“We’re not dating,” I said as I let myself into my apartment. She slipped in behind me, and I locked the door. “He showed up with a job about a scroll.”
“Scroll? What’s inside it?”
“It could tell people what we are.”
Nix stepped back, her eyes wide. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah. And Aidan said someone else is after it, too.”
“That’s weird. Right after you ran into a demon who knew we were FireSouls? Too much coincidence.”
“I know. That’s why I’m going to go get that scroll and destroy it. I might need you to make a forged version if there’s time. Without the information about us.”
“Yeah, no kidding. But this is nuts.” She shook her head. “I talked to Connor and Claire. They both think he’s cool. And I really liked him.”
A bit of the tension faded out of me at the news that Connor and Claire trusted Aidan. Connor was a better judge, as he was all Hearth Witch, but Claire’s opinion was good too, considering she had a bit of Hearth Witch in her. Hearth witches were really good at reading people’s intentions. Something about protecting hearth and home. And because Aidan had been in their shop and they lived in the back, their powers had been amplified when they’d assessed him.
I couldn’t trust him one hundred percent, but he had the stamp of approval from Connor and Claire. He was probably safe.
Until he learned what I was.
Something I wasn’t going to let happen.
Nix peppered me with questions as I threw a couple changes of clothes into a small duffle. I had no idea how long we’d be gone, but I hoped not more than a couple days.
“Right, I’m out of here,” I said when I was done.
We left my apartment and headed down the stairs.
“You’ve got your charm if you need me,” Nix said at her door.
“Yeah, thanks.” I hugged her and turned to go, but a thought popped into my head. I spun around. “Hey, will you go ask Dr. Garriso about the scroll and call me if you learn anything?”
Dr. Garriso was our contact at the local museum and a scholar of all things magical history. We usually consulted him with questions about the artifacts we found. I loved his book-filled office but didn’t have time to go see him now, and he really preferred to speak in person.
“Yeah. Good idea!”
“Thanks.” I turned and took the stairs two at a time, hurrying to meet Aidan. As excited as I was to see him—which was so dumb, I knew it was—I still patted the dagger on my right leg. Old habits and all.
Aidan stood across the street, leaning against the big SUV I’d noticed earlier. Most of his body was in shadow, but it was hard not to notice his height or the breadth of his shoulders. How was it fair that one of the strongest supernaturals in the world was also built like a world-class athlete and looked like a model?
I scowled. It was unnatural, and dangerous for my sanity.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Yep, let’s get a move on.” I climbed into his car. It was nondescript, but way nicer than my junker. Cars were not one of the things I considered to be treasure. Thus, Cecilia was an old broad on her last legs. “Is your plane at the Fairfield Airport?”
“Yes,” he said as he pulled out onto the street. “I’ve told them to expect us.”
His phone rang. He picked it up. “Merrick.”
I perked up when he spoke. Eavesdropping wasn’t cool, but it counted as extenuating circumstances when mysterious, powerful strangers showed up on your door and needed your help with something that threatened your life.
But his words were in another language. Not Irish or English, so I was out of luck. I gave up listening as we drove through the quiet streets of Magic’s Bend. It had started raining, and the streets were empty.
By the time Aidan hung up the phone, we were pulling up to the small airport at the edge of town. Magic’s Bend sat on the Pacific, with a deep water port that wasn’t used very often. There wasn’t much in the way of suburbs, except on the south side of town where the rich people lived, so the rest of the city backed up to the forest and mountains. The airport was positioned right at the edge of town.
Aidan drove completely around the main terminal to the back. Sitting apart from the small fleet of commercial jets was a sleek private plane, far bigger than I’d expected.
Aidan stopped the car beside the stairs that lead up to the plane. I hopped out.
“I’ll take that for you.” A bright-eyed flight attendant—a guy only a couple years younger than me—held out his hand for my bag.
“Ah, I’m fine.” I smiled, then headed up the stairs.
I whistled when I stepped into the plane. His car might have been nondescript, but his plane was anything but. Creamy leather and sleek wood decorated the space. The seats looked huge and comfortable, and there was even a couch in the back. I stepped in and turned to him. I was about to ask him how he afforded such a ridiculous plane when a thought occurred to me.
“How come your plane is here if you were in Ireland earlier today? You didn’t have time to fly here.”
“Magic’s Bend is my home base,” he said as he stepped into the plane. “I was just at my place in Ireland for the week. I took a portal charm to get here.”
“But wouldn’t that leave your plane back in Ireland?”
“I flew commercial,” he said as he walked to the small kitchen in the front. A curtain was pulled back, but when closed, it would conceal the small space. He grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge and handed me one. “If it’s just me, I feel like a jerk taking this thing. It burns a lot of fuel to carry just one person.”