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“It’s just me,” I shout out as I feel how cold it is in here and flick on the magical heating. The weather is always changing so quickly. Some say it’s the old gods anger that changes the weather from hot to cold all within a day. I’ll pay that bill later, either way. “Louie?”
“Here,” Louie shouts back, and I follow his shout to find him in the open-plan kitchen-living area, also where he has a small bed pushed up at the one side. The walls are cracked, the cream paper peeling off, but it’s the same in most of the apartments. Louie is sitting on the bed, throwing an orange ball in the air and catching it over and over. Louie catches the ball one more time before sitting up, brushing locks of his black hair out of his eyes.
“How was school?” I question, leaning against the wall.
“Boring and predictable. Mr. French told me I was too smart for the class and suggested I join the fae army. Again,” he tells me, and my heart lurches for a second until I see him chuckle. “I’m not crazy. Obviously.”
After the age of ten, any male or female can join the fae army and be trained to fight for the queen, but they have to take the serum. The serum is an enchanted concoction that turns any mortal into a full-blooded fae and forces a bond between whoever takes it and the queen. Meaning that no one who takes the serum can ever betray her. I once thought about joining the fae army myself when things were rough and I was starving, but I will never forget the other foster kids in the homes who died from the serum. Roughly ten percent survive. I will never let Louie take a risk like that. Not even for the riches and security and the promise of power that the Fae Queen offers up.
I’m lost in my thoughts. I don’t even notice Louie climb off his bed and come over to me. His eyes are like molten silver, just like his father’s were. “You look tired.”
“Hello, good to see you, too. How’s your mom today?”
“The same,” he quietly says, walking past me and opening the door to her bedroom. His mom was once a foster mom of mine, and the only one alive. I look down at her in her bed, her thin body covered in an unnatural blue glow as she lightly hovers off the bedsheets. Five years ago, we were attacked by the monster who has hunted me my entire life. Five years ago, her mate jumped in front of her to save her life, they smashed through a wall, and she hit her head on the edge of a door. My foster dad was the only reason I became an enforcer—because he was one. The Enforcer Guild paid for this apartment and a magically protected sleep until she can be woken, not that we can afford to do that, and the Guild’s sympathy only stretched so far.
This was my eleventh foster home, the very last one I went to before I turned sixteen and aged out. I remember coming here, fearful, and meeting Louie, who hugged me. I hadn’t been hugged in years, and it shocked me. It was still one of the happiest days of my life.
I go over to her side, stroking her greying red hair and sighing. I’d do anything to be able to afford to wake her up. For Louie. For me.
I leave three quarters of my wages on the side, and Louie looks down at the money, right as his stomach grumbles. I smile and nod. “Should I go and get something for us?” he asks.
“And for the week. For you,” I tell him, ruffling his hair.
“Thank you,” he says quietly. “One day, I’m going to be an enforcer like you and pay you back for all these years. I’m going to protect you.”
“You’re my brother in every way that matters, and family don’t owe each other debts like this,” I gently tell him. “And with how smart you are, I hope to the goddess you become someone so much better than me.”
“Impossible,” he says with a grin.
“Be careful on the streets,” I warn him as he picks up a few of the coins and shoves them into his faded brown trousers. I need to buy him some new clothes soon, judging from the tears and holes in his blue shirt. One thing I love about Louie is that he never complains, never asks for clothes or for anything that costs money except for food. I wish I could give him more, but I can’t.
“The monsters can’t catch me, I’m too fast,” he exclaims before bolting out of the door.
I chuckle as I sit down in the chair by the side of her bed, picking up her pale hand. “He doesn’t have a clue, does he, mom? But he looks so much like dad.”
Silence and the gentle hum of the magic surrounding her is my only reply, and I can’t even remember what her voice is like anymore. She was my foster mom for a few years, far longer than any of the other ten before her, and she always asked me to call her mom. “One day, I’m going to wake you up so you can see Louie growing into a strong man. I’m going to make sure he gets a good job and stays far away from the true dangers of this city.”
I hope she can hear me. I hope it gives her some comfort to know I’m here, but a part of me wonders if she would resent me. I’m the reason she is like this. I’m the reason her mate is dead. I close my eyes and blow out a shaky breath. The monster hasn’t come back, not for years, and I have no reason to suspect he will now. But if he does, this time, I won’t be a helpless child, unable to stop him from murdering my foster parents. I don’t know if he killed my biological parents, no one does, but he killed every enforcer family that took me in. I try not to think of it, of all the death that haunted me like he did. My monster, my lurking shadow. I stay with my foster mom for a little longer before cleaning up the house, doing the washing and tidying in her room before Louie gets back, and then we cook dinner together before eating.
“Can I come to yours to play a game of kings?” he asks, referring to the card game we play on quiet nights, especially weekends like today, as I wash up and he dries the plates.
“I’d usually have you over, but I’m meeting Nerelyth for drinks tonight. It’s her birthday,” I tell him softly. Most kids his age would prefer to play with their friends and have them over, but Louie has never been good at making friends. He keeps to himself.
“Okay,” he replies, his voice tinged with sadness. Loneliness. He only has me and his mom, but she can’t read him stories, play games and help with the complicated enchantment work he is learning at school. After grabbing my bag, I kiss the top of his head before I leave, closing the door behind me and resting my head back against it, my eyes drooping. I’m so tired and I could use a long nap, not a night of partying for Nerelyth’s birthday.
I sigh and push myself off the wall before heading up to my apartment. It is partially paid for by the Enforcer Guild, one of the half decent things they do for their employees. The night sky glitters like a thousand moons as I get to my floor and look up at the sunroof far above. Three actual moons hang in the sky somewhere, but I can’t see them from here, and I wish I could. They say looking at the three moons and making a wish is the only way for the dragon goddess to hear you. I’m sure it’s not true, but I still look up sometimes and wish. I shove my key into the lock, wondering if I have any enchanted wine left over from last time Nerelyth came over, and push into my cold apartment. If I get dressed quickly, I might even have time to finish the extremely spicy romance book I was reading last night, on the way to the bar.
“Posy, where are you?” I shout out as I head in. “I bought some of those meat strips you like from the market, as I’m going out tonight with Nerelyth. It’s her birthday, remember?”
I’ve been mostly absent for the last two days and not had much time to spend with Posy—my roommate who happens to be a bat and stuck that way thanks to a witch’s curse. I drop my bag on the side and look around in the darkness before sighing. Clicking my fingers, balls of warm white light within small glass spheres flood my apartment with light from where they are attached to the wall. I search around the main area, a small kitchen with two counters, a magical food storage box, and a large worn sofa pressed against the wall. It looks nearly the same as when I moved in, I notice, except for my two bookcases in the corridor leading to the bathroom and bedroom, full of romance books I’ve collected over the years. My prized possessions.
Escapism at its finest.
“Posy, come on. You can’t still be mad at me?” I holler in frustration as I walk into the tiny bathroom, which is empty. “Bats are nocturnal, so I know you’re awake and ignoring me, but I don’t have time to chase you around this apartment all night.”
I hear a small rustling noise from my bedroom, and I smile as I walk over and push the door open.
Clicking my fingers, two lights burn to life above my bed, and I go still. My heart nearly stops because it’s not Posy in my bedroom.
