When he stopped to talk to the butcher at the next stall, Lucas didn’t let go of my hand. He spoke, and I wasn’t paying attention to the words, but the deep rumble of his voice gave me goose bumps.

He glanced my way with a grin, not pausing in his conversation, and all of a sudden I could see it.

Holy moly. I liked him. More than liked him, I was attracted to him. This guy was drawing me in. Both Cosette and Teresa had mentioned me finding someone...

Suddenly nervous, I tugged my hand away and busied myself getting out a cookie.

I didn’t have time for a romance. Not now. But maybe I could come back once this was over and see if Lucas wanted to go out on a date. It was the twenty-first century. I could ask him. Couldn’t I?

It would be the light at the end of the very long tunnel that my life had been so far. He would be my light.

Chapter Twelve

“I think we should go for a hike after this,” Lucas said.

We’d stopped for lunch at a cafe next to the market. The food was fresh and delicious. I ordered grilled trout with vegetable quinoa and I’d practically been shoveling it in since I took the first bite. “A hike? I was hoping to talk to more people.”

“Were you getting anywhere?”

“No.” That was the problem and we both knew it. The locals all flared with a bit of aura when I touched them, but when asked about mages, they had no idea what we were talking about. A few of them wore glowing crystals, but other than being handed down for many generations to keep away evil spirits, they knew nothing about where they came from. Some of them were afraid of me after I asked about the mages—which was disheartening—and it made me wonder if all humans in this region flared a little. Maybe all humans did. I’d only ever been around witches and supernaturals, and now that seemed like a terrible gap in my knowledge of the world. I was second-guessing myself that much. “But how is a hike going to solve anything?”

He set down his fork. I’d momentarily wondered why the locals hadn’t flinched when he ordered enough food for four people, but I’d forgotten to think about it after tasting the food. Now I was back to thinking about it. How much did the locals know about the pack? And if they knew about the pack, then why didn’t they know anything about the mages?

I didn’t expect anyone to point me straight to ancient magic, but surely someone should have heard about the local covens or maybe some old shrine where locals went to pray. I’d take any lead I could get right now.

“A hike might solve nothing,” he said. I started to speak, but he kept on talking. “But it might give us some clues. You’ll get a better view from up high. If you look down and sense energy somewhere, then I can lead you there.”