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With white-blonde hair, full pouty lips, and bright blue eyes that were framed by impossibly long, dark lashes, Jordan had the kind of beauty that drew people to her. She was constantly getting hit on by both male and female customers, yet she never accepted any of their invitations.
She didn’t mind a little harmless flirting, though.
Her smile alone could coerce people into sticking around for a cinnamon roll or a cupcake, but the quality of their baked goods was enough to convince them to come back for more.
“There you are! I thought you’d left for the day,” Jordan said in a rush as she set the empty trays down by the sink. “We’ve had an excellent morning. The new apple Snickerdoodle and pumpkin spice muffins are practically flying off the trays! I just love fall!”
She did a quick, delighted spin on her signature stiletto heels, making the skirt of her long-sleeve denim shirt dress flare out with a playful flutter. Jordan suddenly froze and blinked in surprise.
“What in the worlds are you wearing? Do you have a wedding to go to or something? And what is that material? It’s gorgeous!”
“I honestly have no idea.”
The fairy’s confused expression shifted into one of complete shock as her gaze finally rose to meet Autumn’s. “Holy shit, Tumi! Are you okay? Why in the freaking hell are your eyes glowing?”
Obviously, Autumn had forgotten to dim the new god-glow she was rocking. However, she wasn’t even sure how the hell to do that yet. She really wished her god powers had come with an instruction manual. She needed to get the hell out of there before anyone else saw her.
Jordan rushed forward but came to a stop several feet away. “Whoa, baby! You’ve got really, really strong magic emanating off you. Like, it’s making me want to flee for my life kind of power. By the gods, what in the—”
Autumn laughed weakly. “Actually, the gods are sort of the reason why I’m in this mess. I know you have a lot of questions, and I’ll tell you everything. But I’d rather only do it once, so I think we need to call a family meeting.”
“Good idea,” Jordan agreed. “Come on. Let’s go before someone sees you.”
Their staff was comprised entirely of supernaturals, but they were mostly like Autumn had been before her upgrade—hybrids with little to no magical skills. Not wanting to scare anyone, she thought it was best to leave before she got emotional and accidentally blew up their bakery or hurt one of them in some other way.
“We should tell Cami and the rest of the crew that we’re leaving,” Autumn said.
“I’ll text them from the farm. We have to get out of here. Right now.”
Jordan wasted no time grabbing hold of Autumn’s hand. They had teleported together countless times over the years, only this time, nothing happened. The fairy’s brows furrowed in confusion, then her eyes went wide. “Why can’t I teleport you?”
“I’m not sure. Why don’t you go first, and I’ll teleport myself.”
Jordan’s hand clamped around Autumn’s wrist. “We go together.”
Autumn wanted to argue, afraid she would hurt her friend, but she recognized the stubborn set of Jordan’s pursed lips. Rather than waste time, she imagined teleporting them both to their adopted family’s home. Although Autumn and Jordan had come from very different backgrounds, they’d both spent several years with the Bazin family on their property, which was located about an hour’s drive outside of the city.
While most of the realm remained in the dark about the magical world, there were still countless supernaturals living in secret amongst the humans in every city throughout the world. Mystic, Colorado, had started out as a supernatural town in the middle of nowhere, but over time, it had grown into a sprawling metropolis.
Many supes still chose to build homes and open businesses there since it was a supportive community, but another reason the city continued to grow was Trifecta University. What had once been a magical academy centuries ago was now known as one of the best all-round academic schools in the world. However, since supernaturals were still in charge of the school, they were very careful about selecting which humans were admitted and went to great lengths to exclude anyone who might cause problems for the magical community.
Although Mystic was constantly growing, a lot of the land surrounding the city remained undeveloped and owned by various shifter packs, clans, and prides that had claimed the land before the modern age. The Bazin pack could trace their lineage back to the first group of supernaturals that had settled there, and now their property was home to a large group of wolf shifters and mixed supernaturals.
Paul and Rachel Bazin had met back when he had been injured while he was in the Army, and she’d been a doctor doing aid work in a small village near where he’d been stationed. After they had both finished serving, they had returned to Paul’s pack where he had taken over the role of alpha.
Since he was a wolf shifter and his mate was part fae, some of the pack had decided to leave, but that hadn’t mattered. They believed in freedom of choice and refused to force anyone to stay where they didn’t want to be.
Their kindness and compassion made them allies with most of their neighbors, but it also made them a target for others. Because the Bazins had accepted several non-shifters into their pack, some of the pure-bred packs considered them contaminated. That didn’t bother the Bazins, though. They welcomed anyone who had needed a place to call home, whether it was permanent or only for a night or two, and the mixing of the races had just made them stronger.
Jordan had been the first to take refuge with the Bazins. As a pixie, she had worked hard to cultivate her magic to be with a fae male she had fallen in love with. But once she had succeeded in becoming a fairy, he had broken his promise to be with her. Betrayed and heartbroken, she had tried to find solace in her new form, only to have her pixie family shun her for making the change.
She had wandered alone for several years, moving from place to place before she had stumbled upon the farm one rainy night. She had found a warmth and welcome there she had been missing and had decided to stick around after they had invited her to stay. Her fairy magic had helped their small farm flourish, and her presence had even attracted a few pixie families who now lived on the property and helped tend the greenhouses, orchards, and gardens.
Autumn had arrived on the farm more than a dozen years later. She’d never had what could be described as an idyllic childhood, but things had gotten much worse after her father had decided to leave her and her mother without a backward glance. Not only did he have a relationship with another woman, Graham Carter had been hiding a second family for years.
It had been like one of those crazy stories on a podcast about monsters hidden in plain sight. Graham had used his charm, charisma, and job as a pilot to live completely separate lives in two different cities. He’d even had another daughter who was a few years younger than Autumn, but he’d only decided to leave when his mistress had gotten pregnant again, this time with a son.
Iris Arcane had never recovered from his betrayal. Adding insult to injury, a day after their divorce had been finalized, he had officially gotten married again. Iris had never been a very gifted witch, but she had been blinded by hatred and desperate enough to try casting a dark spell to get back at him. Unfortunately, that powerful spell had backfired and ended up killing her.
