Henry returned her smile. “And Alice never gets mad that I don’t show my emotions more. She likes me exactly how I am.”
I felt tears burn my eyes. “I’m so happy for both of you.”
Alice reached out and gently squeezed my arm. “I heard that maybe something might be going on between Daniel and you. I think he would be a good choice for you. His emotions are well controlled, for a shifter. He’s kind and understanding. I know most of the people in this town better than they know themselves, and Daniel is one of the good ones. He was broken for a long time after his wife died, but I think he’s ready for love now.”
I felt a blush warm my cheeks. Did everyone know about Daniel and me?
“It’s time for bed,” Henry said.
I wished them a good night, then went to take a shower, washing away the night the best way I could. When I was done, the water had long ago become cold. I dressed but still didn’t feel tired. So, I quietly went to the kitchen, made myself some tea, and sat on the couch, playing a dumb game where I crush cookies or candies. Something like that. By the time I was out of lives, it was ridiculously late.
Tiptoeing through the house, I checked the locks on the doors. Henry was sound asleep, judging from the snores coming from his room. The guy was practically a cartoon when it came to the sounds he made while he was asleep. Deep snorts followed by high-pitched whines were the most common sounds. It half made me wonder if he should see a sleep specialist or something. And because I heard nothing from their room, I assumed Alice was asleep as well.
Good, they deserved to be able to relax and rest.
I moved away from Henry’s room and went to check the sliding door at the back of the house. It was the one he usually forgot to lock. Walking around the house in the middle of the night after coming back from dancing naked in the woods felt odd. Part of me wanted to dance the night away, to watch the magic that was swirling out from the witches and myself for forever, but then I’d remember what Hildy had said about Beth never being free and my heart turned into a block of ice in my chest.
The lock on the sliding door was down and the length of wood that sat on the runner to prevent it from being opened if someone were able to pick the lock, or something, was there as well. A thought occurred to me that the house wasn’t protected from any kind of magical attacks. There were magical attacks, right? I’d have to talk to the ladies about that. Surely there were protective charms or whatever that we could put on the house itself? Then I realized that I was thinking about someone attacking me and my brother, in our home, with magic. What was this crazy world I’d fallen into?
I mean, really. Who lived this way?
I had to admit it was freeing though, knowing what was out there and what I was and could do. It made me feel powerful. I did a little twirl just like I’d done when I’d been dancing under the moonlight a few hours ago and it was like my body remembered the magic. I was light and almost carefree, even after getting such grave news. I turned off the kitchen light and headed toward the stairs once more, my mind finally at ease now that I knew we were locked in and safe.
A knock on my door made my blood run cold. Who would be here this late?
Peering carefully out of the peephole, I sighed in relief when I caught Daniel’s profile in the moonlight. But he held his arm funny. And definitely not funny as in haha. There was no Ministry of Strange Arm Holding as far as I knew, just Silly Walks. As fast as I could, I unlocked the door.
As soon as I had it open wide enough, I shot my hand out and grabbed the arm that he wasn’t holding strangely and pulled him inside. “What’s wrong?” I hissed, not wanting to wake Henry and Alice and deal with that conversation.
Daniel grunted as I touched him. “Careful.”
“Come sit.” I closed the door behind us and made sure it was locked and the chain was on. No one was getting in this house without us knowing about it. Using his good elbow to guide him I walked us over to the couch. Daniel wasn’t moving as fast as usual, and I had to wonder if something was wrong with one of his legs as well as his arm. Finally, he kind of fell onto the couch instead of sitting down. I sat down next to him and started to look him over, trying to figure out what I’d need from the medicine cabinet.
“I’m okay,” he said. “Don’t fuss. I’ll be healed in another hour, but I had to come make sure you were okay.”
“Was this one of the wolves?” I asked, my anger rising. “Did they attack you?”
He shook his head and grimaced as I gently prodded his shoulder. “No, this thing wasn’t any shifter I’ve ever seen. For one, it didn’t attack the way a shifter would with claws and teeth. It was more of a blunt force. And it was dark and moved so fast, I couldn’t really tell what the hell it was.”
“Did you call
