Chapter 4 delivers a milestone moment wrapped around a genuine jolt of danger. Sadie’s first day of first grade is exactly the kind of ordinary, bittersweet family scene the series does so well, complete with wistful memories of Lili holding her newborn daughter and a neighborhood bus-stop photo tradition that grounds the family firmly in suburban normalcy despite their extraordinary secret.

That normalcy shatters the moment Rose spots a suspicious sedan with tinted windows idling near the bus stop with its engine running. What starts as a mother’s, or in this case an aunt’s, protective instinct escalates fast: the car trails Sadie’s school bus stop to stop, someone inside photographs the children with a telephoto lens, and when Rose gives chase, the driver uses visible magic to manipulate a traffic light and slip away. It’s a tense, well-executed action beat that confirms Rose’s worst fears in the most concrete way possible.

The chapter’s real accomplishment is how efficiently it escalates stakes without melodrama. Rose’s call to Warren, the werewolf investigator, to trace the sedan’s plate ties this book back to the mystery threads from the previous one, while the magical proof that someone dangerous is actively watching Sadie raises the tension right as the family had started to let their guard down. It’s a sharp, unsettling note to end the chapter on, and it makes clear that Sadie’s first day of school is only the beginning of this book’s troubles.

📖 Catch up with the Guardian family — get Fae PTA on Jamie Davis’s site:

jamiedavisbooks.com/books/fae-pta/

 

Fae PTA — Chapter 4

The alarm went off and I groaned. It was bright and early on the first day of school. Placing wards around Sadie’s elementary school had kept me up well into the wee hours of the morning. I reached out for my nightstand to tap snooze on my phone. I could sleep a little longer.

Then I saw the time. Clearly, I’d tapped the snooze too many times already. I was going to be late for Sadie’s first day of school if I didn’t get moving in a hurry. I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes in an attempt to wake up faster. With no time for a shower to help shock me awake, I opted to stumble out and pick up a giant chilled latte from the donut place on the way to see Chip and the kids.

I pulled my hair back, trying to gather the unruly waves that resisted containment in something as confining as a ponytail. I wrestled the errant strands into position after a few aggravating seconds. The elastic band looped around my wrist served to tame my morning do so I could show my face in public.

The drive-thru line took way too long, but at least I didn’t spill the large plastic cup full of iced coffee into my lap. I gunned the Firebird’s engine and pulled out into traffic. I was going to be too late to have breakfast, but if I hurried I could still get there before her bus picked up at her stop.

My excitement for Sadie had an undertone of sadness that she was growing up so fast. It didn’t seem all that long ago that I met her for the first time at the hospital. Lili had held out her firstborn child for me to cradle in my arms, telling me the name she and Bobby had chosen. I remember looking down into those deep blue eyes that captivated me in an instant and I’d nodded my head in a slight bow to my future queen.

Now she was a big girl first grader and going to school for the first time, and I was going to miss it all if I didn’t hurry. I reminded myself to ease up on the accelerator despite my sense of urgency. It was the first day of school and there were lots of kids standing near the streets of the development.

I pulled into the driveway next to Chip’s minivan and hopped out to race to the door. It opened before I could get there.

“Aunt Rose, you’re late.” Sadie crossed her arms and pushed out her lower lip in a pout. “We were supposed to have breakfast with you today.”

“I know sweetie. The morning got away from me. But I’m here in time for you to get on the bus.”

Chip came over to the door with Addy running behind him. “Turn around, Rose. We’re on the way out, not in. It’s time to go to the bus stop.”

“I’m glad I made it in time for that at least. Sorry, Chip. I know I promised to be here.”

“We can talk later. Let’s go or we’ll miss the bus.”

I stepped back to make room for Chip and the two kids to exit the front door. “You know there’s still time to decide to homeschool her.”

“No, we discussed this. I let you talk me into it last year for kindergarten and I’ve regretted the decision. She needs to meet and play with kids her own age.”

“There are the neighborhood kids. We’ve vetted them at least.”

Chip didn’t answer right away. He took Addy by the hand. “Sadie, sweetie, hold your aunt’s hand while we walk to the bus stop.” He started down the sidewalk to the street and turned towards the corner at the end of the cul-de-sac. A group of parents and kids had already assembled there ahead of us.

“Lili and Bobby wanted Sadie to have a normal life growing up. You know that. That includes going to school with the other kids. It’ll be good for her.”

“I want to go to school, Aunt Rose,” Sadie added. “All my friends go to school, and they tell me how much fun it is. I can’t wait to do that, too.”

“I know.” I did know. I remembered my days in school. But things were different then and I didn’t have a target on my head as the future of Fae royalty.

Ellie Johnson, the short redhead from across the street, stepped out from a crowd of moms and waved to Chip and me. “Hurry up. There’s still time to get Sadie in a picture with the rest of the kids for the first day photo.”

Chip smiled. “I’m glad you keep up with the protocol on these things, Ellie. I’m hopeless when it comes to that stuff.”

She nudged me with her elbow and grinned back at him. “Don’t worry, Chip. I’ve got your back. Besides, you’ve settled in perfectly these last two years. You’re an old hand at this stuff by now.”

Ellie reached out and directed Sadie to stand in a line with the ten other kids of various ages waiting at the bus stop for the elementary school bus. Sadie fell in with the other kids, her backpack over her shoulders looking way too big for her tiny frame. I blinked away a few tears as my eyes welled up. I couldn’t help but think of Lili at times like this. She would have been so proud of her little girl. Chip was right. This was what Lili wanted, even knowing the potential risks.

I pulled out my phone and knelt to snap a few photos of the group and then zoomed in to crop out the others so I just had Sadie in the frame. That was when I saw the dark sedan parked down the street. Something about it didn’t seem right to me and I stopped taking the picture and looked up past the line of kids to stare at it with my naked eyes and not through my phone’s camera lens.

The windows of the sedan were heavily tinted, and I couldn’t make out the driver behind the wheel or tell if there was anyone else in the vehicle besides the shadowy form in the driver’s seat. I realized what had caught my eye as I studied the car a little longer. Its engine was running. It was also pulled over in front of an empty stretch of grass and not in front of any of the homes in particular.

I stood and kept my gaze on the car as the bus finally drove up. I missed Sadie climbing aboard and tore my eyes away long enough to wave at her through the windows on the side of the bus as it pulled away.

“Rose,” Chip said, breaking through my thoughts. “What’s got you so distracted? I asked if you could send me the pictures you took. I left my phone in the kitchen at home.”

“Uh, yeah, sure.” I hooked a thumb over my shoulder. “That sedan over there, have you seen it before?”

Chip looked around and shrugged. “What sedan?”

I whipped around and stared at the empty stretch of street. The bus had obscured it when it drove off, so I hadn’t seen the car pull away from where it was parked. “I need to go, Chip. I’ll send you the pictures.” I ran back down the sidewalk to the house.

Behind me, Ellie said. “She’s off in a hurry.”

Chip said. “Yeah, she’s like that sometimes.”

I didn’t hear the rest of the conversation. My heart pounded with a sensation that something was wrong. I needed to go after that car and see where it went. I made it to my car and jumped in, racing back out of the cul-de-sac past all the parents and smaller children still standing at the bus stop. A few frowned at my speed. I didn’t care. I had to find that car.

It turned out, I didn’t have to hurry all that much. I caught up less than a minute later. The car had pulled over a hundred yards behind the bus as it stopped to pick up more kids. I wondered if he was just stuck behind the school bus as it made its stops or if the person inside followed the bus itself.

I pulled behind a car down the street and studied the sedan. The window was down, and a large telephoto lens poked out for a few seconds aimed at the bus and the kids boarding. Had they photographed Sadie and the other kids, too?

I gripped the wheel in a white-knuckled squeeze. There was no way I could go over there and do anything no matter what my feelings were. Taking pictures of kids at a bus stop was creepy but not inherently illegal or worthy of my intervention. I needed to know more.

The bus pulled away and so did the car, taking its time not to get too close to the bus. I held back until they reached the corner leading out to the main road outside the neighborhood. As soon as the sedan turned after the bus, I pulled out and zoomed down to the intersection to follow both vehicles.

The sedan followed the bus all the way to the school, pulling off beside the playing fields near the school with a clear view of the buses unloading kids out front. I drove past, trying to catch a glimpse of the driver as I went by. The tinted windows foiled my attempt to identify anyone. I went by the school and drove to the next intersection. A small strip mall was across the street, so I waited at the light, staring at the parked sedan in my rearview mirror so I didn’t lose sight of it.

When the light changed, I crossed over the road and into the shopping center lot. I did a quick loop through the parking area and returned to the light that would take me back past the school. The sedan had moved and was now at the intersection across from me with its left turn blinker on. I prayed he got the light first so I could follow him.

I got lucky and he pulled out into the intersection and passed to the left across in front of me. I immediately put on my right blinker and checked the traffic before pulling out to go after them. I didn’t care if they spotted me at this point. I planned on confronting them to see what they were up to. I tapped the phone open as I drove, hitting a number in my favorites list. Warren picked up on the third ring.

“Yeah, Rose?”

“Hey, you still have that friend in the Sheriff’s office?”

“I do. Why?” He didn’t sound too irritated at the question.

“I need you to run a plate for me. I’m trailing them now. They were following Sadie’s bus and taking pics of the kids at other stops.”

“That’s creepy. Give me the tag number.”

I read off the plate of the car in front of me. “Did you get that?”

The sedan had picked up speed and changed lanes to go around the traffic in front of him on the dual lane road we were on.

“I got it,” Warren replied. “Am I doing this as a favor, or do you plan on paying me for the information?”

“This guy’s a probable pedophile and you want to get paid for uncovering them?”

“Jeeze, Rose. When you say it that way, it makes me sound bad.” Warren could be so touchy sometimes.

“Just track down the owner and call me back. I need to follow this guy and see where they’re going.”

I hung up and swerved into the next lane to catch up to them. They’d gotten several cars ahead of me into an open stretch of road and accelerated for the next intersection while it was still green. Right before they got to the traffic light, the driver reached a hand out the window and pointed at the lights. The unmistakable glow of magic burst from the outstretched hand and enveloped the light. The lights went amber and then turned red just as they passed underneath them.

The cars ahead of me slowed and I banged both hands on the steering wheel as the cars around me blocked me from following after the person. The use of magic clinched my suspicions, though. They were not just a random creeper searching for their next target. This had to have something to do with Sadie and that meant that someone else had tracked her down to figure out her true identity.

Cursing to myself while I waited at the light, I knew I had at least gotten the license plate number. Warren would get that back to me and I could track down the person by the end of the day. At the very least I’d know who they were.

The light finally changed to green, and I waited my turn to head through the intersection. I planned on trying to get ahead of the pack of cars in front of me and continue on in an attempt to catch up, but I didn’t have much hope. I’d been made and the sedan was probably long gone by now. I’d just have to wait for Warren to call back.

📖 Loved Chapter 4? Get the full story — get Fae PTA on Jamie Davis’s site:

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