I turned, wide-eyed, to him. And he grinned. “Not in the manner like they can talk to us, but they know they’re here to protect the house. They’ll hide it from anything we want them to. They draw their strength and knowledge from the water.”

“Let me guess. It has magic in it, too?”

“A little.” Kellan tapped my forehead and chuckled. Then he wrapped his hand around my waist and wooshed us from the trees and in front of the house to a small porch wide enough for two sets of feet. The door seemed to grow in front of our eyes until it reached to the top of the roof and separated into two doors. Kellan reached for the handle and waited. The door handle vibrated, turning underneath his hand. It stopped suddenly and the doors opened, as if the house decided we could enter. A breeze from the sudden movement rushed back against us and my eyes widened in surprise when I saw inside. The house was small from the outside, but the inside was grand.

Kellan waited on the porch as I wandered inside, gazing upward. Stairs wrapped around the house, leading to three levels inside. Then I moved back outside and saw there was only one level from there. I shook my head and went back inside. Kellan followed this time, and the doors whisked shut with a loud bang behind us.

I walked around the living room, trailing a finger over a glass bookshelf. “This entire place has magic, doesn’t it? The house included.”

“It’s a sanctuary for us, built to withstand darkness and good. It knows that creatures such as ourselves, who have both in them, need safety here.” He placed two bags near the steps. “This was given to me by my mother, only she knows of its existence, other than you and me now.”

My eyes fell on my book bag, and a sense of wonderment came over me. “You planned this last night, didn’t you? You knew Vespar would do something, and you knew we’d have to leave. You had every intention of taking me away with you, but…” Why did we go to the school?

“I went and erased our existence with the school. I left Vespar’s, but made Gus disappear, too. Your father will find Vespar’s name, but no one else. He won’t find you. That’s all I’m concerned about right now.”

My eyes lifted to him. He was watching me, gazing at me with an emotion in him that I’d never seen or felt. I’d felt possession, obsession, fury, laughter, but this was different. There was a tenderness laced with it. And a different realization occurred to me. “You’re not afraid of the messengers, are you?”

Kellan never looked away, but drifted closer to me. He lifted a hand and cupped the side of my face, holding it gently. “I’m not.”

But I saw something else. He was scared of them, but not for himself. “You’re scared for me, aren’t you?” I was breathless when I asked that.

He shook his head and a wall slammed down in his eyes. The rope that connected us went slack. It was still there. I didn’t think even Kellan could make that connection go away now, but it was so loose it was almost as if there was no connection. Then I tightened it and watched how he stiffened in shock. “Didn’t know I could do that, too, huh?”

He grinned before turning away. I let him go, releasing my hold on the connection and followed him into the kitchen where I sat. “When are we going to see this messenger?”

“She’s coming to us.” He was rummaging through a cupboard with his head shoved inside. His voice came out muffled.

“What?” I sat up straight. “But you just said this place was safe for you and me. If she comes then she knows where it is, where we are.”

“She’s an ally. We’ll be safe with her. Trust me that you can trust her.” Kellan kept shifting through things, moving things aside.

“What are you doing?”

“I thought some food was here. We need to eat a little bit.” Then he pulled back and shook his head. “I’ll have to go into town and get some things. There isn’t any good food here for us.”

“Town?” Where was the closest town? I just remembered trees.

“I’ll have to drive there, too. It’ll be an hour before I get back.” Kellan sounded frustrated, but within seconds he was gone. And I was left alone in a magical house and trees that were alive surrounding it. I knew I wasn’t only human, but I felt very helpless in that moment.

After a few more minutes of sitting there, still feeling shocked at the turn of events, I stood to grab my bag and headed to one of the higher floors. I wandered around, studying all the bedrooms, and settled on one in a back corner. It had its own bathroom and windows on both sides. The bed was a king size on top of a sturdy wooden base and headboard. It was a simple bedroom with quilts to make it look homey for the human eye, but warm for the demonic body, especially on colder nights. I knew Kellan would appreciate the quilts, but then I remembered the entire house was given to him. Of course, he’d appreciate them; they were probably put there just for him.

I looked through my bag, saw two changes of clothes, and then started poking in the closets. After finding clothes upon clothes, in my size and his, I wasn’t sure why Kellan had even bothered to pack bags. However, I was glad he’d thought to pack a book. At least, I could read something if I got really bored.

Checking my phone, I saw that he’d been gone for an hour. I figured that he’d be back soon so I headed into the shower. Afterwards, I dressed in some clothes from the closet, a comfortable pair of black running pants and a loose gray top. Heading back down, I started poking around for a liquor cabinet. There had to be one. Kellan wasn’t much for drinking, but I knew he enjoyed some on occasion. It seemed the appropriate thing to do in our first night at the sanctuary.