Zephyra stared out one of the many large windows along the wall of Angie’s, listening to the general murmur of the lunch crowd as she waited for Brady to show up. She didn’t get why he wanted to talk about their past so much. It was giving her the urge to punch him. Despite the common belief, rehashing the past didn’t always give you closure or a way to move on. Nope. More times than not, it just made the old wound fester and bleed some more.
Though she wasn’t ready to be yelled at by another old woman, Zephyra answered the phone.“Zephyra Evelyn Callahan, what is wrong with you?” her mother demanded as soon as she answered.
Zephyra saw Ophelia sit down at a small table. An idea struck her as she saw the fae. Ophelia had the gift of foresight. She may have seen something about the animals. “Hey, Ophelia,” Zephyra said, sitting down next to her and then waving at Max, her son.Ophelia gave her a knowing grin. “What
Zephyra rubbed her forehead as she stepped onto her porch. The tension of the day was starting to give her a headache. When Zephyra looked up, she saw a scrap of paper taped to her door. It looked like an improvised note. Like the ones, people used to pass around before cell phones became so popular. The edges were jagged as though it had been ripped from a larger piece and folded in half. Zephyra pulled it off the door and opened it. It wasn’t handwritten but typed, and read:
Trap marks? Zephyra’s eyes widened. “Shifters don’t need to use traps. They have claws and teeth for that.” He nodded, and it was her turn to frown. “So who are we looking at? It can’t be poachers. Nothing was missing, right?”Brady shook his head. “Nope. Fur, meat
Zephyra and Ethan began their search, she was on one end of the clearing and he was on the other. They walked in circles that gradually got bigger and further away from each other. “Here,” Ethan called out after several minutes.Zephyra walked over to him. She wasn’t
As soon as Zephyra got home, she locked her doors and windows. She sent out a text to Ellie, letting her know she was home. Ever since the violence started to escalate, they had been texting each other every few hours just to make sure the other was okay, especially if they had to leave the house. Not that Zephyra planned on leaving the house much. She made sure that after dark she was at home. Tonight was no different; in fact, her only plan was to binge on Netflix until she fell asleep.
As the detective left, Zephyra’s parents rushed in. Her mother immediately bent over to encase her in a hug. Zephyra clenched her teeth to defend against the threat of more tears. She didn’t want to cry anymore. “It’s my fault,” Zephyra told her mom, her voice cracking. “Whoever did that to her did it because of me.”
After Zephyra stopped by the police department, giving them her official statement, she decided it’d be best if she went to work even if she would only work a couple of hours. It would keep her busy until she could figure out what to do next.“Zeph? What are you doing he
Zephyra was glad Ethan wasn’t going to try to ferret the real reason out of her. “Yeah, sure.” Ethan took her jacket and draped it over a stool near the island. “This is a nice place,” she said as she sat down, watching him dish food onto two plates.“Thanks. I don’t spend a who
Despite her exhaustion, Zephyra didn’t sleep well. It took her forever to fall asleep, and when she did, nightmares plagued her. At least it was over. The nightmares would fade and pass. That’s what she told herself, anyway.Getting out of bed, Zephyra started down the hall towards the bathroom when she noti
Zephyra let loose the arrow, a sudden burst of wind giving it more speed, and she immediately notched the last one she held in her hand. Lysandra cried out as Zephyra’s arrow knocked the gun out of her hand. “Don’t,” Zephyra told her as she started to reach for it. “Don’t do it. Don’t make me kill you, Lysandra. I don’t want to do it, but if I have to choose, I’ll choose them over you.”
“God, you killed her?” Tommy’s eyes widened and his mouth fell slack a moment before his expression hardened. Anger now blazed in his narrowed eyes. “How could you, Zeph! She was my sister!”Was he serious? Zephyra stared at him, and, sure enough, he wa
“You crying?” Tonya mocked. “Oh, don’t worry, I’m not going to shoot you,” she went on, mocking Zephyra with her false compassion. “That would be far too quick. Oh no, I’ll let Rhys and Jaxie do that. Just like they did to that slutty witch friend of yours.”
“That’s it?” Brady said after a long moment.“What are you talking about?” Zephyra asked him, not sure what he was getting at.
Zephyra’s head hurt. The pain stabbed at her temples and thrummed through the rest of her head in rhythm with the beat of her pulse. This was worse than the hangover she had the day after her first college frat party. Opening her eyes, Zephyra stared down at her lap in the dim light. She was sitting and judging by the almost painful pressure across her chest, she was willing to bet that she was tied to a chair. Zephyra started to lift her head when a sharp pain shot through it, making her wince. Maybe moving wasn’t such a great idea right about now.
“Hey, Brady,” Zephyra said with a smile. She was really glad that he wasn’t the bad guy anymore, even if he was an asshole. The memory of him telling her that he was done with all of this wiped the smile off her face. “Bye Brady,” Zephyra said and again started to get into the jeep.
As soon as Zephyra was in her Jeep, a torrent of rain let loose. It was raining so hard it took her double the time to get to her parents’ house than it usually does. Her mother ushered Zephyra inside and out of the storm when she knocked. “What happened now?” her mom asked, taking the dripping jacket off Zephyra. Her dad put away the book he was reading and gave her a worried look.