Frost in the Snow

Randle crouched behind the low wall as a snowball soared over his head. He scooped up some snow of his own and prepared to return fire. He poked his head up and just barely managed to get out of the way of the next one. He popped up and launched one back. Cassidy had just popped up to prepare another attack and he got her in shoulder. She dramatically spun around and collapsed, making a speech about being too young to perish.

Randle was so distracted by Cassidy’s theatrics he didn’t see the oncoming assault from Dex. It got him square in the chest. Dex stood cheered.

“I WON!” he yelled enthusiastically. “I did it!”

Cassidy was still on the ground, lamenting her last words. Randle grinned but rolled his eyes. His cousin had always been over the top. It was one of the things he loved about her. He admired the way she was unapologetically herself in all things. He didn’t have the courage. He was too afraid of what the court would think. He didn’t know if Cassidy got away with it because she was closer to the throne or if they were amused. He could never rule anyway. Princesses ascended, not princes.

“Ok, I think we need hot chocolate,” Cassidy said as she climbed to her feet.

“Hot chocolate sounds delightful,” Dex said. “However, I feel I am unable to join you.”

“Why?” Cassidy asked as brushed the snow off her coat. “You’re with me. They aren’t going to tell me no.”

Since her birthday earlier in the year, Dex had been spending a lot more time with the two of them. He didn’t flinch nearly as much when she used contractions now. He still struggled with it a bit sometimes. He also wasn’t used to being invited everywhere. Cassidy was third in line for the throne. If anything happened to their aunt, Cassidy would become the Crown Princess. Very few people in the palace would tell her no.

“I do not wish to make trouble,” Dex said.

“You aren’t,” Cassidy said with a snort. “I am, and they can just deal with it.”

She looped her arm through Dex’s and started to pull him toward the palace door. Randle shook his head as he followed. He loved his cousin for making sure Dex was always included. Most of the royals didn’t approve of Dex. He was one of the lowest levels of worker. They would never condone Randle’s relationship with him, but Cassidy did.

“Go up to my rooms and I shall find someone to bring up hot coco and something sweet,” she said.

She skipped off toward the kitchen and Dex lingered awkwardly. He wanted to hang out with them, but he was also afraid of consequences. Randle couldn’t blame him. The fae were not known for being kind in their assumptions.

“Cassidy has ordered you to spend time with her,” Randle said. “No one here can touch you.”

“I fear I shall be causing her undue burdens for her kindness,” Dex replied, shifting slightly.

“Cassidy is more than capable of causing her own undue burdens,” Randle said with a grin. “She is rather known for it around here.”

Dex chuckled and let Randle take his hand. They walked quickly up to Cassidy’s rooms, not wanting to be accosted by anyone before Cassidy could join. While the people of the palace were more than willing to tattle on Cassidy for breaking the rules, who she spent time with was not a rule. There was nothing they could gain from doing anything with the information.

The Frost Festival was in a few days. It was a busy time around the palace. Dex didn’t have family to spend it with, so Cassidy had been going even further out of her way to make sure Dex had festive things to do and focus on. She’d even gone out to get him presents.

He might never be able to have an official family with Dex, but Cassidy was determined to make it feel like one. As soon as their aunt produced a direct heir, Cassidy was going to see about leaving the palace. Randle wanted to go to. He had a better chance at it than she did, but he didn’t want to leave her there. He was more capable at getting along with the other royals than she was. He wouldn’t be alone like she would be. He wouldn’t leave without Dex either. He wasn’t sure if Dex would agree to go.

There would be time to figure that out later. The lighting of the festival tree was later in the evening. For now, he wanted to enjoy the company of his friends by the fire. 

Contracts and Power

Claudette sighed. The two men at the table with her were still screaming at each other; both claiming to be the victim, both wanting some kind of retribution. She’d barely been able to get them to the table in the first place. She didn’t know that anyone else could’ve. Fredrick had called her about problems in his business. Word was traveling that she had no fear and there wasn’t much she was unable to find. Someone was skimming coin from him, and he wanted to know who.

The two men in front of her, Gaven and Dawson, were the most likely. High enough in the organization to be less suspicious, but low enough to be spiteful. She leaned back in her chair, drumming her fingertips on the armrests. She had thought they would tire themselves out by now, but they weren’t showing any signs of slowing down. They were giving her a headache.

She reached down for the briefcase she brought with her. She lifted it up and dropped it, opposed to setting it, onto the table. The metal slammed into the wooden table. Both men flinched and turned to her, the blush of anger all over Dawson’s face.

“This is what we’re gunna do,” Claudette said, immune to their glares. “Both of yall are going to put your butts back in the chairs. I’m tired of the way this is going.”

She looked at them both in turn. They wanted to defy her. She was new in this field, so it didn’t surprise her in the least. She held their stares until they lowered themselves back down to the chairs. She leaned forward and popped the latch on the briefcase.

“I know it was one of you,” she continued. “I thought maybe I could figure out which while sitting here. Alas, I cannot.”

“We both know it was him,” Gaven sneered. “I shouldn’t even be in this meeting! I’ve never done a single thing against Fredrick or his business!”

“Sounds like something a guilty person would say!” Dawson fired back.

“I have two contracts here,” Claudette said, as if they hadn’t spoken. “One is an agreement with me, that the money will all be put back by the end of next season. That gives whichever one of you did it, time to get the coin put together.” She slid the pair of contracts over the table to each of them. “The other is a contract you will sign designating half your pay for the next year to go into Fredrick’s fund for orphaned children.”

“I will not be signing anything!” Dawson yelled.

“I thought you might say that,” Claudette said with a nod. “So I brought these too.”

She lifted the lid to the briefcase again and pulled two folders out, plopping one down in front of each of them, gesturing for them to read. Claudette crossed her legs and leaned back, tipping her head to the side as she watched them. As they flipped through the pages, they paled. Gaven swallowed hard and wiped sweat off his brow. Claudette’s lips twitched into a smile.

She might be new to this business, but she wasn’t new to finding information. Becoming a problem solver was what got her off the streets. Becoming the best at it would keep her in her new comfortable life. Both of these men had gotten their fingers in a lot of pies. Fredrick would not be pleased. It hadn’t even been that hard to find, all things considering. People in taverns liked to talk, especially when you ply them with the drink of their choice.

“As I was saying,” she continued as they slowly closed their folders. “You will sign the contracts, you will eagerly donate to this worthy cause, and you won’t stir up any more trouble. Otherwise... I’m sure Fredrick would love to see these files.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Dawson growled. “You would never be safe in this town again.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and held his gaze, not even remotely threatened by him. She’d been up against men much scarier than the two in front of her. She wasn’t about to be afraid now.

“Try me, Mr. Lane,” she said, voice level. “I’m not the one with something to be afraid of.”

She pulled pens out of the briefcase and held them out to the two men, forcing them to lean toward her to take them. It was the small things that showcased power. They were both grumbling now, reading over each contract. Neither wanted to sign. It was expected. She knew they would with a little nudge.

“This offer expires in 60 seconds,” she said as she stood. “After that, it will be up to Fredrick.” She picked at her nails as they glared at her, trying to find a way out of it. “Time’s almost up.”

Dawson sighed dramatically and scrawled his signature over both contracts. Gaven let out a string of creative curses she had to give him credit for as he signed. She took the contract agreeing to repay the money, and left the agreement to donate their pay to charity for them to deal with.

“It would be best if you turned those in quickly,” she said, slipping the other contracts into her briefcase. “I’ll be watching.”

With that, she snapped the latches closed and walked out of the room. She could feel Dawson’s magic crackling in the air, but didn’t change her pace. He wanted to make her flinch, and she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

Anxiety, Heartburn, and New Meds! Oh My!

 November has been a long month. Like really long. The longest month in the history of months. Ok, I'm probably being dramatic. It's fine. I've been struggling with the anxiety ratcheting up for a while now, but man.. it's gotten so bad. That's where the new meds come in. They are supposed to be super awesome and will help me a ton... I just have to get through the intro period. I'm going back and forth between sleeping 16 hours a day and 4 hours a day. Basically, whenever I'm awake... I'm exhausted. More than exhausted. Barely human really. That has finally started to lessen, but now the heartburn is setting in. It's so terrible. I've always had acid reflux. I have so many treatments at my disposal for it... they are not working. So I feel like I have a pool ball lodged in my throat. It's so great. I'm so excited about it. I learned that sucking on something helps. Guess who has had a caramel hard candy in their mouth almost constantly all day to avoid the pain? Not me eating an entire bag of candy today 🙃

OK! On to other thing now. Due to... the previous paragraph... NaNo basically didn't happen. I mean, it did, and if you go to the profile there, it will tell you I completed it, but I didn't hit my goal of 125k. I barely broke 50k. Which, lemme tell you, isn't making me feel super great with the whole anxiety thing. However, my Eternal Keeper of Time and Eternal Confused Cookie Goddess have informed me I have to give myself grace. That I need to accept that life happened and it's ok to not be where I had planned to be. My mom and C.O. agree. Now, the trick is to get my anxiety to agree to those terms (spoiler: it's not going well.) 

I've done some organizing in my life. I mean, I had some of this done before, but I've been working on modifications to it. I have a writing schedule planned out until like... the end of 2026. I already have names for the rest of the Justified series books! I also already found a series to work start writing once I wrap up the Justified series. The thought of that is bittersweet. I'm excited to see it come to a close, but at the same time... I really love being with these characters. I'm hoping once I have the remaining books finished, I will have closure with them, but we'll see. It will end at four novels and two anthologies.

I'm going to be messing with the formatting of the post schedule here. Every two weeks might be a thing until the end of the year, but I'd like to get back to weekly posts. I like them. I just don't have the content for that right now. Getting more put together has been harder with everything going on, so I finally reached the end of the line (aside from excerpts, which I pull as I'm writing). I'm also going to try to get back to making these weekly-whatevers.... actually weekly. 

I'm on Insta now!! You can find me at _falling.in.place_ I try to post something every couple of days, but it depends on what else is happening. So, go follow me there!

Ok, I need to work on things. December is going to be busy as hell for me as I try to get this ship righted again. 

One more thing... HOW BOUT THOSE LIONS!!!! 8-3 BABY!! 8-3!!! that is all

Until next week ♥

Matchstick Excerpt 11: The Choice

There wasn’t a magic signature at all. Whatever this was, it wouldn’t blow up if I touched it. I carefully opened the door. It was a piece of fabric, roughly cut, that had been rolled up and laid across the floorboards. I glanced around quickly to make sure no one was paying attention to me. I carefully unrolled it. I didn’t want to alert anyone else just yet. No need to send everyone running if they didn’t need to. There was a note and a couple of pictures attached to it.

You are not as smart as you think you are, it said across the top.

Underneath it were Polaroids of Arthur and me from today. One from each location we’d been to except this one. My jaw clenched. I was tired of this bullshit.

Tick Tock. Who will you save? was scrawled across the bottom.

My heart dropped, and my hands started to shake as I tossed the fabric square back in the car.

“She knows we are all here,” I said frantically. “There was a note in my car. It asked me who I was going to save.”

“I haven’t seen anything on the cameras,” Elise said.

“I’ll come to you,” Mel said. “I can get my car later. Arthur put a call into Annabell. We need to bail.”

“I’m not calling her. I’m going to her. If they know we’re here, there’s no need to pretend,” he said.

It sounded like he was jogging. As his breathing picked up, so did my heart rate. I was paralyzed. I didn’t know where to go or who would need it. These games made me want to scream. She was always a step ahead of us, playing with our lives.

“There wasn’t a picture of Mel,” I said quietly.

“What?” Elise and Arthur said.

“There wasn’t a picture of Mel,” I said louder. “Bethany doesn’t know she is here. Don’t come to me, we need to go to them. It asked me who I would save.”

Just as I started moving toward them, two shots rang out. Arthur cursed and dropped off the call.

(All excerpts are taken from a lightly edited first draft. Contents are subject to change or may be removed from the final novel entirely.)

Moonlight and Honey

I've been struggling with my anxiety a lot lately. It's gotten pretty bad. To help deal with it, I'm changing my meds. I think it will be good, but it can take 2-4 weeks for them to truly take hold. So, I've been a little bit of a mess. But it's fine. This is fine... To ease some of the things I'm trying to maintain right now, I've changed the blog schedule. The weekly whatever posts will still be weekly (mostly), but the extras and excerpts are now going out every two weeks instead of every week. It gives me more time to be on top of things. I might change it back once I get everything on track again, we'll see. 

SO! I wanted things to make me happy. Today, I bought three new candles!! Moonlight and honey is the name of one of them. It smells so good!!The other two are applewood and incense and sea and land.  The jars are pretty, the scents are pretty, and I'm very happy I decided to buy them today. I'm sitting here right now (on Thursday??) writing this while the moonlight and honey candle burns. 

I haven't written anything yet today, so I'm going to finish this up and then go do that. The goals for NaNo this time around require about 4k words a day. That may or may not sound like a lot. I'm here to tell you... it's a lot. I work better under some pressure. Usually. Unless it's too much pressure and I push through while having a breakdown. It's hard to say. BUT! The words will get written today. 

The thing with drafts is they don't have to be good. First drafts just... aren't good. They aren't necessarily bad (but they can be, or at least have really bad parts), but they just aren't good. The writing process is messy as hell. Ideas show up and they sound great and you write them and you're like, "OMG I LOVE IT!!" aaaaand then you realize it broke like eight other parts of the book and have to figure out what to do about it. When I wrote my first book it took me a very long time. I was convinced it needed to be written the way it would be published. That everything needed to be smooth and polished as I went. That I needed to stop and edit along the way to make sure I was going in the right direction. Rage was the same way in the beginning. I've let that go, mostly, and now I can write the books in about a month. That just means drafting months have a tight schedule. If I miss a day of writing I'm 4k words behind. I just have to keep up with it. 

Football starts soon. I'm not super invested in this particular game (but the Bears are in my division, so I care a little, even though they are very... not good). So I'm going to go write and watch football and enjoy my cheesecake (my birthday was Monday!) and bask in my candle. Tonight will be a good night. Because I said so damnit. 

Until next week ♥

Lyrics in my head:

I've been having a hard time adjusting 

I had the shiniest wheels, now they're rusting 

I didn't know if you'd care if I came back

I have a lot of regrets about that 

Pulled my car off the road to the lookout 

Could've followed my fears all the way down 

And maybe I don't quite know what to say

But I'm here in your doorway

Matchstick Excerpt 10: The Fire

(Aaaaaaand, this POV is a secret for now!)

I lifted my hand in thanks and walked back to the sidewalk. Annabell was giggling with that same guy still. It looked like she wasn’t doing anything but flirting. It was a good play. Anyone looking in wouldn’t see anything else. Pretty girl flirting with a firefighter. Not unstoppable warrior gets information from a firefighter. After seeing all the magic last night, I was sure she had the most of it. I wanted to ask, but I knew better. I’d learn more from watching than talking.

“Definitely set by an elemental,” she said softly as she stopped in front of me. “It was pushed through the wall into the bedroom. That’s also why it was so intense in there.”

“I have pictures of everything from every angle, but there is something I want you to look at right now.”

I pulled up the pictures of the weird marks and showed them to her. She tipped her head back and forth and squinted her eyes, but she had no answer either.

“Where was it leading?”

“Toward that yard,” I said, pointing it out to her.

“Someone was over there, but I can’t tell exactly what made this mark like that.”

“I’m going over there then,” I said.

“You are going to draw a bunch of attention to us,” she hissed.

“To me. I will be drawing attention to me. I’m just a nosey human with a vague connection with the family living here. I’m from Florida. I don’t have a record of criminal activity. I don’t have magic. And, if anyone looks, I was accepted to law school with a fantastic LSAT score but didn’t end up attending.”

“Law school?”

“Yes. I’m full of surprises. Now, I’m going over there.”

I turned on my heel and walked away from her. I had to be useful if I wanted to survive all of this. I walked over to the neighbor’s house. I should have knocked on their door and asked to poke around. I’d rather ask for forgiveness than permission.

I walked into their backyard without looking back. I looked around for any sign of anything. I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for. Finding the lock on the shed was broken didn't take long. I was afraid to open the door, but I didn’t have much of a choice.

I slipped the door open slowly. I could see a foot. I took a deep breath and opened it the rest of the way. I wasn’t sure how he would react to seeing me here. 

(All excerpts are taken from a lightly edited first draft. Contents could be changed or removed from the final novel completely.)

ARE. YOU. READY!!

 NaNo is officially here!! It feels good to be writing new words again. Editing isn't my favorite, but I know that's where the story happens. That is the place where the idea turns into a book proper. The writing process is kind of messy, and nothing is certain (for me anyway), so the editing is where the real magic is. Being away from writing new gets hard. It feels good to be at it again! Moonlit is now on it's way to being a real thing!! 

I've been in a kind of a weird place lately. As demonstrated by missing a few Thursday's in a row... I think some of it was anticipation anxiety for the writing of the things. It's something that's hard to explain. It's like being so excited it makes you anxious for it? lol I've been busy as hell, which I think helps and makes it worse all at the same time. The busy keeps me distracted, but can also push toward burnout. I'm working on finding a balance. 

I've found a new game to be obsessed with. It's called House Flipper? It's addicting as hell. The entire thing is about renovating houses. It's fairly realistic, too (sometimes too realistic lol). Not only have I been putting a lot of time into it, I've gotten my mom hooked on it! It's just kind of... relaxing. You can just decorate the houses and then move on to a new one. It's been great. 

I have a bunch more things to get accomplished. Hopefully everything falls into place and the entire month of November goes smoothly. Is that asking for too much? 

Until next week ♥

Lyrics in my head: 

Didn't they tell us, 'don't rush into things' 

Didn't you flash your green eyes at me

Didn't you calm my fears with a Cheshire Cat smile 

Ooh didn't it all seem new and exciting 

I felt your arms twistin around me

It's all fun and games, til somebody loses their mind

But darling

We found wonderland, you and I got lost in it

And we pretended it could last forever 

AND 

Remember when we couldn't take the heat 

I walked out and said, 'I'm setting you free' 

But the monsters turned out to be just trees 

When the sun came up you were looking at me

Getting Lost and Road Trips

“That is what the damn map said to do!” Joe complained.

“Obviously not,” Arthur replied, trying to suppress a grin. “We are in the middle of nowhere right now.”

“I can damn well see that,” Joe grumbled. “No need to point it out.”

Arthur turned and leaned back against the hood of the car. It was getting dark, and soon they wouldn’t be able to see the map anymore. An owl hooted off in the distance as Arthur scanned the trees. Critters scurried around in the underbrush.

Even out here, in the middle of nowhere, his Blade instincts were at work. Renee would probably beat them there. She was newly pregnant, and her mom had wanted to take her out for dinner to celebrate. Meeting her after was supposed to be faster than waiting for at their house.

This would be his last trip before he went back to the academy for Garrote training. It was fitting. Joe had gotten them lost on their first road trip together too. Joe shouldn’t be allowed to be in charge of the map, but he still wouldn't let Arthur find the route. 

“Ok,” Joe said. “I think I have it figured out now.”

“Let me see,” Arthur replied. Joe rolled his eyes as Arthur looked over the map, holding the corner down as the breeze brushed past. He followed the road Joe was pointing to and tipped his head to the side. “Where did you get this map?”

“It was in the glove box,” Joe said.

“Joe,” Arthur said slowly, his mouth twitching. “This is not a map of Monroe County. You’re looking at a map of Oakland County.”

“What?” Joe yelled, snatching the map from Arthur. “That can’t be right!”

After a few minutes Joe crumbled the map as he stomped over to the passenger door, grumbling under his breath. He threw the now ruined map into the backseat and yanked the glovebox open again.

They were definitely going to be late. 

Is it naptime? It feels like naptime.

 I've missed three Thursdays now... I think (and now it's Saturday 😅). It's hard to say. There was some last minute scrambling to get Rage published (which, it is now! Links in the sidebar), I was trying to get the website all squared away, and then all the normal chaos that seems to make up my life. I might have things under control now she says pretending that isn't the fourth time it's been said... this week.

NaNo starts in a few days and I'll be writing for it. I'm hoping this will go smoothly. I have a plan, and I'm excited about all the stuff that's going inside this one. It's going to be a while before it's published (tentatively looking at June of 25).

Ok I'm tired. The sleep is broken again, my schedule was crazy, and I'm actually looking forward to the peace of writing an entire book in a month. 

Until next week hopefully ♥

The Gala

I hated being sent to events as security. It meant a lot of standing around, watching members of the Order flaunt their status among the other leaders. The music was louder than I thought it should be. At least the band was good. The other event I’d been pulled to, I felt like I would lose my mind listening to them play. Groups of people were standing around talking while others were dancing. A few of the dancers were very drunk. I was more interested in watching their antics than anything else. At least it was entertaining.

I had to suppress a sigh as Corazana Vietta laughed that high-pitched fake laugh for the hundredth time. I was ready to get back to regular assignments. Tracking people down and bringing them in to be held accountable for their recklessness was where my talent was best used. I didn’t have to wear a stiff suit for that either. All the fancy dresses and suits blurred together. I could barely tell anyone apart.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move. The Blade member assigned there shifted again. It was an awkward movement, a shift of his shoulders. Not the kind of thing expected of someone trained for this. Before the event, I hadn’t known many people called to work it. That was how it always worked. We were rotated in and out of personal security.

I watched him more closely. The uniform wasn’t quite right. Every member of the Blade was issued an identical suit, tailored perfectly, for these occasions. It sat too loose on his frame, and the coloring was off. His posture wasn’t quite right. It was too tense and not at all controlled. The way his eyes moved over the crowd wasn’t quite right. I hadn’t been in Blade long, but the little things made all the difference in this job.

I weighed the risks of leaving my post. I wasn’t supposed to, it would leave a hole, but I was looking at a possible security threat. I cursed under my breath. Walking away would leave me open to losing this job. I’d have to take care of it myself. If I was wrong, I’d be in trouble no matter what. At least this way, I could mostly avoid making a scene.

“These events are a huge waste of money,” I said as I ambled up to him.

“Yep,” he said, shifting again.

“Can’t wait until I earn my place in the field again,” I said, crossing my arms as I looked over the crowd. “That’ll teach me to defy an order.”

“Getting back out there would be nice,” he said. “Lesson learned.”

I nodded at him. Agreeing with the lie was all the confirmation I needed. I wasn’t sure how I could remove him from the room yet. I didn’t want any more attention on me than I had to have. The more in shadows I lived, the better I could be at my real job. I would make it work. Even if he was almost twice my size.

I sidled closer to him, and he looked me over carefully. One of my biggest assets was not looking threatening. Short, petite, and blonde. The accent helped, too. I slid my hand into my pocket and closed it around one of the syringes I always kept on me. He let me get close before he started to shift more of his attention to me. I flashed him a brilliant smile. He started to say something, but I didn’t give him the chance.

I grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer. I jammed the needle into his forearm. It would’ve been better to hit him in the neck, but I wasn’t sure I’d have landed that blow. He stumbled back from me. A few heads turned our way, but I gave them a half smile as I shifted to help the man next to me. Most everyone went back to what they were doing. Someone being a little too drunk wasn’t worthy of their attention.

The man I jabbed was still stumbling. I slid under his arm and tried to guide him, but he shoved me back. I was able to stay on my feet, but only just. If I didn’t get him under control soon, he would make a bigger scene than he would have if I’d just tackled him out of the room. One of the other Blades saw us and came over. Luckily, I knew this one.

“Problem,” Alex said softly.

“This guy isn’t one of us. Stabbed him with a sedative but had to settle for his forearm,” I said.

“I’ll get him out,” he said. “You grab the boss man for this event,” he said.

He plastered a smile on his face as he stepped up to the still stumbling man. He loosened his body, adding a little swagger to his step. Nothing but a good friend helping another.

“Whoa, you’ve had one too many,” he said a little louder than necessary.

I left him to it as I moved off to find Jones, or whatever his name was. He was harder to find than I thought he would be. You’d think overseeing security would mean you were easily accessible to the security team. Getting his attention was even harder. When I finally did get him to look my way, he scowled at me.

“Why are you away from your post,” he growled as he took me by the elbow.

“We had a problem,” I said. “It’s being kept quiet, but your attention is needed.”

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. Things rarely happen at these events. The Blade was there as more of a symbol than anything else. Infiltrating one of the buildings in the Order’s complex was almost impossible. Almost.

As I led him out to the hallways, the imposter was restrained. He was still struggling, but it was sloppy. Alex had his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall, watching him.

“Where was he?”

“Posing as one of us,” I said. “I sedated him. Alex brought him out here.”

“I’ll send someone to take him to the cells,” he said. “How did you know?”

“Something wasn’t right,” I said with a shrug. “So, I lied to him, and he didn’t contradict me.”

“You’ll be rewarded for this,” he said. “What’s your name again?”

“Annabell,” I said. “And if I could just avoid these events in the future… that would be more than enough.”

“Very well,” he said as he reached for his phone. “Consider it done.”

Matchstick Excerpt 9: Sunbathing

This gateway was something Hayden would want to hear all about when I got home. I lowered my back onto the sand and closed my eyes.

 

“Today has all the makings of a perfect day,” Hayden said as she flung my door open.

“It’s 6am,” I groaned as I looked at the digital clock on my nightstand. “How can you possibly tell?”

“You can just feel it in the air,” she said, flinging my curtains open.

“Whhhhhy,” I whined as I threw the blanket over my head. “I wasn’t done sleeping yet!”

“Sure you were,” she said brightly. “We have so much to do today!”

“Like what,” I grumbled, flopping my arms down to my sides, taking the top of the blanket with them.

“Don’t you hear the dock calling you? It’s already sunny, it’s warm but not hot, and the skies are perfectly clear.”

“The dock is telling me it will still be there in two hours so I can go back to sleep.”

“I don’t think so,” she said opening my closet. “You just aren’t paying attention.”

She tossed the bathing suit she pulled out onto the bed. She leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching me expectantly.  

“Can you at least be quieter and maybe sound a little less… bubbly, while I wake up?”

“If you promise to get dressed,” she said with a grin. “I’m going to make us iced coffee to take out there.”

“That I can get on board with.”

She practically bounced out of the room as I sat up. I looked down at my pillow, forlorn. Vacations were supposed to be relaxing. I just wanted to sleep for several more hours. Her and my dad managed to roll out of bed with all the energy and motivation in the world. I never understood it.

I climbed out of bed and stretched, yawning. I pulled on the bathing suit, only almost falling down twice. I squeezed my eyes closed for a second and blinked rapidly. It didn’t help as much as I thought it would. I sat back on the edge of the bed and rubbed my hands over my eyes.

“Good, you’re dressed!” Hayden said as she skipped into the room. “Ready?”

“No…” I said as she handed me one of the coffees. She looped her arm through mine as I stood, and steered me toward the sliding glass door. “You promised to be less bubbly if I got dressed.”

“I didn’t promise,” she giggled. “I only agreed to try.”

“That is definitely not how that conversation went down.”

She laughed again as she almost pulled me out onto the back deck and down the stairs. At least she had slowed her pace some. There were already two towels and a radio on the dock. Apparently waking me up wasn’t the first thing she had done this morning.

“Tell me about the college boys,” she said as she dropped down onto her towel.

“I’ve told you about college boys,” I said, as I settled into my towel more carefully.

“I know! But I like to hear about them. I’ll be in college soon. I need to be prepared.”

“Soon? You start your junior year in like a month.”

“Semantics. It’s close enough,” she said, waving her hand around.

I took a drink of the coffee. I could almost feel the caffeine taking hold of me. Coffee is the only way I survived her early mornings. If I was allowed to sleep later, I probably wouldn’t need it.

“Why don’t you tell me about the guy you’ve been texting while I wake up,” I said.

“He’s pretty cool, but he won’t stop asking me what I want,” she said, rolling her eyes. “He won’t tell me what food he might want, where he might want to go… I don’t want to pick everything. It would be nice to just talk about it or for him to just to pick for a change. He’s known me long enough, he knows what things I don’t like.”

“Have you told him that?”

“Yes! He just keeps saying ‘I just want you to be happy,’” she said with a terrible attempt to mimic a guy’s voice. “Has he considered that maybe I want to make him happy too? Ugh.”

“So break up with him,” I said.

“I thought about it. He’s so nice, and we have great conversations sometimes.”

“So, don’t break up with him.”

“But I’m tired of having to plan literally everything.”

“I don’t know what answer you’re looking for,” I said, grinning. “There is no pleasing you.”

“Oh, whatEVER,” she giggled. “Like you’re any better.”

“I’ll have you know my last relationship ended on amicable terms after we decided we’d make better friends.”

“Was this before or after you decided the way he said ‘irregardless’ all the time was a deal breaker?”

“Hey, irregardless is not a word! It’s just ‘regardless!’”

“There is no pleasing you,” she said, laying back on her towel.

“Those are completely different scenarios.”

We settled into a comfortable silence. I was secretly glad she woke me up. We didn't get much time to just hangout anymore. We’re both busy, and our schedules never lined up. I would have loved more sleep, but I would try to make it up later. This week was going to be about us bonding.

 

I swallowed hard as the memory of our last vacation together faded. It had been almost a year since that weekend at our lake house. We spent most of that day on the docks sun bathing. 

(All excerpts are taken from a lightly edited first draft. Contents may change or be removed from the final novel entirely.)

From Nic's Kitchen: Queso

 .

Let's Play Pretend

 Today is totally not Friday. It's Thursday, and this is not 24 hours late. 

I spent all of yesterday and today working on formatting. I ran into some issues with structure on some of the versions of Rage. Each platform I publish on has different requirements and my laptop was protesting. It's good now! Everything is pretty much done! RAGE IS DONE! I'm so excited about that lol It's been a long time in the making, and I'm glad it's about to go out there in the world. It's up for pre-order right now. Links are in the sidebar! October 16th is the official release date. It's happening.

I'm still woefully behind schedule on... everything. It's fine. I'm fine. I'm about to go back to look at Matchstick again. I'm hoping to have that done with enough time to at least finish one round of Trust edits. Depending on how everything is looking, I'll be editing while I write for NaNo. I really need to get Trust out to my lovely Betas. I want to leave it up there for four months. Which puts me on a tight timeline with Camp Nano in April. I will make it work! 

There was a Thing that had been looming since July. I didn't realize how much the stress was getting to me until it was finally resolved. I got word today that it's DONE, it's OVER, I don't have to worry about it anymore. The Thing was mostly resolved about a week ago, but the letter I got today signing off on it was huge. One less thing for me to worry about. It's not like I'm going to replace it with another thing(s) to stress about shortly because why not? 

See football is way down here this week. It's still been such a good year for us! Having a team that can play?? What?? It's so great! 3-1 feels good. 4-1 is going to feel even better! 

Ok, I need to do things. I'm still busy as hell and probably will be for the next couple of months. I don't know why I do this to myself, it's fine.

Until next week ♥

Lyrics in my head: 

No one should take themselves so seriously 

With many years ahead to fall in line 

Why would you wish that on me 

I never wanna act my age

What's my age again

What's my age again 

AND 

I've got more wit, a better kiss, a hotter touch, a better fuck 

Than any boy you'll ever meet, sweetie you had me 

Girl, I was it, look past the sweat , a better love deserving of 

Exchanging body heat in the passenger seat 

No, no, no, you know it will always just be me

When Joe met Renee

 

“No one warned me how hard the first semester was going to be,” Joe said as they walked to their cars.

“You just didn’t listen to any of the warnings,” Arthur replied, shaking his head. “Everyone told you it would be a different level than high school was.”

“Whatever,” Joe grumbled. “I’m just glad it’s done. It’d be nice if the snow would’ve held off until after we got home.”

“If you were paying attention when I showed you how to use your magic, you wouldn’t have these issues.”

“I was paying attention!” Joe said. “I have a lot on my plaaaah.”

“Notice how I haven’t had any issues,” Arthur said, crossing his arms and looking down at his best friend.

Joe lay there, blinking up at him. He hadn’t fallen flat like that in years. He groaned as he shifted. Arthur still had his arms crossed. He wasn’t making any effort to help him up. Joe knew he should be listening to whatever he was saying. He knew he would regret it later, but Joe just couldn’t focus on it. He pushed himself up. At least sitting was better than laying spread eagle in the quad.

“Are you alright?” someone asked from behind him.

“Yeah, just thought I’d take a break,” Joe said as he turned to look at the woman.

She had a mischievous glint in her eye as she tried to suppress the grin. Her gloved hand was working to keep her long blonde hair from blowing in her face.

“He’s fine,” Arthur said. “Just not paying attention to what he’s doing. I’m Arthur.”

“Renee,” she said with a grin. “Looked like quite the fall.”

“Meant to,” Joe said as he hauled himself back to his feet, much less smoothly than he had hoped. “Joe. It’s nice to meet you.”

He held his hand out, but before she could take it, he slipped again. She tried to hold it back, but the laughter bubbled up. Arthur had no such qualms about laughing outwardly.

“I’ve got to get to an exam,” Renee said. “You going to make it to wherever you’re going alright?”

“Mhmm. It’ll be fine,” Joe said, staring up at the cloud-filled sky.

“If it happens again, I’ll call for them to bring him a cart,” Arthur said with a smile.

“Good deal,” she said. “It was nice to meet you, too.”

Joe watched her hurry off toward one of the buildings, not slipping even once.

“That could’ve been the woman of my dream,” Joe said as Arthur helped him up. 

“If that’s true, you’ll run into her again. But try to stay on your feet.”

“Hilarious,” Joe said as they continued to the parking lot.

Spiced Cider, Hot Soup, and Chilly Days

 Fall is really here in all of it's glory! Soup is one of my favorites, and I can't have it over the summer. There has been a lot of soup lately and it makes me happy. It's something that I really needed. I've got a lot going on, and getting to settle in with a hot dinner is the best. 

So, I don't know what happened last week. Somehow Thursday just sort of... got away from me. I need to be more careful about that. I did, however, get a few days off to do... nothing. It was great. My brain was tired. I needed to have that time to separate myself from it all. 

I'm jumping back into things tomorrow. I've been dipping my toes back in a little bit. I'm getting a website off the ground! So, there are going to be some changes. Links might be a little weird. I have to decide how I want all the things to work before I actually make the website live. Hopefully by next week it will be ready to go! 

Rage is on track. I'm checking and double checking then checking again to make sure it happens the way I want it to. I'm hopeful! I've also decided on what I'm doing for NaNo. There have been a few stories I wanted to get out relating to Justified, so... I'm doing it. As of now, there a ton of them I want to go in there. It will depend on how long it is when it's done. We'll see. IT ALSO HAS A NAME! The anthology will be named Moonlit! I'm pretty excited about it! 

Football things are going to be happening! I'm off to eat tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich while watching the Lions! 

Until next week ♥

Lyrics in my head: 

Got a secret, can you keep it

Swear this one you'll save

Better lock it in your pocket

Takin this one to the grave

If I show you, then I know you 

Won't tell what I said

Cause two can keep a secret

If one of them is dead

Matchstick Excerpt 8: The Note

 I didn’t have a great feeling about it, but I wasn’t about to let Elise drive it back to the house until I was sure everything was ok. She would roll her eyes at me if I told her that, but it is what it is. Being around my aunt and seeing her security team work gave me far more experience than she had. Renee wasn’t even supposed to be involved anymore. I was already anticipating everyone’s reactions when they found out we did this on our own. I wasn’t looking forward to it.

I pulled the note off the wheel and let it fall open.

 

I see you’ve found help. You’re all full of surprises aren’t you? I am too. Our little game will continue as planned. It will be more fun with more pieces anyway. Don’t you think?

I’ll see you soon 💋 ♥

 

I would recognize that handwriting anywhere.

(All excerpts are taken from a lightly edited first draft. Contents are subject to change or to be removed from the final novel entirely.)

The Warehouse pt3

 

I groaned as I opened my eyes. Someone had put a pillow under my head and covered me with a blanket. I was still on the catwalk. There was a lot of movement and excitement around. I blinked several times, trying to shake off the fog that settled over me. I used too much magic. I would be feeling it for days.

“Morning, sunshine,” James said as he ambled up to me. “We’ve got something for you.”

I glared at him. I hated it when he called me sunshine. That’s why he did it. I grumbled as I climbed to my feet. All my joints were stiff. I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck.

“Why do you have to be so cheerful when I wake up?” I asked him.

“Because I am the light of your life,” he said, looping his arm through mine. “The kids have something for you.”

I slid my eyes to him, but he didn’t say anything else. He led me around to the stairs. He was humming. I hadn’t heard him hum in a while. It made my heart skip a beat. He was happy. Genuinely happy. I squeezed his arm as we stepped off the last step.

He took me over to a closed door. This room had been falling apart, but now it looked as if the wall and door had been patched up. He gestured for me to open it.

I bit my lip as I reached for the handle. As soon as I could see inside, I sucked in a breath and felt tears welling in my eyes. They had done so much more than patch things up. A bed big enough for James and I was in the corner. It looked like they had tried to scrub all the walls inside clean. Some of the art the younger kids liked to make was hanging around the room. A small dresser was on one side with a coffee maker on top of it. I didn’t know where they could’ve found one. They were too expensive.

“I can’t…” I started, trying to force the tears back. “I can’t take this. I need all of you to get settled.”

“You can,” Amy said. “You do everything for us. You set the plan, provide protection, get us medicine, and food, and whatever we need.”

“It’s your turn to have something just for the two of you,” Grace said. “We needed this space, and you got it and helped us defend it.”

“I put you all in danger,” I said softly.

“You saved us,” Allen said.

I didn’t have any words. I didn’t know what to say to any of them. All the work they had put into this. Finding an actual bed alone would have been a struggle. They had done all of this for James and I.

“Thank you,” I managed to breathe.

I couldn’t keep the tears from flowing. James pulled me into a hug. I heard the other kids behind us. I stepped back from James and turned to all of them. They were beaming at me; a few had tears in their eyes, too. They all put their hands over their hearts and bowed. My body shook as the tears fell.

“Get some rest,” Amy said. “We are going to work out how to use the rest of the space.”

They all filed out and left James and me in the room together. Amy gave me a nod and pulled the door closed. I stepped into James again, and he held me tight.

“I led them into so much danger coming here,” I whispered against his shoulder.

“It was needed,” he answered.

“I should have found somewhere else. I saw the bandages some of them had.”

“If I thought you were being reckless, I wouldn’t have let it happen,” he said. “It was dangerous, and I was worried about it, but I knew we didn’t have many options.”

I pulled back from him again and looked around the room. The pictures the young ones had drawn for us. It melted my heart. They really were my kids. I would do anything to protect them.

IN THEIR OWN HOUSE!

 Ok, I promise I'm not going to make this all football all the time. BUT! The Lions beat the Chiefs. In their own home. On opening night for the season. In primetime. IT'S A BIG DEAL. I'm over the moon!!! THIS IS OUR YEAR! Sure there has only been the one game and there are 16 left to play, it's fine. We are KILLIN it so far. 

The overhauling is going. I'm feeling good about the timeline right now. I should be able to get everything done that I need to get done. As of now, Rage will still be released on October 16th! I've been spending almost every waking moment on it. I'm going to be exhausted when this is done, BUT! It will be done and that's what matters right? 

I've been doing a lot of music lately. I switched out to my motivational playlist. It's helped a lot. When I'm not editing stuff to music, I have shows about ✨ M U R D E R ✨ playing. I probably watch too many things about murder. It's fine. There was a really good one about neighbors.   

I have messed up the sleeping again somehow. I don't know what I did with it, but it's broken. There has been a lot of waking up at night, and I don't like that. Even if I'm not awake very long... it's still not sleeping, ya know? I'll be happy when this phase goes away again. 

I'm going to be incredibly busy until late next week, then I'm hoping things will slow down a little bit. I'm supposed to be writing another book in November. I'm still not 100% sure what I'm writing (even though one of the pocket besties is really pushing hard for one particular project lol). We shall see. I've been told it might be a good idea to not write a book in November. I haven't decided yet. 

Ok, editing and football await! 

Until next week ♥

Lyrics in my head: 

I'm in love with all the voices inside my head
You're so beautiful inside, but inside I'm dead
Just another broken dream in my lonely bed
You're so beautiful inside, but inside I'm dead

AND

My heart's a dumpster fire burning all damn day 
It's filled with memories of us it all went up in flames
Maybe it's trash, maybe it's really not that bad 
But the smoke from what you broke keeps growing higher 
While I'm trying to find some peace of mind 
In this dumpster fire 

The Warehouse pt2

 

I knew they would come in the middle of the night. They would wait for most of the kids to be asleep. Long enough that they'd feel safe. I wanted to be on the roof, but James convinced me it would be a bad idea. I would be too much of a target, and no one would be able to guide the kids. I didn’t like asking them to fight, but we needed this building. There wasn’t a better place. The other neighborhoods would be too dangerous all the time to leave some of the kids there.

I kept pacing around on the catwalk. I didn’t want to wake any of the kids, but I couldn’t hold still. Most of the kids were piled together in a small office that hovered over the middle of the room. They would be safe there. When I felt the wards shimmer, I sent James to wake up the kids that would stand with me, even as the guilt tore through me. It was my job to protect them, and I was leading them into a fight. They were sleeping beneath the catwalk, alert within moments of James shaking them. I should’ve found a way to make the smaller building work. This was reckless.

The first fire trap activated, and someone screamed. Amy led the Weres in shifting. They prowled the warehouse walls, watching for any sign they would break through.

They blew a hole in the wall. It was wide enough for six people to walk in at the same time. The traps were obliterated in the blast. Our fairies lined up in front of our witches. They couldn’t lose line of sight. I stayed on the catwalk and waited for James to join me.

Weres poured through the gap. Seven of them. Our four lunged as soon as they saw them. My heart twisted as they made contact. Most of my kids were younger than theirs, but I made them all train with me. We needed to be stronger. I knew we were a target. The only way to protect them was to make them strong.

Some of their wolves froze as our fairies flung their magic at them. It wasn’t a precise strike, but it held long enough for our wolves to drive the rest of them back. I fired ice lances when I saw the openings and used the wind to lessen their blows. We were holding.

The front door blew open.

The blast of air the leader sent out knocked all my kids off their feet. I barely managed to brace for it as James got to my side, bow slung over his shoulder.

“You can do this, V,” he said.

He notched an arrow as I nodded. I threw my hands up. He fired when I did. He was getting faster. He let arrow after arrow fly as a stream of fire left my fingertips. I didn’t have the control to wield it as a true whip, but it kept them occupied.

Then I felt magic joining mine.

Two different kinds. While I kept the fire a solid mass to be used, someone added intensity to it, and someone else started steering it. Grace. She was the oldest and most skilled. She had to be guiding it.

My magic was fading. I could hear our wolves still keeping theirs back. I leaned into the railing so I wouldn’t collapse and felt James’s arm come around my waist.

“Don’t worry about me,” I forced out. “Keep focus on them.”

“I’m not going to let you fall.”

“I’m fine.”

He sighed but drew his bow. He fired a few more arrows as my vision blurred. I was going to lose the magic. I gritted my teeth and pushed harder. Our wolves howled triumphantly, and I saw them run toward the front door.

The leader stepped up to meet them. I would not let him take aim at our wolves. I fired an ice lance. My aim was off. It shot straight through his left shoulder. One of our wolves leapt and ripped his throat out. It had to be Amy.

I stumbled. James dropped his bow and reached for me. He barely managed to keep me upright.

“Let go, Vanessa,” someone yelled from below. “We’ve got it.”

I didn’t want to. I needed to help them.

“V,” James said softly as he helped me sit down. “Let go.”

A sob was torn from my throat as I let go of my magic. The whip flickered but then took up its form again. I blinked stars out of my eyes as our wolves howled again. Cheers rang out from underneath me.

“They are retreating,” I heard someone yell. “We held it!”

Then I blacked out.

LET'S GO

 THE NFL SEASON IS KICKING OFF!!!!!! I'm so excited. My Lion's are going to be playing. We are going to win. It will be awesome. Today is such a happy day!!! 

The last week has been... a week. BUT I'm getting ok with it. I'm doing the things that need to be done, including last minute overhauling of a few things in Rage. Here's to hoping I can pull it off in time. I don't want to delay release... I'm trying to push it ahead. I'm confident I can do it!

I also killed the Moon Lord! I finally did a full play through of the Terraria. Now I'm just messing around in there doing fun things there and trying to nail all the achievements. I like seeing completions. So, I'm going to do it! 

Ok, I have FOOTBALL things to do! XD

Until next week ♥

Matchstick Excerpt 7: The Aftermath

 “You think Maria was doing the shooting? Mark would have been there, though. He wouldn’t want to miss her reaction.”

“I also don’t think he would have taken a shot at me. He is mad at me, but I don’t think he could kill me. Maria was pissed he called me. She would probably be thrilled to have a chance to take me out.”

“We need to tell them,” Elise said.

“I know. I will. Annabell and Arthur are down and need to rest. Onyx can barely walk. Harley has a lot on her plate with everyone that’s been injured. I think it needs to wait until morning. Let everyone sleep, and then tell them.”

I was restless, but I needed the rest. The level of adrenaline that courses through you when you’re being shot at takes a toll. My mind was whirling too quickly for that. At least the living room was big enough to pace in. Elise stayed perched on the edge of couch. All her muscles were tense, she was ready to spring up at a moment’s notice. I didn’t blame her.

“Do you think the house will be ok tonight?” she asked.

“Maybe? It’s hard to say for sure.”

“We need to get Harley’s car. Arthur’s too,” she said. “We can take a cab to Harley’s and then drive to his.”

“I don’t know if that is a good idea. We would be out there on our own. If something happened… they wouldn’t even know where we had gone.”

“Let’s get Renee then. She can drive us in her car.”

“No one will be happy with us involving Renee.”

“What about involving me?” she said as she walked into the room. “Everyone else is sleeping.”

“I wanted to go get the cars. We can’t just leave them, it will draw attention.”

“None of them will like it, but it needs to be done,” Renee said. “Let’s go get it over with before someone wakes up and tried to stop us.”

“I just don’t think that’s a good plan. We don’t know if they are still watching the cars or if they left some kind of surprise at them,” I said.

“It will be ok,” Renee said. “While I don’t have much in the way of formal training, I have spent a lot of time with Arthur and Annabell. I know what to look for.”

“It won’t take long and we’ll be careful,” Elise added.

(All excerpts are taken from a lightly edited first draft. Contents are subject to change or be removed entirely from the finished novel)

Living in Caves and Trees

 Allergies are such an asshole. Two days in the last week I have been miserable... Nose running, sneezing all the time, head hurting, and, my favorite thing, hives! I'm over it. I need a magic wand to keep them away. It's getting ridiculous. I'm over it. 

I got to talk to C.O. yesterday!!! It was so awesome! We had to do a bunch of paperwork since it's a new agency, but it's fine. I'll see him in two weeks and we can talk about all the things that have been going on. I'm super excited about it. I've been really struggling lately. It's just been getting worse, so maybe now I will be able to get in a better headspace. 

I'm still fighting off the burnout from all the writing. Maybe writing two books within three months is a lot. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop doing it. I need to be writing and editing and doing all the things. I just need to figure out how to cope better. 

FOOTBALL STARTS NEXT WEEK! Can you tell I'm excited? I have been waiting for an eternity. Or what feels like an eternity anyway. The Lions are going to be awesome! It will be awesome! 

There has been a lot of building happening in Terraria. It's how I've been coping. There will be more building soon. I love all of the things in there. It makes me happy. It's not done yet, buuuut here is progress on the treeeeeee: 

Ok, that's enough. 

Until next week ♥

Lyrics in my head: 

When you came in, the air went out 
And all the shadows, filled up with doubt 
I don't know who you think you are 
But before the night is through 
I want to do bad things with you

The Warehouse pt1

 

Somehow all these kids had started looking to us for direction. Some of them were older than us too. We didn’t have enough room for all of them, and more kept showing up. We needed a bigger space.

“I don’t know about this one, V,” James said softly.

“It’s got enough room to grow into,” I answered.

“Except it’s already been claimed.”

“Not for long,” I said, shooting him a wicked grin.

The kids in the warehouse across the street were brutes. They tormented anyone that wouldn’t share their spoils, and their brutality was also used for sport. They didn’t deserve that space. No matter what they claimed. I was going to take it from them.

“Are you really sure?” James asked, biting his lip.

“I’m really sure.”

I stood up, straightened my clothes, and ambled across the street. I was short for 15. No one took me seriously at first. I liked being underestimated. It suited me. The two boys at the door leered at me as I approached. James started whistling from a pace or so behind me, no doubt looking for escape routes. Even as a few more street kids came out of the building to greet me, I didn’t let the swagger drop.

“Nice building you’ve got here,” I said with a sweet smile. “I’m here to take it off your hands.”

“I think you’re lost,” the tallest one said. He was older. He looked every bit as cocky as I was trying to be. “Take your friend and go.”

I tipped my head to the side and grinned. My magic was more controlled now. I raised my hand in front of me and made a wholly unnecessary, embellished flick of my wrist. I felt all their shoes in the grip of my magic and swept their feet out from under them. All five of the street kids went down hard. I didn’t wait for them to recover. I ripped a piece of broken sidewalk up and flung it over to the ring leader. I let it hover just above his head.

“You were saying?” I asked casually.

“You bitch!” one of the other kids spat.

“You can vacate the building, or he is dead. Don’t think I won’t come after the rest of you.”

James sighed as he stepped up next to me. I knew he saw something he didn’t like but was trying to maintain his boredom. I felt his hand close around my arm, but I didn’t dare look at him. The leader was barking out orders. It sounded like he was going to hand the place over.

Then James threw me to the ground as a fireball soared right for my chest. Another witch took control of the piece of sidewalk and hurled it away from the ring leader. I flung up a shield just in time to stop a few ice lances.

I searched for the source of the magic. I couldn’t see anyone. The kids on the ground were advancing.

“Plan B?” James asked as he pulled me to my feet, shield taking another blow.

“Plan B,” I confirmed. “The tallest one and the one to his right are witches. Rest are human.”

I summoned a portal and pulled James through, just barely escaping the next magical attack. We stepped out directly behind them. James took aim and landed a dagger in the thigh of one of the humans. A blast of wind knocked the witches to the ground as I advanced on them. I pulled the air back from their faces.

“Yield,” I growled. “Or I end you.”

I heard another grunt of pain as one of James’s daggers hit home again. The leader glared at me, clawing at his neck as he tried to fling his magic at me. His eyes flicked to the sides. The only warning I had of another attack. Sloppy. They didn’t deserve this place.

I flung my other hand up to shield. I barely got it up in time. I grunted as I took the blow. My magic was fading. I wouldn’t be able to hold for long.

There was a clash of blades behind me. I didn’t dare look. Unlike the boy on the ground in front of me, I knew better than to tip my hand. I needed him to cave. I didn’t want to kill them.

Finally, he tapped his hand on the ground. I pulled my magic back enough for him to speak.

“Enough,” he said. “Stand down.” Someone behind me tried to protest. “I said enough!”

I took him by the hand and hauled him to his feet. I kept him close to me as James tossed me a dagger. I used my magic to secure it in my grip.

“Once they leave,” I said sweetly. “I will release you.”

“We need to gather our things,” he ground out.

“You can take whatever you can carry. They have five minutes.”

A muscle in his jaw tightened, but he gave one nod. His chin brushed against the flat side of the blade. James leaned against the side of the building, picking at his nails. I could see the tension in him. He was getting used to being out here with me, but I hated that I needed him to be. I didn’t like seeing him harden like this.

I shook the thoughts away. These kids in front of me needed all my attention to ensure they didn’t try anything. With barely any time to spare, the last of them left the building.

“Good. Don’t come back here,” I said as I shoved the leader away from me. “Next time… I will kill you.”

“We’ll see about that. You have a reputation around this city, too, you know.”

I let the blade fly out of my hand and stop just shy of his neck. He swallowed hard.

“Try me.”

He glared at me as he backed away. I kept my focus on him until they were out of sight. I was losing my grip on the magic, so I let the dagger clatter to the ground. James righted himself and strode over to retrieve it, tucking it back into his jacket.

“This won’t be the end of it,” he said.

“I know. I’m prepared for that. I need a few of the witches here quick. We need to prepare.”

I sent James out to get them. He was faster than I was and had gotten very good at staying out of sight while I indulged my love for dramatics. I got to work setting up wards. I had to be careful not to drain all the magic I had.

As I finished, I heard James whistle. The front door opened, and all our kids came streaming in. I let them take in all the space. We would need to figure out all the arrangements, but for now, I just wanted to make sure we were safe.

“Alice, Grace, and Kielee,” I said. “I need your help.”

The three witches ran over eagerly. All of them liked to help me. James and I had pulled most of them out of bad situations in an attempt to help them have some level of normalcy.

“Anything you need, Vanessa,” Grace said.

“I need fire traps,” I said. “All the windows and doors. Even the second floor. Can you do it?”

“Yes,” they all said in unison.

“Allen, Ray, Jeff, and Amber,” I said. “Can you set some plant traps for me? I don’t know how it works, but anything to snare someone that tries to cross them.”

“Done,” Ray said as the fairies approached me. “Where do you want them?”

“Work with them on where and how their fire traps will be triggered, and decide from there. Only the front door should be clear. We need to be able to get in and out.”

“Amy, can you scent the kids that were here before? I want to know if they get close to this building again.”

“Sure,” she said. “With all the wards, it will be hard.”

“Do the best you can,” I said with a soft smile. “The rest of you can help James set up the sleeping arrangement for the night. Tomorrow, we get to work.”