Chapter One

Sophie

If Sophie had known a week ago that she would be sitting with a witch and a fairy and watching her friend’s shapeshifter boyfriend fix a broken window while the sun poured in…well, she probably would have still been more suspicious of the unseasonably warm weather they were having.

It was almost October, and after nearly a week of dreary rain and dropping temperatures, the sun had returned in a blaze of glory. The city of Albury was at the beginning of one last heat wave before dreaded winter settled in. Not that Sophie minded winter so much. Cooling temperatures meant a change of wardrobe, and that was always something to celebrate.

In all seriousness, she should probably be more freaked out than she was. When their friend Autumn had disappeared last week, it had taken every last reserve for her not to freak out. Ruby had been on the edge, and Sophie took it upon herself to hold down the fort. She was good at that.

Even when her dad had died, she had been the one holding her mother and older brother up. As if a thirteen year old should be taking care of anyone, but she had come into being a caretaker and peacemaker for her family early and honestly.

With her friends at least, she didn’t need to worry about being a peacemaker. But she did worry about taking care of them. She had been chasing after Ruby’s reckless abandon all the past week. Ruby had thrown herself into finding Autumn, and it had led them straight into a rabbit hole of crazy.

That crazy just happened to be that magic and witches and vampires and all that shit was real. Granted, Ruby couldn’t exactly be blamed for magic, or even for what happened. If Autumn had just told them from the beginning that she was a witch, maybe they could have been a little prepared when a psycho-warlock tried to attack them all.

Thankfully they had conveniently run into a group of sexy shapeshifters who saved Ruby’s butt when aforementioned psycho-warlock sent a revenant after Ruby. Apparently success was supposed to be some combination of preparation and opportunity, but nothing could have prepared them for a fucking revenant, basically a zombie with poison teeth and claws. 

Meeting Jasper and the rest of the guys had probably saved all their collective asses. If not her own, then certainly Autumn and Ruby’s.

The shapeshifters were probably the least concerning thing. A man who could turn into an animal, she could understand that, to a degree. She could see the man, then see the fox. Sure, they were also really strong, but still, easy to comprehend.

Ruby’s healing magic, even. That was alright. But witches and warlocks and the rest of it? That she didn’t want to touch with a twenty foot pole. Thinking about it still gave her the jeebies. She loved Autumn, and her being able to summon flames at will freaked her the fuck out.

What else was she going to have to worry about?

Ruby was leaning against the wall of her kitchen. Her dark hair up in a high ponytail, and watching Jasper with drool practically hanging out of her mouth. He was lifting a window into place single-handed, the muscles along his back flexing under his T-shirt. He was working alone mainly because all his friends were currently stuck in their animal forms, still bound by the curse that kept them trapped during the day.

Sophie tried not to think about a certain fox named Cameron. She wondered if he was sleeping, or perhaps bathing in a pool of this unexpected sunlight. She had gotten used to having the fox around, and she almost wished he was there. Except he would probably be giving her some snarky look even in his animal form, or try to steal a drink of her iced coffee. 

Could a fox, even a shapeshifting one, have coffee?

Autumn smacked Ruby over the head with a piece of junk mail. “Keep it in your pants, girl. He’s got work to do.”

Sophie cackled and took another sip of her coffee. Ruby stuck her tongue out at Autumn in response, but then she threw a pointed look Sophie’s way. Sophie really needed to remind Ruby on how to be subtle, there was no way that Autumn missed that look. Not that Sophie cared much for being subtle, but Ruby definitely did.

Autumn was…different since being attacked. Or maybe she was different since losing Joe. Autumn still hadn’t told them exactly what had happened the night she was attacked, or what had happened with Joe.

All Sophie knew was that Joe was a shapeshifter, a friend of Jasper and Cameron. He had the same curse as them, but he was also sick with something they called wilding. He wasn’t supposed to shapeshift, but he had that night to save Autumn from the warlock. 

Sophie tried to remember if Autumn had always had a furrow in her brow. She had always been a private person, enigmatic when it suited her. But instead of her usual air of mystery, now there was a heaviness. It was a fucking bummer, and there was nothing they could do to fix it.

Well, they could find Joe, that would probably do it. But he was currently a wolf, probably with no idea that he was also human, and he had thoroughly disappeared. The other shapeshifters, Marcus and Dex, had taken a few days in the woods to see if they could track him down. Unfortunately, Joe was in the wind. They had no idea where he was, and had no way to cure him if they found him. 

Now they were back in the city, all recuperating from the big fight with the warlock. They needed Ruby to do some kind of magic to track down another one of those cursed artifacts. It was supposed to heal Joe of the wilding, at least that’s what she thought they said. All she knew was that she wanted to be far away from this magic stuff if she could help it. She’d had just about enough for a lifetime. 

Jasper straightened up suddenly, his eyes focusing on the door. “You expecting a visitor?”

The three women froze. Autumn spoke first, on edge, “What kind of visitor?”

“A witch-y kind,” Jasper said, his nostrils flaring. 

There was a knock on the door and none of them moved. Sophie’s heart hammered in her chest. A witch? Maybe it was just Geri, Joe’s aunt. She had been around a few times, checking on Autumn. That would be fine. 

There was another knock, more urgent this time. A woman’s voice called through the door, “Autumn, I know you’re in there! Open up, it’s Billie!” 

Sophie practically spun around and looked at Autumn. Her eyebrows flew up. That Billie? As in the Billie that sent Autumn a cursed locket completely out of the blue? Granted, in hindsight the locket had actually shown up at the perfect time. It had fixed Jasper, after all.

Autumn moved towards the door.

Ruby whispered, “Wait, should we-”

“I have questions that need answers,” Autumn said.

Jasper was suddenly standing between all of them and the door. He had moved so quietly, Sophie hadn’t even heard him step past her. His sudden appearance made her flinch. He gave Autumn a silent nod as she unlocked the door.

Sophie’s stomach sank. What if this Billie person was some secret warlock like Abigail had been? This was the part of magic that she really didn’t like. She hated not knowing what someone was capable of. Ruby’s quiet protest had gone ignored by both Jasper and Autumn.

Sophie smacked her coffee down. “So, we’re just opening the door? Just like that?”

Autumn cracked the door, and the four of them were silent, waiting to see who, or what, was on the other side.

A pale, glowering face met them. A woman about their age, black hair up in a ratty, messy bun, blunt cut bangs hanging sharply across her forehead. Her piercing blue eyes were undercut by the dark circles that clung under them. A splotch of a fading, yellow bruise decorated her cheek.

Her arms were crossed over her chest, the baggy sleeves of a black sweater nearly hanging over her hands. A large duffle bag patched many times over with duct tape was slung over one arm. Despite her showing up unannounced, she looked at Autumn with narrowed eyes. “Are you going to invite me in?”

Autumn paused for just a moment, her eyes raking over the woman before she took a step aside and let her in.

Billie stepped into the apartment, unceremoniously dumped her bag on the floor, and sat at the kitchen table. The four of them watched her silently while she picked at a broken finger nail. She raised one eyebrow. “Aren’t you a ragtag bunch? A witch, a shapeshifter, a fae…even a human. There’s a joke there, somewhere.” 

Jasper shut the door, staring at the new witch with open suspicion. 

Ruby spoke first. “Would you like something to drink?”

“No.” Billie said. “I would like to know what the hell that locket was, and whether it was worth destroying my whole life to get it to you.” 

Jasper bristled, clearly annoyed by Billie’s tone with Ruby. Billie threw him a caustic look. “Oh calm down, Paddington.” 

How did Billie know what they all were? She had even made a bear joke about Jasper. More witch stuff, probably.

Now it was Ruby’s turn to look annoyed. But she didn’t say anything. Instead, she just stomped by her, squeezing around the back of her chair to get into the cabinet for a clean glass. She poured her cold water from the fridge and smacked the glass down on the table in front of Billie.

“Just drink,” Ruby said.

Billie looked at her askance, her head suddenly cocked to the side with open curiosity. Sophie wasn’t sure what was being communicated between the two of them, but clearly Ruby knew something that the rest of them didn’t.

Billie took the glass with pinched lips. A small, petulant sip turned into desperate gulps as she drained the glass. She wiped her mouth on the back of her sleeve as she set the glass back done on the table. She muttered quietly, “Thanks.”

Autumn was watching from the front door, her face unreadable. She asked, “Why did you send the locket to me?”

Billie tossed her head. “Just saw you with it, figured it was meant for you.”

Sophie narrowed her eyes at the woman. What the hell did she mean by that? This bitch just showed up after turning over their lives. Why was she the one being cagey? But Autumn flinched at her words as if they meant something to her. 

“How did you get it?” Autumn asked.

Billie just shrugged. “Fell into my lap.”

“We deserve to know, Billie,” Autumn said sharply. “If you got it from-”

“Don’t,” Billie hissed. “Don’t speak his name.”

Jasper took a step towards the table suddenly, his fingers flexing into fists. “She smells like demon.” 

Billie just glared at him. 

Autumn shook her head and huffed a deep breath. “This just got fucking complicated. The sun will be setting soon. We need to cast a circle before we go any further.”

Great, more magic. 

Chapter Two

Cameron

The sun had been hot all day. Cameron should have been enjoying it. Marcus and Dex certainly were. The two big cats had been laid out in a sun puddle all day, only moving as the beam drifted further across the floor. Granted, they had just spent a long weekend out in the woods trying to track down Joe. They had come back exhausted after covering almost a hundred square miles in a matter of days. They had earned a rest. 

But Cameron was restless. The sun was out, and Jasper was gone. It was weird getting used to it. He still had trouble shaking the feeling that something was wrong. As if Jasper was wilding and missing like Joe. But he was alright. Just human again, as he was meant to be. And that meant that he was free from the confines of the apartment. He was spending his time keeping an eye on the girls during the day. 

Cameron paced around the apartment, occasionally poking his head out of the window they kept open to the fire escape. He wished he could be keeping an eye on the girls all day. Well, maybe just one girl. He bared his teeth as the fur along his spine stood up. He didn’t like being away from her during the day. 

Sophie. Gods, if she knew how much he thought about her while she was away, she’d probably slap him. And then she’d probably say something that would only torture him more. He grinned despite his fox form. Almost from the moment they met, he knew he would have trouble with her. 

She was gorgeous, and the banter…she was quick and wicked smart. The only problem was that she didn’t seem to want to move past the banter. And he couldn’t make the first move. Ever since he had become her proto-bodyguard, he had kept himself back a little. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable while he kept watch over her sleeping body.

He wasn’t sure what she had told her friends about it, but he suspected not much. Despite pretending to the contrary, Sophie had been thoroughly freaked out by what happened with the warlock. She was having trouble sleeping by herself. He had watched over her while they were still worried about revenants, and he had continued to do so even when the danger had passed.

But every passing night he spent with her, he was having a harder time keeping things platonic. She had gotten her hair done after the fight with the warlock. She had these long box braids that were black at the top and blended to silver at the ends. He had moved one off her face when she had fallen asleep on the couch. The bronze skin of her cheek was soft under his fingertips. His stomach had actually fluttered. 

Fluttered.
That wasn’t the kind of bodyguard she needed. She didn’t need someone who was lusting after her while she slept, wishing for a glimpse of her during the day. He needed to be honest with himself and her. Tell her that he was half way in love with her, and maybe she would be better off with someone like Dex standing guard at night. 

The thought made him growl despite himself. 

Fuck that. It’s not that he didn’t trust his friends to keep her safe. Although a dark little jealous voice in his head wondered if she was more interested in Marcus than him. But if he couldn’t keep her safe with his unrequited feelings tucked away, then what good was he?

It wouldn’t be the first time that he had made a stupid decision while blinded by his emotions. But this time would be different. He could keep his feelings separate.

The light in their apartment dimmed. The tall windows were covered with cheap, makeshift curtains. One swath had been left open to let in the autumn sunlight, but now that light was fading fast as the sun set. Marcus and Dex were beginning to stir, the approaching night finally driving them up from their slumber. 

Marcus stretched, the pointy ears of his lynx form flicking as he looked at Cameron through slitted eyes. Marcus’s voice echoed in his head, their shifter’s telepathy letting them communicate, “What’s got you all agitated? I thought you were about to jump out the window for a minute there.”

“Ha-ha,” Cameron said sourly.

“You know what it is,” Dex chimed in, his long tail flicking back and forth. He cocked his head, the thick muscled chest of a black panther expanding as he took a deep breath. “Sophie. It’s a bad idea.”

Cameron’s hackles went up. This again. They would never let him forget his stupid mistake, would they? “Why’s that?”

“Shapeshifters and humans are always a bad idea.” 

“This stupid shit again…” Marcus said. “Our mom is human, asshole.”

“Exactly,” Dex hissed.

Cameron felt his ears flatten against his head. Marcus and Dex were starting to look at each other like they might rip each other apart. Their mother was human, but she had settled in the shapeshifting community in their hometown after Dex’s shifter dad walked out on them. It was there that she met Marcus’s father, another shifter. But as far as he knew, they were still happily married. He wasn’t privileged to whatever family argument was about to boil over between the two brothers. 

 Cameron tried to deflect. “What about Jasper?”

“That’s different,” Dex said. “Ruby is fae.”

“Part-fae, part human,” Marcus sniffed.

Dex ignored his brother and addressed Cameron. “Ruby is magical. She can defend herself in our world. Sophie can’t do that. Are you going to risk putting her in danger while we hunt for the artifacts?”

Cameron’s throat tightened. Dex was right, and he knew it. He had been having the same worries, hadn’t he? He was the only thing protecting Sophie right now, and crossing that line could only bring more danger down on her. But he shrugged it off, he wasn’t about to just concede to Dex. 

“Relax, I’m not trying to marry the girl.” Cameron shook, flicking his tail as he felt the familiar buzz of sunset starting to settle between his shoulder blades. The sun was disappearing below the horizon, and with it, their curse.

He stretched up, his muscles shifting and expanding. Flexing his paws, they transformed back into hands and feet. The orange fur was gone, replaced with the pale-pink of his skin. He rolled his shoulders, standing on his own two human feet with a grin.

Gods, it felt good to be back.

His voice felt dusty, and he coughed once before tossing his head back and leveling Dex with a smirk. “Besides, she handled herself pretty well the other day with the revenants."

Marcus groaned loudly as he stretched a tricep behind his back. His tawny skin looked paler than usual in the twilight. “That was pretty awesome. Who knew the princess could handle a shotgun?”

Cameron wasn’t sure how he felt about the princess comment. He could have guessed that Sophie came from money. From her apartment to her vehicle to her shoes, everything screamed wealth. As far as he knew she worked part-time with Ruby at a cafe, so all that had to come from somewhere. But money had never been on the forefront of his mind. Certainly not for the past five years, as it had been the cause of their problems and it yet could do nothing to solve it. 

If Jasper and Marcus hadn’t come up with their stupid get-rich-quick scheme, also known as becoming criminals, and tried to rob a warlock, then they wouldn’t be cursed right now. They were forced to shift when the sun rose, locked into their animal forms during the day. Only able to take their human forms at night. Except Jasper, he had found his artifact and was no longer bound in the same way as the rest of them were. 

“Guns can only do so much in the magical world, as both of you are well aware.” Dex levelled an accusing finger at Marcus before he began getting dressed. His black hair was somehow perfectly tousled even after spending the whole day as a glorified housecat. 

“Yea, yea…” Marcus breathed. “I’m getting in the shower.”

Cameron pulled out his phone, seeing a text from Jasper.

Jasper: Call me. I have news.

Cameron groaned. Why did Jasper have to text like an old man? He could just put the message in a text like a normal person.

“What?” Dex asked, his voice suddenly on edge.

“Jasper, he says call him. He has ‘news,’ whatever that means.”

Dex looked pointedly at the phone, impatient. Cameron frowned. Sometimes Dex had a tendency to act like everyone’s older brother, not just Marcus’s. After his comments about Sophie, he wasn’t in the mood to take the advice. He dropped the phone on the couch and went to get dressed instead. “I’ll call him back on my way to work.”

Dex frowned, his disapproving gaze following Cameron as he walked over to one of the salvaged dressers they had pulled off a curb uptown. Cameron ignored him, getting dressed with more care than he normally did. Dex could judge him all he wanted, but if it was important, Jasper would have called the second the sun went down. 

Cameron had his own shit to deal with. And currently, that was getting back on his boss’s good side. He had missed a lot of work because of the revenant, and though Oren normally was a pretty lax boss, not showing up for work was a different matter. He needed to put in some more hours, especially since they had no idea what was coming next. 

Ruby had said she could find more artifacts, but he wasn’t sure how or when. They had tried to be patient, concentrating on finding Joe while she rested. He couldn’t deny that what she had done that night, the healing she had performed on Autumn to purge the revenant’s poison, was immense. She had even tried to cure a fucking warlock. He didn’t even know if that was possible, but for a second there it seemed like it had almost worked. 

Cameron slipped out of their apartment, a bag slung over his shoulder with a spare change of clothes and his phone charger. The guys knew he was spending all his spare time at Sophie’s, but no one had called him out on it. At least not explicitly. Dex’s warning tonight was the first he had heard of it. 

His brow furrowed as he jogged down the street to catch the bus. He’d be able to put in a few hours behind the counter if he hurried, then he could work on the wholesale orders after closing. If Oren didn’t have his head when he walked in the door, that is.

He’d have to call Jasper back later. He had spent a lot of time being at Jasper’s beck and call the past few…years. He liked his job and he didn’t want to risk it on whatever favor would inevitably come from this phone call.

Maybe it was selfish, but he had so little in his life right now that was just his. He loved his friends, but the curse was wearing on them all. He just needed a break. Just a few hours to pretend there was no curse, no impending doom looming over them all, no missing friend or fear of wilding.

Just a small, normal life working at a coffee shop. Was that too much to ask?

Chapter Three

Sophie

Casting a circle turned out to be a less formal affair than Sophie thought. When they had cast a circle with Autumn’s coven, it had seemed like such a big ordeal. The whole coven all standing in a circle while their high priestess Roz had done some fancy invocations. But that had been more ceremonial, and according to Ruby, a show of force to see if they would reveal anything about Autumn.

They sat in the living room, crammed onto the couch or on dining chairs pulled from the kitchen. They didn’t resemble much of a circle, but Autumn and Billie said some kind of spell. Sophie didn’t feel anything, but they all sat back down as if they had done something. Jasper sat uncomfortably, his long form dwarfing the little kitchen chair. Ruby sat next to him on the other dining chair, which left Sophie sitting with the witches on the couch. 

Autumn sat in the middle, Billie on the other end. Billie sank against the arm of the couch. What Sophie had first attributed as nonchalance was now revealing itself to be what it truly was. Exhaustion. Billie still hadn’t said much of substance, but now, Autumn began interrogating her. 

“Spill. From the beginning.”

Billie gave her a look. There was a simmering animosity between the two women that was only becoming more evident as time wore on. Now that they were sitting inside the magic protective circle thing, it seemed like their emotions were starting to rise to the top.

“Tell me what the locket was, at least,” said Billie.

Autumn and Ruby didn’t move, but Sophie couldn’t help but throw a glance Jasper’s way. Would he tell Billie everything? The group didn’t move for a beat, and then Jasper leaned forward, his forearms resting on his legs. 

“The locket was meant for me. I was cursed.”

Billie gave him a long look. He didn’t offer up any more details, and neither did the other women. The sun had set, but there was little to expose Jasper now. No compulsions to turn into a bear, day or night. Whatever curse had been on him had been lifted thanks to finding the locket. Well, the curse was mostly lifted. His palm still bore the mark, and the curse wouldn’t be completely gone until all the shifters lifted theirs too. 

With the sun gone, the rest of the guys would be back in their human forms. Sophie fiddled with her phone, wondering if Cameron was on his way to work. He had said he needed to work tonight, but would text her when he was done. It was tempting to text him about this twist of events. 

She didn’t tell the girls that Cameron was still spending nights at her apartment. She didn’t have the excuse of saying it was “just sex.” She couldn’t, because they hadn’t so much as kissed. It was just nice having him around, given everything that had happened. And she wasn’t about to admit to her friends that she was afraid to sleep alone. That would cause more drama than she wanted to deal with right now. 

At last, Billie said, “Alright. Well, that cleared things up.”

Ruby crossed her arms. “He doesn’t know you. You’re the one who showed up at our door, so maybe you could give us any reason to trust you with more information.”

Billie rolled her eyes and threw Autumn a look. “A bit high and mighty, that one.”

Autumn’s mouth twisted into a sneer. “And my friend, so watch yourself.”

Billie’s face seemed to change, a flash of surprise and anger crossing her face. Her mouth opened as if she was about to say something, then clamped shut. Then a bored expression crossed her face and she resumed picking her nails. But Sophie could see through every gesture. Whatever had happened between Billie and Autumn, and something definitely had, Billie was harboring a lot of hurt. And probably some guilt to boot. 

Sophie’s agitation was creeping up her chest. All this tip-toeing around each other was getting ridiculous. It was her turn to groan. “Enough of this! He was cursed by a warlock, the locket was part of the curse. He got the locket, curse broken.” Kind of broken, but she left that bit out. She continued, exasperated, “So what’s your deal? Why did you send the locket here?”

“I said already, I saw Autumn with it.” 

“What the fuck does that mean?” Sophie asked.

“She means she foresaw it,” Autumn explained. “She’s a seer.”

Sophie raised her eyebrow. Like a fortune teller. Of course. Add another thing to the list.

For some reason, Billie decided that she was ready to tell all. She played with a frayed bit of the couch, her eyes straying to the floor as if this was no big news. To her, perhaps it wasn’t. “I got the locket in Toronto, saw the vision of you with it. So I sent it to you. I could tell it was cursed, but not in a way that would hurt you. I didn’t have time to do much more than get it in a box and ship it before…well, before shit hit the fan.”

“What happened?” Autumn’s voice was stiff, as if she was trying to keep any emotion out of it.

“What else? Bezera happened.” She rolled up both of her sleeves, displaying her arms with a grim smile. Vivid purple bruises encircled her arms. Sophie sucked in a breath, unable to hide her horror. The bruises were handprints, the marks of fingers gripping so tight.

Autumn’s breath hissed sharply through her teeth. “You’ve still been with him? After all this time?”

Billie sneered. “Not exactly. I stopped having a choice about a year ago.”

Autumn’s mouth clamped shut, the tension between the two women growing frayed. They just looked at each other, neither willing to betray much. Sophie pursed her lips. Damn Autumn and her stubbornness. If any two needed to have an open conversation, it was those two. Sophie didn’t even know Billie, and she could see it. All the words left unspoken between two hurting and stubborn friends.

Ruby stood, walking towards Billie with her hands outstretched. “May I?”

Billie looked startled, gazing up at Ruby from the couch. She held her arms up, a silent affirmation. Ruby trailed her hands lightly over the skin of Billie’s forearms.

Ruby frowned, her eyes closing as she held Billie’s arms.

Billie gasped, flinching as the bruises began to fade from her arms and cheek. Ruby held onto her a beat longer, the bruises, at least that they could see, had disappeared completely. Suddenly Billie ripped her arms away, pulling the sleeves roughly down over her arms.

Ruby turned away in a whirl. She sat back down roughly on the chair. Jasper’s arm was on her knee almost before she had completely sat down. Her eyes glistened with tears. 

“Don’t look at me like that,” Billie said. Her voice had taken on a tinny quality, a waver creeping into her voice even as she attempted annoyance. Emotion was swirling under the surface, and she was wrenching it back down as hard as she could. 

Ruby turned her gaze to the ground, not saying a word as she sniffed silently. Sophie looked at Billie anew, wondering what other horrors had been hidden under the baggy sweater and jeans. But Billie’s face was already a pale mask, her expression inscrutable as she crossed her arms over her chest. 

Autumn asked, “Will they come after you?”

“Yes. Bezera himself if not someone else.” She swallowed hard. “I stole the locket.” 

“I assumed,” Autumn said. “Tell us as much as you can. From the beginning. They need to know the risks.”

Billie slumped back into the couch. “A couple years ago, I met a demon named Bezera. We stared…dating. When he found out about my premonitions, he started asking for favors. He tried to get me to read his future, then other demons. I knew what they were doing, but I just didn’t want to admit it.” 

“You were in love,” Ruby said.

Billie scoffed, but then after a moment she nodded. She admitted sullenly, “Yea, I guess I was. In hindsight, he probably had known all along that I was a seer. He was using me. But it was too late. I was in too deep. I couldn’t get out even if I wanted to.”

Sophie thought carefully before asking. “I’m sorry if this is ignorant, but I’m new at this magic stuff. Are demons like fae? Did you have a bargain or something, is that what you mean?”

Billie looked her way, giving her a smirk. “No, thankfully I never struck a bargain with him. I would not be here if I had, at least not living. Just under the control of a good-ole-fashioned mafia family.”

“A demon mafia?” Sophie asked. She was still having trouble picturing demons at all. Autumn’s ex-boyfriend Brann had mentioned their existence as they blundered their way through the magical world when Autumn was first attacked. But she had no idea what they looked like, or if they were actually evil. The first image that came to her mind was a bright red goat man wearing a white tank and gold chain.

Billie started laughing. “No, they don’t look like that. I should probably mention, I’m also a telepath.”

Sophie flinched, her cheeks coloring. “Are you serious?”

Billie and Autumn nodded their heads in confirmation.

“Goddamit,” Sophie said. She rubbed her forehead. Trying to think about all the unspoken thoughts she had had since Billie walked into the apartment. Is that how she had pegged them all? She was reading their minds? “That’s kind of fucked up. You should have led with that.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I can’t literally read your thoughts. Images, feelings. Memories, occasionally. Though you’d have to be concentrating pretty hard to send me a coherent memory.”

“That does not make me feel better.” She added sarcastically, “But thank you very much.” 

Jasper leaned forward in his chair, his face contorted in a frown. “You should have told us.” 

Billie rolled her eyes at him. “What do you even care? I can’t read your mind anyways. Or hers, for that matter.” She nodded in Ruby’s direction.

“What?” Sophie asked. “Why not?”

“They’re too fae. It’s like trying to read a language I’ve never seen before. Nothing comes through clear even if I try hard.”

“Are shapeshifters fae too?”

“Not technically,” Autumn said. 

“And you?” Sophie turned to Autumn, levelling an accusing glare her way. “I suppose she can’t read a witch’s mind either, just the poor little ‘mortal’ over here.” Brann had been calling them mortals basically non-stop, mortals being the catch-all for non-magical humans. Except Sophie had discovered that she was the only mortal in her group of friends, and it wasn’t a great feeling. 

Autumn said, “Yes, she can read my mind too.” 

“Oh,” replied Sophie. That was some kind of relief, she supposed.

Jasper spoke again, his deep voice nearly making Sophie jump. “What crime syndicate?”

Billie gave him a grim little smile. Like a smile at death. “Il Bosco del Morto."

Jasper flinched visibly. “Fuck.”

Sophie didn’t speak Italian, but she was pretty sure that one of those words meant death. If that wasn’t enough to send her on edge, then Mister Strong, Silent Jasper’s reaction made her start to shrink in on herself. Now they had to worry about a demon mafia? She played with her phone again, the urge to call Cameron making her twitchy.

Autumn frowned, betraying no other reaction to the news of the demon mafia. To her, it didn’t seem too much of a surprise. She said thoughtfully, “You’re going to need to be under a constant ward until we figure out what to do next. We’ll have to call the coven to cast a strong enough spell so they can’t track you. I can see if Geri can help, we’ll figure out the best place to hide you. What protections did you take?”

Billie pulled a cord from under her sweatshirt. She held up a small and pungent bag that was tied around her neck. “Good until midnight, probably.”

“If we’re lucky.”

“What is it?” Ruby asked.

“Just a little magic to disappear, makes it so anyone who is looking for me can’t find me.” Billie stuffed it back under her shirt. “At least for a little bit.”

Autumn pulled out her phone. “I should call Geri, get as many of the coven together as I can.”

Billie scoffed. “Good luck with that. The second they find out it’s me-”

“They’ll help. Give them a chance.”

“Oh, like they gave me?” Billie crossed her arms over her chest, challenging Autumn with a gaze.

Autumn met her eyes, unbending. “We don’t have time to argue about the past. We have to get you in a safe house before we have a bunch of demons on our heads.”

Sophie felt a chill start up her spine. That didn’t sound good. Not at all. Seeing revenants, which were basically fucking zombies, and a demonic warlock, had been enough magic to last her a lifetime. She didn’t want to deal with demons. This was just too much.

Billie’s eyes looked at her suddenly, her discerning gaze in a new light since her mind-reading confession. Sophie met her gaze, refusing to look away. Maybe Billie would laugh at her for being scared shitless. Well, fuck her.

Billie grinned at her suddenly, her light eyes betraying that she understood Sophie’s thoughts. But she didn’t say anything, except to turn to Ruby and Jasper. “If you knew what was good for you, you’d clear out of here as soon as possible. I’m too much of a chicken to refuse Autumn’s help, but I wouldn’t blame you for wanting nothing to do with this.”

Ruby’s lips pinched. “I’ll help Autumn in whatever way I can.” 

Sophie almost nodded. Ruby would always help Autumn, and if that meant helping Billie, too, she would do it. But it was clear that she still wasn’t sure about Billie. It was almost surprising. Ruby was usually the one who trusted everyone, but something about Billie was clearly giving her pause.

They still didn’t know her, didn’t know anything about what had happened that caused the obvious rift between Billie and Autumn, and apparently something happened with their coven too. A lot of bad blood, and it could end up biting all of them. Just when things were looking calm again. Ruby was going to help the guys break the curse, but now their plans would probably have to wait.

Sophie gnawed her lip. She still didn’t totally understand the wilding, the sickness that made shifters forget themselves. But it worried her, making her want to talk to Cameron. How long could he keep waiting? Joe and Jasper had been affected already, what if he was next?

Jasper leaned back, his arm draped over the back of Ruby’s chair. “I owe you for sending that locket to Autumn. I’ll help in whatever way I can.” 

Billie just frowned at them. If she was surprised, she didn’t show it. 

Autumn said at last, “We’ll start with the coven, figure out where to hide you. Ruby, we need to hurry up and find those other artifacts. I hate to say it, but if this goes south-”

“We’ll need everyone to fight,” Jasper said.

“Fight?” Sophie laughed, incredulous. She tried not to think back on the night spent fighting the warlock, and she didn’t want to believe that there was more violence coming their way. “What, like a battle? You’re going to fight a demon crime family?” When she was met with an awkward silence from the rest of the room, she just dropped her head back against the couch.

God fucking dammit. Here they go again.