by Andris Bear
Not her best speech, but for off the cuff, it was accurate and heartfelt. Riding high on her triumph, she slammed the door in his face.
Except he shoved his foot in at the last minute, making it bounce back.
She considered putting all her weight behind it, but didn’t actually want to hurt him. Not physically, anyway.
“Look, I get why you’re upset,” Shane said, his hands lifting in a conciliatory manner.
“Oh, aren’t you astute?” Glaring, she crossed her arms. If he wanted to explain, so be it, but she wasn’t about to make it easy for him.
His expression landed somewhere between irritated and contrite. “Can we talk?”
“Is that not what we’re doing?”
His exhale was heavy and drawn out. “Can I come in?”
Evangeline didn’t move as she debated her answer. On the one hand, she very much wanted to hear what he had to say, wanted him to take away the crushing hurt that came with each breath she’d taken since she’d left his house.
On the other hand, she was pissed, and the anger was a hell of a lot easier to deal with, because at least then she wasn’t focusing on fear.
“You have five minutes.” After opening the door, she moved aside. “Clock starts now.”
Shane nodded, stepped into her living room, and then just tucked his hands into his jeans and stared at her.
“Wow, after that enlightening diatribe, how could I not see the error of my ways?” Her tone might have been sarcastic. He deserved no less.
Laughter barreled out of his mouth. “I can’t say I like being on this side of your anger, but I’m glad to see there’s still a fire in you.”
“There’s a fire, all right. And a hand grenade and several landmines. Watch yourself.” Her hands settled on her hips.
Harrumph.
Shaking his head, Shane said, “First, before anything else, I’m sorry I hurt you. I never meant to.”
“You didn’t,” was on the tip of her tongue. But he had, and she didn’t want him to know how much because it would be admittance he mattered to her. So she kept her mouth shut and waited.
He must have realized she wasn’t going to smooth it over for him. Running a hand over his scalp, he added, “I wasn’t researching you. Well, I was, but not just you.”
“Yeah, I saw the stuff on my family.” Her eyes narrowed. He was doing a piss-poor job of clearing the air.
“Not just your family. This… thing is bigger than us, Evangeline. It’s not about you and me, not about your anger with me—it’s about the town and what it hides.”
Evangeline blinked at the man before her. He didn’t look nuts. But she supposed she didn’t either. Weren’t they a pair? A pair of nuts.
She snaughed—one of her half snort, half laughs—at the visual in her head. Shane, obviously thinking she was laughing at him, murmured, “I’m not explaining this well.”
“No, you sure aren’t,” she said, refocusing on her irritation.
“Forget the town.” He gripped her shoulders. Gazing deeply into her eyes, he said, “This is about what is happening to you.”
Evangeline pulled free of his grip. With a glare in place, she demanded, “As if you know what is going on with me.” How could he? She didn’t, and it scared the crap out of her.
“Not exactly, but I saw you, the full you, in the basement.”
The air caught in her lungs. His statement was odd, sure, but her reaction, more so. Had he seen something different about her? Or had he seen the doorway after all? She was simultaneously pulled and repelled, as if, deep down, she knew he had an answer she needed. The question was, did she want it?
“What do you mean, the full me?” she asked, retreating out of arm’s reach.
Shane frowned, taking more than a few seconds to respond. “I don’t sense the things you do, but I see you like no one else does. When you were in the basement, you were reacting to something. Right? Something that frightened you?”
She hesitated. “Yes. There was a door—heavy and old. The lever holding it closed was off, and it was hanging wide open. I could only see more darkness beyond it, and there were voices pouring out of it.”
Her stomach clenched as she waited for him to call her on her crazy. Why had she told him the truth? Now he would walk away and stay there.
“I believe you.” Shane stepped closer. “You’re different from any woman I’ve ever known.”
Disbelief scrunched her face. “You don’t think I’m nuts?”
“Nope. Not if you don’t think I’m nuts for what I saw.”
“What did you see?” The first flutter of hope blossomed in her chest. Maybe she wasn’t losing her mind. Or maybe they were both bats, but at least she wasn’t alone.
“There was blinding white light all around you, spinning like a tornado, with you at the center. Almost as if it was protecting you from something.”
It took a beat for his words to sink in. She hadn’t noticed any light. Then again, all her attention had been focused on not having a heart attack as voices from the other side of the door called to her. Had something been keeping the voices or the darkness from her? If so, why? What did any of it mean?
Shaking her head, she said, “So, we’re both nuts.”
“Clearly,” Shane agreed. “But if I’m right, which is why I was researching your family, you are coming into a powerful gift, one that might put you in danger. I only want to keep you safe.”
“Okay, no,” she said, tossing her hands into the air. “You can’t drop some cryptic crap like that in my lap and expect me not to tie your ears under your chin. My life is a mess and half, and if you have any indication why, then spill it. I can take it.”
With a far-too-casual shrug, Shane let it all out. “You’re a witch.”
Chester chose that moment to wind himself through Shane’s feet. The cat’s contented purr seemed to echo through her small living room.
Traitor. “That’s not funny, Shane.” She crossed her arms, irritated at his lame joke and the way her cat was making out with his leg. “I’m being serious.”
Shane, stepping over the amorous feline, moved closer. “Your father, and his three sisters, were also witches. His sisters, and several others like them, disappeared into thin air. Buff was in love with one of them. He believes if your father hadn’t run when he did, he would be dead as well.”
Her mouth went slack. Of all the things she thought he’d say, her father being a witch was not one of them. Paul Winther was the most straight-laced, pragmatic, logical man ever put on this earth. He’d sooner sprout horns and a tail than wave a magic wand.
Also… Witches. Were. Not. Real.
Evangeline sucked in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. Exhaustion rode her hard, mixing her emotions, probably thoughts, and she just didn’t have it in her to play this game with him. She opened her mouth to ask him to leave, but the sudden pull of Chester’s green eyes on her made her glance at him instead.
The cat gave her a slow blink.
Tell him to lie to you.
All she could do was gape. “What did you say?”
Shane shook his head. “I didn’t say anything.”
“Not you.” Evangeline crouched until she was face to face with Chester. “You.”
Of course the damn thing said nothing as he licked his paw. Like she was boring him. She had half a notion to evict him. The only thing stopping her was the fact she’d never invited him in the first place and yet, he’d made her home his domicile.
With a curled lip for the tabby, Evangeline straightened to her full height before Shane and said, “Lie to me.”
He shuffled his feet. “Do what now?”
“Lie.”
“Why?” he asked, more than slightly perplexed.
Join the party, muchacho.
“I don’t know.” It was the God’s honest truth. A the cat told me to was equally honest, but she kept that to herself.
“Uh, okay.” Shane scratched his head. “You
’re hideous.”
You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.
The statement was little more than a whisper over his words. It was hard to hear but clear enough she knew what he’d said. Or hadn’t said.
“Holy shit,” she murmured, staring at him with wide eyes.
“I did not mean that. You told me—”
“Shh. Lie again.” Her heart pounded behind her ribs. She held her breath as she waited.
“I have a degree in molecular biology, I like to dress up in women’s clothing, and I once tried to eat a frog on a dare.”
I never went to college, I don’t understand how women can walk around bound up in tight clothes all day, and I once tried to eat a frog on a dare.
Laughter climbed up her throat. She threw back her head and let it loose, not caring if it was a full-scale snaugh attack or a battle cry. Grabbing his face, she pulled him close and pressed her lips to his.
“Why would you try to eat a poor frog?” she murmured.
“It was a dare from Tommy Higgins. If I had turned him down, he’d have just fed me the thing.” His arms came around her middle, pressing her against him. “Besides, the frog peed on me. The little sumbitch had it coming.”
Resting her forehead against his, she peered into his eyes. Not well, since they were both sort of cross-eyed from such close proximity, but the intimacy was worth it. “Tell me something true,” she requested, looping her arms around his neck.
Shane pulled back just enough to stare at her. “I am in love with you. I don’t care if you’re a witch or a hermit crab, if you’re gifted or cursed. I just want to keep you safe, happy, and full of coffee because this thing between us is between us. The rest will work itself out.”
No whispers this time.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, she cupped his cheek and brushed her lips over his. She poured her heart into the kiss, trying to convey her feelings, even though she wasn’t ready to speak them as he had.
You are going to want to answer that.
Evangeline drew back to scowl at the cat. Yeah, he might’ve been helpful in figuring out that she could hear truth over lies, but another word right now, and she’d punt him like a football.
Maybe the cat recognized the warning on her face, or maybe turning tail and showing his butt was a snub, but before she could threaten him with bodily harm, her cell phone rang.
Had to be a coincidence. No way Chester the self-molester knew her phone would ring. Right?
Right. So why the acid bomb in the pit of her stomach?
She debated ignoring the call, but she felt as if everything she’d ever eaten was about to climb up her throat. Not exactly a great date opportunity.
Walking on stiff legs to her purse, Evangeline told herself everything was fine. Better, actually, now that she had some answers—albeit unbelievable ones. Still…
Something is wrong.
She reached into her purse. Pulled out her phone.
Alex’s cell number bleeped on the screen. Evangeline blew out a harsh breath as she flicked her finger across the screen. Lifting the phone to her ear, she said, “Hey, Alex… can I call you ba—”
“Evie.”
The way Alex spoke her name sent icy fingertips tracing down her backbone. Evangeline’s hand tightened around the phone to the point of pain. Her voice was a croak when she demanded, “What’s wrong?”
“You have to come home,” Alex commanded.
Evangeline shook her head. She couldn’t go home right now. She had a life and responsibilities, like work tomorrow morning. She couldn’t just run off at the drop of a hat because her little sister demanded it.
“Maybe next weekend I can—”
“Now, Evie.” Alex sucked in a shuddering, raspy breath. “Mom and Dad are dead.”
Witch of Whispers
Prologue
Evangeline crept to a stop at the curb and put her car in park. Leaving the wipers on high to combat the pounding rain, she peered at the house with a mix of awe and dread.
Winther house.
Her house.
Actually, hers and her sisters’. The lawyer of their parent’s estate had made that very clear. Upon their parent’s death, the house became the property of his daughters—not one but all four, together. Evangeline was fine with shared ownership. The thought of living in this monstrous house by herself was not only spooky but lonely. However, even with her sisters in residence—assuming they all decided to stay with her in Whisper Grove—Evangeline wasn’t sure she wanted to live in the house.
Not after everything they lost to get it.
Paul and Lily Winther died in what authorities had officially dubbed an electrical fire. Unofficially, they could give no reason for the blaze that burned Evangeline’s childhood home to the ground and stolen her parents. No traces of accelerant had been found, nor could the fire investigator find the point of origin.
It was as if the flames had burst into existence with the sole purpose of consuming everything Evangeline held dear.
The only saving grace was that Alex had been at work and the twins, at school. If she had lost them too…
Evangeline shook her head, trying to dispel the morbid thoughts. The last thing she needed was to look for heartbreak where there was none. Rather, she willed her pulse to calm and focused on the remainder of her family and how lucky she was to have them.
What she couldn’t quiet was her mind. It threw out questions on a continuous loop and tortured her with whats, whys, and ifs. What had caused the fire? Why had her parents been home? If they had gone into work, where they should have been mid-morning on a Tuesday…?
“Is that it?” Alex asked from the passenger seat.
Dragging her gaze to her sister, Evangeline nodded. Alex was focused on the house, so she added, “Yes.”
Alex leaned forward, squinting through the rain-splashed windshield. “It’s enormous.”
“It’s gorgeous,” Elle piped in from the backseat. “You’ve been inside?”
Evangeline met her youngest sister’s wide eyes in the rearview mirror and smiled. “Yes. It’s very—”
“How did you get in?” Alex demanded, resettling in her seat. Her hazel eyes narrowed shrewdly.
Irked at the scrutiny, Evangeline straightened and announced, “It was unlocked.”
The gate and door had unlocked, so if she was being technical—she was—it wasn’t a lie.
It just wasn’t the truth, either. Not entirely.
Alex didn’t need details. If Evangeline’s previous visit was any indication, Alex, Elle, and Mal would figure it out the house had its own personality soon enough.
“Come on,” she said, pulling her keys from the ignition and shoving them into her pocket before climbing from the car. “Make it snappy. I don’t want to get soaked.”
Her body swayed a little as she waited for her sisters to do the same, and she wondered if the coffee she’d had before meeting with the lawyer was going to stay in her stomach. Probably should have eaten something but at the time the thought of food had put her off.
“Afraid you’ll melt?” Mal asked, shutting her door and coming around stand with Evangeline.
Evangeline stared at her. If Mal had any idea how apt that reference was…
“No,” she said, grabbing Mal’s hand and tugging her toward the gate entrance. “I’m afraid you will.”
Mal snorted, and Evangeline smiled at her typical response. Mal was the calm storm of the bunch. Like a layer of ice under the snow, she was hard to crack, but once you did—run. Because nothing short of God stepping in would stop her.
While she respected Mal’s frugal doling out of comeuppance, Evangeline liked to think of herself as having a little more self-control. Sure, she had emotions like anyone, but they didn’t rule her.
It seemed she was the only one who valued her head-over-heart mantra as Alex boasted a hair trigger and a temper that could rival the Hulk’s. Though Alex referred to her outbursts as bouts of passi
on, they all knew she liked to argue. If that involved throwing a punch or two or yanking out a chunk of hair, so be it.
The only one who avoided confrontation was Ellery. Sweet Elle wore her heart on her sleeve and her brain, often, in another outfit. The girl was the epitome of naïve and tender, which was why God had given her three sisters who would pulverize anyone who tried to take advantage of her.
Now, they were all each other had.
Evangeline felt as though her security had been ripped out from under, leaving her dangling in the air over an uncertain cliff. Though they hadn’t spoken of it, she knew her sisters felt the same.
Blowing out a shaky breath, Evangeline peered at each of them in turn. She wished for something encouraging to say, something that would give them hope and a positive outlook for the future.
Instead, she said, “Follow me,” and then pushed to open the gate, walked up the sidewalk, and headed for the porch. As soon as her foot reached the first step, a soft click sounded above her.
Evangeline jerked her gaze up just as the door crept open. Her heartbeat thrummed in her head, and she glanced behind to see if any of her sisters noticed.
They were busy trying to take in every detail of the house. Even Mallory couldn’t keep her eyes from sliding from one end to the other.
Pushing through the doorway, Evangeline entered the large foyer. A rush of warmth settled over her, forcing the chill of the rainy day aside. A heartfelt sigh left her lips. The tension in her muscles slowly uncoiled.
Until she spotted him.
“Chester,” she growled, stomping over to the cat. “Where have you been?”
From the moment she’d returned to her apartment with her sisters in tow, she hadn’t been able to find the damn cat. She’d torn the place apart searching in worry that something had happened to him.
Jerkhole.
Chester stretched his spine with a yawned cat noise. It might have been a demand for food or the promise to poop on her pillow.
“Is this the kitty you told us about?” Elle dropped to her knees, scooped the miserable wretch into her arms, and showered him with adoration as she scratched him from one end to the other. “Where did you go, pretty kitty?” she asked.
