Woods of the Raven by Mary Calmes

Author:Mary Calmes [Calmes, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-04-17T18:30:00+00:00

SEVEN

Dinner was amazing, and yes, the food was fantastic, but the company was even better. I missed having a family. The spaghetti was made without meat, which was lucky because I was starving and had forgotten to mention to James that I was a vegetarian. As I ate like it was going to be my last meal, James explained that he’d been taught to cook this by his college roommate’s grandmother, and she, herself, preferred it meatless.

“She said the flavors come out better this way, and I’m so glad I didn’t add sausage or meatballs. It wouldn’t be the same with you just having salad.”

“Thank you.” I mopped up sauce with the bread that was thankfully not garlic. I didn’t want Lorne to have any reason not to kiss me.

“It does feel so much better in here,” Cass said, smiling at me. “And thank you for blessing the bells when you came back.”

“Of course.”

“And is the rice only placed at the front door?”

I nodded. “That needs to be changed monthly. Dig a hole in the back yard and return it to the earth.”

“Got it,” she stated firmly. “Now, is the mat at the front door going to need to stay flipped over like that forever, or does it eventually get to be right side up again?”

“Remember what I told you?”

“Oh yes, right. We’ll need to get a new one. Nothing with the word welcome.”

“Or any other invitation. A picture would be best. My friend Amanda, for example, has the sign from The Hobbit about party business. That’s fine.”

“Didn’t we have a sign outside as well?” Lorne asked.

“It’s in the trunk of your car,” I told him. “You could put it up at the jail; it would be ironic that way.”

He scowled at me.

We did the dishes since James cooked, and afterward, we all sat down in the living room, around the fireplace, to talk. I was surprised Lorne wasn’t suggesting we leave, when I noted his drooping eyes.

“You know,” I offered, “I should go home and—”

“No,” he husked, even as his eyes drifted closed. “Stay with me.”

When I glanced over at Cass, she was lying on the opposite end of the couch from her father, passed out, and James himself had his head back, mouth open, and he was snoring away.

I attributed this lethargy to the food coma, along with having all that negative energy blasted out of the house, which in itself took an emotional toll. It didn’t occur to me until I saw a face for a moment at the window, a misshapen head, a grotesque fusion of wolf and man, that vargrs were skulking outside Lorne’s home. I recognized then that a spell had been cast as well, one that was working on the others, lulling them to sleep, making them easy prey for when the wolves breached the door. They couldn’t come right in, not anymore, since the house was, to an extent, now warded. As I’d told Lorne, it wasn’t locked nor sealed, which would take more time.

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