Free Archive by Viola Grace

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 1
     
     
    Melissande Simpson was a little scared. Her grandmother had given her the use of the property in the woods without being given any details as to why her granddaughter required it. This blind faith was humbling and it made Jinx even more antsy about using the property to hide.
    Not that anyone was going to come looking for her. Her only value was as an Archive. Her mother had not passed on the shape shifting ability that ran in her family and her father was just a normal guy, living a normal life, with his wife of twenty-nine years. She might have to make some appearances at the High Council to explain her talents, but she was fairly sure that no clan would press for her inclusion. Her mother’s clan certainly hadn’t.
    The wolves never made room for half-breed children.
    With Hex’s advice ringing in her head, she laid in supplies for two months. If she didn’t need to move around, the wards that Hex had had put in place around the cabin and property would keep anyone from finding her until she left the safe zone.
     
    * * * *
     
    Her phone rang just as she was getting ready to leave the service station for the last leg of her drive.
    “Hello?”
    “Hey Jinx, it’s Arabel. I just wanted to let you know that the wards came down this morning.”
    “Damn.”
    “Did you make it to your safe house?”
    “Not yet. I had some car trouble.”
    “Didn’t Hex fix that damned gremlin for you?”
    “Yeah, but I decided to keep him. He’s kinda cute.” She flicked her eyes to the rearview mirror and smiled at the ugly little critter in the baby seat in back.
    “Jinx, you are incorrigible.”
    “Yeah, I know. Was there anything else?”
    “Yes, actually. Which one of these spells was the fire-proof one?”
    “The blue ribbon. Did you need to use it?”
    “Not yet, but I may need to use the spell for my daughter. She is being stalked by a pissed-off dragon.”
    “Her target? She got him?”
    A rich and husky laugh broke over the cell phone. “Oh, did she ever. Bad part is, now he is out to get her. It should be fun for my little Graylin.”
    Jinx shook her head and was glad that she was safely parked. Her luck wasn’t up to having this type of conversation while driving. “I wish her luck with him then.”
    “And good luck to you as well, Jinx. You know that you need it.”
    “Bugger off.” Her grin was in her voice; it was nice to know that someone was looking out for her. Especially since her friends were now occupied.
    “Bye Arabel, take care of yourself.”
    “And Jinx, find someone to take care of you.”
    “Talk to you soon.”
    “Bye, Jinx.”
    Mel sighed as the phone disconnected. Hex and Hookey were already out of communication, and now George was off as well. She was truly on her own for the first time in years.
    A squawking grunt came out of the back seat and she blinked rapidly, then grabbed the box of cookies she had bought at the station and smiled at the gremlin as it tore through the packaging to the sugary treats inside.
    Having one’s car infested by a gremlin wasn’t as bad as it seemed. As long as she remembered to knock on the car before she started it, nothing went wrong. Today, she forgot and had to spend one hour at the service station getting her vacuum lines reconnected. Annoying, but not deadly.
    Before she had left the garage, she knocked him out of the car and buckled him into his baby seat. She bought some cookies for him and a snack for herself at the store and then was ready to finish the last leg of her trip.
    With both hands on the wheel and a happy gremlin in the back of her Taurus, she finished the last hour to her grandmother’s cottage.
    She sighed with relief as she turned the corner to the driveway of the little house. She could feel the wards closing around her and relaxed on several levels at the feeling of security that permeated her. She hadn’t even realized how tense George’s announcement that they were now ‘out’