4. Willow

FOUR

Willow

It sounded so simple. Start talking—but where to start?

So I did what I’d want if the roles were reversed—I started at the beginning and didn’t stop until I reached what had happened this afternoon. I kept out the fact they could change into animals. Royce had asked and I knew what it meant to them to remain unknown to humans like me.

“You’re really drawing him?” Lily asked as she watched me. “Before you ever met him?”

“Yes.”

She puffed out her cheeks and released a long breath. “I mean, I know you two had a thing, but I didn’t realize this was the thing.” She nibbled on the end of her hair, batting my hand away when I reached out to stop her. “It needs a trim, it’s fine,” she muttered absentmindedly. “And he left? With this psychic connection happening, he just thought he could leave?”

“I really don’t think it’s a psychic connection,” I muttered, feeling uncomfortable under her penetrating gaze .

“Well, what would you call it?” she asked, shifting her position on the bed. “You’re drawing him.” Her expression became thoughtful. “Do you see what he sees?”

Thinking about it, I shook my head. So many of the drawings were of his past, but then, who was I to say I hadn’t seen it from his point of view?

“No. I think I see moments that she wants me to see.”

“She?” Lily’s gaze sharpened, and I cursed myself for speaking too freely.

“My muse?” It was a wild, ridiculous stab in the dark that didn’t mention their Goddess, but Lily accepted it readily.

“Of course! Like your inspiration, right?” I nodded along with her, but really, I just let her ramble. “It’s so interesting ,” she suddenly exclaimed. “I mean, I know why you kept it from me…” She gave me a look I knew well. “You shouldn’t have, but I understand why.” The look hadn’t changed and was completely contradictory to her words.

I couldn’t stop myself from asking. “You don’t though, do you?”

The slap on my thigh was quick, and I was grateful for the covers between us. “No! Of course, I don’t!” she snapped. “ Why wouldn’t you tell me? This is colossal, and you have all this crap happening to you, and you thought you could do it yourself ? Are you crazy?” She didn’t give me the chance to reply. “Yes, you are. I’m your best friend. We don’t keep shit from each other. I don’t care how sexy Caleb is, he does not trump friendship.”

“It was a lot,” I told her. “It had nothing to do with how he looks, Lil. ”

Her snort told me exactly what she thought of that . “You were thinking with your hoo-ha, and you know it.”

Except, I hadn’t been. He was a good-looking man, but the reason I went with Caleb and was still keeping his secrets was because it wasn’t just his secret I kept. “Maybe,” I murmured, holding back my displeasure as Lily accepted it without question.

Which is why when she hit me again over the covers, it was harder and hurt. “Ow! Why?” I demanded.

She rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed with me, and I saw her frustration. Crossing her legs beneath her, she leaned forward, holding my gaze with an intensity that only Lily could manage.

“Do you think you’re protecting me?” she demanded. “Is that it? Is that why you’re giving me some story about a hot guy and your heart going pitter-patter when he gives you his brooding stare?” She leaned forward some more. “Something has happened to you. You could have been hurt, and you want to lie there and tell me it’s about just a guy?”

Hearing the slight waver in her voice made me swallow hard as I studied her with the same intensity as she looked at me. Lily was scared. She was trying to mask it, but she forgot I knew her so well.

Like she knew me.

I let out a sigh, pushing my hair behind my ears, unsure how to deal with this and still keep their secret. “Lily, it’s not that simple. It’s not just about you and me. There are things…” I stopped. I weighed my options, tested my loyalty I had to her as my friend and to the shifters who may be the only way to break this link to Caleb. “Things are happening that I can’t tell you,” I ad mitted. “I promised. And honestly, I can’t make you understand because I don’t really understand, but I know that I can’t tell you everything, and I have to ask you to respect that.” Pushing myself to sit up straighter, I watched her. “Trust me that I’m doing this for you. It’s for your own good.”

The weight of the silence lay heavy between us, and I felt the pressure of it like a weight on my chest.

I think she saw my struggle because, for a brief moment, her expression softened before she looked away. When she looked back, her resolve had hardened, and I held back my groan.

“Then tell me what you can,” she instructed softly. “Without the vagueness and BS you just fed me, tell me what’s really going on. You can trust me,” she reminded me, and I heard the slight reprimand that I had maybe thought that I couldn’t. “No matter if you think it’s crazy, tell me.”

Looking down at my clasped hands, I watched them whiten as I gripped tightly. I’d told Royce I wouldn’t tell her, but how could I tell her some of it without telling her all of it? But then, could I really drag Lily into this? Earlier, I’d been lamenting that my life was a mess; did I want to bring that mess into Lily’s life? She didn’t know what I had seen, what I saw when I closed my eyes. She didn’t know what Caleb was running from.

Because neither did I.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” I spoke softly. “It’s not that I’m doing this to be a bitch or a dick. I gave my word I wouldn’t tell you everything, on the proviso I could tell you something .” I searched her face, seeing the confusion in her eyes. “Please understand.”

“You think I can’t handle it,” she told me flatly.

“I don’t think I can handle it,” I blurted without thought, knowing I’d said too much when her eyes widened.

“Try me?” When I said nothing, she huffed out a laugh. “Fine, I get it. You’re being honorable and shit.”

Chewing the corner of my bottom lip, I felt the weight of doubt press down on me again. I was doing the right thing, I knew I was, but I was worried that by doing so, the secret—and it was a pretty big secret—would fray the edges of our friendship. “You accept I’m not telling you everything?” I asked, and despite the sigh, she nodded. “And you accept that I’m not doing it out of spite, but because it matters?” She nodded again. “And we’re still friends?” I laughed when she laid her hand out flat, tilting it from side to side. “Okay,” I accepted with a smile. “It’s rocky, I get it.”

Reaching out, I took hold of her hand and was relieved when she gave it a slight squeeze.

“I know you, Willow Harper,” she spoke quietly. “I know that when you can’t tell me , then you can’t tell anyone. I hate that,” she said with a rueful smile. “But I know you’ll hate it more.” Sitting back, she let go of my hand. “Let’s go through it again, without the thing you can’t mention, but with more of the details of what you can.”

My heart raced with adrenaline, but also an overwhelming sense of gratitude. She deserved to know the truth or as much as I could tell her. Taking a deep breath, I began again—telling her about Caleb, the drawings, and the danger hunting me that I didn’t understand myself. I laid it all out, except for the one secret that wasn’t mine to tell.

She listened intently. I could see her reaction as she absorbed details I hadn’t shared before, and I could see the wheels turning as she listened. When I finished, she sat there in silence with what I hoped was understanding.

“I think we need Dean and Sam,” she spoke suddenly, and I smiled at her Supernatural reference. “Honestly, we need the Winchesters. There is too much otherworldly craziness here. You’re psychic and linked to a guy you don’t know, and we need to check for hex bags.”

“This is why I didn’t want to tell you more.”

“And you thought I wouldn’t be in this with you?” she asked me incredulously. “You know me better than this, Willow.”

I couldn’t help but laugh in relief, the weight lifting off of me. She didn’t know it all, she knew it was more, and she wasn’t flinching. She was still here. Still sitting beside me.

“Willow?”

“Yeah?”

“I know you made a promise,” she said as she watched me, the intensity back in her gaze. “But when you can, you promise me , right now, if things get worse, you tell me everything. No more hidden truths. No more half facts. I want to hear you say we have a deal. Deal?”

I hesitated for a moment, that one secret I hadn’t shared still sitting heavy on my conscience. But I nodded anyway. “Deal.”

“Good girl.” She beamed at me, and I noticed that my tummy didn’t flutter like it had when Caleb said it. “So…let’s figure this shit out. We need to know who was in your house, what they want, and how we get through to Caleb.”

“We?”

“Of course we . We do this together, or I get you committed to a mental facility for being insane because you think you’re psychically linked to a figment of your imagination.”

The laughter burst from me, and it felt so good to laugh. “That’s brutal,” I told her, wiping my eyes when I finally calmed down.

“You know I will,” she said with such pride that I started laughing again.

The sound of the front door opening sobered me, the reminder that I wasn’t in my home, and that reminder hit hard. Other people were cleaning up the disarray in my business and personal life, while I sat on the sidelines, hiding.

Lily reached over and took my hand again, her eyes flicking to the door, but she said nothing. I knew we were both thinking the same thing. What now? Neither of us would have an answer until whoever was coming up the stairs told us. I felt trapped suddenly between my guilt and the feeling of exhaustion, as uncertainty on how to face it all hung over me.

I heard the footsteps approach, the tread light, and I exchanged a look with Lily, both of us prepared for Lorna to appear and burst the small fragile bubble of safety we had hidden in over the last couple of hours.

The door opened slowly, Lorna popping her head around, seeing we were both awake and stepping into the room with more noise. Her face was drawn, but it had softened when she saw us both.

“Girls, are you okay?” she asked, looking between us. “Everything in the store is as good as it’s going to be tonight.” She rubbed her forehead. “I’m so sorry, Willow, we couldn’t save any of the art.”

“It’s okay, I knew that,” I consoled her, even though it was my art. I’d known the moment I walked in earlier tonight that it was unsalvageable. I’d have to reach out to the other artists that I showcased and let them know.

“Noel, my husband,” she added unnecessarily, “he stayed at your house. Called one of his workers in. The locks are changed.” She fished in her pocket, laying out two new house keys. “Your dad,” she spoke to Lily, “got the store locks changed. This is them.” She lay another two keys down. “The house will take a little more time,” she said softly. “You can stay here for as long as you like, okay?”

“You and Noel have done more than enough, Lorna,” I told her gratefully. “I think I’ve already imposed as much as I should.”

“You are welcome in my house,” she told me firmly. “I want you to feel safe, and you won’t feel that until you’ve had a good night’s sleep and can face all this in the morning.” She looked at Lily briefly but took a step forward. “We saw the knife on the floor, Willow. No one should have to hold a knife in their hand before walking into their bedroom.”

I remembered the look Ned had given me. “I didn’t. I put the knife down,” I said with a scornful laugh.

“And that’s okay,” Lorna soothed me.

I nodded, but I felt the familiar tightness in my throat. The fact that it was a familiar feeling choked me even more. I wasn’t able to stutter the words of thanks for the incredible kindness she was giving me. The acceptance from the other two women in the room, that I hadn’t even been prepared to protect myself in my home, hit deeper than I wanted to admit.

Lily filled the silence for me. “Thank you, Lorna. Really, we appreciate it.” Her hand gripped mine tighter, and I knew she was frustrated that this had happened to me.

Lorna bent, picking up my discarded plate and mug. “You should try and rest, Willow. Your ME might flare up, and you don’t want that.”

No, because that would be just another thing to go wrong for me. Wow. How negative did I sound?

Yet the idea of rest…it didn’t feel possible. My body was tired, but my mind was racing with everything that had gone wrong. However, the idea of lying awake, alone with my thoughts? I shuddered. A night of being haunted by the events of today would only be unbearable. I also knew I couldn’t admit that to either of them.

“I’ll try,” I told Lorna with a small smile.

She beamed in response and then gave a not-so-subtle jerk of her head to Lily. “Your father is waiting outside.”

“I’ll just say goodbye,” Lily told Lorna, and the other woman said goodnight to me. As the door closed behind her, Lily blew out a breath. “You put the knife down?”

“I was on the phone calling the police,” I lied. Well, I’d been on the phone, so not a total lie. “I needed a hand to open the door. It was put the phone down or put the knife down.”

“So you chose to put down the weapon ?”

The outrage was real, and I bit back my laughter. “Seriously, Lily? What was I going to do with a knife?”

She thought about it. “Yeah, you’re right, someone would definitely be in the hospital, and it would be you.”

“That’s what Caleb would’ve said too.” I didn’t miss her sharp look, but she said nothing.

“I better go. Dad’s outside.” She stood and I could see her reluctance to leave. “If you didn’t look so adorable in Lorna’s PJs and comfortable in that bed, I would tell you to get up and come to my place.”

I looked down at the red flannel jammies. “They’re so soft.”

“Okay, I’m going.” At the door, she looked over at me. “You sleep, no visions, no muse invasions.”

“Muse invasions?” My lips twitched slightly.

“No dirty dreams of Caleb either! I want you to sleep.”

“I don’t have dirty dreams of Caleb,” I protested with a scowl, causing her to grin.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. We’ll check out the store and then your house. I’ll pick you up.”

“Lily, you work, you don’t need to.”

“Pfft. Dad will send me straight to you if I turn up at work, and you know it.”

I didn’t, but after tonight, I didn’t doubt as much as I once would have. “Thanks. And thank you, for everything.”

“Best friend.” She pointed at herself. “Never forget it.”

As if she would let me. I didn’t say that; instead, I wished her goodnight, thanked her again, and when the door was closed, I switched the nightlight off.

And stared into the darkness.

I lay in the silence, going over everything that had happened that day. Friends had stepped up and given me their support. My fingers twisted in the blanket as I struggled with the fact that they shouldn’t have had to, but I was so thankful they had.

I had people to count on, and that meant so much. I couldn’t imagine life without Lily and my friends.

My mind flashed to Caleb in the sketch that Royce had taken earlier. The shirtless one, where he was surrounded by nature.

Alone.

If this had happened to Caleb, would he have had an army of helpers to step up and lend a hand? No . He had no one. I remembered what I had thought earlier, and my resolve strengthened.

Not true.

He had me, and I knew I needed to make him realize that. Because people had been in my home and my business, and left a warning.

Was it a warning for me, or him?