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Frostbitten air reached my lungs, paining them as I strode uphill, pausing every now and then to catch my breath. I licked my lips, then flicked my waves over my shoulders and out of the way. Hugging my jacket around me, I watched the sky pinken, then blot to purple as the sun’s rays left the town. Fires flickering from inside the houses illuminated their windows orange.
Finally, I emerged onto a main road, where shops lined either side. Displays from different shops sparkled in the darkening night. I made a face when I took in one packed with brightly colored clothing on mannequins, and I grinned when I saw gorgeous dresses for the call festival in a shop called Mystique. My stomach rumbled when I paused in front of a local bakery, where jams and honeys lined the display. Behind it, glass cases filled with freshly baked breads, donuts, cakes, and cookies, beckoned me. I had several skal on me, enough to buy some dinner—not that cake was dinner, as I’d been lectured on before. Still, the smell of cinnamon, flour, and gingerbread wafted from the shop.
A couple of caster girls looked at me as they passed. Fortunately, I hadn’t seen them before, so they ignored me and made their way to the Mystique shop.
Fairy lights illuminated over the shops’ striped awnings and all the way down the town’s center. The sky turned black, shining out dots of silver and white around the quarter moon. I peered around, frowning as I left the smell of the bakery behind me. I needed to find Viktor. He was my priority.
After a half hour of searching, I turned back. There was nothing more I could do, and I didn’t want to be trapped out when Maddox and the magician coven put up new barriers. My little get-out spot at the back of the gardens probably wouldn’t work after the magician’s magic was placed over the mansion.
I pulled my jacket tighter around me, gripping my umbrella, and hurried back up the path leading to home. I had to pass near the entrance to the woods again, on the way back. My stomach churned as the tree line became visible. Evergreen dotted into the distance as the vast forest and woods before it stretched into oblivion. The hairs on the back of my neck stood erect. The bench where I’d sat after finding the body still had the blanket discarded on it that had been wrapped around me.
“Viktor!” I gasped, my eyes bulging as his six-foot-two figure emerged from the blackness between the trees. He was covered in mud; his hair was wet and curled around his ears. He looked over at me, his eyebrows pointing downward.
“You shouldn’t be out here,” he barked, and I took a step back. He strode toward me and grabbed my wrist. “It’s dangerous.”
My brain faltered. How was I the bad guy here? “You went into the woods when you swore you wouldn’t. I had to come find you, Maddox is doing another spell to guard the coven, and the magicians are on their way over. In fact”—I looked at my watch—“they’re probably already on their way. You would have been trapped outside.”
“Thanks for the concern, but I can take care of myself, but whoever the murderer is, you are their target. All the victims were young women, actually, except for the last, who was?—”
“A boy, I know. I remember.” I scowled.
“My point is you need to be careful. If I knew you’d come after me, I wouldn’t have gone.”
“You shouldn’t have anyway, you crazy person.” I looked him up and down. “What happened to you?”
He looked at his mud-soaked shirt. “I slipped. Let’s head back. It’s getting late.” He looked over his shoulder as he led me away.
Maddox was about to have a fit when we arrived back. I heard him in the kitchen as we snuck through the hallway. I’d kept us out of sight, sneaking Viktor back to my room before anyone could see the state he was in. Hovering my fingers over my hand and whispering the incantation, I sent a quill to Maddox, telling him I’d be back soon and found Viktor in the garden.
I closed the door behind us, panting. “I need to start running more again. I’m so unfit.”
“You’re fine.” He slicked off his white shirt, which was now mostly brown, revealing his abs and tanned torso. My heartbeat crept faster as he tossed the shirt over my dresser. “I should have gone to my room.”
“Which is next to Maddox’s.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Who’s in the kitchen.”
I closed my eyes. I was such a dumbass. “You’re right.”
He grinned. “I figured you were looking for a reason to get me into your room. You could have just asked.”
I blushed, mentally kicking myself for allowing it to happen. Turning away so he couldn’t see my red cheeks, I cleared my throat. “That’s not what happened. Anyway, I’ll, uh, go get you clothes.”
“I could just go by myself.”
I shook my head. “Of course. My brain clearly isn’t working.”
He chuckled. “See ya in a bit.” He grabbed his shirt from the dresser, then paused in the doorway. “Unless you want me to stay, Elle.”
I hate-loved the way he said my name. “No. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
Once he left, I ran my hands down my face, pulling the skin under my eyes. “Get it together, Elle. What in the underworld.” I shrugged off my jacket and tied back my hair.
I heard Maddox and Naomi talking as I walked toward the front door. They’d all gathered out front, on the gravel where the shiny automobile stood. Everyone wanted one, but few could afford such luxuries. This one belonged to the grandmagician of the magician coven, Felix Astotle. His eyes were bigger than those of anyone I’d ever met, reminding me more of a cat than a human. His bright-orange hair made him difficult to forget.
“Eleanor. How are you this evening?”
“Grandmagician Felix, it’s wonderful to see you again. Thank you for coming.”
