Enchanting Wilder (20 page)

That’s how I’m allowing myself to accept Kai. An ace in our hole. Otherwise, the logistics of what he truly is will eat away at me. My instincts will kick in and I’ll go to the Leaders to have them vanquish him. Not that doing something that rash would do any good. There are who-knows-how-many Thayans and hybrid monsters out there. Killing Kai would only put us in the dark as to what they’re doing, and it’s critical to stay one step ahead.

Pulling my hair into a bun, I change into my comfortable clothes, yoga pants, a tank top and warm socks and sit down on my bed. Closing my eyes, I call to my Spirit Guide, Sally.

She appears in front of me a few seconds later and I stand up, smiling.

“Good evening, McKenna,” she greets, placing her hand on my arm and squeezing. “How are you?”

I tuck a loose piece of hair that’s escaped from the hair tie. “I’m good.” But even I can hear the lie in my tone.

“What’s troubling you?” Her eyebrows creased in worry. “Is it the situation with the Thayans?”

I nod. “As the days pass, I grow more anxious.”

“That’s understandable. Try to have some faith.” Her eyes soften and she takes her hand from my arm, crossing it over her stomach.

I nod, but my hands begin to sweat. She wasn’t very happy when she found out about Kai, but we had no choice but to agree to work with him.

She takes a deep breath and pulls at her white, flowy shirt. “So, we have a few jumps tonight.” She hands me a piece of parchment paper and I unroll it, reading three names.

“Okay, thank you, Sally.”

She bows her head with a questioning look and dissipates.

My room becomes crystal clear again and I move from the spot on the ground to my bed. Being a Strix isn’t as glamorous as you’d think. More times than not, Candy and I do our job while in tattered clothes and our hair a mess.

Centering myself, I cross my legs and concentrate on the first name on the paper.

I follow behind her on a busy street in what looks like downtown Chicago. Her short skirt rides up her legs and she tugs it down in annoyance. The leaves rustle around us, the chilled air pinching my face. I burrow under my jacket. The woman’s heels clank on the concrete sidewalk as she side steps a man in a tailored suit. He looks back at her, his eyes hungry, an air of arrogance surrounding him. He continues on, but makes a note of her. “Follow up.” He writes. “Blonde hair. Beautiful face. Walks down Main Street every day at five in the morning.” My eyes squint over his shoulder as I take in what he writes.

Now is my time. I transform myself into a yellow canary and fly my way across from her, within eyesight. I sing my song, the one I sing to people to get their attention, and I catch her eye. With subtle hints, I give her flashes of her life—lives. One if she chooses the right and one if she chooses wrong.

The man who just passed her is going to offer her a deal. I have no idea what it is, but it’ll lead to an entire life change of bad. If she chooses his proposition, it’ll force her on a path of destruction and eventual corruption.

The woman wakes and I snap back into my world.

I continue my work through the night and am finally able to get some sleep around midnight.

A few mornings later, my phone chimes early. The sky is still dark and I crack my eyes open with a moan. The harsh light of my cell phone assaults my tired, sleepy eyes and I quickly turn it off. Taking a deep breath, I slide my finger across the phone to find a text from Declan.

Declan: Morning. I know it’s early, but we just got in from a hunt. I’m heading to bed. I’ll try to call later.

I smile and begin to reply when another text comes in.

Declan: Kai says hi. I rolled my eyes and he punched me. I think I’m rubbing off on him.

I giggle, thoroughly awake now.

McKenna: Morning, Declan. Glad you got in okay. Tell Kai I said hi.

He responds immediately.

Declan: What are you doing awake?

McKenna: Some guy text me…

My phone begins ringing and I quickly shush it, answering when I see it’s Declan. “Hello?”

“Mighty,” he says, sighing, sounding tired. “You need to be asleep.”

I laugh and shift to my side. “It’s okay. I’m glad you called.”

“Yeah?” I can hear the smile in his voice. “Hold on.” Rustling noises fill my ear, like someone rubbing their hand over a microphone. A door slams and he huffs. “Okay. I left the room. How are you?”

“I’m good. Trying to keep busy. I had tonight off, so I decided to stay home and veg.”

“That sounds a lot better than what I had to deal with tonight.”

My heart thumps. “What happened?”

“We ran into a couple of body transfers. They were posing as a coven of witches.”

“Where are you right now?”

“Just outside of Cheyenne. I don’t remember the name. Kai had us going to Nebraska on a lead, but we stumbled upon this.”

“Sheesh. What were they doing?”

“Looking for information, killing innocents in the process.”

I rub my forehead. “So it’s taken care of?”

“It is. Wood will be up in a few hours and we’ll head out. Kai has gotten pretty good at driving. We haven’t been pulled over yet, so there’s that.”

I laugh. “Wait. You’re letting Kai drive?”

“Yeah, if you can believe it. He’d rather blip everywhere, but I refuse to let him go without us.” Declan chuckles. “He has us going all the time. Wood has even started to complain, and the guy never complains about too much work. I think Kai sometimes forgets we aren’t immortal like he is.”

“Wow. Well, I’ll let you go get some sleep. Thank you for checking in.”

“Listen,” Declan sighs. “I’m sorry I haven’t been calling as much as I should. We get so caught up in what we’re doing, I forget.”

I sigh. “You don’t have to apologize. I do worry about you, though.”

He’s silent for a minute. “You worry about me, huh?”

“Yep. Deal with it.”

He snickers. “Fine.”

I smile. “Good.”

He breathes evenly, in and out, not saying much, yet a lot at the same time.

After a minute, I say, “Declan, I’m going to let you go. It’s so late and I don’t want you to be even more tired. Good night—err, good morning.”

“Wait!” he stops me. He sniffles, the cold in Wyoming probably hitting him hard. “I miss you,” he finally says. I swear my heart catapults against my ribcage, slamming against it so hard it might break out of my body.

“I miss you, too.” My smile takes over my entire face.

“I’ll talk to you soon.” The line goes dead.

“Jared wants to go out tonight. You should come with us,” Candy calls out as she empties the truck full of flowers behind the store with a grunt. The flower delivery guy is new and refuses to help us unload. I’d be mad, but the guy is eighteen and maybe not the sharpest tool in the shed.

I don’t answer right away, busying myself with gathering a bouquet of flowers and tying a ribbon around it. I’ve talked to Declan a few times in the past couple weeks, and he mentioned he’d be back here soon. Besides, going out with a band doesn’t seem like my kind of fun. Candy is more about the rowdy—I’m more about staying home and binge watching my favorite movies.

“I don’t know, Candy,” I finally say as she heavily sets a box of roses on top of the table I’m working on.

“Why?” she questions, looking me square in the eye. She knows I can’t lie when she does that.

“I just don’t feel like going out. I’m tired.”

She rolls her eyes. “Please. Sally told me you only had four jumps last night. You got plenty of sleep.”

My eyes narrow and I turn my attention back to the calla lily bunch I have in my hand.

“Don’t ignore me, woman. The cobwebs in your vagina are going to fossilize and build a wall if you don’t get back in the game.”

I sputter. “Oh God, shut up. My vagina hasn’t fossilized. It’s still a shiny new penny.” I give her a hard stare. “I just don’t feel like going out.”

“Because you hope Declan stops by.”

I swallow and don’t look up.
I always hope.
“You know how I am, Candy.” As if that answer is going to make everything better. I shake my head.

She stands in front of me, across the table, and gives me her stupid puppy dog eyes. “Yes, I do.” She leans her weight against the table. “Please. Come on. It’ll be fun. It’s just a rooftop party in Boston. Low key. It’ll be the band and a few other people. It’s supposed to be catered and have servers, that sort of thing.”

At least she isn’t dragging me to some crazy place. A rooftop get together could be enjoyable. I sigh in defeat. “Dammit. Okay. But if I’m bored or want to go home, I’m out. Yes?” I give her a pointed look and cut the ribbon around the green stems.

“Yes. Fine. It’ll be a good time. Don’t worry.”

I lift my eyebrows and grab some colored tissue paper.

“Oh!” she hoots. “Let me dress you.”

I lift my eyes to her and laugh. “No. I’m not your personal Barbie, Candy. I can dress myself.”

She gives me a pouty look and stands, folding her arms across her chest. “You’re impossible.”

My fake smile slides across my face. “Right back at you, sister. Now go to lunch. I’ll hold down the fort.”

Giving me air kisses, she hops out of the front door and I’m left to finish today’s orders and try my damndest to not think about Declan.

“You know,” Alden, the drummer from The Ackalades, says into my ear, “it’s really not that bad. We travel around, but we get to come home a lot. It could be worse.”

I take another pull from my beer and nod, looking up at the star riddled sky. They twinkle across the black backdrop. “True. I just can’t imagine not always being in Summerson.”

Alden’s red hair moves lightly in the breeze and I find myself dazed a bit. He’s dreamy in his own right. His blue eyes sparkle and I can tell instantly he’s a good guy—a player—but a good guy. Not that I can blame him, he is the drummer in one of the biggest bands on the east coast. His I-love-everybody demeanor helps break through the rock star façade. He’s talented, but not cocky.

Unlike Jared, who’d kiss his own ass if he could.

“Being away makes coming home that much better. Summerson, in a way, is magical.”