"Thanks. I really appreciate that."
"That's what friends are for."
We headed out of our room and clattered down the stairs. It was still very warm outside, and I felt silly carrying a jacket. Victoria was right, I'd probably want it later. Mountain weather was crazy. The habit to carry a water bottle was a lot easier to get used to.
I tied my jacket around my waist and followed Victoria as she led the way toward town. In a car, it took moments to get there, walking took about fifteen. I knew Victoria had a car, but we both enjoyed the exercise, and the weather was perfect. It was supposed to be nice most of this weekend, though there was a chance of rain tomorrow afternoon. I would see how this winter went, before I tried to talk my parents into a car. They weren't against it, I just wasn't sure if I needed one right away, or what would be the best thing to look at. When I was home, I just took one of the family vehicles.
We walked past Sam's Curios, and I stopped and backtracked. The shop itself was basically mountain town touristy stuff, some handmade from local artisans according to the signs, some the standard post cards, and other things with people's names on it.
Victoria and I shared a quick look, and then she pushed the door open. A bell chimed as I followed her in.
The air still felt tingly to me, and I rubbed my arms. It wasn't exactly unpleasant, but it wasn't exactly welcoming, either. Today, I recognized it as some sort of magic. I didn't know enough to know what it was.
A younger woman stood behind the counter and gave us a quick look and a friendly smile before going back to whatever project had her attention. Victoria and I browsed through the handmade section, and I wondered what exactly we had hoped to accomplish by coming in.
It didn't take long before Sam came out of the back.
"I wondered how long it would take the two of you to drop in again. Honestly, I thought it would be quicker," she stated when she stood next to us.
My initial impression of a younger woman with gray and white hair still felt accurate. Today, she wore jeans and a plain gray T-shirt. She didn't exactly look happy to see us, but wasn't throwing off unfriendly vibes, either.
"What can I do for you?"
"We don't actually know," Victoria answered, sharing another glance with me. "We just kind of came in. We're heading out to get pizza."
Sam glanced at me, and I nodded. "We just came in because, well, we did."
She sighed and shook her head. "Why don't you two come into the back with me, and we can talk."
"Okay," I replied.
We followed her back. The girl behind the desk gave us all another quick glance. She didn't seem overly curious as to what was going on.
The back of the shop looked mostly like a storeroom for merchandise with boxes and bags scattered on shelves, and Sam led us through another door into what would either be a very large office, or a small room. There she had a couple of comfortable couches, a desk with a laptop, and a low, round table.
Sam gestured to a small plate of chocolate chip cookies sitting on the table. "Help yourself." She took one and sat on one of the couches.
Victoria and I both took a cookie and sat on the other couch.
"So, what questions do you have?"
"I'm not even sure I really know enough to ask any questions," I sighed, feeling a little out of my depth.
"How much danger are we in?" Victoria knew a lot more about this world than I did.
Sam studied both of us for a moment before shaking her head. "It's really hard to say. The local group here is usually so quiet that most of us don't even worry. They went after Ed and Allan because they're orphans and thought no one would miss them. That was several years ago, and Doc set them straight. I would imagine you would only be in danger if they made a grab for Sofia and you happened to be there."
Victoria glanced at me. I clenched my fists and stared at the table. "That sucks. What could they possibly want with me?"
"Magic user away from home? If you disappeared and your parents knew what happened, they could always go to the magical community for help and would probably get it, but maybe too late to do anything for you."
I frowned. "Um, my parents would go straight to the cops. They don't even know anyone in the magical community, and this would be a pretty big deal pretty fast. Especially once the cops found out that magic users were involved. I thought this magic black market tried to avoid that kind of notice."
"Your parents would risk losing their jobs by going straight to the police?" Sam arched her eyebrows. "Most mages try to deal within the community first."
"Uh, my parents are about as normal as you can get." The furrows in my brow deepened.
"Your parents aren't mages?"
"No." I hesitated, the proverbial light bulb coming on. "Oh. Uh, yeah, I'm adopted. My parents are just regular humans. That I know of, I've never met anyone with magical talent before. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the oil field guys are, like werewolves or something, but I don't actually know that. We don't know much about my birth parents, other than that they were killed in some sort of accident. I was only a few months old at the time." I forced a smile.
Sam stared at me for a moment, her jaw dropping slightly, before she took a deep breath and composed herself. "That explains so much."
"Such as?"
"How you can be so completely untrained."
I let
