As soon as he suggested it, Harry instantly looked more interested but hid it by twisting in the air several times and sweeping a cloud of dust off the top of the fridge to hide behind.

  Ebony flicked her hand up and waved it in front of her face, coughing as she did. “I would love to – believe me, I would. But Nate, don’t you remember we have to check on those copy-cat cases?”

  Nate stuck his bottom lip forward and blew a blast of air up into his face. “Sorry, I forgot.”

  Harry looked immediately crestfallen and was no doubt thinking up a new set of amazing insults with which to goad Ebony in his attempts to punish her for leaving him alone so much.

  Yet before Harry could fly off the handle – quite literally as he set every door handle in the place skidding across the floor and scratching the wood – Nate cleared his throat and offered a manly nod. “I tell you what, how about we head out for dinner tonight? I heard a new wizard joint has opened up near the park, and I would relish the opportunity to put some of those tattooed dingbats down with my epic tales of dragon slaying.”

  Harry’s eyes lit up, literally. They suddenly shone with all the power and might of a possessed bookstore. “You are on. However, if you cancel these plans due to paperwork,” Harry said the word with as much concentrated disgust as Ebony often displayed for the horrendous stuff, “I will—”

  Nate put up a hand quickly, neatening his tie nervously. “Turn all my ties pink?”

  Harry laughed malevolently.

  He didn’t, however, proceed to goad Ebony any further. He seemed satisfied with Nate’s offer.

  “I knew there was a reason I let you live with me.” Ebony leaned in, grabbed Nate’s tie, and straightened it firmly, all the while smiling up at him cheekily.

  “Because you can’t look after yourself, and need a strong knight around to keep you safe, fed, and clean?” He looked down at her, obviously controlling his urge to smile.

  “No, because…” she was about to say because he had a great chest, or something like it, but she stopped. Instead, she drew a deep breath and let her magic take hold. It would give her next words the meaning they deserved: “because I love you,” she finished. Then she turned from Nate before he could clam up or cough like a 100-a-day smoker.

  Ebony walked over to the stairs, waved goodbye at Harry, and even offered him a high-five when he flew in close enough. Then she set her hand on the banister as she walked down the well-polished steps and into the store below.

  As she did, she stared ahead, noting – as always – how beautiful the store was. With its rows and rows of books, couches, shelves, and magazines, it was such a rich sight to behold. All those spines glittering with their imprints and sun-kissed covers.

  There was something deeply, satisfyingly peaceful about this place. With one look into the shop with its high ceiling, and over at the imposing but beautifully carved fireplace at the far end, she felt at home. Which was appropriate, considering this was very much Ebony Bell’s home.

  Her retreat, her safe haven. The one place she could go back to every day to feel normal, alive, and unrestricted. Surrounded by this many books – on the mundane and the magical – it felt as if there was nothing she couldn’t do. All the stories and explanations and histories contained within had a suitable effect on the imagination: they lifted it up on the wings of timeless possibility. From space, to the deep ocean, to science, to religion, to magic, every possible pursuit of the mind was embedded in words down in that store.

  Breathing it all in as she finally reached the floor of the store and walked through it, was one of Ebony’s true pleasures. It made all the grittiness of Vale survivable.

  By the time she reached the door and flicked the closed sign to open, she heard Nate not too far behind. She opened the door and paused there for him to catch up, her hand lightly drifting down the wood. Though it needed a sand down and yet another coat of paint – considering how often malevolent magical entities had assailed it over the years – Ebony didn’t pick up a splinter – Harry would never allow it.

  Nate now reached her side, and yet again he had a hand clutched tight around his tie as he neatened it compulsively, perhaps trying to undo the damage Ebony had done when she’d grabbed it earlier.

  “You ready for yet another ridiculously busy day?” She flashed Nate a smile before turning back to the open door and staring up at the sky above.

  Checking the weather was somewhat of a habit of Ebony’s. She did so every morning, every afternoon, and every night. She wanted to know when it was sunny, when the clouds were fleeting across the sky, and when a storm was settling in, low, dark, and menacing. So much of how a city made you feel depended on its weather.

  Well, right now there were clouds in the sky, with a rather chill wind whipping down the street, disturbing the bins, rattling the signs, and rustling hard through the leaves in the trees.

  It made Ebony suck in her lips and chew on them distractedly.

  It was yet another sign of the times. As Vale succumbed to the magical crime and violence assailing it, the weather changed to reflect this new, dark, frantic energy. She couldn’t count the number of nasty storms they’d had in the past month. Every other night she would have to run from Nate’s car as it bucketed down with rain and the wind rushed wildly down from the mountains behind Vale.

  “Are you frowning at the weather, Ebony Bell?” Nate stepped up beside her, then walked out onto the street beyond. Turning and offering her a charming, if mysterious smile, he beckoned her on with a wave of his hand. “I thought, as a witch, you weren’t supposed to do such things? Something about not wanting to discourage the sun.”

  She let out a light laugh. In many ways Nate was right: a witch shouldn’t frown at the sky. But his stated reason was wrong. Ebony didn’t and couldn’t discourage the sun. She simply should not set herself up for a horrible day. Start your morning by grimacing at the sky, and you will soon find you cannot shift that frown for love or money.

  While a witch certainly had to be careful how she influenced the natural world around her, more than anything, she had to watch how she affected herself. A lesson Ebony had already learned numerous times, and one she would not readily forget. There was something about defeating the powerful Relator and making a pact with Legion himself (or itself, if you wanted to get technical), that made a girl remember her sense of power.

  Nate did a slow turn as he walked over to the car, one hand in his pocket as he played with his keys in the other. Head directed up, he stared at the sky and its bounty of storm-gray and dirty-white clouds.

  While he didn’t frown, Ebony could tell he too was wondering what kind of a day it would be. If yesterday and the day before that, and the week and month before that, were anything to go by, then today was going to be full of the dark side.

  As soon as Ebony thought that, she corrected herself immediately.

  She had to.

  Because Ebony now knew the dark side like no other witch before her.

  She’d crafted a treaty with the head of the demons. In doing so, she’d given up some of her power for some of his.

  Though she was not marked from head to foot with the symbols of death and despair, she could still feel Legion’s ever-looming presence if she chose to. Pushing deep into the magic swelling within her veins and the dark shadows at the edge of her mind, she could find it.

  She could draw on him too.

  In times of need, she could give up a little more of herself for a little more of him. That was the very point of their pact.

  Legion was there to help her when she fought against the forces that threatened not just all of Vale, but all of life as well.

  The Portal and the dark, twisted, chaotic creatures trying to push through it….

  Just thinking about it made her shiver. Though it had been several months since Ebony had died and had come back to life again with a bona fide demon pact pulsing through her and entwining her heart, she was still getting used to it.

  Of course she was.

  But she did have help.

  Nate obviously noticed her shivering and shifted closer as he looked down at her carefully. “Do you need to go inside and change into that outfit I picked out for you, after all? I knew today was going to be a cold and blustery one. A thick woolen jumper is going to be a lot more protective than that little black jacket.”

  She chuckled lightly. “And a tiny little, blue, sequined skirt is going to protect my legs a treat, while really bolstering my integrity and reputation in this town.”

  “I’m just saying it looks like it’s going to be a cold and wild one,” Nate said. Though he started off smiling cheekily at her, that smile slowly dwindled as he chose to stare back up at the sky again.

  She let him do it. She didn’t interrupt. She didn’t try to tease him, and neither did she whisper softly and tenderly that everything would be alright.

  Yet when he was finished and finally walked over to the car, opening it, she was sure to fix his back with the kindest look a witch could manage. Filled with love and appreciation, she reminded herself she had a lot to be thankful for. In amongst all her woes and troubles, Ebony had amassed life’s greatest treasures too: firm friendships, a meaningful job, and true love.

  So the weather and all its cloudy chicanery could be damned. She was going to make this day – and the rest of her life, while she was at it – exactly what she wanted it to be. By concentrating on what she wanted, she was going to get just that.

  As they got into the car – and Nate, as always, made a beeline to Ebony’s favorite bakery – the weather outside grew all the darker.

  It had nothing to do with the fact Ebony had offered it a frown.

  It had everything to do with what was coming.

  A force.

  Unstoppable.

  Ancient.

  And finally arising from its silent grave.

  2

  Ebony yawned yet again. Which was weird, considering she wasn’t at all tired. She’d had a very restful and pleasant night’s sleep, thank you very much.

  Nate looked at her pointedly for about the 10th time.

  They were on a case, and rather than being the useful, powerful, and pretty witch consultant, there to sort out Vale’s magical badasses, Ebony was standing in the corner reading over the same file over and over again as she tried to understand it.

  Her tired mind was having trouble picking out the words and forcing the blaggards to make sense.

  Pressing her fingers into her eyes to try to force them to wake up, she blinked as she looked around the room again.

  Everything felt normal.

  Or, rather, nothing seemed so extraordinarily evil that Ebony should call Legion at once and let it embody her.

  This was just another magical crime scene.

  That didn’t mean Ebony should be hunkering down in the corner while she tried to nap on her feet. Like all other cases she attended, she was obliged to put in her best efforts.

  Mulling over the file one last time, she wasn’t at all surprised when Nate walked up to her, not looking particularly impressed.

  “Is there something you’d rather be doing?”

  She looked up at him, pondering her response as she did. She was more than prepared to go toe-to-toe with Nate. Though she admittedly loved the guy, he was always the same when it came to working. On the job, Ebony was Nate’s partner in terms of their police duties only. He didn’t hug her, he didn’t compliment her, he didn’t call her dear or honey, and he certainly didn’t pause through an investigation to whisk her into his arms and kiss her dramatically.

  So yes, of course he was going to get snooty at her if he felt she wasn’t doing her job.

  Rather than tease him or snap at him, she just hung her head a little and sighed. “I don’t know. Just tired,” she managed, again mulling over her words. In her current state, no matter how much thought she gave to picking out the right thing to say, it didn’t matter; she was totally out of it.

  Before Nate could snap at her to pull her socks up and get back to being the witch consultant she was, he shared her sigh, though certainly not as loudly.

  Pressing his lips into a still firm but certainly not angry frown, he nodded at her. “Do you think something is draining your energy? Could there be hidden enchantments we haven’t picked up yet? The walls and ceiling could be possessed,” he tried.

  She was thankful for his suggestions, but they were all wrong.

  Ebony was, hopefully, powerful enough now to know when she was being magically attacked. It had happened enough, after all.

  As she pressed her mind into the task, she realized this room had nothing to do with how she felt. So she ended up rather pathetically shrugging her shoulders and mumbling to Nate it was nothing and she would get over it.

  Forcing herself into the rest of the room, she did her job as best she could. Almost on autopilot, she checked the room for any hidden magical booby-traps. She also cordoned off a section in the living room where someone had rather creatively drawn over the rug in permanent marker. She wasn’t a neat freak, though; they’d marked the carpet with some particularly unsavory symbols used to ward off good spirits.

  Still not really with it, Ebony indulged in closing her eyes for a few brief seconds as she finally exited the room, wandered down the stairs, and back to Nate’s car out in the car park.

  Once outside, she couldn’t stop herself from frowning up at the sky above.

  The clouds were gone.

  Which was surely a good sign, right?

  Apart from a few scant, puffy white wisps being chased away over the horizon, above was a sea of beautiful blue sky and bright, warm sunshine.

  That was quick, a part of her realized, while the rest of Ebony Bell told her to just hold her tongue and enjoy a day of good weather for once.

  Nate had parked his car all the way on the other side of the car park. He could have scooted in and snagged a position right outside the doors to the apartment, but instead he’d waved in an old lady in a tiny hatchback instead. The old lady had proceeded to park her exceedingly compact vehicle across two parking spaces, and Nate had been forced to park elsewhere.

  Though it sometimes irritated Ebony how proper and darn decent the guy was, she secretly loved it. While she was wild and brash, Nate was considered and measured. While she pranced around in high heels, bedazzling the world with her glitter and her sequins, Nate Wall was never seen out of a suit, unless he was wearing armor, and even then, it would be a suit of armor.

  Making her way across to the car, Ebony tried not to get distracted by the sunny, happy weather.

  Because it was happy. The birds were out in force, all twittering and chirping as they danced in the trees and onto the grass. As Ebony passed a few people, they too had rather rapt smiles on their faces, no doubt relishing this sunny change.

  When she reached Nate’s plain and simple car, she turned around, crossed her arms, fixed a glum frown onto her lips, and leaned against the passenger-side door.

  There she waited until Nate finished up his business and came out to meet her.

  While she stood there alone, Ebony tried to decide whether something untoward was happening here. Between her sudden lethargy and the rather unexplainable good weather, she was starting to wonder if something was up.

  … Or maybe Ebony Bell was just overworked, justifiably tired, and jumpy, considering what she dealt with and what was after her.

  Before she could come up with a solid conclusion, Nate finally reached her and opened the car wordlessly. In fact, it wasn’t until he’d sat roughly, buckled his seatbelt, and started the engine that he finally turned to her.

  He took an enormous and rather ominous breath, his firm chest pressing hard into his seatbelt. “Let’s just skip to the bit where you tell me what’s going on,” he suggested as he fixed her with a determined look.

  “Sorry?” Her lips scrunched up as she tried to decide whether this was a prelude to a fight.

  “Alright, if you want to pussyfoot around this, we could do that too. But all I’m saying, Eb, is that I’m ready to skip to the end here. I’ve known you long enough to realize there’s something up with you. And while the old Nate would have gladly engaged in a witty battle with you – where I would have come up with a lame excuse for your problems, and you would have soldiered on in silence until the world came crashing down around your ears – I’m not going to do that. I don’t want to see you get hurt,” he said, voice becoming measurably quieter as he leaned an arm around the back of her chair on the pretense of reversing. Except he didn’t move just yet. He simply stared at her. And damn him for making it just as strong, unwavering, and demanding as a Knight of the Roundtable could.

  When she didn’t immediately react, he repeated one simple phrase: “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  That got to her. Of course it did. It was a repetition of something Nathan Wall said an awful lot these days.

  It melted through any anger she could have held toward him and soon saw her nodding her head lightly. Then she shook it in a moment of indecision, only to nod it all the firmer several seconds later. “Okay.” She sighed uneasily as she shifted in her seat to look at him properly.

  Suddenly she felt uncomfortable and foolish, very foolish. Because she hardly had a lot to go on here. Just some sudden sunshine and some probably quite reasonable fatigue.

  Still, as Nate didn’t waver, she finally divulged her problems: “well… I’m feeling out of sorts. Kind of tired, a little foggy.” She pressed her French-manicured fingernails into her brow, scratching at the skin and prodding it in her attempts to wake her brain up.

  “And,” he prompted carefully. Though his voice was strong and certainly demanding, again he didn’t appear to be angry.

  Just concerned.

  And it was a wonderful and yet frightening thing to have a man like Nathan Wall concerned for your safety. Ebony suddenly couldn’t bear the thought of letting him down.

 

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