Page 10 of Autumn L.A.W

Sahara’s heart hammered. “That’s impossible.”

“Lots of things are impossible,” Lioness said, panting. “Yet here we are.”

A loud buzz vibrated Lioness’s pocket.

Sahara blinked. “Is that yours?”

Lioness fumbled with her phone. “It’s Cal.”

Sahara stared. “The firefighter?”

Lioness squinted at the screen. “He’s texting to make sure I’m okay because he heard about another tremor.”

“Argh, of course he is. Because you saved him from a basement once, and suddenly you’ve adopted a heroic golden retriever.”

Lioness would have laughed if her stomach didn’t feel like it was hosting a tornado. Before she could comment, the shadow-creature jerked toward them. Every hair on her body stood on end. Lioness rasped, “We need to move.”

“No,” Sahara said, throat tight. “We need to seal this. Now. Before it tears fully into our world.”

“Cool,” Lioness croaked. “But maybe we could do that when I’m not cursed and half-dead?”

The creature reached forward, its shadowy fingers spreading like smoke.

Sahara yanked Lioness back. “We retreat. Just far enough to get out of the curse’s immediate radius.”

Lioness breathed hard, nodding. “Then we can cast a containment spell and hopefully come back with the team before this thing gets loose.”

Sahara winced. “And Rayna’s in charge. I know she’ll have something to say about this.”

Lioness groaned. “You know she’s going to say, ‘I told you not to poke ancient things.’”

Sahara staggered to her feet. “She will. And she’ll be right.”

Behind them, the creature hissed—a sound less like breath and more like a quiet threat.

After doing the containment spell, Lioness wasn’t sure how long she and Sahara lay sprawled on the grass like two Victorian widows suffering from “the vapors,” but eventually Sahara spoke in a thin voice. “We need to call Rayna.”

Lioness squinted up at the sky. “You call her. If I try to form words, I’m going to redecorate Central Park in a very undignified way.”

Sahara fumbled for her phone, thumb trembling. “I can’t see the screen. It’s… It’s melting.”

“It’s not melting,” Lioness croaked, rolling halfway onto her back. “You’re cursed. Everything feels melty.”

Sahara didn’t argue. She just groaned.

Somewhere distant, faintly muffled, Lioness heard her phone buzzing. Or maybe it was a bee. Hard to tell when her brain felt like a scrambled egg.

Then the buzzing stopped. Then started again. Then stopped.

Lioness winced. “Ugh. Whoever that is needs to develop patience.”

The buzzing was immediately replaced by the sound of an engine.

Both witches turned their heads with all the speed and grace of dying tortoises toward the path.

A red SUV rolled to a stop at the curb. Cal Monroe jumped out before the engine even fully cut off. “Lioness!” he shouted, slamming the door. “I called you six times. What happened? Why do you look— Holy crap, are you sick?”

Lioness blinked at him. “Cal. Hi. You’re loud.”