Boundary Crossed (Boundary Magic #1)(88)

I considered the best way to answer, and finally said, “Just call me when he wakes up, and I’ll come explain it in person.” Lily promised to give him the message, and we hung up. I wasn’t looking forward to that conversation. But it suddenly seemed more important than ever for me to understand everything I could about boundary witches, and Simon was my best resource.

I needed to stay until sunrise, and John’s couch was studded with half-embedded baby toys, so I wound up sprawled in the same armchair where I’d slept the night after checking myself out of the hospital. I was exhausted, and it was no wonder: over the last twelve hours I’d almost killed a crowd of people, gotten drunk on magic, been heavily tattooed with a funneling spell I still didn’t understand, watched my friend die, and brought him back to life. Oh, and I’d been on a desperate search for my baby niece the whole time.

But now Charlie was safe, I’d done right by Sam. I wondered sleepily if I should advise John to get a dog, or at least a security system. Could vampires get around security systems? Probably. Could they get around giant dogs? I’d have to ask Quinn.

My phone began to vibrate ten minutes later while I was still staring into space. I fumbled with the screen and managed to answer it on the third ring. “Quinn?” I whispered. “Are you okay?”

“Sort of,” he said, his voice heavy. “But Maven needs you at Magic Beans.”

“Now?” I glanced at the clock. It was a little after five, and I couldn’t remember ever feeling this tired before. “What about Charlie? Is Itachi—”

“Trust me, Charlie’s safe,” he said. There was a mechanical tone in his voice that suggested there were other people listening in. And it didn’t take a great leap of the imagination to assume they probably drank blood and could hear both sides of our conversation.

“I’m on my way,” I said.





Chapter 40



John kept his car keys in a bowl near the back door. I traded them for a hastily written note and pulled the quiet hybrid out into the night. Maybe it was just leftover adrenaline from the day’s events, but as I drove through the empty, darkened streets of Boulder, I couldn’t push back the feeling that something was very wrong. I kept remembering the coldness in Quinn’s voice—it had felt like a mask for something else. Fear? Worry? For the first time, the possibility occurred to me that maybe Maven just didn’t believe him. No, that didn’t make sense. He was sworn to her, and he was low on the food chain, so he couldn’t lie to her, right? This had to be something else.

When I got to Magic Beans, I barely threw John’s car into park before I ran toward the door, still in my borrowed clothes. But the front entrance was locked. There was a sign stuck in the glass: “Closed For Inventory. Reopening Sunday.” I circled around to the door at the back of the building that led to the big, auditorium-like room. It was locked, too, but it opened as soon as I rattled the knob.

Quinn’s head poked out.

“What’s going on?” I panted.

“You can come in,” he said. His voice was cool, but his eyes were shooting me a meaningful look. The only problem was that I wasn’t sure of his meaning. I narrowed my eyes in confusion, and he mouthed, “Be calm.” As I nodded, he added, “Maven needs to speak to you right away.”

He stepped back, swinging the door wide, and I followed him into the building.

The room was full of people . . . or, rather, vampires. Dozens of them, all of them standing still on the concrete floor, watching me enter. I blinked in surprise. They ranged in age from teens to maybe early fifties, and there were a whole bunch of races and economic classes represented. They appeared to have nothing at all in common, but there was something just . . . creepy about them. It took me a second to realize that none of them were moving.

I don’t just mean they weren’t walking around—I mean they weren’t moving, at all. People stand around all the time, but they shift their weight, look around, check watches and cell phones. They fidget. But every single person in the room was perfectly still, except for the occasional blink to keep their eyeballs lubricated. I swallowed, trying to banish my fear.

“Hello, Lex,” came Maven’s pleasant, perfectly even voice from my right. I turned my head and saw her standing on the small raised stage, dressed in a shapeless hemp dress and ankle-high boots. Itachi stood at her right elbow, a little behind her. The body language was obvious: she was in charge of this situation. “Thank you for coming. There has been a lot of excitement in Boulder this evening, not to mention a flurry of rumors. I thought it prudent to clear the air.”

I nodded wordlessly, and Maven gestured for me to come toward her. Quinn, who was already at the front of the crowded floor space, gave me a slight nod. I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and went to her.

Maven smiled warmly. Unlike Quinn or Itachi, she seemed to be very comfortable with tossing around human expressions and body language, which for some reason unnerved me. She rested a hand on my shoulder, and I managed not to flinch. “Everyone,” she called out in a “Can I have your attention” sort of way, which seemed ridiculous given that they were all frozen. “This is Allison Luther, but she prefers the nickname Lex. You may have heard a few rumors about her in the last month. It’s true. We have a boundary witch among us.”