A Wicked Good Witches Paranormal Romance Books 1-7 (Wicked Good Witches Seasons) (51 page)

“Or something?”

“I dunno, like… dinner. But now with the ring, just a snack.”

Charlie shot his brother a look that warned,
you’re not helping
… but aloud said, “I don’t know what to think. I’d dismissed William’s mate theory but it’s just… I don’t know.” At least he hadn’t bitten her. But even though Eva was just as confused as him, she wasn’t frightened when she left. Maybe she didn’t remember any more than he did.

Had he been about to bite her?

He had the smallest recollection of his teeth on her chest.

Too close. Way too close a call. Again…
he hoped the ring really had stopped him from biting her. That he could trust it would now allow him to hurt anyone. And more than anything, not allow him to pass on his werewolf curse.

He could not imagine anything more devastating than biting someone and infecting them.

Nina had told him the ring would not allow him to hurt anyone. He had to believe this was true. So why did he feel like he’d almost just traveled down a dangerous road, from which there was no return?

Michael cleared his throat. “What exactly did happen? And feel free to leave out as
many
details as you’d like,” he professed, having no desire to relive his brother’s sexcapades. 

“It’s all hazy,” Charlie told him. “But whatever happened it can’t be my wolf thing, or definitely not just my wolf thing.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because Eva experienced it too, not just me.”

“I can confirm that,” Michael intimated. “It was sort of obvious the way she was feeling when she…” he stopped, failing to finish. “You ready to go? We do have a ceremony to get to.”

“Um, I just need one more thing, but why are you changing the subject?” Charlie pried while rummaging through a drawer.

Michael let out a frustrated sigh. “When she left, she ran into me just outside the door and emotions were just pouring off from her. Lots of them. She was in the same frame of mind you are. And then, boom. Nothing. Like she somehow just shut them off.”

“Has that ever happened before?”

“No. I’ve never met anyone that could just shut it off at will. Control it to some degree sure. But it wasn’t just that.”

Charlie made a face that said explain.

“It was something about the way she looked. Like she’d gone from emotional hot zone to an icy freeze. And you’ve heard me say it before, but in almost every case where I came across someone trying to control their emotions, they were all trying to hide something.”

Charlie frowned.

“You were the one that first said you thought she might be hiding something, not me. Just remember that.” Michael couldn’t read his brother’s reaction. “Sorry. I know this isn’t what you want to hear.”

“No. But better to know, I guess. Better to keep my distance and figure out…” he paused, unsure what to say.

“The mystery that is Eva Jordan…” Michael finished for him.

“The mystery that is Eva Jordan,” repeated Charlie. He looked down at his filled basket. “Let’s go get this night over with. Something tells me I’m going to need a stiff drink and a cold shower before crawling into bed.”
Maybe a bathtub filled with ice would work better.
 

They headed out to the jeep where Eva waited for them. She was leaning against the back of the jeep with her hands inside the pockets of a vest. “Got a chill, found this in the jeep. Hope it’s okay?” Her voice was even, her face stoic, giving no indication of her emotions.

“Yeah, of course,” said Charlie. “It’s Melinda’s, she won’t mind.”

“She keeps sweaters and jackets all over the place. Never seen a girl turn so cold, so fast,” said Michael. Something in his tone held the suggestion that he was speaking of more than the vest. And by his face, Charlie could tell he was trying to get a read off of her.

Charlie shot his brother a pleading frown. Eva hopped into the jeep, avoiding him. And Michael loaded their gathered items into the back. Once they were all in, they rode in awkward silence towards the rendezvous location.

##

William came to an abrupt stop on the porch of the Deane Manor.

He never thought he would step foot inside it again. Once the family had left the Isle for good, the manor had remained empty, at least so he had thought. Now that he knew about the secret doors, he wondered how empty the place had really been over the years.

It certainly looked abandoned. The once grand manor looked aged. Tired. Wilted. The steps creaked under even the vampire’s soft step.

“Reminisce later.”

Right now, he needed to find some way to trap this Soul Hunter and save Jack Howard. He raced to the library, taking in his surroundings as he flew past. The brothers had been cleaning. A large screen TV sat atop an old mantle. The place looked barely lived in and was still covered in layers of dust in most rooms.

He got to the library and began sifting through the titles, reading any volume he thought might have some answer. Even with his super-fast reading ability, he did not have much time. He read book after book, finding nothing.

“I cannot let them down. I must find something. Some way to hold the Soul Hunter, keep it from escaping the Isle.”

After reading another handful of books with no luck, it dawned on him what he needed to do. He remembered that Lizzy had said there was no way to ensure the doors remained closed unless she was doing so.

He was thinking about the problem in the wrong way. He was determining how to keep the Soul Hunter from escaping the Isle, what he really needed to be thinking was how to keep the doors from opening at all. A much easier problem to fix, he hoped.

CHAPTER 14

Melinda sat in the middle of the two Deane brothers as Lucas drove them toward the location they needed to prepare for Lizzy’s return to her body. Riley had offered to sit in the middle in an attempt to deflate any discomfort from sitting between two Deanes, but she had stubbornly insisted she was fine and hopped in.

Now her thought was,
Mack was heading this way. Why didn’t I just hop in with her?
It was too late now…

Lucas had clearly wanted to tear into Riley but for Melinda’s sake was keeping quiet, staring straight ahead as he drove. Riley was playing with his thumbs. The silence was more than Melinda could take. She could hear her own breathing and wanted desperately to reach down and see if the radio would turn on. As if reading her mind Riley leaned over her and clicked it on.

“Classical? Really Lucas?”

“My truck. My music.”

“There’s nothing wrong with classical,” argued Melinda, glad of something to say. “William has turned me on to quite a few classical pieces over the years.”

“William, the vampire?” confirmed Lucas.

“It would have been nice to know you have a vampire,” bemoaned Riley.

“
Have
a vampire?” Melinda repeated sorely. “For your information, we don’t
have
a vampire. He’s not like our hitman or something!”

“Really?” Riley didn’t believe it. “He nearly tore my neck out.”

“What?” demanded Lucas, swerving the truck.

“Don’t forget you’re driving behind the sheriff,” spouted Melinda.
Okay, talking is a much worse idea than silence.

“Forget about it Lucas, it was really nothing in the end.” Riley conceded begrudgingly. “When we first showed up at the lighthouse we caught them off guard. The vampire was just being…”

“Protective,” suggested Melinda hotly.

“So if he’s not your
hitman
, what is he? Your personal bodyguard or something?” There was a hint of jealousy in Riley’s question.

Melinda folded her arms angrily, refusing to answer. 

“Look, I’m sorry. It’s just that most people don’t hang out with vampires. Even witches…”

“That is true,” agreed Lucas.

“If you absolutely must know, my vampire,
our
vampire,” she rephrased in a flustered tone. “William… is my friend. One of my closest friends. I trust him with my life. He has been looking out for my family for a long time. He’s practically family… he’s like another brother. A much older, much more intelligent and…” she stopped, keeping the rest to herself.

She was lying. William wasn’t like a brother to her at all. A confidant, no doubt. A close friend, with absolute certainty. Up until recently her best friend on the planet. A too-hot-for-words star of many steamy dreams.

William would do anything for me… and I would do anything for him
. After the last week though? Would he still?
He couldn’t even look at me earlier…
he’s obviously angry and disappointed with me.

What exactly was their relationship now? Could they even still be friends? If he was so disappointed by what she’d done that he couldn’t even look at her, how would they live in the same house? Or work together?

Regardless of that answer, he was not another brother. Not by a long shot. But for Riley’s sake, she’d pretend. She didn’t need yet another reason for anyone to be mad at her. She was already dreading going home. Getting cornered by her brothers. The inevitable angry lecture. Their disappointed gazes wondering when she’d ever learn. And once they found out she’d done a lot more than
date
a Deane?

It might just be bad enough that this time, they’d be the ones to lock her in her bedroom and never let her back out again. They’d finally understand it was the only safe place for her. Because every time she came out bad things happened and people got hurt.

She let out a low groan and looked to see Riley staring at her. She could at least still smooth this whole William thing over.

“Whatever you might be thinking, Riley, William helps us with our job. After we lost our parents he kept us from falling to pieces. Without him, I can’t imagine how we would have gotten through it. Without William, everything would have been ten times harder. He’s a very important part of our lives and he would be whether he was a vampire or not.”

“He means a lot to you,” Lucas said, slowing the truck, following Mack, pulling into their destination.

“He means the world to me, and my family, and he can be trusted,” Melinda emphasized, needing them to accept this.

“You clearly mean the world to him, too,” Riley mumbled, keeping his gaze out of his window, pretending to be looking at their surroundings.

Lucas pulled the truck to a stop and gazed down at Melinda. “A vampire as a family friend. I guess there’s a lot we don’t know about this place.”

“You can trust William,” she told Lucas. “He can be a little
quirky
,” she aimed toward Riley. “But he always does the right thing.” She turned back toward Lucas as she finished, feeling that it was more important that he understand this.

His dark eyes glimmered in the dim light of the truck’s interior illumination. His mouth broke into a dry smile. He leaned forward and tapped on his brother’s arm. “Okay, I get why you like her. She’s kind of… adorable.” He winked at Melinda and proceeded to get out of the truck.

Adorable…

He did not just call me adorable…

Ugh I hate that word!

“Your brother is kind of…”

“A pain in the ass,” suggested Riley.

Melinda grimaced but didn’t argue. She could see that Riley wasn’t at all thrilled about how things were going.

She turned to see Mack blocking the road from any wandering tourists.

“It’s gotten quite dark outside,” noted Melinda.

“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of the dark?” Riley opened his door to get out. He held out his hand to offer help. She thought about ignoring his offer but quickly took hold and scooted outside.

“I’m not afraid of the dark,” she insisted, straightening her jean jacket. It was still damp from her dip in the ocean. “Just prefer the lighter parts of the day over the dark ones.”

“I dunno, I think there’s a few things good about the dark.” There was a bit of the Riley she knew in his comment.

“Yes, it’s called sleeping,” she wittingly retorted.

Riley’s eyes shouted silent tumultuous messages in her direction, at one moment saying he was sorry, and the next that he was confused, and the next that he just despised the entire situation they were in.

Melinda reached out and touched his hand. “Can we not argue, Riley? I have no idea what’s going to happen after all this is finished, but let’s call a truce for tonight? Please.”

“Fine. Just… how am I supposed to compete with a vampire?” he whispered miserably, clearly the opposite of fine.

“Compete? What on earth are you talking about?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I’m a Deane, for one… the enemy. And whether you see it or not, not all of that vampire’s reaction to me was because of my
dirty
Deane blood. He is clearly in love with you.”

“Are you insane? William is protective, always. In love with me?” She pushed out a forced laugh. “No. You’re wrong.” She said the words, but they sounded empty. She wasn’t so sure that Riley wasn’t right. And he seemed so certain about it. More sure than she did, and he’d only just met William.

Maybe it was a guy thing. Some natural ability to sort out the competition.

Melinda sighed, recalling that she’d promised to be honest with Riley.
But that was before we found out who we were.
But maybe
if she just told him the truth. That she did have feelings for William, but it didn’t matter because Riley would win in the end…
but that’s not true either. After today, we’re over, too. None of us wins.
Still, maybe if she told him he
would
win. That if it
they
were possible she’d choose him, and perhaps this would alleviate his fears.

You’d only be saying this to make him feel better.

I’m so sick of my brain right now.

If you could have William or Riley and had to choose right now, who would you choose?

That’s not a fair question because it’s not one I’ll ever have to answer!

And more importantly, she did not know. She wouldn’t be able to choose.

I’d hurt them both.

You’ve already done that.

Melinda looked up to see Riley pinching his eyes together as if trying to read the thoughts swirling in her mind. She opened her mouth to try to explain but Lucas called out for his brother.

He turned away from her, heading to the back of the truck where Lucas was just jumping down off the truck bed.

“Lizzy said we might need to cut our way inside,” reminded Lucas. “I’m imagining this place is hard to get to and overgrown…” he handed Riley a machete while grabbing onto an ax.

“Couldn’t we just
magic
the overgrowth out of the way?” Melinda pulled her jacket tightly around her.

Riley glanced at his brother, allowing him to answer.

“We don’t use magic unless it’s completely necessary. We…” Riley cleared his throat... “
We
,” reiterated Lucas, “don’t take any chances. We prefer to do things the old fashioned way.”

“Might I suggest that tonight is one of those nights where magic might be the better option,” said Melinda. “We don’t have a lot of time.”

“Magic over Might… you just
might
be surprised, Melinda Howard, what two men can do when they put their minds to it.” He winked at her and headed across an open field, with the ax over his shoulder.

“Am I a child?” she turned and asked Riley.

“What? No,” he stumbled through his answer.

“Then he needs to stop talking to me like I am,” she huffed, following him into the field.

Riley caught up easily.

“I have enough older brothers already,” she grumbled. 

“And a vamp…” he caught his tongue when he saw the stinging look on her face. “I told you Lucas could be a little overbearing,” he said instead.

“C’mon you two,” he shouted back at them. “We got a lot of work to do before everyone shows up.”

Melinda and Riley just eyed each other.

This night was dragging on for far too long.

As they approached the edge of the field, Lucas pulled out a flashlight. The crescent moon lit up the field, but the woods looked curtained by darkness.

“She said to look for a path,” muttered Lucas, shining the light.

“Wait,” said Riley, “go back to the left.”

“There it is,” pointed Melinda. “It’s not far in. Supposed to be a mounding hillside with a tree growing out of it.”

They stepped cautiously onto the path keeping an eye out for the hill with the tree growing out of it. It did not take long. The only problem was none of them saw where the opening to the cave was. Brush-covered tree limbs entangled the entire hillside.

“Maybe this isn’t the right tree?” thought Riley.

“No, this has to be it,” said Melinda with a sigh. “And like you thought, Lucas, it’s completely overgrown. This could take all night with or without magic.”

Suddenly a ghostly light appeared, slithering through the limbs towards them, just to the right side of the tree trunk. It formed a bubble, hovering for a moment until a familiar face formed.

“Lizzy!” cried out Melinda.

“It sounded like you needed help.” She acted as if this were no surprise. “Now you know where to start hacking. Chop chop!” Her body retreated through the limbs.

“Wishing you’d just stayed with your brothers?” Riley nudged Melinda.

“Ask me that again later,” she mumbled, adding more loudly, “Physical labor, not really my thing. But I could try magic if you prefer.”

“Why don’t we try it our way first, and if we need to use magic then we will,” granted Lucas.

“I guess I can go along with that,” she answered.

“Good.” Clearly, it was the only answer he would have accepted. She huffed, annoyed by his indignant tone.

This whole Deane thing was getting much too complicated. As confused as Melinda felt about the situation, she wanted to keep her guard up. They were still Deanes. But if she was completely truthful, she believed them. She did not sense any deceit on their part. And as for Lucas and his irritating manner, he was just being the big brother. She’d seen it a thousand times before.

But even standing here working with them she could not get William out of her thoughts. What Riley had said about him being in love with her… no one else had ever noticed or made such a claim.

The more she thought about it though, Riley was just acting like a jealous boyfriend, and might have said it to make her insist it wasn’t true. Which she’d done, she thought believably.
I’m not a good actor. I thought we’d already figured this one out.