Anger blistered and power boiled.

“It’s not up to you to decide when you peek on me and when you don’t need to,” I ground out. “I will not tolerate having no control over my privacy. I don’t want Jasper listening in when I’m…otherwise occupied. And what if I start dating? It’ll be like having a bunch of voyeurs.”

“In fairness, we haven’t any privacy either,” Niamh said, unconcerned with my anger. “You control when to use the link and when not to.”

“I keep it blocked unless it’s an emergency,” I replied.

“As do we. Well…most of us, anyway.” She side-eyed Mr. Tom. “Some of us are like mother hens.”

“My job is to look after her,” he said. “The link helps me do that. Which is why there is a link in the first place.”

“Did you tell Austin how and when to deaden the link?” I asked.

Mr. Tom pursed his lips. “No, I did not. An oversight I will happily remedy—”

“He knows how,” Niamh cut in. “Maybe not automatically, which he’ll be happy to learn, I imagine, but he knows how to deaden it when he wants to. Doubt he does very often—he can’t be around, so he has to keep an eye on ye in other ways, Jessie. It’s his job. It’s all of our jobs. This is what we signed on fer. Ye have to let us watch over you.”

“I let you watch over me,” I said. “I let you tag along, barge into my room, keep tabs on my location—I’ve been pretty lenient with all this. In return, you lied to me. Don’t you see? It isn’t just that I am incredibly embarrassed that my…private time was spied on, or guilty that every time I wake up and wander around the house, all of you wake up, too. It isn’t even my frustration that I can’t have a moment alone—totally alone—to miss my son or feel sorry for myself in other ways. It’s all of that plus the deception. Austin made a big deal about wanting out of this magic—about wanting privacy—and I gave that to him, only to find out he’s been emotionally watching me. That sucks.”

“He didn’t at first,” Niamh said. “He started to pay it heed with the first wave of danger. He wasn’t doing it to spy. None of us are doing it to spy, and if you’re feeling sorry for yerself, we just tune ye out, so we do. We got our own problems; we don’t need yours, like. But ye’re smart, so ye are, and we knew ye might find a way to cut us off if ye knew the truth. And if ye find yerself in a spot of trouble and the danger seems great enough, ye might try to hide yerself to protect us. We couldn’t take that chance. Ye’re too damn nice, girl. Ye know ya are. So we deceived ye, as ye say, to help protect you.”

What she said made sense, but it still stung. They should’ve been more open with me. Maybe not right in the beginning, but we’d been through a few battles by now, and I could see the value in what she was saying. At the same time, they were the original crew of this place, deeply entrenched in their positions and their ways, and I could forgive the misstep. I would also acknowledge that the Jasper and Ulric situation had been an oversight on Mr. Tom’s part. Fine. People make mistakes.

But Austin…

That guy had made a big deal about privacy. A big deal. He knew I didn’t tap into the magical link unless I needed emotional cues to interpret his new expressionlessness. If he’d decided to keep his side open, he should’ve said something. I had trusted him from day one. Why didn’t he trust me? If he’d explained that he was keeping the link open to ensure I stayed safe, protecting my privacy as much as possible, I would’ve been okay with that. I would’ve understood.

But he’d said nothing. Not a peep. Nor had he hinted that the others could tell every time I was sad or anxious or moping. No, he’d helped ensure that everyone in the crew could open me like a book to be read at their leisure. That Ulric and Jasper could peep in on my most personal moments.

He would tear down the world if someone had done that to him.

Tear it to the ground.

My heart ached with the betrayal. My eyes stung with unshed tears. I’d always thought Austin and I were a team, the two normal ones in a maelstrom of weird. I’d missed hanging out with him something awful these last weeks. I’d longed for him to randomly call me, like he had at the beginning. Except it hadn’t been random at all. He knew when I was okay. He even knew when I was lonely or sad.

Let’s have some space, Jess, I imagined him saying. Let’s take a step back and clear our heads. But only you will feel lonely. I’ll be good because I’ll have the reassurance of your presence with me all the time.

This wasn’t how friends treated each other.

I blinked away the tears and slowly blew out a breath. I hated that they could all feel my heartache and the cracks forming in a trust I’d once valued so highly.

Anger was less embarrassing than mopey sorrow.

“What a dick,” I said to no one.

“Uh-oh. Looks like some fireworks are coming our way,” Niamh murmured.

Yeah, it did. I wanted an explanation. I wanted a confrontation. I wanted him to make it better.

Before I could about-face and head straight to the bar, a knock sounded at the door.

I froze. Mr. Tom and Niamh looked between each other and me.

No strange presence stood on Ivy House soil.

A mage strong in magic had been able to fool Ivy House. My summons had been answered.

Four

“We should…” I rolled my shoulders, pushing away my anger so I could focus.

“Let me.” Mr. Tom moved to step in front of me, but I put out my hand.

“I will.” I pulled open the door slowly, my face surely matching my mood—grim.

A guy of about thirty stood just off the front stoop, his light brown hair disheveled and sticking up at various spots, stubble adorning his sharp chin, and thin eyebrows sloping over light gray eyes. He had his hands in the pockets of his loose jeans.

He looked me over, his expression flat. Finally, he pulled his right hand free and dragged a blue note card from his back pocket. “You wanted me to make this potion?”

I frowned at him. “You’re not glowing.”

He glanced down at himself. “I altered the potion a little. Hope you don’t mind. If you glow, you give yourself away as magical. People will know you’re using a spell. This way, no one will know.” He turned back and pointed at the ejection panel. “Otherwise the potion’s kind of like that spell. Anyone who knows what to watch out for would avoid that.”

“I know. That was on purpose.”

He nodded, turning back. “I wanted to step on it, just to see what it did.”

“It wouldn’t have done anything. Ivy House can’t sense your presence, so she wouldn’t have known to trigger it. Otherwise, though, you’d fly like a bird and land on your butt.”

He could give Austin a run for his money on expressionlessness.

“Funny,” he said. “I would like to see that.”

“Hang around for long enough, and you probably will. Do you know why you’re here?”

He slipped the note card back into his pocket.

“Wait, I’ll take that.” I put out my hand.

He shrugged and handed it over. “I got a magical…summons, it felt like. It was like a tug, directing me here. I resisted for a while—my employer doesn’t like to share highly paid employees—but…” His smile was crooked, as though someone else were pulling at his lips. “It got the better of me, didn’t it? Here I am. You need some training or something, right?”

“Your employer…” I paused for a moment. “And who is that?”

He opened his mouth, as though to answer, and then drew in a breath. He shook his head. “Can’t tell, I’m afraid. Physically, I mean. It’s a gag spell put on us when we sign up. He’s more powerful than me or I’d find a way around it.” He shrugged. “It’s pretty standard practice for the higher-level employees.”

“Probably should’ve expected that,” Niamh murmured.

“Do you know the story about this house and who I am?” I asked.

He looked upward, leaning back to do so. “Creepy old house. It’s cool. But no, I don’t know more than that. This town is out of the way. Seems pretty small. Is it magical? I haven’t heard of it.”

“Not really. I mean, it’s becoming magical.”

I chewed my lip, feeling a strange sort of hesitation. Usually when someone answered my summons, I invited them in. Some of them got to live here until they were fired or accepted. But for the first time, I didn’t want to push the door wide and usher this guy through. Maybe it was all the failed mages before him. Maybe I’d learned not to be so welcoming to strangers. Whatever it was, I didn’t step back and play the nice host.

“You know what?” I said. “Why don’t I have one of my team get you checked in to the hotel in town.” I glanced back at Mr. Tom—a silent request for him to get Ulric or Jasper. “We can meet up at the bar in a few hours and chat. In the meantime, my person can fill you in on some of the particulars about this place.”

He dug his hand back in his pocket to match the other before stepping back. “I already got a room there. I wanted to put my stuff down and check out the town before I showed up.” He paused for a moment. “Precaution.”

“Right, so”—Niamh stepped forward, past me—“let’s go grab a pint then. C’mon, I’ll tell ye all about this miserable place and the whack jobs running it.”

A car rolled down the street slowly, a newer Ford in midnight blue, the figure inside scouting the houses he or she passed. When the car neared us, though, I nearly lost my stomach.

“It’s Jimmy! He’s here early!” Joy bubbled up through me, and I was shoving Niamh and the new guy down the walkway before I realized my rudeness. “Sorry, hey, what’s your name?”