Mistfall by Olivia Martinez

Luca and I sat in a comfortable silence eating our
muffins and drinking coffee. I was hoping he wouldn’t ask for too
much background information. That’s the kind of stuff that could
get other people killed.
    I didn’t want to have to explain Melissa and
her involvement in my life. What if he slipped one day and
accidentally told someone about me? I’d like to be the only one to
have to deal with the repercussions and the less he knows the
better, at least for now.
    “You don’t have to tell me anything about
your situation Mags,” Luca said, interrupting my thoughts.
    “How did you know what I was thinking?”
    “You were wearing your thoughts on your
face,” he smiled. “Besides, we’ve just met and I’m asking some
rather personal questions that I’m guessing, because of those
lovely eyes, have sensitive answers.”
    I let go of the breath I was holding.
“Thanks, I appreciate that.”
    Melissa came back into the kitchen with a
duffle bag, her face ashen. “Mags, I thought you said that you left
David alive.”
    “I did. There wasn’t any permanent damage, my
daggers weren’t even silver. Why?”
    She threw the bag at Luca. “Clothes, now.” He
got up and rushed to my room understanding the situation before I
did.
    “Melissa, what’s going on?”
    “Mags, David’s dead.”
    I dropped my muffin onto the floor and shook
my head in disbelief as it rolled away from me. “That’s not
possible.”
    “It doesn’t matter and that’s not the worst
of it,” she told me. “They know what you are Mags, I don’t know
how, but they do. Right now Owen and his pack are on their way and
they want your head. I’m guessing they’ll call The Powers That Be
and the Aelfadl won’t be too far behind. You’ve got to get out of
here.”
    Melissa headed to the basement while I helped
Luca pack clothes and the small cache of weapons I kept in my room.
He had the top drawer of my dresser open and gave me a questioning
look when I walked in.
    “The short version is that it’s how I’ve
stayed alive this long. I only have about ten minutes to pack and
go, so that’s all the explanation I have time for. Sorry.”
    I went into the closet without giving Luca a
chance to respond. Grabbing a pair of jeans, tank top, hoodie, and
hiking boots, I hastily changed into them.
    “Mags,” Luca called from the room.
    “What?” I walked out of the closet fully
clothed to find a perplexed Luca
    “Where are you going to go?”
    I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know
yet.”
    “You don’t…what?” The flabbergasted look on
his face turned upset at my lack of a plan.
    His eyes turned an electric shade of
turquoise as his jugular bulged slightly. Good grief, even
furious this man was good looking.
    “What?” I laughed a little. Did you think the
craziness over the past twelve hours was over?” I waved him out of
the room. “Come on, I need to find Melissa and get out of here.
    Back in the living room, Melissa was waiting
for me with my favorite sword. “Here,” she handed my weapon along
with an envelope to me.
    “What’s in the envelope?” I asked.
    “A contingency plan and that’s all I can tell
you about it. You need to head east of here for twenty miles on
this side of the Mistfall. Once you’ve found your destination, open
that envelope.”
    “And what would that destination be?”
    “You’ll know when you find it,” she replied
sarcastically and rolled her eyes.
    I raised an eyebrow. “Rather melodramatic,
don’t you think?”
    She looked a bit uncomfortable with what she
said next. “It’s not my plan and I don’t have time to get into
that. You need to go, now.”
    I hugged Melissa as if it was the last time I
would see her. I turned to Luca, not too sure what to say to him. Hey, thanks for taking care of me last night. Sorry we can’t see
where this is going because everyone seems to think I killed
Alpo-breath. Then again, it is straight and to the point.
    I grabbed the handle of the