Elyse turned on the water, waiting for it to heat up. Just as she set her first foot into the shower, the landline phone rang. Sighing, she turned off the water and walked back over to the nightstand. People who knew her in the city had her cell phone number, as did Uncle Albert and Aunt Grace.

  At this time in the evening, Elyse anticipated it was her best friend Jessica calling. They had grown up together. Their mothers had been best friends since they were toddlers and had encouraged their daughters to become close as well. Elyse and Jessica used to spend hours at one ranch or the other. Jessica’s family raised beef cattle and Elyse’s, horses.

  “Hello?” she said, wondering what Jessica wanted tonight. Sometimes, they would just talk on the phone for hours; others, they’d get together.

  “Hey. I was wondering if you wanted to come hang out at Cubed tonight. I’m having a rough time with Beau and really need a girls’ night and time away from my brother,” Jessica begged.

  Elyse sighed. So much for going into the city. Jessica always knew the right things to say to get her to go anywhere. “Sure, I’ll come. I just need to shower, and then I’ll head to your house and we can ride together?”

  Jessica giggled. “Perfect. Can’t wait to see you!”

  As soon as they hung up, she reluctantly called Quinn. “I know we just made plans, Q, but something came up and I can’t tonight. Rain check for tomorrow?”

  “No problem, Elyse. Just don’t bail on me tomorrow, okay? This guy I want you to meet, Josh, he’s perfect for you. I’d hate for you to miss out if someone else decided to snatch him up because you’re too busy,” Quinn teased, although Elyse was certain Quinn was serious that someone else might snatch up Josh.

  Not wanting to care about this Josh fellow, whom she knew nothing about, Elyse shrugged and made a kissing sound into the phone. “Tomorrow at seven p.m.!” Then she hung up, wanting to focus on taking her shower and getting ready to go to Cubed.

  Beep. Beep. Beep. Elyse reluctantly shut off the shower and reached for her towel. Wrapping herself in it, she stepped out of the shower and turned off the timer. She gave herself ten minutes a day to take a shower. Another sacrifice she had chosen to make to ensure when the big southern storms hit, she would continue to have the basics that many were without. The hot water heater had its own dedicated solar panel and battery pack, as did the heater for the house.

  Elyse dried off and hung the towel on its hook before walking to her closet. Flipping through the clothes, her hands hovered over a black cocktail dress, one of her favorites. Unfortunately, riding a horse in a short dress could be uncomfortable. Not wanting to shock anyone at Cubed by wearing a dress, she selected one of her best pairs of jeans, black denim with a floral design and metal studs going down the legs. Riffling through her tops, she smiled when she came across another one of her favorites, a light-beige metallic halter top. She held it up to herself in the mirror. Perfect.

  Gazing around her closet, her eyes settled on a pair of cream-colored boots—one of the pairs she reserved for going out in an attempt to keep them from getting too dirty. A difficult task, given she had to ride to her destination.

  An hour later, Elyse rode up to Jessica’s house. She let out a piercing whistle and waited. Moments later a matching whistle sounded from near the barn. Grinning, Elyse guided Honey over to it. Jessica came riding out on her brown mare, Moon, barely visible in the dark except for an oval patch of white hair on her forehead.

  “Ready?” Jessica said, riding up alongside Elyse.

  “Yep!” Elyse smiled.

  Without being prompted, the two mares leaped forward into a lope. Laughing, Elyse urged Honey to speed up even more. As they raced around the bend in the driveway, the moon rose above the tree line, shedding light on the road ahead. Elyse glanced over at Jessica, debating if they should slow down or keep running. They’d have to slow down when they approached Cubed, but Jessica’s family owned most of the land between where they were and the bar, so no one should be on the road that late in the evening.

  “Race to the bridge?” Elyse challenged.

  Jessica answered by speeding up and pulling ahead of Elyse. Honey let out a big snort and gave a small buck before digging in with her hindquarters and shooting forward.

  They raced neck and neck until they could see the wooden bridge ahead. On the other side of the bridge was their destination.

  Laughing, Elyse took a deep breath as the horses walked over the bridge. “We should do that more often. Sometimes we really do need to just let go.”

  Jessica nodded in agreement but stayed silent. Glancing over at her friend, Elyse wondered what Jessica wasn’t saying. She decided to see if Jessica would open up to her on her own without prying. When they reach the hitching post farthest from the bar, they dismounted and tied the mares.

  Walking up to the door of Cubed, Elyse was finally able to get a good look at her friend. Jessica had her curly black hair tied back in a ponytail, and she was wearing a button-up denim shirt with the sleeves rolled to the elbows and white jeans. The white jeans set off her dark skin perfectly, but Elyse had never understood how Jessica could keep white jeans clean. Every time Elyse tried wearing white jeans, they always got a stain within a few minutes, even if she stayed inside the house. As they walked through the door, several groups of people saw them and tried to wave them over. Elyse decided since Jessica had invited her, she would defer to her.

  From the outside, Cubed was a plain building with white-painted wood siding. A large sign with a cube painted in black was over the door. Inside, it was rather rustic. The walls and ceiling were encased in tongue-and-groove pine wood. The tables and chairs were all made of rough-cut lumber. Dim candlelight flickered in the room. Mounted on the wall at set intervals were glass candle holders. Past the dance floor was a stage where the band would play. That night, there was a pianist and a guitar player. Behind the bar were shelves full of alcohol from the handful of local breweries and distilleries. Like most businesses in Jackson County, Cubed didn’t have electricity, but they did have running water. The patrons of Cubed weren’t bothered by the lack of electricity, as that was the norm in Jackson County, and in fact in all of Georgia—except for Atlanta.

  Instead of heading over to their friends, Jessica made a beeline for an empty cocktail-height table near the bar. A waitress saw them and came over with their usual, two beers.

  “Thanks,” murmured Elyse before focusing on Jessica. “You did invite me tonight…so are you going to tell me what’s on your mind? On the phone, you mentioned Beau…”

  Jessica took a deep breath. “Yes, Beau…I love him, but both of us are still living in the house with our parents. He feels like he is allowed to have an opinion about everything I do, from how I clean stalls and feed to whether or not I bring friends over. It is getting old.”

  Elyse made a face as she remembered growing up when Beau had tried to boss her around. Two years older than the girls, Jessica’s brother sometimes decided he could treat them like servants.

  “Maybe you should move out?” she suggested.

  “I discussed it with my parents, but they are worried if I move that I won’t spend as much time working on the ranch as I do now. It’s just the four of us. They can’t afford to hire an employee,” Jessica said quietly.

  Elyse sighed. She didn’t think she would be able to afford an employee either after her parents had died. Luckily, she had been able to find Juanita, who was the granddaughter of the ranch’s first stable manager, Pedro. When Juanita felt she was no longer up to the strenuous tasks, she found a replacement, Elyse’s current employee, Mya. At the time she hired Mya, it was just after her parents’ accident, and she had had two choices: hire someone or sell everything. “It’s your life. You should be able to choose what you do.”

  Jessica glanced sharply at Elyse. “I have known my whole life I would be a cattle rancher. What else is there? It would be too expensive to start over doing something else out here in Jackson County. Even if I wanted to move to the city, the cost of rent alone is prohibitive. I also don’t have any skills the people in the city want. They don’t care about cattle or horses.”

  Elyse bit the inside of her lip before she responded with something that would surely give away her ties to Atlanta. Uncle Albert lived in Atlanta, and although they had a healthy relationship, there were times where it really felt like she didn’t know much about him or her family at all. Most of the residents in Jackson County despised the city dwellers. The feeling was mutual, Elyse was certain.

  “I thought I heard that the Johnsons are looking for a renter for one of their cabins? That wouldn’t be too far away,” suggested Elyse.

  Jessica looked at her in surprise. “The Johnsons would be close enough. Maybe I should go check it out tomorrow.”

  “I can come with you if you’d like,” offered Elyse. She had clients coming Sunday to pick up a horse, but other than her plans with Quinn tomorrow evening, she would be available the rest of the weekend.

  “Sure!” Jessica said with relief in her voice.

  “You know…once you have your own space with four walls and a roof, you won’t have to worry about your parents or brother having an opinion if you were to bring someone home with you for the evening,” Elyse said and wagged her eyebrows.

  Jessica rolled her eyes. “How can you even think about that? I barely have enough energy for when we hang out together, let alone enough to consider a romantic relationship with anyone.”

  Elyse laughed, gazing around the bar to see who had decided to show up. “Once you discover what you’re missing, trust me, you will find time.” She was glad she had decided to come here instead of chancing a meeting with her ex, Derek, in Atlanta. They had broken it off over a month ago, but whenever she ran into him, he seemed to think they were still dating. How she hated clingy guys like that. Most of her guy friends who were here tonight weren’t intimidated by her running a ranch on her own. A few she had dated, but they had discovered they were better friends than lovers.

  Jessica tapped on Elyse’s hand. “Did you hear me?”

  Elyse shook her head. “No?”

  Jessica laughed. “I was asking if you’d like to dance or get another drink?”

  “Mmmm…dancing would be good,” she murmured just as they started playing one of her favorite line dancing songs. Most of the people who had been sitting and drinking stood up to go form four lines of dancers.

  three

  Josh

  Josh Everly, a tall, muscular man with dark tan skin, short blond hair, and piercing blue eyes, gazed out the window of his apartment in downtown Atlanta. He admired the view as the lights of the city were just beginning to become visible and the sun dropped below the horizon. He reveled in how at night the city could once again be beautiful as the many abandoned buildings were hidden in the darkness.

  A wave of relief washed over Josh as he realized how lucky he had been when Victor Pascal had found him just after his seventeenth birthday—the day he had discovered he had a magical talent when it unlocked and set his father’s apartment on fire in Manhattan, New York. Taking a deep breath through his nostrils, he could almost smell the smoke.

  “I hate you!” shouted a small boy, fists raised.

  “Don’t do this, Ben,” Josh warned. His fists were up too, but he really didn’t want to hurt Ben. To most, Ben looked as though he was a boy of about ten, but Josh knew better. While he wasn’t entirely sure what Ben was, he was certain it was not a ten-year-old human boy. Josh wasn’t afraid to fight Ben; they had tussled many times before, as best friends tend to do. What he was worried about was fighting in his father’s apartment and what would happen if his father showed up before the mess was cleaned up.

  Instead of backing off, Ben charged. Josh dodged to the left and spun. Ben overshot him, and Josh stood up with relief on his face when he felt a sharp pain in his side. Looking down, he was shocked to see metallic claws in his side, attached to Ben’s dark-brown, human-skinned arms. Growling, Josh tried to pull himself free, but the claws not only stayed in, they sunk in deeper.

  “Get off of me!” he shouted, trying to dislodge Ben, panic rising. Josh had no idea what Ben was, but those claws hurt. Blood trickled down his leg. Josh tried grabbing Ben’s arms and immediately regretted it as his hands burned as though he had touched a hot plate.

  “Ben, please!” he begged, throwing himself to the floor and rolling. Unfortunately, it seemed as though Ben’s whole body had the ability to burn Josh. As they rolled, every time he came in contact with Ben, his flesh burned. The burning was too much to bear, and Josh screamed uncontrollably.

  The next time he opened his eyes, the room was full of smoke and flames. He shuddered and realized that the claws were no longer in his side, but he could barely move. Every inch of him had blisters from where he’d come in contact with Ben.

  Suddenly, Mr. Pascal appeared in front of him. The fires went out, and the smoke cleared. When Josh was able to see himself, he noticed that his skin didn’t look like it had been burned. The wounds from the claws were definitely real though.

  “What the hell was that?” Josh demanded from Mr. Pascal in a shaky voice.

  “You will mind your tongue,” rasped his father’s voice from somewhere.

  Shit! So much for keeping the fight quiet. Josh groaned.

  Mr. Pascal offered Josh a hand to stand. Josh took it.

  “That, Josh, was…not human,” Mr. Pascal said.

  Josh rolled his eyes. “No shit, Sherlock.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he regretted them. His father would beat him later, he was sure of it.

  Mr. Pascal continued as though Josh had not interrupted him. “How do you feel?”

  “Uh…like I was just in a fight that I lost terribly,” Josh said.

  The memory faded. Josh shook his head. He still to this day had not identified a creature anything like Ben. Nor did he know what had happened to Ben. Once he went with Mr. Pascal, he never returned to Manhattan.

  With Hugo Everly’s permission, Mr. Pascal had taken Josh out of Manhattan and into a small compound in upstate New York that was dedicated to training people with magical talents.

  Josh’s stay at the compound was supposed to have been only a few months, “like summer school,” but it turned into four years. He traded the wall that had been barricading him and other families carrying magical talents within Manhattan for a wall around a much smaller place with stricter rules.

  At first, he had believed Mr. Pascal, that they only wanted the best for Josh and the other teenagers there. But then it became obvious it wasn’t what was best for them. It was what was best for the government organization providing the funding. Largely, the training followed the curriculum of the military academies dedicated to creating the next generation of officers. Participants learned practical skills, such as navigation and tracking, weapons, how to work as a team, and more.

  Anyone who arrived without their magic unlocked was put in a building that all participants were forbidden to enter. Rumors circulated about what happened in that building, but those who survived seldom spoke about it. The participants were split into groups based on the type of magic they had. Before long, Josh had figured out that people with certain types of magic came from different regions of the country. Shapeshifters—people who could turn into animals—came from the Pacific Northwest. Vampires from California. People with magical talents that involved the mind, such as telekinesis, predicting the future, and telepathy, tended to come from the Southeast, although a few, such as Josh, originated in the Northeast. The middle part of the country from north to south seemed to be home to elemental magic.

  Everyone at the school was from the United States. Little was shared about the rest of the world, although Josh knew from his parents that COVID-50 had ravaged the world, not just the US. Most likely, it was yet another thing that the government was hiding from its citizens.

  At times, he hated what he had allowed them to do to him over those four years without complaining or questioning it once. There were other times where Josh was forced to admit the training he had received had played a critical role in preparing him to become a very good FBI agent, honing his magical talent and teaching him how to use it with his other skills.

  Ring. Ring. Ring.

  The sound of his phone snapped him out of his thoughts. Josh moved away from the window and picked up his phone.

  “I’m sorry, Josh, but Elyse had something come up. We’ll have to try the date another night,” Quinn told him apologetically.

  “Thanks for the heads-up.” Josh sighed in disappointment before hanging up the phone. Quinn had really hyped up Elyse to him, and he was eager to meet such a compelling woman. Work had been particularly brutal lately, with long hours and not much progress made on his current case. Although he was not looking for a long-term relationship, having a casual girlfriend was something he missed.

  The last girlfriend he’d had, Patrice, had broken up with him six months ago. She claimed he wasn’t willing to make enough time for her. He had not fought the accusation because it had been true. Often, he wondered why he had even bothered; he was married to his work. Sure, he had one-night stands. But there were times he missed having someone he could just talk to, someone who cared. Quinn…Quinn was a good friend, but they had very little in common. She wasn’t the type of person he’d call to tell her he’d just had a bad day. Or if he was experiencing any issues with his magical talent. He just had to keep those to himself too. If he told the coworkers that he was friendly with about his magic problems, they would relay the information to his boss, who would likely pull him out of the field.

  As much as he liked having his magical talents—speed and strength were his primary two, but he could also block his mind and prevent it from being read or put under compulsion—there were also times when he wished that more people knew about it. When magical talents were first discovered, during COVID-50, the United States government decided to keep the information for themselves. Seventy-five years later, the majority of the country’s population was still unaware that people with magical talents existed. Josh was still surprised that people who knew that there were supply and material shortages that made technological advances come to a screeching halt after 2050 didn’t bother to question how some of the luxuries they had were sustained.