Page 14 of From the Edge

“I don’t think she does. She will. From what I have heard, you are under the same kind of curse that a lady named Lucia was. She became an energy being; she communicated through cell signals.”

Songs about telephones by various artists played through the carriage house.

“None of the others mentioned what you did, though. I think that could have been the issue. You shattered the curse by cutting it out, but it was holding you together as a type of battery.”

Songs about surprises and ends to mysteries spilled out.

Help! I need somebody, help! Not just anybody.

“Two of the previously cursed are bringing Mell home. Should I bring them here?”

But we’re all in agreement; this is something I should hold on to.

“Yeah, Auntie Aspen. This is something you should hold on to. For me. Please.”

I will be right here for you; everything I do is for you.

Rowan blinked away tears and touched one of the microphones in the room. “We will figure it out. There are mages and elves and djinn and really angry women who can also bring their men along for extra boosting. We have help, Auntie Aspen. Finally, we have help.”

Make your whole life worth the sacrifice, every scream you cry worth the blood you’ve given.

“She will forgive us. Her mate might not.” Rowan was rueful. “If he acts up here, he will find himself outside this estate. If he is lucky, it will be in one piece.”

I believe I can fly.

“Exactly. I have to get to the house. I have groceries coming. Mell likes to eat.”

The classical music filled the room, followed by hip-hop and then some pop. Aspen sang to herself and played her own music. Rowan smiled, bowed, and headed to the house with Mell’s phone.

Rowan entered the house and turned on the speakers and microphones that would let Aspen communicate. She always wanted to leave her Aunt Aspen the means to communicate. Being a mind trapped in silence was a horror that Rowan couldn’t imagine, but since Aspen communicated with radio waves, her reach was limited. They had tried boosters in the past, but they didn’t have the reach without installing a tower. Aspen refused to have a tower installed. She loved her house and didn’t want it wrecked.

Rowan checked to make sure everything was tidy and got the phone ready with the sparkly case, which looked like previous ones she had bought for Mellwyn. It was a joke, but all new phones started sparkly. The more sober phone case was tucked into the box.

She fussed in the kitchen and made some blueberry muffins. While they were in the oven, she went upstairs and got changed into her comfortable clothing. She quickly showered off the alpha stench and got into a sundress. She pinned her hair up in a loose bun and wore some pretty pumps as she walked downstairs. Being an omega was weird. She wanted to be cute and cuddly and soft, but physical contact hurt. She didn’t know how other omegas could stand to have entire packs touching them. It must be agony.

Rowan got the muffins out of the oven and set them on a cooling rack.

She felt the vehicle pass through the gates and walked out onto the great steps outside. She watched the SUV approach and smiled. When the vehicle stopped and the doors opened, Rowan locked her hands together. She waited.

Mellwyn got out of the vehicle with a bright grin. “Ro! I’m home!”

Rowan smiled. “Hey, Mell. I made blueberry muffins.”

The other two mages got out of their vehicle and looked at her in surprise. Ted said, “Rowan?”

Rowan curtsied. “This is what I look like at home.”

Lucia looked at her. “Oh, wow. Okay, I see the omega now.”

“This omega has tea and muffins, if you would enter into my family home. I may even have cake.”

Lucia was hiking up the steps in a moment.

“Lucia, I have questions for you. Well, you and Ted.” She opened the door and led them inside.

Ted looked around and whistled. “This is an old pack house.”

Rowan heard her heels ticking as she walked through the space. “Sort of. It is an old clan house. Twenty-two large bedrooms, an enormous kitchen, a sizable living room. Two ballrooms, exterior gardens, and a haunted carriage house.”