Witches by A.M. Burns

Author:A.M. Burns
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2015-05-30T23:00:00+00:00

AS THOM came out of the casino fifteen minutes later, he caught the smell of dead leaves before he spotted the Mayor leaning against the Bronco’s driver’s side door. His first reaction was to reach out to his mother and have her send his father and brothers. But his mental connections were all empty.

“I wanted to just talk to you for a few minutes, Thom.” The Mayor stepped toward him. In the parking lot lights, he looked even paler than he had the last time Thom saw him.

“What’s up, Mayor? Are you the one who killed the troll?” If he couldn’t reach his mother, he could at least defend Ben if it came down to it.

“You’ve got your father’s directness.” The Mayor stopped a few feet from Thom and stood there with his hands out from his side, a universal sign that he was unarmed—but the Mayor’s danger wasn’t with weapons. “You should remember that you and your family owe me a couple of favors. Don’t be too pushy about things.”

Thom hadn’t forgotten that the Mayor helped save Ben’s life twice before. He gritted his teeth and tried to force himself to relax. “You’re right. Is there something I can do for you, Mayor?”

“Come, walk with me a couple of minutes.” The Mayor gestured across the parking lot toward the well-lit street. “It’s been a few months since you and I talked. I suppose you already know I had a visit from your head Guardian, Samuel Farrel, today. It was nice to confirm they filled my request for a Guardian here in Colorado, seeing as we now have not one but two, at least while young Freda is in training.”

Falling into step with him, Thom debated how much he should say. “That’s right. So you’re the one who asked for a local Guardian. Why? Once I’m finished with my training, won’t I interfere with your job?”

The Mayor shook his head. “Not in the least. If anything, you’ll be helping me keep the peace. I think, over time, you and I will become closer allies than we already are. It’ll do the other races good to see the Oh Mah working alongside me.”

Thom’s jaw tightened so he wouldn’t say anything snide. Samuel had already taught him that a Guardian must be a negotiator on many levels. “But the Oh Mah don’t really cause many problems for you now, do they?”

“At least not until you came along. It’s my hope your connections with the dwarf and dryad communities will help settle some of the conflict between them. In case you haven’t noticed, things are starting to get fairly heated between them.”

While they paused at the stoplight before crossing the street, Thom recalled the tension he’d felt between Sophia and Denny. Was there more going on than they’d said? “I only know one dryad family and one dwarf family.”

“So they’ve never told you how far up the hierarchy they both are? Somehow I’m surprised Sophia hasn’t mentioned it. Dryads aren’t known for keeping secrets.

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