands, patting my cheek, and engulfing me in a hug that nearly squeezed the life out of me. I hugged her back this time, holding her plush curves to my body for a moment before stepping back. She smelled like...the ocean. But better.
"I think we can figure out how to help you now," I said with a smile. Her happiness was infectious.