“God, I hate dolls,” I said, doing a heebie-jeebies dance. “I don’t actually think your goblin form is worse than the dolls, now that I think about it. At least you know you’re scary—those dolls are masquerading as lifelike babies, and then they come alive and grab knives and attack. It’s just not right.”
“Miss, don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re prone to hysterics when it comes to those harmless dolls.” Mr. Tom set down the tray on the small round table by the window, its surface polished and sporting a high shine. “Many of them are cute.”
“Some of them are creepy, though,” Niamh said, walking into the circle.
“Don’t you start,” Mr. Tom said, straightening.
Niamh took a seat in the circle of chairs, the third from the top, the top denoted by a standing, woven flag on a pole that looked centuries old. Mr. Tom took the ninth chair, and when Edgar got there a moment later, his lips turned up in a ghastly grin, he took the twelfth seat. Apparently I chose my protectors, except for the three who had been here before me, and Ivy House chose their importance within the circle.
Austin stood, immobile. “There are ways to get something done, Ivy House, and trying to force me isn’t one of them.”
“Do I…stand anywhere in particular?” I asked, outside of the circle and close to the far wall.
“You wait until Austin’s place has been chosen, miss,” Mr. Tom said out of the side of his mouth.
Austin’s muscles relaxed. His nod was slight, and then he walked forward, curving around the circle until he stood at the top behind the flag, which reached his nose. A shadowy, magical drape poured down in front of the windows, mostly cutting out the light. Candles flickered to life, the flames dancing slowly.
Austin glanced at me, and I saw the wariness in his eyes. After a deep breath, though, he stepped around the flag and between the chairs, entering the circle.
“I can barely breathe with the excitement,” Mr. Tom said.
“Thank God this isn’t a formal ceremony in front of strangers we needed to impress,” Niamh said, watching Austin but addressing Mr. Tom, “or you’d just have outed yerself as a clown.”
“Better a clown than a miserable old hag without a polite bone in her body,” he grumbled.
Austin stopped in front of the first chair, the flag at his back, and slowly sat down.
I sucked in a breath, something stirring deep inside of me. Ivy House thought Austin was and would remain the most important member in that circle. She didn’t plan to save the space in case someone better came along. She didn’t have any second guesses.
Her sentiments lined up with my own.
My stupid eyes teared up again.
The pull forward caught me off guard, and I resisted at first, now knowing what Austin had been reacting to. A moment later, though, I took my place behind the long, thin flag, paused, and then walked into the circle, the air moving around me, the power building. I took my position in the middle and faced Austin.
“Welcome,” I said, somehow knowing this was all that was required.
He didn’t nod or verbally reply, just held my gaze for a long, silent moment. Candlelight danced and glowed around us. Magic and energy jumped between us as though sparks of fire, not sure which person to settle on.
My team officially had a new member. I half wondered if Fate had led him to this town, or Ivy House had called him in preparation for my eventual return. I doubted I’d ever really know.
He was here now, though, and relief flooded me that he’d agreed to join us. That he’d agreed to help us. With him on our side, there was no way we could go wrong.
“You know what this means, right?” Mr. Tom asked quietly. “If you’re one of us, you have to call me Mr. Tom. Or Tom, if the formality is a sticking point…”
Austin ignored him, not taking his eyes off me, like I was his lifeline in this new venture. He’d always been mine.
At least the new guy was already well versed in Mr. Tom’s weird. Better and better.Epilogue“Turns out they’d been there for the last couple of months.” Austin leaned against the bar, his long-sleeved T-shirt hugging his currently flaring arm muscles. He seemed to find it humorous that my gaze always snagged on his various flexed body parts.
It wasn’t like I could help it. His shirts were all kinds of tight because of some laundry snafu or other, and he put on a pretty amazing muscle show. Besides, I was a warm-blooded female who’d never gotten anywhere with Mr. Hot McHandsy, and I hadn’t gotten to release the floodgates.
Paul bustled around him, the bar a little busier than usual for a Wednesday night. Word had gotten around that Austin had accepted an official spot in Ivy House less than a week ago. The magical people in this town loved to gossip, and everyone kept checking in to see how it was going. It was like they thought Austin might declare war on the house or something. They must’ve sensed the ongoing battle of wills, something I was happy to turn a blind eye to.