“I’m going to meet Emma today at the house. She might have a familiar for you to meet.”
Poa perked up, interest on her face.
“We leave in thirty,” I said, heading to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I had a feeling I’d be getting dirty today, so I’d save my shower for tonight.
After dressing in some suitable trousers and a shirt, I brewed myself a cup of coffee and headed downstairs to drink it by the water. My life in London had been so land-bound that being this close to the ocean was amazing. I’d never spent much time by the sea, but that hadn’t been from lack of desire. Tommy just hadn’t wanted to travel.
The thought of him made me scowl, but it didn’t hurt as much as I expected. There was a dull ache there, mostly for the thought of what I’d had and lost. But what I’d thought I’d had was a lie, so I couldn’t really mourn it. And if I were honest with myself, we’d been drifting apart for years.
I shook the thought away and headed outside, inhaling the fresh sea air. It woke me up, and I quickened my pace toward the water. As I neared the end of the boathouse closest to the sea, I saw a flash of movement to my left.
Rafe, disappearing around the side of the building.
Was he avoiding me?
Probably. I’d annoyed the hell out of him last night, and as fun as it had been, I’d probably better lay off the guy. We still had to live together, and I didn’t want him to dislike me more than he already did.
But there’d been some flirtation there, too—I was sure of it. I’d had fun with him, and for a moment, I’d thought he was having fun as well. He definitely wasn’t as bad as I’d imagined, though his avoidance this morning didn’t bode well for the future of our relationship.
Not that we had one.
I didn’t need another one of those any time soon, and he was a terrible candidate. I shoved the thoughts away and finished the last of my coffee, then headed back into the boathouse. Rafe wasn’t in the main room, so I had to assume he was in his bedroom.
For the best, I reminded myself.
I found Poa in the kitchen, eating shredded cheddar cheese straight out of the bag. She’d made a mess, but I was confident she’d clean up every scrap.
“You have kibble, you know.” I pointed to her bowl.
She looked over at it, clearly disdainful, then returned her attention to the cheese.
I rolled my eyes and pulled a granola bar out of the cabinet. “We’re late, so finish your cheese, and let’s go.”
She picked up the pace, and the bits of cheddar were gone in seconds. I ate the granola bar as I headed back down the stairs, Poa on my heels. Rafe was now in the kitchen, and I called out a cheery, “Good morning!”
He grunted, and I smiled.
The walk up to the house on the hill was short, and we arrived just as a small car was pulling into the drive from the other side. I waved at Emma as she climbed out and said, “Hello!”
“Hi!” She waved, then looked at the house.
She’d left the car door open, and a black and white creature leapt out, a pink bow flopping around her neck. The telltale white stripe on her back marked her as a skunk, which was a little odd since they weren’t native to the UK. But familiars were often all sorts of odd animals.
Poa stopped in her tracks about five meters from the skunk and glared. The skunk glared back, then hissed. Poa returned the sound, her back arched.
Emma and I watched silently as the two familiars stared each other down. The last thing we needed was a fight, especially when Poa would end up stinking to high heaven and still expect to sleep in my bed.
The moment passed as quickly as it had come, and the two relaxed. They trotted closer, clearly communicating, even though I couldn’t hear what they were saying. After a moment, they headed around the house toward the back garden like two gal pals headed off to have a drink and a chat.
Emma looked at me. “If you have any wine or chocolate back there, you won’t have it for long.”
“Oh?”
“Penelope is a big fan.”
“Can cats and skunks have wine?”
Emma shrugged. “Normal ones? No. But familiars are fine since they’re magical. It’s never had any ill effect on Penelope, at least.”
“Good.” I really didn’t want to have to monitor what Poa ate or drank since I had a feeling she was the most adorable garbage disposal I’d ever seen.
“Ready to check out your house?” Emma asked.
“Let’s do it.” I led her toward the front door, which opened with the same horrifying creak that it had made the day before.
We stepped through the doorway, and the house gave an audible groan. It sounded almost like an annoyed human.
“Chill out,” I said.
“I’m chill.” Emma shot me a sideways glance.
“Sorry, not you. I was talking to the house. Didn’t you hear it groan?”
“It’s been silent since I walked in.”
“Really?”
“You heard something?”
“Yes.”
“That’s unusual.” She gave me an appraising look, clearly storing that information away for later.
I stepped further into the house and shut the door. Almost immediately, an awful stench washed over us. Emma flinched and raised a hand to her mouth, then shot me a glance. “Okay, that I noticed.”
“We should have probably brought plague masks.”
She laughed weakly, raising her arm to cover her mouth with her sleeve. “It’s fine. It’s probably part of the haunting.”
“The house definitely doesn’t want me here.” I patted the doorframe next to me as if trying to convince it that I meant no harm. “But we’re going to change that.”
“Definitely.” Emma stepped further into the house. Underfoot, the floorboards moved beneath the carpet, creating waves of polyester that were difficult to walk on. She stumbled to a spot by the wall and pressed herself back against it. “I think its extra annoyed that I’m here.”
“I hate to say it, but I agree.” I’d at least been able to walk last time I’d been there.
“It’s not a problem.” She drew in a deep breath, pressing her hands to the wall behind her. “I’ll see what I can find.” Her magic flared on the air, vibrating around me with the scent of honeysuckle and jasmine. “Hello? Is anyone there?”
Silence followed.
She frowned, a glint of concentration entering her eyes. Her magic flared more strongly, a distinct addition to the air that made my skin prickle. She was powerful.
“Any ghosts in the area, I request that you show yourself. Now.” The firmness in her voice made me twitch. A strong desire to follow her order filled me, and I wasn’t even a ghost.
Except nothing showed itself.
After a while, Emma turned to me, a frown on her face. “If there were a ghost here, they’d have felt compelled to show themselves. They wouldn’t have been able to stop themselves from appearing.”
“Huh.” I leaned against the wall, frowning. “So, no ghost.”
She nodded. “Could be a curse.”
“I’ll need a curse detection spell for that.”
“We have the ingredients at headquarters, and I could make one, but it would take a while. The quickest way to get one would be to visit Seaside Spells, the shop at the end of Foxglove Lane. They sell all sorts of potions, and they’ll definitely have one.”