Witch Way to Turn (36 page)
Authors: Karen Y. Bynum
“The name’s Myles Young. I’m a vampire. I’m serving a sentence for the WC. And I’ve loved you for years.” He watched her.
Honesty. She’d craved this. She tried to squash the pesky lingering doubt and return the smile, but something inside her wasn’t satisfied with complete happiness.
“How long will you love me?” The question exploded out of Breena’s mouth before she’d considered what it implied.
“Forever,” he stated simply.
“We’ve got nothing but time, right?” she asked.
“And each other.”
Myles laced his fingers with hers. He wanted her close–she knew it through his blood in her veins. She leaned her head against his chest. The rapid beat against her ear made her wonder why a vampire’s heart sounded so…human. He kissed the top of her head, and she finally relaxed.
Chapter 30
Breena, Jenny, Myles and Dandi drove to the courthouse–a small brick building on Main Street in Granite Falls, not two miles down the street from Mackie-High Funeral Home.
Breena had changed into the outfit Dandi had picked out for her–a black pencil skirt and blue, billowy button up blouse the color of Myles’s eyes. Jenny wore a purple polka dotted dress that opened like a tulip when she twirled around. She liked to spin.
Inside the marble hallway, the click of their heels echoed around them. Only one other person walked by them toward the exit.
When they reached room 201, Breena noticed a slender brunette sitting on a bench next to the door. Dressed in a perfectly-fitted heather gray suit with burgundy heels and a matching clutch, she looked too beautiful to be in a podunk courthouse in the sticks.
The woman stood as they got closer. Breena knew right away she was a preternatural. She had no soul, but her smile made up for it. The sight of it lit up the hallway, and Breena found herself smiling back for no reason.
Damn
.
She gave herself a good mental shake. What was she doing?
“Breena, my darling.”
“Do I know you?” She noticed Myles leading Jenny and Dandi into the room.
“Not officially, but I want to change that.” Her smile didn’t waver, but Breena’s did. She couldn’t help it. Why was this woman beaming at her?
Then her heart raced. Could it really be her?
“My name is Elinor. I am the queen of the preternaturals, and your mother.”
“My mother,” Breena repeated. The words didn’t feel quite right on her tongue. She thought maybe she should hug her, but didn’t know if the gesture was the thing to do.
As if Elinor had read her mind, she reached for Breena. The queen’s arms wrapped around her shoulders and drew her into a floral-scented hug. She smelled so good. It conjured up images of the childhood she’d dreamed of…coming home to parents who loved her. Maybe not chocolate chip cookies and a mom vacuuming in pearls, but knowing there would be someone waiting for her.
For a long moment, Breena didn’t return the embrace. She couldn’t. It had been eighteen long years. Years of pain. Abandonment. Worry and fear. Breena knew her grandmother had kept her away from her mother, so it wasn’t Elinor’s fault they’d been separated. She wanted to give her a chance. And the longer she stood there, locked in the arms of her mother–God, that sounded good–the less she wanted to pull away. Reaching her arms around her mom’s waist, Breena let herself have a perfect moment. Just one. Just for a second. She imagined this was how it had always been…how it would always be.
But all too soon her hug loosened and Elinor pulled Breena down next to her on the bench.
“What… I mean, why are you–”
“Here?” Elinor still beamed. Breena noticed the queen’s dimples, like hers. She’d never been so proud of them. She fought the urge to grin like an idiot.
“Orin informed me about Victor and Rae and the custody papers. I came to make certain my ex-husband did as he promised.”
“I appreciate the gesture, but you don’t have to worry. I’ve got this.”
Elinor’s laughter tinkled like a waterfall. Breena wanted to make her laugh again.
What the hell’s wrong with me? I’m not even positive she’s a good guy.
Except the little girl inside her couldn’t help vying for her mom’s attention.
“Bree,” someone called.
She looked up.
Myles stood in the doorway. “They’re ready to start.”
“Are you gonna stay?” Breena turned back to her mother.
“I’ll leave when everything is finished.”
Elinor squeezed her hand, and Breena followed Myles into the courtroom.
There was only a judge, a handful of supernaturals and an empty jury box.
They stood when the judge walked in, and then a lot of legal terms got thrown around before their lawyer presented the paperwork. After the warlock and werewolf signed, it was Breena’s turn. She signed the papers with pride, and pulled Jenny close to savor the moment.
Victor and Rae left first, exiting in the direction of the queen.
As they walked out of the courtroom, she spotted her mother down the hall near the back exit. Dandi took Jenny outside, while Myles hung back to wait for Breena. She could’ve sworn Elinor’s ears had been stuck up through her hair, but if they were, they’d retracted by the time Breena reached her.
The queen radiated a hundred-watt, dimple-studded smile at her as she approached. “Everything settled?”
“Sure enough.”
“Wonderful news, darling.”
The way “darling” rolled off her tongue gave Breena a sense of security and warmth, as if Elinor had called her the pet name all her life, as if her mother had known Breena her entire life. Loved her forever. “So you’re leaving now?”
“Yes, but I want you to come visit me in DC. Very soon,” the queen added. “We’ve got a lot to talk about.”
Breena nodded. “I can do that.”
“Promise?”
“Yeah.”
Elinor pulled her into another tight embrace before poofing out of sight, leaving Breena wanting more…more of what she’d missed out on as a child.
“You okay?” Myles stood by her side.
She’d known when he’d approached but didn’t want to stop living in this moment.
Finally, she turned around. “Better than okay.”
She took his hand in hers and led them down the courthouse stairs. Breena needed to ask him a question before they got to the girls and her Beetle. They stopped, all alone.
“There’s something I’ve wondered about.” She thought of asking about the blood-bond or his family’s death, but she didn’t. Couldn’t.
“What’s that?”
“All Norma’s boyfriends. The reason she had so many.”
“Go on.” He squeezed her hand.
“You…handled the situation?”
“Yes. I told you I would do anything for you, Bree.”
His eyes held her gaze.
“And you have, haven’t you? All these years. They didn’t just leave, did they?”
“The stupid ones I only compelled to leave. But the ones that came on to you met a different fate.” Blinking several times, he licked his teeth where his fangs would normally be. She didn’t think he even knew he’d done it.
Sometimes she forgot he was a vampire.
“That’s why Jenny and I were luckier than most. Because of you.” She leaned into him and twined her fingers in his dark curls to angle his head toward her.
As he cupped her face in his hands, the cool metal of his ring pressed against her cheek. “I love you,” she said, as her lips grazed his.
“Hey, get a room,” Dandi called from a few feet away.
Followed by Jenny singing, “K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”
Myles looked at the girls, then at Breena. His sexy grin appeared before he tweaked her nose.
She reached for his hand and returned the smile.
Could it be this easy to love and be loved? Follow her heart? Know she had made the right choice?
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Either way, he was worth it.
About Karen Y. Bynum
Breena started telling me her story right after the Romance Writers of America (RWA) conference in August 2010. She needed my help. An assassin and a convict were vying for her attention, but all she wanted was custody of her foster sister.
In order to keep up with Breena, I wrote at 4:30 AM before my day job at city hall and at night after I got home. In three months, on October 30th (Breena’s birthday actually), I typed
the end
. Of course that was more like
the beginning
since Breena’s story went through three major rewrites before Lyrical Press offered a contract in December 2011 and opened the portal from Breena’s world to yours.
Thank you for taking this journey with me and the voices in my head. There is much more to come for the Rhodhiss supes. Orin won’t live without Breena, period. He will not give up. Myles got what he wanted. But at what cost? Jenny will find out that biting someone can change your life. And Breena…she’ll learn that wishes have consequences.
I’m hard at work on the sequel to Witch Way to Turn and can’t wait to share it with you…
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