He’d been dropped twenty miles outside of town and hiked his way in here, somehow managing to slip past the non-magical checkpoint unnoticed. Mags, the only person out on Main Street that morning, had ushered him into the café. Just like that, she’d taken him under her wing. She’d fed and clothed him, helped him find a place to live, helped him find a job as a town gardener—she’d saved his life. He could never be too thankful for her, or for the driver who’d picked him up.

“Hey, Mags.”

Her smile was sad as she stopped on the other side of the counter. “Want a cup of coffee?”

“Nah. I came to say goodbye. I have to get going. I’m not welcome here anymore.”

Her eyes misted and she nodded, biting her lip. “Well, come on, give me a hug.”

She came around the counter and held out her arms.

He calmed the quailing in his mind and pulled her close for a moment. Gianna would not have a hold on him forever. He would not lose himself to the horrors of his past. Not anymore.

“I’m sorry,” he said, dangerously close to letting emotion overcome him. “I never meant to lie to you. I wanted to tell you so many times, but I didn’t want to put you in an uncomfortable situation.” That, and he’d feared she’d cast him out. He wouldn’t have been able to bear that.

“Don’t be silly,” she said, and cupped his cheek in her weathered hand. “I knew you were magical. The number of lightning storms in the area quadrupled the year you moved here, yet no one was injured and there was zero damage. Even trees stopped getting struck and falling on houses. That’s the sort of coincidence that needs more of an explanation than the Almighty.”

“You…you knew? Why didn’t you say anything?”

Her smile was comforting. “I figured you’d tell me in your own time.”

“Instead I was hunted down.” A flash of rage stole his breath. He’d run like a coward. He’d hidden. He’d tried to slip away without being detected. If his old trainers had heard that, they would’ve spat in his face. The only reason he’d stood up to fight was because Mags and the others had gotten stuck in the crossfire.

He hated that his life was now running.

“What about that lovely young woman and her foster kids? Now, she seemed very pretty and put together.” Mags walked around the counter and headed for the coffee machine. “Turn off the sign and lock the door, would ya, Dylan?”

He did as she said, his heart aching at her use of the name he’d given himself. He’d made it up on the fly when she’d asked for it all those years ago. With that name, he’d become a new person. A better person. A free person.

“She has a heart of gold, that one, sweet and fierce.” Mags polished a mug. “I think you should look her up. She’s magical too, right? You’d have a lot in common.”

Dylan laughed and leaned on the counter. “She has a boyfriend. The powerful Demigod that can control water, remember him? When he lifted you over the rocks, I believe you said, ‘Oh my lucky stars.’”

She pursed her lips and her face turned red. She turned to busy herself again with the coffee machine. “I was just surprised, is all.”

“By the muscle, yeah. We all caught on when you squeezed his bicep.”

“Oh, pish! Well, that’s too bad. She seemed sensible. As sensible as a magical person can be, of course.”

“Naturally.”

“Well, I think you should find someone. You’ve been alone for long enough. It’s time to get matched up. You’re magical—be magical. God didn’t intend for you to hide what you are. Find a place that makes you happy, and live true to yourself. No more sneaking to the mountaintop to put on secret light shows—let everyone see. It’s beautiful.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “And I’d always thought I was so secretive.”

“It’s hard to hide what you are from people that pay attention,” she said, laughing softly.

Her words filtered into his awareness, merging with the things that young girl had said. He’d have to get better at hiding his magic, or people would find him. They knew to look now; it would be easier.

He accepted a cup of coffee from her. “That Demigod and his girlfriend want me to work for them.”

“Oh? See? Now that’s a good idea. They were very nice people. Not like that other one. I’d always thought magical people were like the blonde with the beehive”—she meant Flora—“waltzing in, waving their money around, barking at everyone to bend to their whims—but the dark-haired man and his people were very sweet. So generous, too. The tips!”

Dylan nodded, sipping his coffee. “He and his people are certainly different, you’re right about that. I told myself I would never…work for one of them again. Never. But if I go back into that world, I’ll have to. Either I’ll choose who to…work for, or someone, like the beehive lady, will choose for me.”

“Hmm. That doesn’t sound right.”

“I have a special kind of magic, and the magical world is a brutal place.”

“Now that I do know. That’s why I live here. I’m a simple woman, and I want a simple way of life. I can’t keep up with all the other stuff. But no matter where you end up, you’ll find two sorts of people—those who want to help others and those who would rather just help themselves. I think if you find the sort that want to help others, you won’t go wrong.”

He sipped his coffee in reflection.

Her little chuckle brought his focus back to her.

“What?” he asked.

“Well, that kinda fits, doesn’t it?”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“That man has magic over water.”

“He’s a Demigod of Poseidon, yes.”

“Yes, Poseidon, that’s the one. And your name is Dylan.”

“And?”

Her brow furrowed even as she smiled at him. “Haven’t you ever looked up what your name means?” In response to his blank look, she shook her head, her gray curls waving. “I love learning the meaning of names and seeing if they match the person. Your name means ‘son of the sea’ or ‘born of the ocean.’ It didn’t seem to fit, but now… Well, maybe that’s your calling.”

Kieran

Two days after returning home from West Virginia, Kieran sat in his library, urgent business tugging on his mind and an uncomfortable feeling squeezing his heart. He did not take any pride or satisfaction in what he was about to do. He hated that it had come to this.

It couldn’t be put off any longer, though. He had one month to plan the meeting with Demigod Lydia, and there were a lot of moving parts to that situation. He needed to plan for every eventual hiccup, every possible outcome, and navigate every possible strategy Lydia might have developed for him and/or Alexis. He’d be taking his love and his people into a pit of flames, and he somehow had to make it out without catching fire.

Kieran stood when he noticed the ancient butler had answered his summons. He lurked by the open double doors, holding a silver tray laden with a tea set. “Sodge, come in.”