Jade Hayes: Meow meow meow.
Mason Yu was more concerned with when Shane Keane would finally trip up for good. "So the Supernatural Affairs Bureau on your side will handle him, right?"
The car that got damaged was the one his older brother had given him as a birthday present when he turned eighteen. It nearly wound up sunk in the river; his brother later said as long as he was fine, the car could be replaced, but Mason just couldn't swallow that.
He hadn't exactly stopped trying to sabotage Shane—he'd tried plenty of little schemes, only one in ten ever worked.
"It'll be handled. Captain Harper's the one I called to go after Shane. You have no idea—I nearly had a heart attack when I saw him at the airport yesterday. He was like a rolling black fog, darting everywhere. Felt like just being near his mist rubbed off bad luck on you."
That description was unsettling, especially since Grace Jiang and Anna Lang remembered having chatted with Shane on the plane. They both immediately asked Ollie to check whether any bad luck had stuck to them.
"I don't think so? I can't feel anything wrong. Captain Harper didn't say anything either. Chill, you two have both been around guardian beasts—whatever bad luck there is would get wiped clean under their influence."
When Ollie said "guardian beasts," he meant that Anna and Mira's armored tortoise guardian had been all cuddly with them, and the snake Grace had grabbed barehanded was actually the true form of an azure dragon. For a while everyone thought Ollie himself must be some little guardian-beast sprite.
After all, who would have expected that the two people who'd just flipped their worldview were already face-to-face with two top-tier Fae?
The production crew tracked them down via the camera's location. The live stream had been shut off and not restarted, and fans were asking questions; if too much time passed and something happened, the crew couldn't shoulder that liability.
When they finally found the four guests, the sight was ridiculous: the four of them were sitting together, shells scattered, noisily cracking and munching sunflower seeds.
Where did the seeds even come from?
Had the little squirrels from earlier really brought this many?
And what about Mason? Wasn't he the one who'd wanted to bury Ollie alive just to tick off Julian? How was he now sitting peacefully, cracking seeds—and even shooing an ant off Ollie's shoulder?
"Um, teachers? You need to turn the live stream back on. We can't explain this to anyone otherwise."
They were supposed to be live the whole time; this segment had already stretched nearly an hour, and questions were coming from every direction. The pressure wasn't something a tiny production team could handle alone.
Ollie brushed the seed hulls off his hands and had the crew hand him a trash bag. The four of them carefully swept up every shell around them—no littering, be civilized humans and Fae.
"Go ahead and start. I don't get what's so interesting about watching someone sleep…" Ollie glanced at his watch; twenty minutes to midnight. He hoped Julian's side was okay.
Julian had been mostly fine, sleep-wise, but insomnia hit hard after his illness; often he didn't fall asleep until one or two in the morning. He'd been leaning there, eyes closed, trying to rest. When half an hour passed and Jade still hadn't come back into the camera's view, Julian stood to look for her.
"I think I can hear Jade's voice out here—she might have wandered into the woods. I'll go bring her back. Don't worry, everyone."
He hadn't actually heard her; he was placating the live chat. They'd been given a flashlight in the supply pack, but Jade had left without taking one. It would be dark out there—could she really have gotten lost?
Julian swept his flashlight over the ground, trying to find footprints. At first he saw them clearly, but then they vanished. They were near the lake; wet mud should have held tracks, but nothing.
He had already come through the trees; the lakeshore was only twenty or so yards away. The ground grew muddier and wetter, and Julian—who had a touch of neat-freak about him—didn't want to ruin his shoes. He'd be stuck out here another day before he could head back to the city; getting them filthy would bother him.
As he scanned the shore, he saw no prints, but the beam caught a shape—two mounds rising from the ground, casting a shadow.
Moonlight and his flashlight were bright, yet he couldn't make out what the shadow actually was.
One step, then another. He didn't want to get his shoes dirty, but what if Jade had collapsed here? He couldn't walk away.
"Don't go!"
A hand—ice-cold, not one bit of human warmth—clamped around his free arm. Julian's heart thudded; his body felt frozen. He stared straight ahead, afraid to turn and see something he shouldn't.
The hand's owner sensed he'd frightened him and loosened his grip. He spoke softly, warning him to brace himself.
"Don't go over there. It's a trap. I didn't want to show myself, but if you fall in I won't be able to pull you out."
The voice sounded familiar; Julian couldn't place it at first. "You can turn back, but be prepared. I… I'm afraid I might scare you."
The man's tone held no malice, and Julian kept thinking he'd heard it before. If he turned and was startled, it might be worse, but he steeled himself and whirled around. Backlit by the moon, Jenna Carter's face looked unexpectedly eerie.
Julian: "…"
Julian: "Hiss… I… you…"
He clutched at his chest and took several deep breaths. Good thing he'd been warned—he might have had a heart attack otherwise.
Jenna jumped, worried she'd caused serious harm. She helped him sit on a nearby rock. After a while Julian recovered.
"Are you okay, Mr. North? Do you have any medicine? Do you need something to calm you?"
Now that the angle changed and moonlight fell on him properly, Jenna's complexion looked paler than most, even a little translucent, but at least not frightening.
"You… you weren't actually dead, were you? Why are you here?"
Two years ago, the Rowan Tate case had gone national; almost no one hadn't heard about it—Julian included. That was why the voice was so familiar: Jenna had written, composed, and performed the theme song for one of his old dramas. They'd met a few times back then.
That era had been Jenna's peak. Soon after, she and Rowan had started dating, then everything had spiraled into the tragedy the public remembered.
"I did die—but I kept living in another way. I came with Ollie; he told me to stick close to you and keep you safe. Shane Keane is off. You feel it, don't you?"
Julian's brush with death had left him more sensitive than most; he sometimes sensed things others didn't. He'd always felt unsettled around Shane.
"There's a trap here. I don't know what it's for. Jade got drawn in by it—one step and she was stuck. One of my seniors is trying to deal with it, but it's been over half an hour."
If Julian had thought it through he'd have realized sooner something was wrong; this trap was beyond what a normal creature could resist—let alone a human. If Jenna hadn't appeared and caught him, he might have fallen in too.
"How is she? Is she okay?"
"You know our show's streaming live. I came out to calm viewers with an excuse, but if I don't get Jade back things could go sideways quickly."
Right now the important thing was Jade's safety; the production team's pressure wasn't their problem—the live segment's location had been chosen by those fans who loved stirring trouble.
"She's fine. Jade's Fae—this formation seems to be protecting something in Moon Bay. It doesn't hurt people, it just traps anyone who tries to get close. The weird bit is it seems to have developed some awareness and started hunting."
That explained why Jade, normally nimble as a tabby, had stumbled. Julian thought a moment and decided to head back and make up an excuse; he just hoped the senior Jenna mentioned could resolve the trap soon.
"Keep an eye on things here. If anything happens, find me. I'm heading back."
Jenna nodded. She'd been in entertainment too and understood the pressure Julian faced. She was about to say more when a desperate, plaintive mewl cut across the air.
"Meow—!"
A tabby streaked out and, not looking where she was going, smacked into a tree.
The cat was dazed, four paws up in the air, rolling. Tiny scratches marred the soft pads. She tried to stand, but the rough ground stung her feet.
Julian—who'd had plenty of experience with animals, and even small Fae critters—was helpless in the face of fluffiness. He hurried over, scooped up the stumbling tabby, and cradled her, soothingly murmuring.
"Mimi, you good girl—where were you off to? It's so late to be wandering alone. Are you from the nearby town? Let me take you home, okay?"
Jenna: "…"
Jade: "…"
Dude—who even are you? This wasn't the smooth, composed Julian North she'd admired. He'd turned into a total softie at the sight of a furry creature—sound familiar.
Jenna knew if she told the truth Julian would be mortified. But she had to.
"Um, Mr. North—uh, the one you're holding is Jade Hayes. She slipped out but she's okay; you can take her back."
Julian: "…?"
Julian: "Huh?"
He looked down at the tabby, who was looking around guiltily with big shining eyes.
Jade meowed loudly, with perfect, confident timing.
Julian gently put Jade down, said one thing, and slipped away without another look.
"Handle it and hurry back—my live chat's about to go off the rails."