The City on the Edge
Five

When they thought the danger had passed, they returned home. It was a larger house, perhaps the largest in the area, but it was by no means luxurious. Several additions had been added as the years had passed and the additions never matched the rest of the home. Ronnie liked to think of the house like a patchwork quilt, with each different piece immortalizing the welcome of a new member to the family.

Several children of all ages lived there. The old witch Hazel had opened her home to the children of the Edge decades ago. While she couldn’t take every orphaned child, she took as many as she could. The older kids, like Ronnie and Lorna, had grown up there.

“What do we tell Malik?” Lorna asked.

Ronnie shrugged. “The truth?” Lorna frowned at her. “Part of the truth? The house we checked out was empty. There wasn’t anything we could take.”

“I meant about Sloan and the humans. He’s going to find out. It’s going to be all over the Edge.”

“Well, then, let him find out.”

Ronnie opened the door and was welcomed home by the sounds of stomping feet and a chorus of giggles and laughter. She smiled. It was good to be home.

The front hall was a catch-all space where everything brought home landed. Ronnie stepped over a pile of flowers and vines. From Rama, Ronnie thought. There was a bowl of smooth colored stones still dusted with dirt from the garden out back. Teri’s rocks. A bundle of sticks and small logs had been rolled to the sitting room doorway, leaving behind a little trail of leaves and twigs on the floor. Those must be from Gage. The youngest children couldn’t do much, so they brought home whatever they found outside.

The items that could be sold were collected in the sitting room. Malik had the treasure chest, as the children called it, on the low table in front of one of the cushioned benches. His sister Anya sat across from him, bouncing her foot impatiently. He counted each valuable, coin or jewel, slowly while a pen carried itself across the pages of an open as he spoke.

“Four more gold coins,” he said, stacking them up next to another small pile of them. The pen danced across the page with a scritch-scratch and paused, waiting for more words. Yellow magic sparkled on its feathered tip, like the sun catching a bird’s glossy wing. “Welcome home, you two,” he said without looking up. Nothing escaped his attention.

Ronnie and Lorna took a seat on the bench next to Anya, who flung an arm around Lorna’s shoulders. Her green witch eyes glittered with excitement.

“Tell me all about what happened in the market this afternoon.”

“Before that,” Malik interrupted, sliding the chest across the table. The few baubles inside clinked together. “Add what you have so it can be counted.” When no one moved he looked up. “Well?”

Lorna hesitated and Ronnie could almost hear the jumble of words tossing around in her head as she searched for a nice way to say they were empty handed.

Ronnie took pity on her. “Sorry, Mal. We don’t have anything.”

Anya leaned forward to look at her around Lorna. “What about that house I sent you to?”

“There wasn’t anything in there.” Lorna watched her as she spoke, waiting to see if she would mention the mother and her two daughters, but Ronnie skipped over it.

Anya slumped back. “It was a bust? Well.” She flipped her curled hair over her shoulder. “Sorry. I thought for sure there would be something there.”

Malik stopped counting, leaning back in his seat, much like his sister. He scratched at the scar that curved through the scruff dusting his chin. “That’s not good, guys.”

“I know.” A tinge of guilt had crept into Lorna’s voice. It was the weight of coming home with nothing when there were children to feed.

“Don’t feel too bad,” Anya patted Lorna’s shoulder. “I’ve got a lead on something big.”

“That she won’t tell me about,” Malik said as he stared at his sister suspiciously.

There was a creak in the hall. Hazel, supported by Constance, Lorna’s younger sister, came in to the room. The witch was ancient and every step came with sound of creaking bones and popping joints. Her withered skin hung from her bones like old leather bags. Thin white hair twisted in a long braid fell down her back and was tiedd with one of Constance’s blue ribbons.

Constance led Hazel to her chair by the window. She eased herself down and pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders.

“Are you cold?” Constance asked. “I can put more wood in the fireplace.”

Hazel patted the young girl’s arm. “You do more than enough for me, Constance. Have a seat and relax.”

Constance obeyed but she didn’t stray far. She took a seat on a stool next to Hazel, ready to help if the old woman needed anything. Hazel turned her gaze to the rest of the room, taking in the downtrodden expressions and the meager collection of coins on the table.

Malik followed her gaze and was the first to speak up. As the oldest one, he felt he shared responsibility in the other’s shortcomings. “Hazel, it looks like we’re going to be short this month. Unless we compensate somewhere, or have more success in the coming days-“

Hazel raised a hand and Malik fell silent immediately. “Are all the children safe and accounted for?”

Malik looked to his sister, who nodded with a shrug. “Yes. Liam and Gage are a little late, but it isn’t unusual for them.”

Hazel settled back into her chair with a contented smile. “Then everything is fine. The safety of everyone in the house is more important to me than coins.”

“I know, but…” he trailed off, leaving the thought hanging in the air for everyone to see. But how would they buy food? Especially for Dalton and the twins? Vampires couldn’t survive on regular food anymore. The humans saw to that. Basso was giving them blood in the morning, but it wouldn’t last them long.

“We’ll figure something out.” Anya said.

Malik sighed heavily. “Fence is expecting us tomorrow. He’s the only one who will exchange with us.”

“Because he’s dishonest,” Hazel frowned. “I wish the lot of you wouldn’t thieve. There is honest work out there.”

“Honest work doesn’t pay enough. We tried that already.”

It was the truth and even Hazel backed away from the argument. Ronnie had tried to apprentice under Basso years before. As a shifter, she had a good nose for meat. Lorna had tried to help witches around the Edge cultivate their gardens. Malik had found work with a smith. But the collective income simply wasn’t enough, especially with businesses that were already struggling. They made more scavenging and stealing loose bits here and there, even if they occasionally came up short.

It was a relief when Anya changed the subject. “So, uh, did you two see that the White Guard was moving around the market today?”

Ronnie exchanged a glace with Lorna before she answered. “They were escorting someone.”

Constance leaned forward on her stool. “Who was it?”

Lorna shrugged. “I don’t know. They were young.”

“Humans?”

“Of course they were human,” Anya snorted. “As if the White Guard would bother with anyone else.”

“They were attacked.” Ronnie added, thinking back to the sudden explosion and the clang of metal on metal that followed. “I don’t know who attacked them, but one of them was a vampire.”

“Attacked?” Constance looked from Ronnie to her sister. “Lorna? Is it true? My Seer turned red this morning. You were in danger. Is that why?”

“We’re fine now,” Lorna answered, trying to soothe her sister’s anger.

“Of course we’re fine. Nothing serious happened,” Ronnie said.

Malik sighed, rubbing a hand across his face. “Please tell me you didn’t get involved.” When she didn’t answer, he looked through his fingers at her. “Ronnie!”

“One of them was going to be killed,” she defended. “I couldn’t just leave him to die.”

Malik flexed his hands at her, throttling the empty air in front of him. “Why do you always just jump into stuff without thinking? What if you were seen? What if a guardsman finds out where you live?”

Ronnie bit her lip, a sharp tooth poking into the tender skin, a sign Malik recognized immediately.

“You were seen.” He accused with narrow eyes. “I can’t believe you sometimes-“

Anya shushed her brother. “Calm down, Mal. They made it home okay and the White Guard hasn’t come to break down the door. It’s fine.” She stressed the last word.

“What did they look like?” Hazel asked suddenly.

Everyone fell quiet. Ronnie shrugged, unsure of how to answer. “Blonde hair and blue eyes, just like the rest of them.”

Hazel smiled, a quirk of thin dry lips at a ridiculous answer. “No, dear, not the humans. The assailants. What do you remember of them?”

She remembered they were fast and coordinated, like a pack hunting together. She remembered catching the shine of eyes beneath dark hoods: gold, green, and black. She remembered a swirling drop of water stitched in white on the backs of their cloaks.

“They looked like one group, but different races. They weren’t there for Sloan or the White Guard. I think they were after the two being escorted.” She said, recalling how the vampire had snuck around and pulled the boy through the alley.

His name is Sebastian, her mind added. He smells like sweets.

The smile had fallen from Hazel’s face. The crease of her brow and the frown on her lips had turned her face into a collection of deep wrinkles. “What were they wearing?”

“Black coats and hoods.” Ronnie answered slowly.

Hazel looked troubled. “Stay away from them. All of you,” her eyes darted to each face. “Be careful.”

Malik rubbed at his stubbled chin. “I don’t like this. Any of it. People attacking the White Guard in the broad of daylight?” He shook his head. “It’s going to lead to trouble for the rest of us. Until we know what’s going on, I think we should keep all of the kids home so we can keep an eye on them. The last thing we need is them mimicking our risky behavior and getting themselves in serious trouble.” He finished with his eyes on Ronnie, the disapproval clear and probably warranted, if Ronnie pushed aside her pride to consider his words. But all she heard was the underlying message- Malik thought she made a mistake.

She stood to meet him. “I helped someone in need, Malik,” her voice firm. Defiant. A woman refusing to be chastised. “I didn’t lead the guard to our door.”

“This time,” Malik hissed at her, using his height to glare down at her. “But let’s not pretend that this is the first time you’ve put us at risk with your behavior. You never think before you act. You’re not a child anymore but you continue to act like one.”

Ronnie crossed her arms. “And you’ve never done anything? Anything at all?” Her words were spiced with anger and she could feel them slipping out of her control as her temper flared.

“Ronnie.” Anya’s tone was warning, but Ronnie plowed on, the words escaping before she grab on to them.

“I wasn’t the one who brought Gloria home.” Her words were daggers meant to hurt. “I wasn’t the lovesick fool tricked into that mess.”

Malik made a choked noise. His green eyes lit up in a bright flare. Yellow sparked at his fingertips. He opened his mouth to speak, his chest expanding with outraged words. She’d crossed into forbidden territory.

“Enough!” Hazel’s weak voice seared through the tension like a clap of thunder.

Lorna wrapped her fingers around Ronnie’s arm. She pressed against her side like she always did when Ronnie was upset. Her honey scent tickled Ronnie’s nose, but it wasn’t calming her down like it eventually did. She was just too upset, she supposed. It was like her body was outright refusing to accept the scent.

The front door slammed open and Malik jolted, altered by a pulse of magic that moved up his arm.

“It’s Gage.”

The young boy came around the corner. He leaned against the wall, panting. His dark hair clung to his face in sweaty strands. When he saw Ronnie, he stumbled over to her, digging his claws into her arms. He distress came off him in sour waves.

“What happened?” Malik demanded, immediately assuming the worst.

“Liam’s gone! We were at the Rust and we got separated. I couldn’t find him anywhere.” His words tumbled out in a hurried mess.

“Why were you at the Rust?” Lorna stared down at him like a concerned mother. “We told you two to stay away from there. It’s dangerous.”

“We were just hunting for stuff. Shiny stuff.” Gage sniffled, dragging the back of his hand under his nose in a wet smear. “We just wanted help.”

“Someone needs to go get him.” Anya said, standing.

Ronnie turned to her. “I will. I know his scent. I’ll find him.”

Malik huffed. “I think someone more responsible should retrieve our wayward pup.”

Ronnie clenched her teeth together, sharp fangs poking at soft lips. “I said I’ll get him.”

Malik opened his mouth to argue but a swift slap on the arm from Anya silenced him.

Lorna gently tugged Ronnie towards the door. “I’m coming with you.”

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