Excerpt

Chapter One

Luna

I love dogs. But not my best friend's dog. It's a yippie little monster that likes to bite at my heels and pee on everything in sight. Mostly, I've gotten used to Marshmallow joining us on our nightly walks around the neighborhood. But tonight, for some reason, I feel irritated by him.

Olivia smirks at me when she sees me glaring at Marshmallow, those big brown eyes of hers filled with merriment. "It's the stars. All the witches are feeling it."

I sigh. She blames everything on the stars. Back hurting? No, it has nothing to do with being fifty-something and having spent too many years screwing up my body hunting supernaturals. It's the stars. Bad hot dog at a gas station making its way through your intestines like a rock wanting to cover you in diarrhea? The stars. Wearing an awful dress because she told me I looked nice in it? You guessed it, the freaking stars.

Of course, my bad mood couldn't have anything to do with the fact that her dog almost tripped me for the twentieth time just now. "If your little monster makes me break a hip, it doesn't matter what the stars say, I'm turning him into a cat."

She throws back her head and laughs, that loud laugh of hers that seems to fill the night air. Normally, she's protective of the little, white fluff of energy. But she knows deep, deep down I love all animals. It's part of the earth witch inside of me. As much as Marshmallow drives me crazy, I once spun a car around to keep him from being run over.

I hate that Olivia knows that I secretly have a soft spot for him.

Olivia hands me his leash and takes the hair tie from around her wrist and pulls back her long brown hair. Her gaze moves to the full moon up ahead of us, and her expression grows thoughtful.

"What is it?" I ask before I can stop myself.

"I don't know," she says, her brows drawing together. "But I just felt… something."

Uh oh, not that old something. "We aren't hunters anymore. If there's something stirring up trouble, let the young ones take care of it. We did our time protecting humanity."

"But—"

"It's not like we're going to arm up and go figure it out, right? So, let's just focus on enjoying the nice spring air."

She shakes her head and gives me that look that drives me crazy. "Don't even pretend that your hunting days are completely behind you."

I focus on Marshmallow, trying to look innocent. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Humph!" she mutters. "You really want me to talk about your trunk…"

I stiffen. How does she know about that? Is it the little bit of psychic in her? Or does she just know me too well after being best friends since we were kids, hunters in our younger years, and neighbors in our "old" age?

I don't want to know. I really don't.

So, I change the subject. "How's Harry doing with the new boat?"

It's her turn to sigh dramatically. "The other day I turned his hair bright green. He didn't notice for three days. He's obsessed. He just spends all his time either tinkering with it or out fishing with William."

"I know it must be driving you crazy," I say, "but the truth is I'm glad William is getting out. I think he's been in a funk ever since we met with the lawyer to iron out our will. All he does is stare at his computer… and fish with your husband."

"Are you going to do anything about it?" Olivia asks, lifting her finger to indicate a spell.

I laugh. "Nah, the old bear shifter gets even worse if I use my magic on him. I think after twenty years of marriage I've just realized that Will needs his space to figure things out. It's just, and I know this sounds silly, I kind of miss him. I missed having the kids in the house, but I don't think I've ever been really lonely until now."

"Oh, hon, I'm sorry," she says. "Now I feel a little bad. Because as much as Harry's love affair with his boat irritates me, I'm glad for a little time to myself. You know how clingy he can get."

I laugh. We met our husbands in our hunter days but didn't marry them until we were getting ready to step away from it all. Technically, we both married them in our mid-twenties, then settled down to have a few kids each. Two for me. Three for her. But Harry has always been a little different than my William. Will and I can do our own things, then miss each other, and come back together. Harry wanted to be Olivia's shadow. And she mostly loved it.

Times have certainly changed.

Marshmallow suddenly stops short. He was sniffing at a bush along the sidewalk of one of our neighbor's houses, seeming like the arrogant puff he was, when he stopped.

"Marshmallow?" I say, then tug at the leash.

He doesn't move.

Olivia takes the leash and gives it a tug, then speaks in her super-high baby voice, "Marshmallow! Come to mama!"

He doesn't move.

Olivia walks toward him, shortening his long, retractable leash as she does so. When she gets to him, she kneels down and runs a hand along his back. He startles, jumping and turning as if to nip her.

A chill rolls down my spine, and a second before the Spine Monster leaps out, I've already said the words to the spell. A green light hits the dog-sized beast, and he explodes into a million pieces. They rain down on Olivia and Marshmallow, and a second later, she looks back at me, something gross dripping from her hair.

"Sorry," I say with a wince.

She picks the flesh off her face and flicks it, then picks up Marshmallow. "I guess it has been a few years since you blew up a creature all over me, so maybe I should be grateful..."

I want to argue, but I had done it quite a few times in our time as hunters. Olivia was always better at warning me about the meaning of the stars and whatnot, but my instincts for danger always seemed to be sharper than hers. I couldn't count the number of times she'd almost died.

"Ready to go home?"

She nods, pulling something slimy off Marshmallow, who has the nerve to give me a peeved look after I saved his furball life. "Definitely."

We take the quick path back to our houses, avoiding the woods and sticking to the sidewalks and well-lit roads. But when we reach her front yard, she turns to look back at me, one hand on the gate to her white picket fence. "Should we be worried that a Spine Monster came to a place this populated with people?"

Yeah, definitely. But Olivia is the nervous sort, so I just say, "It was probably just a fluke. It might've been sick or something."

She frowns but gives me a nod. "Coffee tomorrow?"

"Yeah, and I think most of the coven is coming by, so that should be fun," I tell her, trying to sound more chipper than I feel, given the monster we'd found in our neighborhood.

She gives a forced smile, even though I know she loves the morning coffee dates everyone can make. "Good. Okay. You want me to watch you walk home?"

I laugh, a little of my anxiety easing as I do. "If I can't make it across the street, I don't deserve my book of spells."

She seems to relax a bit too. "Okay. Night."

For some reason, I make sure she gets inside safely before heading across the street. Our porch light has been out for a week, which never really bothered me. But when I glance around and notice that not a single person is out, and that a couple of the street lamps are flickering, that unsettling feeling runs down my spine again.

Stupid weird moon night.

I walk a little faster as I cross the street, letting my gaze dart around me as I move. When I reach the door, I struggle to get my keys untangled from my pocket, hating that my nerves seem to be crackling. Suddenly, I sense someone behind me, but I don't have time to react. A terrible, soul-wrenching pain cuts through me, and a scream gets caught in my throat.

Crumbling to the ground, I force my head to loll to the side. A man is running down the street. He wears a dark hoodie and has a slight limp. But that's all I can see before my vision goes black.

I search inside myself to try to figure out what he did to me. And then a cold, terrifying panic rolls through me.

My magic. It's gone.