Declan didn’t show up to the Landmark Hotel at all the next day. Gretel was still unhappy about me going to work, but I’d promised to stay in touch and that seemed to comfort her, just a little. Not as much as locking me up somewhere safe would have, but enough that we were okay by the time I left. 

When I got to work, Angie informed me that the man from yesterday hadn’t been seen since I left with him. She obviously believed my story, she was quick to tell me that. But she hadn’t been able to catch him and neither had security. And with no clear description, it was impossible to fully prevent him from coming back inside. Security would have to ban any twenty-something man with dark hair and that included half our staff. But she said if he appeared again, let her know and she’d take care of it in a second.

Something I didn’t doubt, magic or no.

Despite what I’d said to Gretel and Joel about my anticipated workload the night before, it was an easy day. Few of the problems I mentioned had materialized, and I didn’t get any fresh disasters sent my way. The worst thing that happened was a wedding attempting to reschedule after their window was closed. At first, I was concerned we were going to end up with a screaming groomsman down here demanding we change it, but the high-powered voice fizzled out after I explained the contract the bride and groom had signed. And then I was finally released from my agony as he said he’d consult the groom and call back.

Which brought up some other considerations, but none of those were my problem. So I took the blessing for what it was.

Angie was busy all day in her office, barely coming out and skipping her usual lunch run to eat at her desk. When I asked if I could take anything off her plate, she called me a good kid, almost distractedly. She was fine, she just wasn’t feeling her best. After our initial conversation, we danced around the topic of Declan, though each time I saw dark hair out in the lobby, my heart sped up.

After work I had another softball practice. I’d missed yesterday’s, so I was going to this one. Gretel again seemed unhappy when I texted her about it, which left me frustrated, even more so when she didn’t address any of the other things I’d brought up, like what groceries she needed me to pick up on the way home after. Practice was going to be in public, at a park nearby. There’d be plenty of people around and I knew that some women on the team were magic or had magical partners. Not that we discussed it during practice, but I’d seen enough hints to know. 

Of course, when I mentioned this to Gretel, she was so relieved that I was insulted. But whatever. We were moving past it and we both needed to focus on our part of fixing our relationship. She’d make sure we stayed on equal footing while I made myself as comfortable with magic in my life as I could. And I couldn’t expect either of these things to happen overnight.

Despite everything, Gretel would be mortified to know I was thinking like this. She had no interest in being my superior, I knew that. And I knew that she meant it when she told me so. But between the supervisory texts and the way my mind still lingered on how she’d locked the door before allowing Joel to teleport me upstairs to our room, I knew it was something that was going to have to be addressed more deliberately if we were going to successfully move past it.

I was tired and more on edge than I wanted to admit after hours of convincing both Joel and Gretel that it was no big deal that I was going to work today. I could admit to myself – and only myself – that it was a big deal. All I could think of was that deadbolt snapping shut on the patio, another lock holding me in place. Of Declan’s insistence that he wasn’t going to hurt me while every cell in my body told me not to listen to him.

Softball practice would help. I could work out some of this nervous energy, then go home and be civilized and maybe even resolve things and just be happy with my girlfriend again. My girlfriend, who I loved more than anything in the world. 

By the time my shift was over, I was nearly crawling the walls. Not literally, of course. Not today, that was just for when evil wizards captured me. Angie dismissed me with a quick warning to be careful. Maybe because she wasn’t magic either, I wasn’t resentful of it. Regardless, I was relieved, but wary as I changed my clothes, left work, and began walking down the street toward the park where we were meeting.

Has it been less than a week since I ran into Joel outside The Landmark? Then tried to escape him, only to fail? And now he was my frigging roommate? What was going to happen by next week?

No, forget it, I didn’t want to know.

The park where the team was meeting was fairly small. Usually we met at a bigger place nearby, but they were setting up some kind of festival for the weekend, so we were out of luck there. Salem Common was usually the other good option for outdoor activities, but they didn’t have a baseball diamond. So we settled for a park a few blocks up the street, away from the more touristy parts of the city. 

“Dar!” 

Sylvie, one of the housekeepers at the Landmark, called me over to the group. Most of the team was there already, warming up or just chatting by the chain-link fence. They all greeted me as I got there and set down my bag. I stretched in the sunshine and instantly felt a tiny bit better. This was normal. It was my world. 

It was warm and breezy, the sun filtering through the few trees hanging over the field. Over on the other side was a small playground where some little kids were running around, screaming and laughing. I played on that playground when I was a kid too, though they’d renovated it since then. Thank God, because the old slide had been metal and burned all of us multiple times. You’d think we would have learned after the first second-degree burn, but not us. No, we just kept going. Just kept getting burned.

This was an unofficial practice, not that things were particularly official with the Landmark team or any of the others in our little citywide league. After a little while of practicing pitching, I ended up drifting toward a half-assed scrimmage that was starting up.

“Dar! You pitch!”

Sylvie tossed me a softball and I caught it easily in my glove, trying not to think of Horace and his ugly little sneer. RIP Horace, you sucked, but you saved us, you horrible little fucker. 

I fell into the pattern immediately as the game came together, me pitching the entire time, even as teams half-formed. Nobody seemed concerned about any actual competition right now, we were all focused on our form. My pitches were a little rocky at first, but as my muscles warmed up, they smoothed out, until the other women were jeering me good-naturedly as I struck them out one after the other.

“Come on, that has to be a ball!” Jenny Rogers from Accounting teased as she swung her third strike.

“Oh please, it was right over the plate!” I called back, tossing the ball up and catching it again as it bounced off my bicep, showing off my skill shamelessly.

“If you call Riza’s jacket home plate!”

“I don’t need this,” I said, catching the ball and tossing it up again. “I’m going to apply at Sea Catch.”

“I saw my sister’s paycheck, you don’t want to do that,” Riza called over from the sidelines. “So suck it up and throw the ball!”

This was how it went for about an hour and a half, until people started mentioning schoolwork or husbands and boyfriends waiting at home. I stuck around until the bitter end, eventually tossing a ball around with Riza for a few until she also finally, reluctantly said she had to go get ready for class tonight at Salem State. It was still bright out, but definitely getting slightly cooler as I gathered my bag and started toward the sidewalk.

And realized my mistake as Riza disappeared around the corner.

“You have an arm.”

Declan was there again, walking beside me so smoothly that he might have been there the whole time. Maybe he had been, master of disguise and all that.

“Please leave me alone,” I said.

“Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot,” Declan said, slowing his pace in a clear attempt to get me to stop walking and talk to him. When he realized that wasn’t going to happen, he jogged for a second to catch up with me.

“I mean it,” I said, reaching into my pocket to make sure my pepper spray was still there. “I have no interest in talking to you, and I’m asking you politely to leave me alone.”

“Listen, I just want to talk,” Declan said, getting back on stride. “I’m new in town and I just want to get to know the local scene, that’s all. You know, network with all us magic folks?”

“I don’t have magic,” I said, speeding up.

I wasn’t running, I didn’t want to make it look like I was afraid. Which I was, slightly. But mostly I was just angry. Now this shit was literally chasing me. And Gretel was going to be furious, and I’d have to deal with that once I escaped from this creep.

“Look, you don’t have to be shy with me,” Declan said. “I know what happened and I know it was scary, okay?”

Now he’d taken on that tone of someone soothing a scared animal. Or a child. And that just made me even angrier.

“Fuck off,” I snapped, crossing an empty street against the light. Declan had slowed almost to a stop, then I heard him swear in surprise and follow me across. Had he really expected me to wait for a cross light? So he really wasn’t from the area, then.

“I’m not here to hurt anyone,” Declan said. “I want to connect. Network, you know? The magic community in Salem is strong and I want to help it succeed.”

Succeed in what? Was this a job interview I’d unwillingly been signed up to host? “Then find someone with magic,” I replied.

“Dar,” Declan said, slightly breathless as he rounded the corner with me onto another busy street. “Let’s just stop, alright. You destroyed a Scarlet Holding. Those things are so powerful that just the idea of handling one, let alone destroying it…” He trailed off, almost wistfully, then returned to that gentle tone. “Look, I know Joel’s death must have been hard. If you saw Corman do it, then of course you’re trying to stay hidden. But there’s no need to be a little mouse. You’re stronger than that. So be proud of your power. And please tell me, I’m dying to know.”

“Why?” I demanded.

“Because it’s cool shit!” Declan said. “And I want to meet strong, powerful people in Salem. Like I said, I’m new. I’m networking. And a connection like this could benefit us both. Come on, I’ll buy you a coffee and we’ll just talk.”

God, it was like douchier Joel. Which I hadn’t thought possible and, if you’d told me that a week and a half ago, I would have laughed at you.

“I’m not getting coffee with you,” I said. “I don’t have powers. I will never have powers. I destroyed the Scarlet Holding by throwing a garden gnome at it, and I have nothing else to say.”

“Honestly, I almost believe the garden gnome thing after watching you pitch today.”

My blood was cold, but I tried not to let it show as I kept walking toward the Landmark. My car was there, and if I had to go in, then I would happily hide there. “Stop watching me and stop following me,” I snapped without looking at him. “Stay the hell away from me. I’m going inside and you aren’t going to follow. Because after the stunt you pulled yesterday, The Landmark is on alert for you. And my boss in particular is going to tear your head off and destroy a second Scarlet Holding with it if you dare to come inside, got it?”

We were at the doorway now and I actually saw him falter. “Fine, have it your way,” Declan said finally. “I have shit to do right now, anyway. I’m not afraid of your boss, Dar. That’d be ridiculous. But I am going to find out your secrets.”

He gave me what I was sure was meant to be a cheeky wink, then started down the sidewalk, hands literally in his pockets as he whistled and walked away. I’m sure it was an act meant for me, to show me he didn’t actually care that much. Obviously I wasn’t convinced. But I also had to convince myself that I wasn’t afraid.

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Continue to Chapter 8