Page 12 of Autumn L.A.W

Sahara burst out laughing. “I told you. Golden Retriever energy.”

He glanced over, worry etched across his jaw. “Yeah, well, try to stay awake until we get wherever we’re going.”

Sahara mumbled coordinates, street names, and a string of directions that were so confusing that Cal muttered, “Got an address? GPS would be better.”

“It’s not on any GPS.”

He sighed. “Of course not.”

A half-hour later, they turned down a quiet Long Island road lined with trees that shouldn’t have been that dense. The mansion was disguised upon approach.

Cal slowed. “Uh, is that it?”

The mansion loomed at the end of the drive—tall, welcoming, and vibrating just enough to suggest it was aware that something was wrong.

Lioness perked a fraction. “Home sweet sentient home.”

He parked. “All right. I’ll carry⁠—”

The front doors burst open.

Rayna stormed out like a five-foot-eight goddess of fury, fiery red hair whipping behind her. Her expression shifted between ‘Who hurt my people?’ and ‘I will hunt them down myself.’

“Oh,” Lioness whispered. “We’re in so much trouble.”

Rayna marched straight to the car. “What happened?”

Cal opened his mouth as he exited the truck, but Sahara spoke first.

“Curse,” Sahara croaked. “Bad one.”

Rayna’s eyes went wide. “In the park? You were supposed to contain—” She took another look at her L.A.W. sisters and muttered, “Goddess help us.”

She yanked open Lioness’s door. “Come on, Tiny Dancer. Inside. Bed. Now.”

“I can walk,” Lioness protested, then tried and nearly slid right out of the seat.

Cal caught her. Rayna helped Sahara. Between the two of them, they herded both witches through the foyer and straight into the lounge.

The mansion hummed anxiously overhead, lanterns flickering like worried fireflies.

Rayna shot Cal a look. “You,” she said. “Thank you. And also, forget everything you saw.”

Cal blinked. “I’m gonna try.”

They pushed the couch across from the loveseat and settled Lioness and Sahara side by side, because Sahara refused to let Lioness out of her sight, and Lioness refused to let the smarter witch abandon her.

Rayna tucked blankets around them. “All right. Do not move until I get back. I’m finding an energy worker. A real one. Preferably someone who hasn’t set anything on fire this month.”

Lioness whispered, “Not Magda.”

“Absolutely not Magda,” Rayna agreed.

Sahara pulled the blanket to her chin. “Rayna, whatever’s under that obelisk, it’s not dormant.”

Lioness added, “It sneezed on us.”

Rayna’s eyes sharpened. “Then I’ll make this fast.”