Page 133 of Kick the Candle (Knight Games 2)
Nightshade poked into my back as I straightened in my seat. She would know. I climbed back out, prepared to storm into Rick's house and shove my blade into his face. I had to know he was the only soul in his body. I paused when the glint of metal on the passenger's side floor caught my eye. I rounded the car, opened the door, and reached for the crushed metal object. It took me a minute to figure out what it was, but the key hanging off the little chain was a major clue. The crushed Valentine's logo now looked like a piece of gum, chewed up and spit out.
Ugh, Rick was jealous! He'd seen the Valentine's logo and based on the story about losing my house, he probably assumed I was planning to live with Logan. I had to set him straight. All along, I'd been planning to live with Rick. I just hadn't had the chance to ask him.
I rushed toward the door, knocked lightly. There was no answer. I tried the knob. Locked. He never locked his door. I knocked again. "Rick?"
Nothing.
With a deep breath, I took a step back, and then another, until I was back at my Jeep. After seeing what he'd done to the key chain, maybe he legitimately needed his space. Besides, before I broached this subject with Rick again, I had to be sure exactly what I wanted to say. After years of failed relationships and suffering from the blonde paradox, I'd sworn the next time I said I love you it would mean forever.
And a night like tonight was not the right time to start forever.
Knight and Day
I went to bed with the curtains open, my eyes fixed on the silver white circle of the moon through the naked branches of the tree outside my window. I did not sleep. My mind played an endless loop of warnings. Protect the book. Move. Tell Rick you love him. Stop the nekomata and the nightmares. Kill Bathory. Beware Julius. Rinse and repeat.
Poe landed on the branch nearest my window, tossing a mouse into the air before swallowing it whole. He tapped his beak against the glass, and I reached over to open the window and let him in, shutting out the blast of icy air that followed him into the room.
"Must be hard to sleep with your eyes open," he said. "Something keeping you up?"
I told him about Silas and what I saw at Avery's house. "Where were you anyway?" I asked him. "As my familiar, aren't you supposed to sense when I'm in distress and come to my aid?"
"Sure, if I know you're on witchy business, but you hadn't come home from work. I thought some human was giving up their ghost in the ER, so I didn't respond."
"Nice, Poe."
"Hey, you wouldn't want me flying into the hospital windows every time your heart raced during the day. If you want me on the job, give me a heads up."
Harrumph. I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at the ceiling. Why in the world did the woman in the garden give me a raven as a familiar?
"Do I need to remind you that I saved you from the troll and delivered Rick to rescue you from Julius? It's not as if I haven't earned my keep."
"Sorry, Poe. You're right. I should have stopped home and got you before I went to Avery's."
He waved his wing. "Exactly my point."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure." He hopped from the windowsill to my nightstand.
"Who was the woman who gave you to me? The one in the garden?"
Poe cracked his beak in a movement I'd come to interpret as a smile. "Hecate, goddess of the dead, otherwise known as Santa Muerte depending on where you are in the world, and a host of other names. She's your first mother and the source of your power."
I closed my gaping mouth and raised my eyebrows. "Truly? That was her?"
"Yes."
"And you, like, hang out with her when I'm dead?"
"Something like that. She remakes me each time for you, but a part of me is always with her." He nested down next to my lamp.
"Why a raven? Why did she think I needed you, Poe?"
He twitched, blinking his eyes.
"Sorry. No offense. I like you a lot; I'm just wondering why you weren't a cat or an owl."
"I don't know for sure but I can tell you my honest opinion."
