Squirrelified (Enchanted Ink)

Chapter 2

C assius portaled directly outside Luca’s private studio and paused to take a breath. Luca had a reputation for being a hothead but had been much less so since he’d formed his triad and the newfound stability that offered. He’d become a family man, adding not only Colby to his and Ash’s relationship, but their human’s disabled brother, Daniel.

Not long after, Cassius had tapped Luca to be his number two in a bid to help develop the witch’s powers and leadership skills—a position which had been left vacant since his best friend Malachi’s disappearance years before. Luca had grown in the role and accepted new responsibilities well—but Cassius sensed he might revert to bad habits knowing a mate was in distress.

He knocked, realizing he couldn’t delay the inevitable. They needed to find Ash as soon as possible.

“Come in.”

Cassius peeked inside and fortunately found Luca alone, cleaning up after a recent tattoo. “Hey.”

Luca looked over his shoulder and smiled. “Hey.”

“I have some news, and I need you to keep a level head for me.”

“Sure,” Luca murmured, lifting one purple brow that matched the shock of hair above.

Cassius stupidly tossed Ash’s things onto the tattoo chair to give him a moment for the right words to come.

“What’s this?” Luca lifted one item, and his gaze spun to Cassius. “Are these Ash’s?” Luca was on his feet before Cassius could do more than nod. “He called me a bit ago. Things sounded tense. Is he?” Pure terror spread in Luca’s eyes. “Is he hurt? Where is he?”

“I think he’s okay,” Cassius said, opening his mouth to add more but was cut off.

“You think?”

Cassius lifted a hand to stop Luca from spiraling. “A hedgewitch just came in with Ash’s clothing and explained there’s been an accident.”

Anger shone in Luca’s eyes. They’d both had run-ins with hedges over the years, and none had been fun. “What did she do to him?”

“Luca!” Cassius said. “Breathe.”

Luca lifted his chin, jaw tight, appearing like a caged animal. His face grew red, but he finally inhaled and released a slow, steady breath.

“Ash is going to be okay. He was forced into a shift, in front of humans, and he’s run off. We need to find him and make sure he’s okay—and then we clean up the mess.”

Luca nodded. He took another breath. “What happened?”

“The hedgewitch claims she did a spell to stop a couple of crazed shifters. They’d turned feral and were fighting, a danger to themselves and others. She wanted to stop them before they hurt anyone—but she didn’t notice Ash was there until it was too late. It was an accident. I don’t know what spell she used, but I’m going to go find out. She’s terrified and tried to run when I dug for more details, so it might take me a bit.”

“I’ll help you get it out of her,” Luca said, marching closer, anger burning in his eyes.

“I think you being there might not have the desired effect,” Cassius said.

“Fuck the desired effect. Ash might be hurt.”

“From the sounds of it, she likely did a reversal spell of some sort, forcing the wolves back into their human form, but it had the opposite effect on Ash. It forced him to shift. Ash ran out, and she couldn’t find him to fix it—which is likely for the best, in all honesty, since we both know how hedges are.”

“Hedgewitches’ magic is unstable, at best. At worst, it can cause irreparable damage and harm.” Luca growled under his breath. “We need to find out what she did to him so I can fix it.”

“The irreparable part comes into play if a hedge wishes to inflict pain.” Or if the hedge has crossed into dark magic. “I didn’t sense anything nefarious from her. She came to us, worried she’d hurt Ash in her attempt to save others,” Cassius added, knowing they were wasting valuable time, but sending a half-cocked Luca out onto the streets of Salem wasn’t smart, either.

“What if this is a ruse to get inside our boundaries?” Luca asked. “A way in the front door? She might be a decoy.”

Cassius fought a smile but was pleased Luca’s mind had gone there. Logic meant he wasn’t blinded by rage. “I don’t sense that at all.” In fact, he sensed she’d been terrified to come in at all, but had done the right thing.

“With everything we’ve been dealing with in past months—the Council, demons, and even Lucifer himself, I don’t trust anyone,” Luca spat, eyes wide. “Not anymore.”

“We can’t always assume the worst every single day for the rest of our lives,” Cassius said. “I sensed good in her, and my gut is rarely wrong.”

Luca scoffed but remained silent.

“We’re wasting time. You need to go look for Ash, and I’ll see what information I can get out of her.”

Luca sighed. “Yeah.” He sped toward the door and slipped out of his studio. Cassius sighed and opened the portal back into the magical realm.

Only to find the little witch gone.

“Lift, lift, lift,” Colby murmured to Daniel, who was helping load his new pottery wheel into the back of the pickup he’d borrowed from Oz.

Daniel got the lighter end onto the truck bed, allowing Colby to push the heavier one up and onto the back. As soon as he’d gotten it in place, he sighed with relief, wiping the sweat from his brow. Of course, he’d chosen a spring day that felt more like broiling summer to arrange to pick up his new equipment. It wasn’t even April yet, and they were already seeing ninety-plus-degree temps?

What was June going to feel like?

“Good thing I came,” Daniel said, flexing his biceps in the tank top he wore. “You’re not strong like I am.”

Colby chuckled. “Remind me that next time. I’ll let you carry the heavy end.”

Daniel rolled his eyes. “I had the heavy end.”

“Sure, sure,” Colby murmured, his phone vibrating in his pocket. He lifted it out and smiled when he saw Luca’s name. He hit Accept and brought it to his ear. “Hey, babe.”

“Where are you?”

Colby frowned at the short, clipped tone to Luca’s voice. It immediately unsettled him. “In Boston. Daniel and I are picking up that used pottery wheel I bought on eBay. What’s wrong?”

“Keep an eye out for Ash. In squirrel form.”

Colby frowned. “What?”

“Seems he was hit by a hedgewitch’s rogue spell, and it forced him to shift—and he might be stuck like that. He supposedly ran away, and no one’s seen him here at Enchanted Ink. Everyone’s on lookout.”

Colby waved for Daniel to get into the truck. “What’s a hedgewitch?” he asked before he slid behind the wheel and turned over the engine.

“It’s hot,” Daniel grumbled, toying with the vents instead of strapping in.

“They’re…” Luca paused, and Colby sensed frustration on the other end. “They shouldn’t exist, honestly. Not like green witches.”

Colby turned up the air conditioning and allowed the cool air to wash over his sweaty face. Daniel sighed with relief and leaned forward, even though it wasn’t all that cool yet. “What’s a green witch?”

Luca sighed. “We’ve not done a very good job of explaining our world, I know, but we don’t have time now. After we find Ash and iron all this out, okay? I promise.”

“Yeah,” Colby said, frustrated. He’d picked up on some things in context over their months together, but there was a lot he still didn’t know—but then part of that was his fault, too. All their faults. Neither one of them could keep their hands to themselves when they had a moment free, and he, Ash, and Luca often ended up in bed together, where they were absolutely not discussing the categories of witches, or anything else for that matter.

The only things out of their mouths were about body parts and where they needed to go.

Fast.

“I’m about to head home. Shouldn’t be more than forty-five minutes before I hit Salem. Where do you want me to go?” Colby asked.

“Just head back to Enchanted Ink. Be on the lookout for a gray squirrel acting strange on your way there. If you find him… call me. Otherwise, can you just hang out there and wait for him, please?”

“Okay. I can do that. I’ll text you once we’re back in Salem.”

“Good,” Luca said. “I love you.”

“Love you, too.” Colby tossed his phone into the center console of the truck and turned to Daniel. “Ash might be stuck in squirrel form, so I need you to help me look for a gray squirrel on our way home, okay?”

Daniel’s smile faded. “Is Ash okay?”

“I don’t know, but I hope so. Luca and the guys can fix him if he’s not. You’ll help me look, right?”

“Heck yeah,” Daniel said, pulling on his seat belt. “I’ll find him!”

Colby offered his brother a smile he didn’t quite feel before pulling away from the street, barreling through Boston to get home. Not that one could easily barrel in Boston traffic, or with Daniel pointing out every single small creature he saw, gray squirrel or otherwise.

“Ash is a gray squirrel, not a red one. Remember?”

“Oh yeah,” Daniel said. “Gray squirrel. Not red.”

“There’s a lot more little animals in the city than I realized,” Colby murmured after Daniel pointed out at least two dozen of the things on their drive back. None of them the one he sought, though.

“Rats with bushy tails,” Daniel said.

“What?” Colby asked, flicking a gaze to his brother and then back to the road.

“Atlas says squirrels are rats with bushy tails.”

“I don’t think Ash would like to hear you say that. It’s not very nice.”

Daniel frowned. “It’s not? Why?”

“Most people call rats pests. They often carry diseases and have even made people sick, so saying what Atlas told you makes it sound like squirrels are bad, too. It might hurt Ash’s feelings.”

“Rats aren’t bad. I like rats. Armond has a pet rat, and he’s nice. He sat on my shoulder and tickled my ear with his little nose.”

Colby blanched. Armond was one of the witch-cooks at the café who worked with Daniel. “Did he bring a rat into work? You know what? Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know Armond is Ratatouille-ing it up in the café.”

“Ratatouille,” Daniel grinned. “That’s funny.” He giggled, holding his stomach. “Armond wasn’t using Felix to cook dinner, silly. Armond came in on his day off, and Felix was on his shoulder.”

Colby sighed with relief, although the guy had still brought a rat into the restaurant. “Like I said, they can carry diseases. The café wasn’t a good place for Felix to be in.”

“But Armond said it was okay. Felix is clean.”

Colby eyed his brother—who trusted too much, too easily. Thank heavens Daniel had his gift. It helped protect him from some of the worst that could happen due to his trusting nature. “Does Graham know Felix was there?”

“Yeah. He told Armond to get him outside. Fast.”

“Good,” Colby murmured. They entered Salem’s city limits, and he scanned the sides of the road. “Let’s keep looking for Ash.”

“Over there!” Daniel yelled a minute later. “I see him!”

Colby was expecting another random animal, but a frantic gray squirrel darted across the street right in front of them. Colby slammed on the brakes, the pottery wheel crashing against the outside rear of the cab. He winced, sure he’d just fucked the equipment up and hoped there was no damage to Oz’s truck. Gaze flicking up to the rearview, he was glad no one had been behind him to compound the damage.

The squirrel sat on the opposite side of the street, watching them closely, bracing itself in an odd pose. Colby searched the critter, no idea if it was Ash—but the fact it sat staring and acting weird, he supposed that was what Luca had told him to watch for. Colby cautiously pulled into the nearest parking spot along Washington Street, across from the squirrel. “Stay in the truck, Daniel. I’ll leave it running to keep you cool. Lock the doors and don’t open them for anyone but me or Luca, okay?”

“Okay.”

“I’m going to go see if that’s Ash.” Colby got out and turned to his brother. “Don’t forget to lock it up. And don’t open it.”

“Except for you. Or Luca. Or Ash.”

“Right,” Colby murmured, smiling. As soon as the door was shut, Daniel locked himself inside safely and Colby gave him the thumbs up and a smile.

He turned back to the opposite side of the road, noticing the squirrel was still settled near the same spot, watching him guardedly. Colby approached carefully, Luca’s words ringing in his ears. He might be trapped as a squirrel. Does that mean he might not remember who or what he is?

Colby reached for his phone and snapped a picture, sending it to Luca. Before he could dial his mate’s number, Luca called him.

“Is that him?”

“I dunno,” Colby murmured, inching closer to the squirrel. “He darted in front of the truck almost as soon as we entered Salem, and he’s just hanging out, watching me. Acting weird.” Colby took another careful step and the squirrel remained frozen in the same spot, though its big, black eyes were locked on him. “You said he was stuck as a squirrel. Does he remember he’s human or no?”

“We don’t know what spell he was hit with, so yeah, approach with caution. He might have squirrel brain. Shoot me a pin and I’ll meet you there.”

“Okay,” he said. Colby moved his phone from his ear and sent the pin before lifting it again. “Sent. I’m hanging up, and I’ll try to catch him.”

“No, don’t. Wait there. I can use a spell to stun him. Then we can grab him and take him home.”

“Okay,” Colby said, relaxing some. He’d not been looking forward to snatching a squirrel, but he’d do whatever he needed to in order to protect Ash. “I’ll be waiting.”

He ended the call and shoved his phone into his back pocket. “Hey, Ash, sweetheart. Luca’s on his way.”

The squirrel’s head cocked to the side, as if he was listening.

Colby took another careful step closer. “We’re going to get you all taken care of. It’s okay, babe.”

A man exited one of the shops along Washington Street just as he uttered the last words. He had to look like a nut, calling a squirrel babe. “A friend’s pet squirrel. He got out.”

The man frowned. “No business having one of those fluffy rats as a pet anyway. Is that even legal?”

“I don’t know,” Colby muttered, frowning.

The man marched on toward wherever he was traveling, shaking his head with disgust.

“And squirrels aren’t rats, by the way!” Colby yelled, indignant on his mate’s behalf. He eyed Ash and smiled. “Ignore what the big buffoon said, baby. You’re a sexy squirrel shifter.”

The squirrel chittered, and Colby sensed it was Ash.

Colby chuckled to himself. In all honesty, he’d yet to see Ash as a squirrel all that much. They’d only been together for five months, and for the majority of that, Ash had remained fully human. It was weird talking to his mate in animal form. He took another hesitant step closer and got an even better look at his mate. “Luca’s coming, and we’ll get you all sorted out. No worries, babe.”

The squirrel stared at him, big black eyes unblinking. Colby knelt, still a good six feet away. Rats with bushy tails was the only thing running through his mind, and he hated that Daniel had dropped that seed there. He wasn’t totally sure the animal was actually Ash, but why else would the little guy sit staring like that—as if expecting him to come closer?

A pair of women exited another shop, arms laden with bags and howling with laughter—way too close to Ash—and sent his mate scrambling.

“Ash!” Colby screamed. He pushed past the pair of bemused women and raced after his squirrelly mate, wanting to keep tabs on Ash’s location.

If Ash didn’t know who he was and they lost him, would they be able to find him again? Panic lit a fire and pushed his legs harder, and still, the damned animal was too fast. Colby ran as hard as he could to keep up, and thought he’d lost the creature around a corner. Fortunately, he noticed a tree swaying and soon found Ash high in the branches. Stopping under the shade of the tree, he bent forward, hands on his knees, as he caught his breath. “Shit, Ash. It’s too hot out here for all that!”

Once he could breathe again, he pulled out his phone to let Luca know he’d had to give chase and dropped another pin—and asked him to grab Daniel and the truck on the way there. He couldn’t believe he’d just ran off and left his brother like that, but he’d acted on instinct.

Daniel was proving to be more and more responsible, most of it from Luca and Ash forcing him to let go a little and allow his brother to do things more independently. He had to admit, he was gaining more confidence in his brother. And Daniel was handling it well.

Hopefully he’d handle Colby running off and leaving the truck running. Oh shit. He won’t try to drive, will he?

Colby wished then that he’d caved and given Daniel the cell phone his brother had asked for months before. He added it to his list of things to do as he lifted his cell to his ear. “How far are you from the truck?”

“I just got in. Thanks for keeping it cool for us,” Luca murmured, humor in his tone. “You still there with Ash?”

“Yeah.” He gazed up in the tree and saw the little guy climbing along one of the widest limbs. “Don’t you go anywhere, Ash. Stay!”

“He’s not a dog, Colby.”

“I know, but I could barely keep up with him. If he runs off again, we might lose him.”

Luca sighed. “Just… do your best. Okay? I should be there any second.”

“Good,” Colby said, relieved. “See you soon.”

“Bye, babe.”

Colby ended the call and shoved his phone back in his pocket, watching as Ash shimmied farther along the thick branch—before leaping a good fifteen feet to the roof of a neighboring porch. Colby trailed closer, keeping the squirrel clearly in sight. “Stop moving, Ash…”

Ash looked him dead in the eye and then leapt another good twelve feet to another roof.

“Stop!”

Another roof. Another tree.

And he was back on the ground, racing away at breakneck speed.

“Fuck!” Colby yelled, giving chase once again.