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Jin had been able to participate in a certain amount of protective magic using his artwork... although he’d still needed Rose to add the real power to the magical glyphs he’d incorporated into his paintings and set down around the house. That came down to her too. I wanted something we could turn to ourselves, independently, if worse came to worst again.
My searching turned up nothing, as expected. I closed my eyes, letting myself think back to our past struggles even though my chest was still a little tight from the vivid recollection in the office.
There were witching men among the enforcers—the Assembly’s police and security force. They hadn’t been using demon powers. Right, they’d had those magically-charged batons like the ones Rose had gotten for us when we’d gone up against the demon at the end, as much good as they’d done.
Maybe the batons couldn’t overcome an entire immense monster from another dimension, but they must work well enough against witching people, or there’d be no point to them. Ihadread accounts of various other artifacts witches had imbued with powers. Rose had done that herself with an item of her father’s she’d used to get him temporarily imprisoned before we’d had proof of his real treachery.
A faint warmth coursed through me at the idea. It wasn’t perfect—it still meant we needed help along the way—but once a tool had magic worked into it, those effects would stay until they were worn out through use. We could have them made ahead of time, and then we’d be able to grab them and jump into the fray as necessary if a moment called for it, no additional help required.
Seth glanced over at me as he parked outside the manor. “I can see whatever problem you’ve been working through, you figured out a solution,” he said, sounding amused.
“Something like one, anyway,” I said with more genuine good spirits, and hurried into the house to find Rose. She wasn’t due to leave for one of her regular overnight work trips for another couple of days.
I’d gone through pretty much the whole house before I spotted her from one of the upstairs windows. She was walking through the garden, stopping now to bend down and take in the scent of the summer flowers. The sunlight gleamed off her dark hair. I couldn’t help pausing just briefly to take in how lovely my life’s partner was and how lucky I was to have her. Then I dashed down to the first floor and out the back doors.
Rose’s head came up as I hustled past the hedges. The smile that immediately sprang to her lips faltered at my urgency. “Is everything all right?” she asked.
“Yes. As far as I know. There’s nothing that—” I stopped myself with a rough chuckle and got my thoughts and words in order. “I’ve just been thinking about how we’d handle things if we ended up in a bad situation again. Supernaturally speaking. I know that’s not likely, but—I’d feel better, and maybe the other guys would too, if we had a plan in place anyway.”
Rose paused, her expression turning pensive. “What made you start thinking about that?”
I came up with the simplest explanation I could. “Something I saw today just started me thinking about what we went through before, that’s all. It seems like we’re best off being prepared, just in case.”
The corners of Rose’s mouth quirked up again, if with a bittersweet slant. “I know how much you like your plans. I can see how that makes sense, even though I’m pretty sure we’ll never face anything like what we dealt with last year ever again. No witch has ever faced anything like thatbeforeeither.”
“I know, I know. But even a smaller threat… We’re still pretty unusual in the eyes of the rest of your witching society.”
“I can’t argue that.” She cocked her head. “What are you thinking, Ky?”
“Mostly that it’d be good for us guys to have some sort of magic at our disposal if we come up against magical opponents.” I motioned vaguely toward the house. “If we could have a stash of those batons like the enforcers use on hand, and any other imbued artifacts we could wield effectively, then defending ourselves wouldn’t all come down to you.”
Rose considered me for a long moment. There was something sad in her gaze that pinched at my heart. Suddenly I wanted to take everything I’d just said back. Did she think I didn’t trust her to protectuswith her diminished magic—that I was making a roundabout criticism of her sacrifice?
Before I could say anything else, she nodded. “I can do that. It’s a good idea, if only for peace of mind. I think, given the circumstances, the Assembly will permit access to those kinds of tools without much of an argument. I can bring it up with them when I’m in Portland next week.”
“Perfect,” I said, even though it still wasn’t, even though I wasn’t entirely confident now that it was a real solution at all. I’d put the idea out there—no taking it back.
“Dinner’s about to be served,” Meredith called from the doorway.
Rose took my hand as we headed back to the house. The rustle of a footstep reached my ears from behind. I looked over my shoulder to see Damon sauntering around the other side of the hedges.
His gaze caught mine, so intent and almost eerily knowing that I could tell he’d overheard my request. Then he smirked at me in a way that sent a shiver down my back for no reason I could explain. And just like that, I was even less sure that how I’d handled my flare of anxiety would help any of us.
Chapter Five
Damon
Ipaused in the shadows of the side alley for a moment before trudging up the rickety stairs to my mother’s second-floor apartment. I’d never been happy with the state of the place that had been the best we’d been able to afford between the wincingly low salary her asshole boss paid her for her job as a cleaning lady and the extra I’d been able to chip in from my wannabe gangster days. It was cramped and dim, the linoleum floors cracked and the grout in the bathroom spotted with mold stains despite Mom’s best efforts.
Every time I stopped by since I’d moved out of my own shithole apartment, the sight of the dreary space irked me even more. She didn’thaveto live here now. My pay in my new gig was enough that I could have easily covered a down payment and a few hundred in additional rent to help her move someplace at least decent. Even if it hadn’t been, Rose would happily have bought Mom a whole house using the Hallowell fortune. I could tell from the twist of my consort’s mouth whenever the subject of my mom came up that she still felt guilty for how her dad had kicked Mom and the other guys’ parents out of their long-time jobs without severance pay or a reference.
The thing was, to give Mom anything, she had to be willing to accept it. Renting a new place or buying one didn’t help if she refused to leave the current apartment. And she’d dug in her heels from when I’d first brought up the subject a few paychecks into my electrician apprenticeship. Nothing I’d said since had swayed her.
Today, the floor creaked even louder than usual as I came through the front door. Mom looked up from where she was sitting on the worn living room armchair, her gray-streaked hair tucked into a neat bun but her eyes weary.
“Damon, you didn’t have to come.”
I waved my hand dismissively. “I told you I would. Lord knows your landlord isn’t going to take care of things anytime soon. You said it’s the kitchen sink acting up?”
