Boundary Born (Boundary Magic Book 3) - Melissa F. Olson Page 0,1
you’re gonna like tonight’s pick,” she said, unstrapping her gloves.
“As long as it’s not fucking Suspiria again,” I warned, not really kidding.
“Hey, it was just a little gore,” Lily protested. She hesitated for a moment, rubbing her hands where the tape had been. “Any word from John?”
“No.”
A month ago, I’d finally gotten up the nerve to tell my brother-in-law about the Old World.
It was probably the hardest conversation of my life. I’d had to explain that his only daughter was a null, a coveted asset in the supernatural world, which would put her in danger for more or less her entire life. Nulls negate all the supernatural power in a given area, which makes them terribly useful to vampires, witches, and werewolves, for a number of different reasons that range from innocent to atrocious. Theoretically, Charlie would now be protected until adulthood, thanks to my deal with the state’s cardinal vampire, Maven, but there would always be some risk. She would always be vulnerable.
John had not taken this news well. In fact, when I finally convinced him that I wasn’t schizophrenic, he had pretty much thrown me out of his house. Since then, he hadn’t returned any of my calls or texts, and he’d stopped going out with his work friends on Fridays, which was my usual night to babysit. When we were in the same room at a family function he treated me with polite cordiality, but that was it.
I wasn’t used to going more than a few days without serious Charlie time, so the last month had been hard.
“He decided to take Charlie and my parents on a last-minute trip to Disney World for Charlie’s birthday,” I reported. “They left yesterday morning.”
“What’s Clara doing while they’re out of town?” Lily said curiously. Clara was Charlie’s vampire bodyguard.
“Oh, she went along. Maven flew a coffin down to Orlando and had a human contact pick her up,” I reported. “She’s mostly guarding a closed hotel room door, but she checks in with me every night so I know Charlie’s okay.”
Lily searched my face, sensing my trepidation. “When are they coming back?”
“I don’t know.”
Lily reached out and gave my shoulder a quick squeeze. She knew me well enough to know that part of me hoped John would never come back to Boulder. He could just . . . I don’t know, buy a condo in Orlando and stay there forever. Charlie would be out of reach for Maven and all the other Old World creatures who might want a piece of Charlie.
It was a nice fantasy, but even if John never came back to Boulder, Charlie would still be a null. Eventually, some other supernatural creature would figure out what she could do for them, and I wouldn’t be there to protect her.
“You look tired, Lex,” Lily ventured. “Have you—”
She was interrupted by a loud, hollow thunk from the other side of the basement. Lily paused, giving me a questioning look. “Was that the boiler or something?”
“No . . .” I squinted at the dim light across the room. There were only a couple of bare lightbulbs down here, and they were all over by the gym equipment. It hadn’t really sounded like a boiler, more like someone gently tossing a baseball into the window well farthest from us. But the nearest neighbors were half a mile away.
I shrugged it off, figuring a stray rock or clump of dirt had been knocked down, bumping into the glass. Or maybe it was starting to hail. “Anyway, I’m fine,” I started, but then the thunk sounded again. And again, louder this time. Lily and I had just enough time to exchange a concerned glance before we heard the glass shatter inward and a small, dark blur streaked into the basement, across the concrete floor. Right at us.
I sprinted three steps to a nearby chair and leaped onto it, managing to keep my balance after a wobble. “Lily!” I yelped, but my friend had already jumped onto the weight bench, looking rather comically like a fifties housewife hiding from a mouse. Except this intruder was a lot bigger than a mouse.
“Where did it go?” she called. We were both turning now, scanning the room, but the creature was nearly the same color as the concrete floor. There was a moment of stillness, and then a furious chittering sounded from right beneath Lily’s weight bench. She froze. “What is it?” she hissed. “A squirrel?”
“Too big.” I squinted, trying to make out the furry shape. It