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7. Rule #7 Leylines Help With Magic. Maybe.

Rule #7: Leylines Help With Magic. Maybe.

Zoe

T he house I stood in front of was a pretty accurate depiction of the manor in the ad. Red brick with pointed white gables and a huge wrought iron gate. It looked like the kind of house kids would point at and shout, "Witches live there!"

I sighed deeply. Nothing like hiding in plain sight, I supposed. It was the only house in a cul-de-sac, with the neighbors being at least a hundred feet away. Solitary, I liked it already.

The gate made a ridiculous creaking sound when I pushed it open and I cringed at the noise. That would be the first thing getting fixed when I moved in here.

If I moved in here.

Oh, who was I kidding.

I was praying that the room was still available. The house was built on a ley line. Which was a sort of magical fault line, magic was stronger here. If I moved in, maybe my magic would be strengthened by it and I wouldn't need a coven .

A flagstone walkway led to the house and the front garden was filled with flower beds. I walked up the four wide steps that led to a wrap-around porch. This place was stunning. How was it only $350 a month?

A worn, gnarled broomstick stood propped up by the front door. It would ward against negative or unwanted energy. My heart thudded in my chest. Hecate knew I was probably brimming with negative energy that needed to be swept right away. I took a deep breath, calming myself, before lifting my hand to knock on the stained glass front door, but it opened before I could make contact.

"Come inside, my dear," a soft voice called from the shadowy interior.

I stepped in and the door closed behind me on its own. Must be nice.

The entrance hall was all warm wood paneling and despite the darkness, it felt… safe. To my left was what appeared to be a formal dining room. It housed a twelve seater solid wood dining table with chairs and large windows that allowed the sun to stream in.

"In here, Zoe." The voice came from my right and I followed it, entering what appeared to be a living room. A large ornate fireplace stood empty to the left and big bay windows looked out to the front of the house. Between those, facing the fireplace sat Madam Picoult on a rather comfortable looking light gray modern couch.

"An upgrade," she said, patting the spot on the couch beside her and I took the offered seat. "My youngest daughter insisted on some more modern finishes if we were going to rent out to young modern… women."

"Witches, you mean?"

"Yes, of course," the old woman said, taking a sip of her tea. "The house is too big for just me now that my husband's passed, so I've found something smaller but I didn't want to sell yet. It feels like there's a part of me still in this house and I'm not yet ready to let go, you know? "

I nodded as if I knew what she was talking about, but I had never felt that way about a house. Sure, I had grown up in a pretty well-off family, but that house had never been a home. It had been a prison. And my shithole apartment could go up in flames and I would feel nothing about it.

Ignoring my little internal crisis, she continued. "So I thought why not rent it out to people who need a break?"

"That's very kind of you," I replied.

Madam Picoult was a tall, thin woman with steel gray hair pinned into a tight bun. She wore a black polo neck and wide legged pants. Silver bangles jingled as she moved and I spied a necklace around her neck with her coven symbol. In a word, she was elegant.

"Tea?" she offered, indicating to the tray that sat on the coffee table. I wasn't a big tea drinker, but it seemed rude to refuse the woman who I was hoping would home me.

"Thank you," I nodded.

She waved a hand absentmindedly and the teapot rose to pour itself then the milk jug and –

"Oh, no sugar for me please."

Madame Picoult smiled and waved her hand toward me, sending the tea cup floating over. Agony twinged in my chest at the easy display of magic. I was lost without mine. I didn't trust it anymore and that was a terrible feeling for a witch. My magic had been the one thing I could rely on. And now it was faulty. But living on this ley line… I'd drink tea that tasted like grass all day long.

"Amelia vouches for you. She says she has complete trust in you, even though you've been banished from your coven."

She peered at me over her tea cup, waiting for more. Well, I guess I'd have to talk about this some time. It was now or never. I took a deep breath to steel myself when her soft hand reached out for mine .

"I don't need the details, my dear. I can tell by your aura that you have some troubles, but overall…" She glanced around my head, an assessing look in her eye. "I have a good feeling about you. You need help. I can see. But I think you'll find your way soon."

I didn't know what to say to that so I took a sip of the grassy tasting tea, resisting the urge to gag lest I insult her. With a twinkling laugh, she reached out to take the tea cup from me.

"You don't have to drink it," she said with smiling eyes. "You can have the room. The lease will be for a six month trial run, then we can extend for another six months or a year after that if you'd like."

"Oh! For real?"

"Yes, there's something about you that reminds me of my youngest daughter, Sophia. You hide a good heart under all that armor. Come, let me give you a tour."

The living room we had just left had modern touches like a big flat screen TV above the fireplace, the comfy couch we had risen from and two leather recliners with cup holders. We moved through to the dining room across the hallway then through a swinging door on the right that led to the kitchen.

The cabinets were painted a dark green with brass finishings. A huge double butler kitchen sink sat under the windows that looked out into the backyard, and a massive marble kitchen island divided the room in two. Sophia's modern touches could be seen here too: a new gas stove, double door fridge/freezer combo and a dishwasher.

"The library's this way," Madam Picoult said as she led the way back into the entry hall then crossed the hallway. The library shared a wall with the living room which meant that there was another empty fireplace but this time on the right wall while the other three walls were covered in floor to ceiling bookshelves. Madam Picoult chuckled at my gasp.

"I'm trying very hard not to hug all these books," I whispered .

She curled an arm around my shoulder and I tensed at the touch. I wasn't used to being touched and while it wasn't unwelcomed, I usually took a while to warm up to strangers. "Well, I'm glad that there will be someone to appreciate them. They're not all magical though," she said mischievously. "There are some rather spicy romance novels over on that side."

"My kinda books!"

She laughed louder at that and squeezed my shoulder before letting go. "My kinda girl!"

We made our way upstairs and I finally voiced the question that had been bothering me since the start.

"This is an amazing house. Why is the rent so cheap?"

"Well, you don't have the most conventional of roommates. She was also banished from her…"

"Coven?" I supplied.

"No. Her nest."

I stopped mid-stride.

"Her… nest?" I repeated, closing my eyes. A fucking vampire. No wonder the rent was so cheap.

"Yes, she was banished from her nest for being a vegan."

Well, that caught my attention.

"A vegan vampire? How does that even work? Does she feed on tomatoes?"

"No, dear, just animal blood."

"That's the opposite of a vegan," I said as we came to a stop at the top of the stairs. A large porthole window looked down on the yard out back. There was a veggie garden along with a pool and a huge jacaranda tree, bursting with purple blooms provided shade across a sprawling well kept lawn .

Madam Picoult gestured to the closed door on our left. "Rory obviously sleeps during the day and is up at night. So you likely won't see much of each other anyway. She's a lovely girl. I think you two will get on well. She doesn't feed on humans and I trust her not to snack on you in the night. But feel free to put up any wards until you feel comfortable. I really feel like this will be good for you, Zoe."

She opened a door on the right. This room overlooked the backyard and also had a fireplace. A pair of French doors led to what looked to be a balcony.

"You're welcome to bring your own bed if you'd prefer but–"

"No, this is great. I don't think the dumpster rats even want the one I have."

A solid wood four poster bed was pushed against the far wall and matching cabinets and a chest of drawers stood perpendicular to it along another.

"The bathroom's through here," she said.

I froze in the doorway and almost cried. I had immediate visions of soaking in the large black clawfoot tub and the walk-in shower was tiled in navy blue with a huge rain shower head. My tired muscles wept at the thought of having access to a steady supply of hot water.

"Are you sure about that rent?" I asked.

Madam Picoult's warm gray eyes met mine as she touched my cheek. The way a grandmother would and my heart ached again. This wasn't the first time I had been abandoned. And this kindness… I didn't understand it. Especially not from strangers.

"It's not about the money, my dear. It's about helping those who need a little bit of grace. All I ask is that you remember that when you meet your house mate."

Two days and Lewis complaining about five thousand boxes later, I was moved in. And I had yet to see any sign of my new housemate. There weren't even blood bags in the fridge. Which I was thankful for because I wasn't sure how I would explain that to Lewis.

It had been a long week at the gym. After knowing him for little over a month, Daniel was still being attractively annoying. He made me want to argue with him. To push his buttons. To get the upper hand. I enjoyed proving him wrong. But I also tried to hang around the house as much as possible, hoping that the influence of the ley line would bolster my power. Lewis had a date tonight, which left me with a pizza to myself and a documentary about orcas to watch in peace. Dressed in soft black shorts and a gray t-shirt, I made myself a nest with pillows and blankets on the couch and settled in for the night. It was just after midnight when the front door slammed open.

"I'm home, roomie!" a rather enthusiastic voice called out before Rory flounced into the living room.

I didn't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't a beautiful blonde with legs for days dressed head to toe in hot pink.

"Hi! I'm Rory! I'm so happy to finally meet you!"

Despite almost being swallowed by the couch, she managed to give me an all encompassing hug.

I was certainly not expecting peppy.

"We're going to be best friends!"

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