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Violet Gables.
There was a snap or a spark, and shefeltthe world as she never had before. There were connections everywhere, and it seemed impossible that she’d never sensed them. Power surged through her as if she’d grabbed on to an electrical line. She felt like a dolphin skimming along the waves, singing with every otherdolphin in existence. And in that dazzling brightness, she heard whispers and the lightest touch.
Ah. Yes. There you are, precious blossom.
Not her thought—someone else’s—but then they vanished in the swirling stream. The universe in her head receded, leaving her dazed and disconnected. When she opened her eyes, she stumbled backward and fell down, gaping at what she saw. The stately old matron, this Victorian oddity, wasfestoonedin violets, a field of them growing sideways, impossibly, all over the house. No soil. No explanation, just…violets. They rioted with life and color—magical, beautiful, and incomprehensible.
She sat in the yard, staring up at the miracle that had appeared…like a sign, almost. When she’d nearly given in to despair, the world rose up to meet her, and it was as if the house crooned, “Yes, this is right. I’m beautiful again.”
“I really am fae,” Iris whispered.
Instinctively, sheknew.She didn’t need a spell or other casters.Witches use magic. The faearemagic.That wisdom felt very old, and it tasted true on her tongue, a thing where she didn’t understand the knowing, but the fact remained.This is my home, my land, and I have power here.Another truth, indisputable. Her environment would bend to her will.
Mira pulled into the driveway as Iris gazed fondly at the miracle she’d wrought. The witch gaped at the house, glancing from it to Iris and back again. “Uh, something you’d like to tell me?”
“I don’t need a spell,” Iris said.
The woman eyed her warily. “I can see that. Your power’s awakened then?”
“Seems so.”
Another sidelong look from Mira. “What can you do?”
“Not sure. I can’t feel the cars parked on the streets or other machines—like lawn mowers—at all, but things that were alive like the wood on the house? It’s mine to shape.”
“A little like vivimancers, then,” Mira mused. “Maybe they came from the fae?”
“You’re asking the wrong person. I only found out who I am a little while ago.”
Rowan popped out of the house to see what was up, and they too stared in wonder at Violet Gables. “Is…is this real? I’m not hallucinating, right?”
“No, we have a garden growing up the front of the house.” After pacing twenty steps to the right, Mira added, “Oh, it’s all over. I can’t wait for the press to get hold of this.”
“That cranky lady next door will be so pissed,” Rowan predicted.
Iris allowed herself a faint smile as the faint fragrance of violets wafted on the autumn breeze. “I hope so. Because I’m just getting started.”
Eli didn’t leave town.
He could have, easily. And probably, he should have.
But instead, he spent the night in an expressway hotel; then the next day, he rented a studio apartment on a vacation rental site. It was an adequate space over a garage, and he didn’t interact with the people in the main house at all. Instead, he receiveda code allowing him to let himself in using a separate entrance. At this point, Eli didn’t even understandhimself, so of course Iris thought the worst of his motives.
In hindsight, he shouldn’t have panicked and gone around her. He owed her so many apologies that he could deliver one daily for the next two months and it still wouldn’t be enough. Maybe that was why he couldn’t cut his losses and move on. Sighing, he set his suitcase in the small bedroom and wandered out to the equally efficient living space.
Ironically, he’djustunpacked his bags, finally feeling comfortable about his place at Violet Gables. Hell, he’d started feeling like he belonged. But before he could get cozy in the hole he’d dug, his phone rang.
Caller ID said it was Henry Dale, and that made him feel a bit better. At least the rest of his housemates—former housemates—didn’t hate him. “What’s up?”
“Where are you staying?” Henry Dale asked without preamble.
“What?”
The older man made a skeptical sound. “You didn’t expect any of us to believe you suddenly flew to Albuquerque, right? We pretended to because otherwise it would’ve been awkward, but you wereheartbrokenwhen you left, son. Not worried. As you would’ve been, had your grandmother actually needed you to make an urgent trip.”
“Oh. You truly are a student of human nature, aren’t you?” It was humbling how happy Eli felt over Henry Dale checking in like this.
“I’ve learned to read people over the years. I don’t alwayscarehow they’re feeling, but I usually know. And sometimes IactlikeI don’t because I’d rather not pussyfoot around. But you didn’t answer my question.”
