this city,” she said. “Things that I never thought I’d ever see or come to understand, but packs of wild dogs roving around and randomly attacking people are not one of them.”
“How do you know?”
The corner of her mouth turned up and she took a deep breath. “Because there are packs of wolves roaming around who make sure the dogs behave.”
My internal alarm started going off. What the hell was wrong with her? Packs of wolves? I shook my head and wondered how fast I could get out of there. “Right. Sure. Packs of wolves. Why not. I’m just looking for a place to sleep for the night. I can pay…a little.”
“Look, I know it sounds crazy.” Sunny absently rubbed her stomach. “But I think you know more than you’re pretending. That’s fine. There are a lot of things I don’t understand. But I have really good instincts, and so does Sasha. You’re not…like them, but you’re something different from me.”
Sane, maybe? I massaged my temples. “I don’t know what—”
“If you insist that there were dogs chasing you, it’s probably a lie and you’re hiding something else. If there were coyotes chasing you, then that’s a different problem entirely. If there were wolves… Well. You’ll have to describe them and then we can figure out whether it’s a misunderstanding or a problem.” Her head tilted as she studied me. “Are you a witch? Fae? What are you?”
I choked on a breath and started coughing. What the fuck was wrong with everyone? Who asked if someone was a witch? Did everyone who showed up at that shelter get the third degree? What was the real difference between coyotes and wolves, or between some wolves and other wolves? I gripped my head and fought the feeling of being completely, totally out of my depth. “I really can’t handle this right now. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Sunny nodded slowly, tapping a pen on the desk next to her arm. “Okay, that’s fair. It’s probably pretty rude to ask something like that, isn’t it?”
“Uh, yeah. Not to mention pretty fucking crazy.”
She smiled and leaned back in her chair. “I know, right? Anyway. Let me tell you a bit about the facility and we can get you settled tonight. But if there’s going to be major trouble—of the magical variety—let me know sooner rather than later. If it’s a run-of-the-mill ex-boyfriend who likes to talk with his fists, then we can take care of that really, really easily. If it’s something else, we might have to call in reinforcements. Agreed?”
My mouth hung open. She talked like this was a conversation she had every night. What all did she know about magic? Had it…had it happened before that someone like me showed up at their front door? I’d been under the impression that only humans used the domestic violence shelter and I’d be able to hide among them while Rocko searched all the usual places where a witch would try to disappear. Did I owe them a heads-up about Rocko? It wasn’t like he was going to find me right away; by the time he showed up in the city, I wanted to be well on my way to somewhere else.
I swallowed the knot in my throat and said, “Sure. Got it.”
“Good.” Sunny slid a floorplan drawing over to me and started pointing out features. “Security briefing—doors are always locked and there’s always someone at the desk. If you need in, we issue a phone that you can use to call the desk as you’re getting close, and someone will meet you to escort you in. In the event of an emergency, there’s a code to use that will alert security to—”
She went on with an impressively detailed plan for how to safely move in and around the building while protecting all the other residents, both temporary and permanent. The attention to detail made it clear they weren’t one hundred percent crazy bananas. I started to relax, or at least to breathe easier, and adjusted my grip on my loom bag. At least I still had my knitting and weaving. With enough time and some yarn, I could finally get some protective magic in place. I just needed a little quiet, a little peace, and everything would be fine.
Chapter 4
Henry
Henry should have just gone back to the house, given Evershaw and Deirdre a heads-up about another witch running around the neighborhood, and called it a night. He fought off the rest of the coyotes