Chapter 1
“That’s it.” Neve pulled my cup away from me and hid it behind the bar. “You’re cut off.”
“Nooooo,” I whimpered. “Sweet, sweet nectar, come back to me!”
“Audrey, you’ve had three cups of coffee. It’s eight already. In the evening. You’ll be up all night and sending me ridiculous texts at two-thirty in the morning.”
“I would never.” I gave my best friend my most tragic puppy-dog eyes.
“That’s what you said last week.” Neve held up her phone.
I pushed my dark-framed glasses up on my nose and examined the screen. It read: Still can’t sleep. Never let me drink coffee again. If you see me drinking coffee, slap it out of my hand. 2:36AM.
“I was clearly delirious.” I leaned back on my barstool. “You’ve gotten cold in your old age.”
“Delirious from sleep deprivation! And if I’m old at seventeen, you must be ancient at eighteen. I’m the picture of youth.” Neve pulled open the retro pink fridge behind the bar and peered inside.
“And yet, so heartless.”
“Shhh. Have some pie. It’s apple ginger.” She slid a slice of pie across the polished wood on a floral china plate.
Pie in the Sky, Pilot Bay’s finest cafe (okay, only cafe, unless you counted the coffee counter at the gas station), was owned by Neve’s parents. Her dad handled the money, and her mom was responsible for the pretty, shabby-chic decor, but everyone knew that it was Neve who was the genius with pastries. Her chocolate cookies could bring boys to their knees. When you added that to her curvy, tattooed, vintage pin-up-girl vibe, she was irresistible. Not that she seemed to care. She said the local boys lacked a certain something. Her aloof attitude only made them love her more.
I, on the other hand, couldn’t even get my boyfriend to meet me for coffee.
“I have to close in fifteen minutes. Did Dylan text you back? Is he coming?” My friend pulled out a bandana from her apron pocket and tied her dark hair back. Cleaning mode engaged.
“Nothing. I even promised him free pie.” I took a bite of my own pie. So flaky. So perfect.
“Humph, I’m not sure he’s worthy of apple ginger.” Neve grabbed a cloth and scrubbed the counter aggressively. “I’m sorry. I know you like him. I’m just not sure why.”
“Well…it isn’t for his punctuality. You do have to admit he’s pretty to look at.” When he was around. “And the accent is nice.”
“Gavin also had that lovely Irish accent, and he was never late.” Neve picked up my plate and wiped under it before setting it back down.
“Could we please not talk about my ex-boyfriend? Like...ever?” I took another bite and considered telling Neve the real reason I had asked Dylan to meet me tonight. But while I was still chewing, the cafe’s phone rang.
“Hi, Aunt Chloe.” Neve tucked the phone between her ear and shoulder and kept cleaning. “Uh huh. I have two chocolate with salted caramel buttercream and six vanilla bean with lavender buttercream.” She laughed. “Of course, chocolate always sells better. I can’t get away for another hour, though. I still have to clean up and cash out.”
I listened with half my attention while finishing my pie and composing a scathing text to my absent boyfriend.
“Oh, yes, she’s here. How did you guess?”
I looked up at Neve in surprise. Although maybe I shouldn’t have been. Her Aunt Chloe knew everything. No story too big, no gossip too small.
“I’ll ask her, just a sec.” Neve pulled the phone from her ear. “Audrey, I know you’re waiting for Dylan, but would you mind making a delivery for me? Aunt Chloe needs some cupcakes. She’s expecting her book club ladies and the one in charge of snacks is sick. It’s a dessert emergency.”
I glared at my phone and hit send with a sigh. “Fine. If he happens to stop by, tell him I went home. I assume his phone must have gotten run over by a car, or he’d be answering my texts.”
“What if Dylan got run over by the car?” Neve moved the glass cover from the cake stand to the counter and carefully boxed her tasty creations.
“Then, I will consider forgiving him.” I tucked my phone into my backpack and accepted the pink pastry box from my friend.
“Thank you, Audrey. Come over in the morning and we’ll re-dye the ends of your hair, I can barely see the pink anymore.”
“Sure, sure.” I slid off my stool. Anything to make my pale, freckly blonde self more interesting. Reaching across the bar, I hugged my friend. “Thanks for the pie. See you tomorrow.”
The rain I ran through earlier today had stopped, but the sidewalk was still wet and the air felt cool for July. I dodged puddles the size of small lakes as I walked down Main Street on my way to Miss Chloe’s house. Yes, Pilot Bay had only one major road through town, and yes, it’s called Main Street. You had to give the town fathers props for clarity if not originality. You might have thought that at eighteen I could probably drop the Miss, but sadly, that’s impossible. Miss Chloe was Pilot Bay’s head librarian, and she’d been shushing me and my friends since we were toddlers.
Miss Chloe was not actually Neve’s aunt. They weren’t even related. She was more like a godmother if anything, but the Klassens weren’t Catholic, so aunt it was.
I cut across the street and past the mishmash of houses—mansions to trailers—on the west end of town, before coming to the dirt road leading to Miss Chloe’s house. She lived just beyond the outskirts of town, but the road was pretty, lined with tall pine trees and mossy rocks. It was just starting to get dark out, but I didn’t think I’d have any trouble making it home before night fell.
I turned the last bend in the road and there was Miss Chloe’s house. It looked like a fairy-tale cottage, with a tall peaked roof. Climbing roses covered the shingled siding around one corner. The windows glowed in the dusky evening light.
I climbed the front steps and knocked on the bright red front door. Instead of the usual lion, her brass knocker was shaped like a bear’s head. More appropriate for British Columbia, I supposed.
Miss Chloe poked her curly gray head out the door and smiled when she saw me.
“Audrey, you’ve saved me. None of the book club ladies were going to get to the bakery in time.” She adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses and stepped back into the house. “Come in for a minute. I have something for you to take to Neve.”
“Oh, I don’t know how much the cupcakes cost,” I protested. “I’m just the delivery girl.”
“No, no, it’s not about money.” Miss Chloe waved me in, and I obediently entered. I’d walked over here with Neve before, but I’d never been inside. The entryway was spotless. A gilded mirror hung on the wall, flanked by paintings of roses.
“You’ll be seeing her tomorrow, right?” she asked. “For the anime festival in Rossland?”
“Um, yes? I don’t know if I’d actually call it a festival.” I tugged at the hem of my black Naruto t-shirt. “I’m not sure more than five people in the Kootenays even watch anime. I don’t have high hopes.”
Miss Chloe just smiled and opened the box of cupcakes, inhaling deeply. “It’s going to take all my willpower to wait until the other ladies arrive,” she said happily. “Neve’s baking improves every day.”
I nodded politely, trying not to look too anxious to leave. I didn’t actually want to walk home through the woods in the dark.
The older lady shut the pastry box with a sigh and headed into the house. “I’ll just find that item for you. Come sit in the living room. Don’t worry about your shoes.”
I padded after her, having already slipped out of my red chucks. Canadian force of habit. The living room smelled of roses with giant bouquets gracing the mantle and coffee table.
“You sure like roses.” I held my backpack on my lap and perched on the edge of the plush couch. It was heaped with pillows which all had—surprise!—embroidered roses on them. Except one. I picked it up, squinting at the beautifully stitched design. Was that Iron Man?
“They’re terribly friendly flowers, you know.” Miss Chloe opened a wooden chest under the window and rummaged around. “I know it’s in here somewhere…”
“I really should be going soon.” I looked past her, out the window where the forest was growing darker. “The fastest way home is the trail through the forest, but it—”
“It’s getting dark. Yes dear, I know. Ah, here it is.” Miss Chloe pulled a long swath of red velvet from the blanket box. She shook it out with an air of satisfaction, and I leaned forward, embroidered Iron Man forgotten, as I saw what she held.
Chapter 2
The cloak was gorgeous, with a deep hood and thick folds of scarlet velvet that would fall nearly to the ground if I wore it. Gold thread embroidered the edges in curling, twining designs. A pair of heavy-looking gold clasps held the front together.
Miss Chloe plopped it in my lap, and I found myself petting the plush red fabric. It felt so cozy, and…was it buzzing somehow? I squinted at the embroidery. The golden knotwork pattern seemed to spin in an intricate twisting pattern, growing in depth like fractals around the threads. I shook my head and the glowing pattern faded.
Well, that was weird. Neve had been right to cut off my caffeine. I obviously needed an early bedtime tonight. I folded the cloak up as well as I could before cramming it into my backpack.
“You’d best be heading home.” Miss Chloe peered out the window. Daylight was fading quickly now.
I stood, swinging my backpack onto my shoulder with a grunt. The cloak felt heavier than I expected. “What does Neve need a cloak for anyway?”
“Oh, you never know when it might come in handy,” Miss Chloe called back over her shoulder as I followed her to the door. She stopped abruptly in the entryway, and I almost ran into her. “Audrey.” She examined me through her gold-framed glasses. “I regret not being able to give you more attention.”
“Um, that’s okay.” I had no idea what the librarian was apologizing for. When had she ignored me? “I don’t really read all that much.”
“You’ll do well.” She gave my shoulder a reassuring pat. “You’re stronger than you realize.”
“Thanks?” Should I tell Neve that her aunt was possibly struggling with dementia? “I really should go now, though.”
Miss Chloe opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. She glanced up at the sky, purple and cloudy in the twilight. “Good luck, my dear.”
“It’s only a fifteen-minute walk to my house, Miss Chloe,” I said with a laugh as I ran down the stairs. “I’ll be fine. Enjoy your book club.” I definitely needed to check in with Neve about her.
Pilot Bay was nestled into the mountains with Kootenay Lake on one side and forests surrounding the rest of town. There were trails all around the edges of the community, some leading into the mountains, some creating shortcuts to other neighborhoods. I’d grown up here and I knew the trails as well as the true roads in the area. Halfway back to town from Miss Chloe’s, I turned onto a bike trail that would connect to the little path running past my backyard.
It was darker on the smaller trail, with the trees thick around me, but it would take twice as long to walk through town. So, I walked quickly and tried to keep my eyes on the path instead of scanning the trees for the reflective gleam of cougar eyes. No one had seen a cougar around town. This year.
I found the crossroads with no problem and started down the little path to home. It was almost full dark now, but I wasn’t worried.
Not until I heard the howl.
I stopped in my tracks. I’d always heard about wolves living in our mountains, but I’d thought I’d have to be lucky to see one, they were so rare. My pulse kicked up at the wolf’s howl, but it sounded far away, deep in the woods. For a moment, I listened to the winds whisper through the trees. With a shiver, I started moving again. I’d have to tell Neve I heard a wolf. It’d be a good story.
Then I heard an answering howl and all the hair stood up on my arms. This one was not far away. I broke into a jog, scanning the trees, not in the least bit prepared when a large gray wolf bounded onto the path in front of me.
I shrieked, my heart hammering.
Its pale, yellow eyes bore into me. I froze. I couldn’t even breathe. Now I could say I’d seen a wolf. I did not feel lucky.
I pivoted in a spray of dirt and bolted from the path into the forest.
This might not have been the wisest move. In my panic, I thought I could hide in the dark forest, but the thing was, the wolves could see in the dark.
And I couldn’t.
I crashed along blindly through the undergrowth, my legs getting battered and scraped by unseen branches, the wolf right on my heels. Then I heard a second howl.
Seriously, though? Weren’t wolves supposed to be more afraid of me than I was of them?
With a crash and a snarl, a second, darker, wolf caught up to the first and nearly ran it over in its eagerness to eat me first. I tripped in the dark, foolishly focusing on wolves instead of my feet.
The wolves untangled themselves. Two pairs of gleaming eyes watched me climb to my feet.
“N-nice wolves.” I held up my hands. “Please don’t eat me.”
One stepped closer, growling, but the dark wolf lunged for me, snapping at my ankles. I took off through the forest again, even though I knew I would never be able to outrun them.
In fact, I hardly took more than a few steps when one of the wolves crashed into me from the side. I fell beneath its weight. This was going to be the end for me. No more Audrey.
But I was surprised by three things. One, it was suddenly bright out, as bright as midday. Two, instead of falling into a bush, I landed in a snowbank. A snowbank in July. But most surprising of all was the third thing. The heavy weight that pushed me into the snowbank, was not, in fact, a wolf. It was Gavin McKenna, my ex-boyfriend.
Given a choice, I might have chosen the wolf.
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