CHAPTER 1

Sachi nearly dropped the tray of macaroons she was taking to the window display when she spotted him across the street. Black button-up and crisp jeans. His dark hair was short and shaggy like he’d missed more than one haircut, and a decent enough stubble was on his face that she could see it from where she stood, staring.

Fuck me, Sachi whispered as she watched him pause and look around. She knew every face in this district, and he was definitely new. If he was wandering about on his own it meant he was a supe; humans only came through with tour groups to gawk and buy souvenirs, confident of their safety in numbers. Her bakery, Butterfly Kisses, was a hotspot for those tourists, they weren’t afraid of a butterfly shifter, probably because most of them didn’t realize that butterfly shifters were vampiric, and that she also happened to be half witch. Her long lilac hair and bright blue eyes screamed innocent and sweet. Of course it helped that she kept her fangs hidden behind a soft smile.

Her business partner, Fern, wasn’t scary at all. A vegetarian supe who could shrink as small as an inch and grow only as tall as five feet. She was a fairy with short blonde hair and big green eyes, though she did have a snarky attitude.

As a result, no human walked into their establishment with fear for their lives and it made for great tips most days over her last almost ten years in business. Sachi did most of the baking, but Fern helped and was great at decorating. Her small size lent itself to intricate design work with frosting that they had become known for.

Oh, what’s that? Fern asked. Her silver fairy wings vibrated with excitement as she came up to the window with a box of cupcakes ready for delivery.

I’m not sure, but I want to find out, Sachi admitted with a giggle.

Looks delightfully dangerous. Vampire? Fern had a thing for bloodsuckers, maybe that’s why they’d always gotten along so well. Fern’s family lived in the huge oak tree outside Sachi’s mother’s house so they’d grown up together, spending their high school years flying around and getting in trouble with the local boys. Their friendship had stayed strong even after graduation.

No way, the sun’s not even down yet, Sachi pointed out.

Fern shrugged, They’ve been working hard on fixing that problem. Lance told me they think they have a lead with some kind of sunscreen lotion, but the tests haven’t been successful for more than preventing complete combustion. They come away with nasty burns every time. Lance was Fern’s vampire boyfriend and another old high school friend. Along with Sachi’s high school sweetheart, Cash, the four of them had been great friends. She hadn’t stayed with Cash after high school, but Fern and Lance had been on again-off again all that time, currently on.

Too bad you’re not single. Sachi gave her friend a wiggle of her eyebrows, she didn’t have a boyfriend. Well, I guess I’ll deliver those in his direction. Sachi pulled her hair out of its usual worktime bun and smoothed the lilac curls, letting them fall around her shoulders. Do I have any flour on my face?

You look great, Fern assured her and opened the door, handing her the cupcake box. It was a congratulatory gift for a witch friend of theirs who’d just given birth to triplets.

Sachi sashayed out of the Butterfly Kisses Bakery thankful she had dressed in a sundress today rather than shorts. Wearing a dress always made her feel flirty and this one was short enough to show a lot of leg but cut high on the chest for modesty with cute cap sleeves to be appropriate for work and perfect for approaching ‘tall, dark and stranger’ to see what he was doing in her little district. She tried to seem casual, waving at neighbors and old friends without stopping as she hurried across the street. She noticed more than one local supe giving him a second glance, a new person in town, not human, was hard to ignore.

She slowed her pace so she wouldn’t seem too eager as she got close and put on her most welcoming smile. You look lost, she said sweetly behind him.

When he turned, she nearly lost her breath, he was even more handsome up close. His eyes weren’t just dark, they were black, and he had a wide smile revealing perfect white teeth of a normal size. Not a werewolf then. She subtly took a deep breath, searching for a hint and tasted a bit of magic. Warlock perhaps.

I suppose I am, he said with a little laugh. His voice was deep and pleasant, making her think of dark rooms and passionate embraces. "I was supposed to go to Moses’ Bar. This is the street, but I don’t see a bar." There was a bit of frustration in his voice, obviously he wasn’t used to being lost. Probably the type who always liked to be in control, and that appealed to her more than she’d ever realized as a tingle ran up her spine.

"Moses’ Bar, she whispered, trying to keep her thoughts out of the bedroom. Umm, gosh, I don’t know it. She ran her eyes up and down the man, he was tall and broad shouldered, maybe worked out occasionally but definitely didn’t take it overboard. He was leanly muscled, more like a martial artist than a bodybuilder. It’s too bad he was looking for Moses, but that confirmed her warlock assumption. Maybe it’s the other Lilac Street, it ends up there; see, she pointed to where the street hit the riverbank. Gnomes built the damn grid here, so it doesn’t make any sense to anyone else. Lilac Street picks up again about ten blocks south of here. Good luck." She waved as she hurried away, daring to glance back after half a block. He was already gone, no doubt heading south.

What a waste of a pretty face, she sighed, anyone looking for Moses was bound for trouble, good thing the handsome man would never find him.

Who was that hunk? Maureen, an elderly fairy asked from her usual spot outside the little tailoring shop she’d owned with her husband for a hundred years or more. She was rocking back and forth in a chair designed for someone the size of a human toddler, its well-worn light blue paint faded and cracked. She had a smile on her wrinkled face as she nodded to a young fairy who flitted forward and whispered in her ear before flitting back off to help a customer. One of her great grandchildren, Sachi was certain.

Sachi stopped and gave the woman her full attention, anything else would be considered rude in the town where everyone knows everyone and they love to talk about each other. Don’t know, just a stranger passing through. He won’t find what he’s looking for and he’ll probably be out of here before the roads close for the night. She wondered where he was from and where he’d go once he realized he wasn’t going to get what he wanted here.

Stranger, huh? Too bad, I wouldn’t mind seeing him walk up and down the street regularly, she laughed.

Sachi nodded agreement and moved on before she could get caught in a long conversation with the fairy. Maureen was sweet but she did love to talk.

Sachi headed on toward Witch’s Row; it was actually State Street, but no one called it that. Every witch in the district lived on that street and they’d made it their own. Every house painted black, every house had a cat, also black, and the smell of magic was so heavy there it was a wonder any human dared to visit the shops that sold fake love charms and sage to repel nonexistent ghosts. They had the real stuff, too, of course, but it was reserved for other supes, and kept in the back. Giving humans real spells that they couldn’t invoke was a waste of energy and money, and witches were resolutely unwasteful. They never did anything unless it benefited them in some way, and they always collected on their debts.

Definitely a warlock, Sachi said as she stepped onto Witch’s Row and inhaled the scent of magic. That’s what the guy was, she was sure now. He’d smelled like spells done recently but not today, just faint enough that he might only practice on occasion. More than she did though. Her father had been a good warlock, but he had failed to teach her how to stir up spells and harness her inner magic. She could do some simple stuff, but nothing like the witches who had been practicing since they could talk. Some days she wished she knew more, others it didn’t matter. She could bake a hell of a cake though and she enjoyed her shifting abilities. Being able to spell well would have just been icing on the cake.

Her mind brought up an image of the handsome stranger. He could be the cream filling, she decided with a smile.

They didn’t get a lot of warlocks in this district since the witches had such a huge presence and they really only allowed men in their lives for one thing, and it usually resulted in a pregnancy. Her own love life had been bone dry for a while now and it had really started to irritate her lately. She knew she was attractive, her body was slim, but she had enough curves to show off when she wanted to. She got hit on daily, mostly by dumb humans though and she would never consider dating one. A human and supe relationship wasn’t against the law but it was highly frowned upon and could never lead to a life together. Humans couldn’t live in supe districts and supes weren’t allowed to live outside of them. There were lots of eligible men in the South Texas District however, so her dry spell was mostly her own fault, she just wasn’t interested in any of the guys around here, she needed fresh meat. Nearly every supe she interacted with here was someone she’d known all her life and as a result, she knew way too much about them.

She pictured the warlock she’d met on the street and a little tingle erupted in her. Maybe she’d see him again, but if she did, he might be mad that she’d sent him on a wild goose chase. Not to mention she wasn’t interested in being involved with whatever he wanted Moses for. The last thing she needed was a dangerous one-night stand. Her footsteps faltered as the idea of a little danger sent an unfamiliar thrill through her body.

Or maybe she did.

Sachi sighed heavily. She was half witch; it was in her DNA to love ‘em and leave ‘em. She hadn’t done much of that in her life though, it was hard in a small community like theirs where everyone had an opinion about what everyone else did. But an out-of-town sexy supe who would want to be gone in the morning, that was sounding more and more perfect. She was starting to really regret sending him in the wrong direction.

Oh look at her! she heard a little human girl exclaim as a group of tourists walked down the steps of a well-known witchy gift shop.

Sachi smiled and waved. She was used to the attention, her coloring was always a favorite of human children.

Mommy, what is she?

Oh, umm… the mother said, obviously embarrassed by her child’s curiosity.

Sachi just laughed and showed the child her cupcake box with the Butterfly Kisses emblem on it. A light pink and lavender butterfly sitting on top of a fancy-looking bright pink frosted cupcake. I’m a butterfly and I like to bake delicious treats, she told the girl who promptly squealed with delight and demanded her mother take her to the bakery.

Yes, I’ve heard of that place, one of the other tourists declared. Delicious eclairs. She leaned close to the mother of the child and whispered, And it’s safe.

Sachi straightened from the crouch she’d been in to talk to the child. Best around, she agreed, pretending she hadn’t heard the whispered comment.

Okay, Caroline, we’ll stop by and bring something home with us, but you can’t eat it until after dinner, you’ll spoil yourself on all the sugar you’ve had today, the mother said.

Enjoy the rest of your day, ladies, Sachi said to the group and hurried on down the street. She was glad her bakery had a good reputation with the tourists, she’d worked hard to change the image of the building to not resemble the bar it had once been.

Sachi walked up the steps of a two-story house with a little red sign out front that proclaimed Penelope’s Potions. A sign hanging under it said Closed.

The grey front door had a shockingly bright pink and blue banner announcing that both a girl and a boy had arrived. It contrasted with the entire street and made Sachi laugh, witches went all out for births, it was one of the only times they used the colors light pink or baby blue.

Sachi knocked and opened the door without waiting for an answer. She’d gone to school with Penelope, and they were still good friends. Good enough that she was fairly sure the witch wouldn’t throw a curse her way if she opened the door uninvited, but she still hesitated before stepping across the threshold. One thing you learned quickly in any district was that the threshold of a house was sacred and crossing one uninvited was not only bad manners but could lead to bad luck and curses too. Especially on Witch’s Row.

Pen? she called softly, not wanting to be the cause of any waking babies.

In here! Penelope called from a hidden living room. I hope you brought cupcakes; I’m starving.

Sachi hurried in, shutting the door behind her. She walked through the front room which was set up as a little store full of dried herbs, crystals, and mostly fake potions. A black cat was curled up on a bed atop the counter, he opened one green eye and looked at her judgmentally. Good evening, Tom, she said to the cat. She didn’t offer him a pat, he didn’t like her and she’d been scratched more than once by the feline. Of course I brought cupcakes, Fern decorated them with mauve and yellow since you had yourself a mix, she called into the house.

Sachi went through a door that said Employees Only and down a short hallway. This part of the house was Penelope’s safe space and Sachi felt a shift in the air around her as she entered it. There was definitely a spell that separated the public space from the private. The air smelled different too, much more pungent in both magic and herb scents here.

Penelope was in a small living room, sitting on a couch with two babies in her arms and one in a bassinette at her feet. They were all sleeping, and they all looked exactly the same. Squishy and bald.

Adorable! Sachi squealed immediately, knowing it was her duty to delight over newborns, but in reality, she wasn’t very impressed with infants. She liked when they got old enough to have personalities, but babies were just crying, pooping things that she didn’t understand.

Here take this one, I want a cupcake. Penelope held out an infant to Sachi.

Sachi took it and sat in a chair. They’re lemon lavender.

My fave, Penelope gushed as she unwrapped one and began eating. She looked good for having given birth less than twenty-four hours ago. Her long black hair was freshly braided, and she was beaming with new mom glow which was a nice way of saying exhausted but happy about it.

Who am I holding?

That’s the boy, I’m calling him Johnny for now, but I might go with Dimitri instead.

Sachi couldn’t help laughing at that, one name would help him blend with the humans outside of the district and the other would proclaim his supe status. A warlock, huh? Sachi touched his round cheek and felt his energy, it was so subtle, mostly feeling like Penelope’s still, but it was there, a little touch of magic all his own. Similar to what she’d felt with the handsome stranger. Warlocks weren’t as powerful as witches, the magic passed on the X chromosome so the males only got half a dose. That didn’t mean they couldn’t become powerful, it just meant they had to work harder at it, and most didn’t. I met a warlock today.

Really? I didn’t think any of the girls were entertaining this month, it’s a bad moon for procreation you know.

Sachi didn’t know, but she nodded agreement. She didn’t track things that didn’t apply to her, and children were nowhere in her near future. And having no boyfriend meant protection against children wasn’t even a thought she needed to have. He was on the street outside my shop, I gave him directions south.

South? Penelope asked with surprise. He was looking for a werewolf den? This close to the full moon? Is he suicidal?

Sachi shrugged and changed the subject, not wanting to admit she’d sent the poor guy on a wild goose chase. She asked about the birth and the other babies’ names—both girls, Veronica, and Victoria. Penelope cheerfully told her every painful detail of the birth and admitted she hadn’t called the father yet, but she would before they turned one, she assured Sachi. The intricacies of warlock/witch relationships were delicate. A warlock father could demand to take a son as soon as it came out of the womb and there wasn’t much to stop him, so it wasn’t unusual for the witch to not divulge the birthdate and sex of the children until the first birthday. Sachi looked down at the young warlock in her arms. He would probably leave the South Texas District within the year, and maybe never return. Sachi wanted to ask her friend how she felt about the coming loss of one of her children but didn’t. It was the way things were, and talking about it wasn’t going to make it less painful.

Do you have someone coming to help you? Three’s a lot.

My mother hired a nanny. She’s supposed to start tomorrow.

What about tonight?

My sisters are coming over, we’ll be fine. Penelope gave her a wide smile. I know you want to run away; you can’t fool me. Do you want to take some wolfsbane with you?

If you don’t mind. I can run out back and pick it myself. Wolfsbane cookies were in high demand around the full moon, it kept the young werewolves from shifting before they were ready to handle themselves, and pregnant werewolves from shifting in the dangerous later months of pregnancy, so mothers flocked in to pick up cookies from her shop in the days leading up to it.

Help yourself, you know where it is, Penelope said around a mouthful of cupcake.

Thanks, I’ll be right back, Sachi said and laid the little warlock down in a nearby bassinet before hurrying out back.

Penelope had an amazing witch’s garden in the back of her house with herbs and medicinal plants, even some that Sachi knew were poisonous. Penelope shouldn’t be growing them, it wasn’t legal, but Sachi didn’t care, she wasn’t a snitch. They got more than stitches in The South Texas District, and anyway, even poisons had their place in spell-casting and strong medicines. Sachi went out and snipped a bundle of wolfsbane and some lavender, then headed back inside to say her goodbyes.

She couldn’t stop herself from giving her opinion about the names. Veronica, Victoria and Johnny? Please, name the poor kid Dimitri, he’ll thank you later.

Penelope laughed and said she’d consider the input. My father’s name is Dimitri I think, so it fits, she shrugged because not being sure of your father’s name was normal for witches.

Sachi knew she’d been lucky, her own warlock father bucking tradition not only by having a child with a butterfly shifter, but also by continuing to live in the same district and playing a minor role in her life despite her being female. It had been a point of contention between her and the witches growing up, which was why she’d turned down the opportunities to study magic with them in school. Penelope had been the only witch who dared befriend her, at least until her father had died. Now the witches were all perfectly friendly. She supposed because they didn’t see her as having something they didn’t, any longer.

It also hadn’t helped that in high school she’d been head cheerleader dating the captain of the football team. Witches weren’t exactly full of school spirit, and they’d seen her as a stuck-up bitch. Maybe she had been, though she liked to think they’d been wrong in their assumptions.

CHAPTER 2

The sun had set by the time Sachi left Penelope’s house and she walked back to the shop in the new dark. The streets were quiet in their in between time and no one stopped her along the way to chat. Human tourists were all gone for the day and the nighttime-loving supes hadn’t yet emerged from their homes to do their daily activities.

Butterfly Kisses, like most shops in the district, was open to please the majority of customers both nocturnal and diurnal. For her, that meant she opened around eleven in the morning and closed a couple hours after sunset. She was lucky, she got to run a bakery without the godawful early hours that usually were associated with baking.

She hoped Fern had started the end of day clean-up tasks without her if they hadn’t been too busy the last hour. Sachi was looking forward to laying down in her hot apartment and reading up on spells after work. Encountering that warlock today had given her the urge to cultivate that part of herself a bit. If she ever wanted to date one, she’d be horrified to admit how little she knew about that part of herself. She was too embarrassed to ask even Penelope for help learning. No witch worth her shit needed lessons in stirring spells at the age of twenty-eight.

When she walked into the bakery Sachi wasn’t at all surprised to find that not only had Fern not yet started to clean up, but there were at least ten other fairies flitting around the shop, and she could smell something baking in the back. Her dream of an early night of reading was going up in smoke.

Sachi watched three of Fern’s siblings pull a chocolate chip cookie from the case and drop it into a box on the floor. You’d think Fern would have had them size up to a more reasonable height before trying to help, but at least someone was watching the front of the shop while Fern was in back making a new mess.

Sachi! We’re helping, Fern’s siblings said in unison as they dropped another cookie in the box.

I see, try being bigger than the box, that would help, she said with a laugh and turned to the young vampire mother who was waiting patiently. Good evening, Miranda. How are the kids?

It’s Val’s birthday tonight and he wanted your cookies. Wouldn’t settle for anything less, the kid woke me up at three in the afternoon, he’s so excited, she groaned. I’m not sure how I’ll make it through the party tonight without a nap.

I’m glad he likes my cookies, next time tell him that I don’t bake them until five, so no use getting up before then.

Miranda gave Sachi a thankful smile as she accepted the cookie box from a now three-foot-tall fairy girl. You’re welcome to come by tonight if you aren’t busy. Val would love to see you and Stavros is going to be there.

Oh, thanks, she said with a tight smile. She’d had a brief, hot, love affair with Miranda’s brother, Stavros when he’d come to town for Miranda and Randy’s wedding. Thinking that it was safe to have a couple night’s stand with an out-of-town vampire. It had ended badly when he’d offered to move to this district and Sachi had shifted into a butterfly and flown out the window leaving her clothes and purse behind. He could have taken his bat form and chased her, but he hadn’t, and he’d left town without telling his sister that she’d rejected him so harshly, which she appreciated.

He’s a nice guy, Miranda said seriously. And still single. He’d love to see you.

Oh, was all Sachi could say to that.

Miranda gave her a pleading look then waved and left.

Fern! Sachi yelled when the door closed behind Miranda. What the hell are you cooking this late?

Seraphina got dumped, a three-inch fairy said as it flew up into her face and then away again.

Great, Sachi grumbled as she went back into the kitchen.

Oh, hey Sach, Fern said with an apologetic smile. I just needed to cheer up Seraphina, she broke up with Franklin again.

He told me my wings are fat! Seraphina scream-cried as she stuffed a peanut butter cookie into her mouth. She’d grown to her full four feet and sat on the counter as Fern made a mess of the entire kitchen, baking peanut butter cookies and cupcakes with red and black frosting, apparently.

Seraphina had short red hair and bright pink wings. She was dressed in a black and white striped spandex minidress and knee-high black boots. Her makeup was running down her face and she looked like the most goth fairy Sachi had ever seen. Usually, fairies dressed in pastels and bright colors. Sachi was guessing this look had most to do with the species of Seraphina’s boyfriend; vampires tended to wear leather and black everything.

Well maybe dating a vampire is a bad idea, Sachi offered softly. She’d met the kid a couple times; he was captain of the basketball