If the Broom Fits by Liz Schulte Page A

were coming for me. I ducked into the darkest alley I could find and hid. When I felt safe again, I came out and there Sy was, bathed in light. The Office looked like heaven behind him. He didn’t ask questions. He just invited me inside and gave me food and made me hot chocolate. He said I was too young for coffee.” My eyes filled with tears. I stopped talking until they went away. No one had ever treated me gently or like I was young until he found me. “He let me stay in his apartment until I could afford to get my own. I don’t know what my life would have been like if I hadn’t gone down that alley. Well, I guess I do. I’d either still be out there surviving or I’d be dead or maybe something darker would have taken me in.”
    Leslie wiped tears off her cheeks. “Does he know?”
    I looked over at her. “Well, he was there.”
    She shook her head. “Obviously he knows what happened, but does he know how you feel about what he did for you?”
    I looked back at the fire. None of that mattered. He knew. He was there. He didn’t need a pat on the back for it. Sy was smart. He could figure it out.
    â€œFrost, you can’t just assume that other people understand how you feel. We have to share with others. If I changed someone’s life like that, I’d want to know.”
    â€œI’ll keep that in mind,” I said to the flames. Sy was a big boy. Besides, our story didn’t exactly end there. Saving a young impressionable necromancer was all fine and dandy, but when you’re a tall, good looking half-elf doing it, not letting the girl fall in love with you is imperative. Not that I blame Sy for it, but he was also my first real heartbreak. I spent a long time wishing he’d look at me with anything other than friendship in his eyes, but he never did. I wanted too much to be loved and he couldn’t be that person—deep down I knew that. One touch from me was death to him. I never hated what I was more than the day I understood that some odds would never be overcome.
    Leslie was quiet for a long while, staring into the fire, her chin resting on her knees. “Have you figured out what the key goes to?”
    I lifted it out of my shirt and held it up. “The door, I assumed. This house is pretty old. It could still have skeleton keys, right?”
    Leslie shook her head, eyes flickering toward the door. “The doorknob is too new, I think. I imagine it takes a regular house key.”
    I got up to check. She was right. There was no way this key worked on the outside doors, but maybe one inside? But none of them fit the skeleton key either. Orion probably knew, but it wasn’t like he’d tell me anything—or not for free anyway. Information always came on his terms and normally it was to lead me to whatever conclusion he wanted me to make. Basically, super annoying. “Is there a basement?”
    â€œIf there is, I don’t think we can access it from inside. There aren’t any stairs, at least none that I’ve seen. Maybe there’s a hatch or something in the floor. Or maybe the entrance is outside like a cellar or something. Bundle up if you decide to go out,” she said, squishing down into the corner of the couch.
    â€œYou aren’t coming.”
    â€œNo, I’ve been cold enough for one day. You’ll be fine. I believe in you.” She covered herself up with her own coat. “I’ll be here, warm by the fire.”
    I zipped my coat and pulled my hat down securely over my ears. The icy gust hit me as soon as I opened the door. Obviously, Orion was in a mood that matched my own. I tucked my face into my scarf and began the search for a cellar door or any indication that there was another level to the house. The snow was easily past my ankles and drifts against the house that were even higher.
    â€œWho are you?” A strange voice made me look up. “You’re