When Sparks Fly (Netherworld Series Book 3)

by Olivia Hutchinson

  “What happens when you turn into a bear in front of her? Do you think she could love you then?”

  “I do.”

  “Then you’d be wrong. You’d scare her to death. Why do you think I’ve kept all of this hidden from her all these years?”

  He hadn’t thought about that. About scaring her the first time, she saw him turn into an animal.

  “I…”

  “She may be considered a shifter to the Netherworld Council, but she was still raised human. That’s what she thinks she is and that’s how I want to keep it. My daughter does not need to be drug into all this.”

  Duncan was pacing back and forth in front of him, his boots wearing at the ground.

  “Maybe you think you love her now, but you’ll get over her and move onto someone else. She has her entire life ahead of her. She’s going to college in Portland. She wants to be a chef. Did she tell you that?”

  “Yes, sir.” She had when they were sitting by the fire the first night.

  “And you want to take that away from her?”

  “No, sir.” He didn’t. He didn’t want to stand between Maggie and her dreams.

  “Beyond that, it would be impossible to mate with her. How would you explain biting her? And everything that comes with it?”

  “I…I don’t know.” He hadn’t thought of her reaction, only of his need.

  “Do you really think a human, or a girl raised without the knowledge of what we are, would be able to fully understand what ‘mating’ means? Have you thought of that?”

  He hadn’t. “No, sir.”

  Duncan stopped in his tracks before turning to glare at him. “Of course not. You gave no consideration to what you would put my daughter through before you took her to bed, did you? You gave no thought to what it would mean if you mated her. I’m just thankful you didn’t do it last night. Do you really think she’d appreciate being bound to someone for the rest of her life with no way out?”

  Could he do that to Maggie? Could he mate with her and have her hate him for doing it? Could he look in her eyes every day and know that she hated him for what he did to her? Would she be able to live with a man who also turns into an animal? For humans, it was something nightmares were made of.

  “You need to stop thinking with your dick. If you care about her like you say you do, you’ll leave. You’d leave now, get in your truck, and drive home. You’d never see her again.”

  Duncan was right. He couldn’t do that to her. He couldn’t bear to see hatred in her eyes. He couldn’t take knowing that he had trapped her in a life she didn’t want. He loved her too much for that. He knew what he had to do. He had to leave.

  That’s precisely what he did, without even saying goodbye.

  5

  Present day

  All Maggie had wanted was a vacation. Why that had been so difficult for her to get was beyond her. She hated her job. Hated that she couldn’t get more than one day off a week. Hated that her vacation was denied for months on end while they worked her like a dog, demanding she put in sixty plus hours a week until she was so exhausted she’d fall asleep driving home.

  She thought in the beginning that it came with running a well-established restaurant in Cantor. The hours. The lousy pay. The fact that her boss treated her like an indentured servant. After three years of the back-breaking work and the constant feeling that sickness wasn’t too far away, she snapped. She marched into her boss’s office and told him to take the job and shove it. She was done. She was done giving him everything she had to not even get a single week of unpaid vacation in return.

  Thankfully she had saved up enough money so that she had been able to pay the last two months of rent that was on her lease. She had packed up her belongings and taken them to her father’s house. He had graciously allowed her to stay with him and after several days, he started to encourage her to get out of town.

  He was right. Getting away from Cantor and clearing her head was exactly what she needed. She no longer loved her career of choice. She no longer felt as if she had a reason to get out of bed in the morning. She was depleted, mentally exhausted, and desperately needing a breath of fresh air while she tried to figure out her next move in life.

  Weeks she stayed with her father, sleeping and trudging around the house. She hadn’t told her friends that she had quit her job because she didn’t know how to answer the follow up questions. She was looking for another job only half-heartedly, still unsure if being a chef and running her own kitchen was still her dream.

  After days of casual suggestions, it was her father who couldn’t take it anymore.

  “Maggie, get the hell out of this house. Go clear your head and figure your life out, but I can’t take you moping around here anymore.”

  He held out the keys for the cabin in New Freedom. She hadn’t been there in almost eight years.

  Her father cleared his throat. “Take someone with you. How about Heidi? That poor girl needs to see the light of day.”

  She didn’t know if she wanted to go back to New Freedom, let alone if she wanted to bring Heidi with her. After everything that happened that last time she was there, just the thought of going back made her feel sick to her stomach.

  Her father had taken Jonah out into the woods so they could have a discussion. From the window, she had watched Jonah come back. She’d watched him climb into his truck and drive away without as much as a backward glance.

  “Where is he going?” she’d asked her father when he came back to the cabin.

  “Back where he belongs.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Her father had sighed. “I know you have feelings for him- “

  “I love him!” Tears had welled in her eyes.

  He shook his head. “He doesn’t feel the same way, Maggie. Come on. Get packed up and we’ll go home.”

  She had argued with him. Had told him that he was wrong but everything her father told her about what Jonah had told him…Jonah didn’t love her. He was going to break her heart.

  He did break her heart.

  Even though it had been eight years, she didn’t know if she could stand going back to the cabin. But maybe her father was right. Maybe if she brought someone with her – someone like Heidi – being there would become a vacation and an escape like it had been instead of just a reminder of her heartbreak. Maybe she could learn to like New Freedom again.

  Heidi had required some prodding before she finally agreed. With her mother promising to look after Heidi’s grandfather so her daughter could get away, her friend had finally agreed. She hadn’t looked too excited to go, but Maggie sensed that Heidi needed to get away just as badly as she did. It was only supposed to be for a few days. What could go wrong in that short amount of time?

  When they pulled up in front of Martin’s General Store, Maggie turned to Heidi. “I’m going to go in and grab some things. You want anything?” she asked as she opened the door to her black Honda CRV.

  “A bag of beef jerky if they have any,” Heidi said as she picked at her fingernails.

  Heidi had spent most of the ride up fiddling with her phone until she lost service, at which point Maggie thought her friend would lose her mind. She’d been quiet ever since except for the occasional bickering she did about not being able to text their friend Natalie back.

  Hoping Heidi’s technology withdrawal wouldn’t last too long, she pulled open the door to the store and the bell clanged overhead.

  It was just as she remembered it. It had been years, but nothing had changed. Gerald Martin still stood behind the counter of his store, his beard and hair still white with more lines on his face than he had when she was little.

  “Can I help you, miss?” he asked her, peering at her over the top of his glasses.

  “Hi, Mr. Martin,” she said, smiling at him.

  Recognition flickered over his features. “Maggie? Little Maggie Alfieri is that you?” He laughed, his belly jostling as he came around the counter to stand in front of her. �
�What have you done to your hair?”

  Maggie touched the tips of her short black hair self-consciously. It hung just past her ears but the last time she’d seen him eight years before it had hung down almost to her bottom. “I cut it years ago.”

  “It has been a long time. You’re all grown up. Visiting your dad’s place, are you?”

  “I am. How have you been?”

  He nodded his head, his brown eyes still wide, almost in disbelief that she was there. Maybe the townspeople thought they’d seen the last of her. “I’ve been fairly decent. How about yourself? Surely you’ve found a mate by now.”

  “A mate?” Maggie laughed. “No, no. I’m not married.”

  “Ah,” he said, nodding his head slowly. “Dating someone seriously then?”

  “No, sir. I’m as single as they come.”

  He raised a brow. “I thought by now you’d surely be settled down with a family of your own.”

  “No, sir.”

  “Well, if I were forty years younger, I may ask you out myself,” he said with a laugh. “Don’t let me hold you up. I’m sure you’re tired after your drive up here. I’ll be here when you’re ready to check out.” He stepped back behind the counter.

  She smiled at him and grabbed a red basket that sat next to the door. Weaving her way through the aisles, she found Heidi’s jerky as well as a few other things they needed. She was reading the back of a can of soup when she felt someone next to her. They cleared their throat and she turned her head slowly, terrified it would be him.

  Jonah.

  He was lounging against the aisle, his elbow propped on the top shelf in front of the canned vegetables. Grey eyes moved over her. She couldn’t help but feel exposed at the way he looked at her. His dark brown hair was buzzed down close to his scalp and his features more mature than she remembered. He was wearing a brown sheriff’s uniform, his name etched on the badge that hung on his chest.

  She knew she may run into him, but she hadn’t expected it to be within the first five minutes of her being in town. She’d hoped that she would have more time to prepare herself, but no such luck.

  He was taller than he had been eight years ago. His body more filled out. Stronger. Butterflies erupted in her stomach and she felt the blood drain from her face.

  Get it together. You didn’t mean as much to him as he did to you.

  “Maggie Alfieri, you come all the way to New Freedom and you can’t even say ‘hello’ to me?” he asked, his voice deep and alluring, not even so much as a trace of a smile on his face.

  “I…I just got in town,” she stammered.

  “Did your father come with you?”

  Realizing she still held the can of soup in her hand, she dropped it into the basket. “No, he didn’t. I came with a friend.”

  “Oh?” he asked, tilting his head as he regarded her.

  “Yes,” she said, lifting her chin a little higher. “My friend Heidi.”

  The corner of his mouth lifted. “How long are you staying?”

  “A couple days, maybe a week. Maybe longer. We haven’t decided yet.”

  He stood up straight and nodded his head.

  “You’re the sheriff now?” she asked, instantly feeling stupid for asking such an obvious question.

  “I am. I was elected after my father retired.”

  There was no ring on his finger and immediately Maggie hated herself for even noticing.

  “How’ve you been?” he asked her, his gaze sweeping over her.

  “Okay.” She didn’t know how to answer. It felt like a loaded question. What was she supposed to say? You broke my heart and I never really got over you?

  “I won’t hold you up, but don’t be a stranger,” he said as he turned giving her a small smile over his shoulder. She melted and immediately hated herself for it. He’d had his chance and blown it. She’d had to pull herself together after he’d used her and then thrown her away like an old pair of shoes. No, he probably treated his shoes better than that.

  Her knees still weak, she watched him walk away. Again.

  When he went to the refrigerator and pulled out a gallon of milk, she got her wits about her enough to beeline for the counter.

  “I didn’t know you two knew each other,” Mr. Martin said as he rung up her few items, placing one after another into a paper bag.

  “It’s been a long time.” She managed to contain herself enough to not look at Jonah out of the corner of her eye although she could feel his eyes on her.

  She paid for her items and waved goodbye to Mr. Martin before pushing open the door. The bell rung overhead and she was able to catch a glimpse of Jonah. He was watching her as he put his own groceries on the counter and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. Mr. Martin said something, and Jonah nodded before turning back to the old man.

  Taking a deep breath, Maggie went back to the CRV where Heidi was waiting. Her heart was thudding in her chest and she admonished herself for reacting to him as she had. It was like she was a schoolgirl again, completely enamored by a crush. She had to get a grip. He had devastated her. She couldn’t allow herself to be pulled back in again. She didn’t know if she could recover again.

  Heidi pushed open the driver’s side door for her and she hopped into the seat, placing the bag on her lap as she closed the door.

  “Everything okay in there?”

  “Fine,” Maggie said weakly. “Why do you ask?”

  “Just took you a while, that’s all.”

  She didn’t want to explain about Jonah now. She was still processing seeing him after so many years. Still dealing with the way her belly had flopped as soon as he was in close proximity. “It took a minute for me to find the beef jerky.”

  Heidi raised a brow and took the bag off Maggie’s lap without commenting. As she pulled out of the space, the sight of the brown and white police SUV caught her eye next to the narrow stone building. He had told her that he didn’t want to work in logging any longer than he had to. And she did have to admit that he looked good in uniform. He would look the part even without a gun strapped to his hip.

  “Yes! Teriyaki!” Heidi exclaimed when she found the bag. With that, Maggie pushed Jonah from her mind and smiled at her friend.

  When they arrived at the cabin, Maggie and Heidi carried the bags inside. The place hadn’t changed at all. Her father had been up there only the month before, so she was pretty sure the place wouldn’t be so dusty that it would require cleaning right away, thankfully.

  While Heidi looked around inside, Maggie opened the shutters to let in the afternoon light. It was chilly inside the cabin and she hugged her jacket a little tighter around herself as she went to the table to unpack the small paper grocery bag.

  “I’m going to start a fire,” Heidi said as she came out of the bedroom and kneeled in front of the wood stove.

  “Do you need help?” she asked as she placed the cans on the single bare shelf that served as the kitchen’s food storage.

  “No, I think I got it. It can’t be that difficult to start a fire, can it?”

  “Sometimes,” she said as Heidi tossed a few dried logs in the stove. She struggled with the box of matches that she had snatched from the top of the stove but finally got one lit before throwing it in the stove.

  It took four more matches before she got the corner of a log to ignite and Maggie smiled to herself. It was good to see Heidi at least trying to have a good time. Or at least pretending she wasn’t miserable.

  “Do you want the bedroom?” Maggie asked, almost praying she would say yes. The thought of laying on the mattress where she…

  “I’ll sleep out here on the couch. You take the bed.”

  Damn.

  She dragged her bag into the room and tossed it on the bed. A light drizzle tickled the window panes, but it looked as if it wouldn’t last long. She was anxious to get outdoors. Eager to get away from the memories of the place.

  When she went back into the main living space, Heidi was holding her hand
s in front of the fire. Maggie pumped the level in the sink until water began to come out, which she used to fill the tea kettle. Putting the pot on the small camping stove that sat on the counter next to the sink, she waited for it to boil.

  “What’s on the itinerary?” Heidi asked.

  Even though Maggie was all but dying to get outside, she didn’t want to push Heidi too far. She was probably stuck on no shower and having to use an outhouse. It would be cruel to immediately drag her outside in the rain to go hiking.

  “We can just hang around here this evening if you want. Unless you want to go somewhere.”

  “I’m up for whatever.”

  Maggie pulled two mugs down from the shelf and stood next to the wood stove. The warmth from the stove warmed her skin through her khaki pants. When she glanced through the window, she noted the drizzle had stopped.

  “I think the rain stopped,” she said, carefully gauging her friend’s reaction. “Want to go for a short hike?” Maggie wanted to desperately. Going to the edge of No-Man’s-Land wasn’t that difficult of a hike and wasn’t very far. It would be a good trek to see how Heidi handled hiking.

  “Sure.”

  Maggie wasn’t sure she believed her. “Do you really?”

  “Absolutely!” She wasn’t that gullible. There was no way Heidi wanted to go, but since she was agreeing to it and not saying anything otherwise, Maggie went with it. She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her lips. Just the thought of being outside, of being free again, made her relax. Slowly she felt the springs that had been wound so tight inside her begin to loosen.

  Maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad vacation. Maybe this was exactly what the two of them needed. Perhaps she’d be able to put Jonah behind her once and for all.

  “I feel like I should carry something,” Heidi said as they trekked through the woods.

  It was true that Maggie carried everything – the shotgun and the backpack that was loaded down with bottles of water and snacks – but she wouldn’t hand it over. Heidi was already struggling. Her usually pale face was red with exertion and she could see the beads of sweat forming on her brow.