Witch's Bell Book One

she sucked in a wheeze of a breath.
    'Got ya now,' Harry suddenly blurted, a hot, white streak of energy erupting from the bag and flying over Ebony's face. In another second it seemed to impact with something - the sound of clinks and thuds, erupting by her ear. Then something crumpled beside Ebony, as if she'd been standing too close to a suit of armor as it toppled over.
    Just as Ebony allowed herself a strangled, but thankful, breath, the lights turned on.
    The room suddenly filled with a bright, but quite normal glow, and Ebony turned to see an actual suit of armor right next to her. It was crumpled, empty, and burnt all over from the remnants of Harry's blast. It also had a massive, terrible looking broadsword in one of its giant metal-gloves.
    'Oh my-' Ebony whispered, pushing herself away from the thing as if she expected it to either spring to life again, or burst into flames. But as she pushed herself back, she found herself coming up against what felt like another set of legs.
    'Word,' the owner of the legs finished her sentence.
    Ebony shrieked, sure it was another knight out to get her.
    'Ebony!' Harry rattled from the corner. 'We've been sprung! Run!'
    A hand latched onto her shoulder - an actual warm, fleshy, human hand. And while Ebony wasn't going to rule out there being a sword in the thing's other hand – she realized, with a gulp, that it was way more likely to be a gun.
    Nate.
    'Get up,' he growled.
    She pushed herself up, just as he yanked at her shoulder, and she turned, just as he tried to twist her. And though the pain in her toes, from having tried to karate-kick a suit of armor, was still intense, she still found it possible to stand on her own two feet.
    Nate. Detective Nathan Wall. Here he was. In his own house, in his own secret little room, facing off against his shoeless home-invader.
    Ebony sucked in her lips, shrugging backwards in order to release herself from his iron grip. Not that he'd let her.
    'What are you doing here?' his face was.... she'd never seen him look like this. No, she'd never seen anyone look like this. There was an edge, such an incredible edge to his features. It was as if she wasn't staring into his face at all – as if his eyes, mouth, jaw, and crumpled brow weren't anything but details belying what was truly inside. Because past the stare, the frown, and the clenched teeth, was something else. Something....
    'Ebony, what are you doing here?' he squeezed at her shoulder, his grip like stone on flesh.
    She shrugged back, this time putting more effort into it – twisting just at the right time until she could use her momentum against him, and pulled herself free. She hobbled backwards several steps, and just kept staring.
    'What are you?' she said after a moment, voice soft, and barely audible.
    He gave a snort as if that was the last question he'd expected her to ask. And his expression changed for a moment – his eyes flickering, his frown inching inward.
    He was like a puzzle, Ebony realized. It was as if everything on the outside – the way he looked, the way he flattened his tie, the way he said "right" at every moment, regardless of how wrong things were – it was as if all of it was some kind of code. A puzzle that, if you knew how to assemble it, would unlock what was within.
    Nate wasn't the tie, the voice, or the face. He wasn't the need to drive painfully slowly, he wasn't the need to quote the rule book at people, and he wasn't the need to work twenty-four hours a day. Nate was whatever was behind all that.
    'What am I?' he repeated crossing his arms, his expression still so angry, so cold, and so.... something else.
    'Ebony! You stand back,' Harry whistled from the corner, 'because if he tries anything, I'll blast him rotten.'
    Nate flicked his eyes over to Harry. 'Tell me you didn't bring him along?' he said, almost to himself, his expression not a degree warmer, even though his words weren't dripping with threats and menace.
    'That's right, boy, I'm here. And let me tell you, try anything macho on my girl and I'll blow up your house, your stuff, and your face. Your little magical armor there attacked us – almost killed my Ebony! So don't you get cocky with me!'
    Nate shook his head, clearly not worried, and not amused. 'You broke into my house with a magical bookstore in a bag – nice. And the armor? I doubt it would have actually killed you,' he added, tone subtle.
    It took Ebony a moment to realize that he was talking to her - Nate