Fairplay Shifters Boxset

by Serena Meadows

  It made absolutely no sense, unless Deacon had put a spell on him, or promised him something in return. She hated to think that Deacon had any kind of power over her father, but it was the only thing that could explain what he’d done. Even though it seemed unlikely that the council would strip Annabelle of her place in the coven, she knew that Deacon could make a lot of trouble for the family.

  As she got closer to the tree that was her little piece of heaven on the compound, she realized that there was someone else there. The tree, which had to be over two hundred years old, looked like an old woman: its branches curled and twisted, its leaves sparse and yellow. But Joslin loved it. It was a great place to sit and think and apparently someone else thought so too.

  She recognized Jake immediately even though his back was turned to her, his head pressed against the bark of the tree. Not sure if she should approach him, she stopped and waited, hoping that he’d realized that she was there. They’d gotten to know each other a little bit over the last few weeks; the youngest of the Brooks children, he reminded her of her little brother.

  When it was clear that he hadn’t heard her approach, she cleared her throat. He turned around then, his blue eyes glowing in the night, and she was instantly sorry she hadn’t just turned around and gone back home. But Jake took several deep breaths, his eyes returned to normal, and he smiled at her.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, coming a few steps closer.

  “I think so, it was just a bit of a shock to suddenly be defending my brother,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

  “It’s a little scary for me too,” Joslin admitted.

  “What can they do to Annabelle and Justin? I mean, it’s not like they broke the law or something. Is there a witch prison?”

  Joslin couldn’t help but laugh, “No, there isn’t a witch prison. The truth is they can’t do anything to your brother, but they could strip my sister of her place in the coven, exile her for the rest of her life.”

  Jake thought about that for a minute, “Do you think they will?”

  Joslin shook her head. “I don’t know, but I do know that it’s up to us to find a way to make sure that doesn’t happen,” she said, thinking that he looked like a lost little boy.

  “I have no idea how to do that, I just know I’m going to screw this up,” Jake admitted.

  Joslin felt sorry for him, but her sister’s future was at stake. “I’ll help you if you want; we’ll probably be able to help them more if we work together.”

  She could see Jake relax; the tension disappeared from his shoulders, and his breathing slowed. “That’s a relief; I have no idea what to do or say.”

  “Neither do I, but tomorrow we’ll get together and start working on their defense; there has to be something we can do to convince the council that we used that spell with no ulterior motives,” Joslin said, her anger rising again when she thought of Deacon’s smug smile.

  “I thought they were going to forget the whole thing until that one guy started talking. Who is he?”

  “That is Annabelle’s ex-fiancé,” Joslin said with a grimace. “I don’t know why he’s taking my dad’s place on the council; it’s strange, and it worries me. He never told anyone that he put Deacon in his place; it’s just not right.”

  Jake was silent for a long time, then he asked, “Is there something more going on here?”

  Joslin was surprised by his intuition, “I think there might be, so I’m going home now to talk to my father; he’s been acting strange. I want you to come by in the morning if you can, and we’ll talk some more then.”

  When she left Jake at the tree, she felt better; at least she wasn’t alone in this. There would be someone to help her; even if he was just a kid, Jake would be an ally, someone to help her figure out what was going on. As she walked home, she realized that it might have been a bad idea to stay away from home for so long.

  She’d enjoyed traveling, getting a chance to see the world, but she’d lost touch with what was happening here. Now she’d have to catch up, and quick; something was going on here, and she was going to have to get to the bottom of it or Annabelle was going to end up in big trouble.

  When she walked into the kitchen, everyone was waiting for her. “Where have you been? We have things to discuss,” her father said, a scowl on his face.

  “I took the long way home. I needed a few minutes alone,” Joslin said. “I ran into Jake, and we talked a for a few minutes.”

  “I was wondering where he was,” Justin said, “I suppose he’s off somewhere panicking.”

  “Well, he was, but he’s okay now,” Joslin said, then turned to her father. “I’d like to know why you put Deacon on the council.”

  The scowl disappeared from her father’s face for a second, then returned, “It’s not your place to question me.”

  Joslin stared at him, not sure what to think. “Didn’t it occur to you that he might try to ruin Annabelle’s life? Do you really think he’s going to vote in her favor? If he hadn’t been there today, there wouldn’t even be an inquisition.”

  Her father shook his head. “That’s not true; the council has to look into any claims of black magic,” he said, a belligerent tone in his voice, then added. “I’m not going to defend my choices to you.”

  “Then maybe you’ll defend them to me,” Annabelle said, the first thing she’d said since Joslin walked in. Joslin could understand why Annabelle had been silent; she could feel the anger inside her sister, as well as the hurt.

  “And to me,” their mother spoke up for the first time.

  Her father sat in stony silence for a long time glaring at them all. Finally Annabelle said, “I don’t understand why you did that. Deacon is using black magic; he’s a bad man.”

  “You have no proof of that, and he denies it,” her father said, stubbornly.

  “Of course, he denies it; wouldn’t you? Do you really think he’d admit to using black magic? I don’t understand why you don’t believe me,” Annabelle said, tears in her eyes.

  It was the tears that finally got to her father; with a big sigh, he said, “I signed a marriage contract; it seemed like a good idea at the time. I didn’t tell you because I was sure that after a year or so, you’d come to your senses and come back here: do your duty by the family.”

  ***Jake***

  When Jake walked through the kitchen door, everyone was shouting at each other, but the sight of him stopped them. “Sorry, should I go away?” he asked, turning to go back out, long years of being shooed from the room when something serious was happening kicking in.

  “No, you should be here for this,” Joslin said, shooting her father a dirty look. “My dad is getting ready to explain the marriage contract he signed with Deacon.” Jake was sure he’d missed something, but he sat down at an empty seat at the table next to her, prepared to listen.

  William Simons was silent for a long time, then he said, “Deacon wanted a marriage contract, a guarantee that he’d be granted membership in the coven. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal at the time; you were engaged to him.”

  “Only because you wanted her to be,” Joslin spoke up for Annabelle, who looked shocked. “What was in that contract?”

  For the first time since they’d been home, her father looked embarrassed, “In exchange for marrying Annabelle, he got a guaranteed place in the coven, and there might have been some money exchanged.”

  Annabelle stood up. “You sold me to him, sold me like I’m a piece of property. Is that where the money you gave me came from?”

  When her father nodded, Annabelle pulled Justin to his feet, “I need to get out of here for a little while, before I say something I’ll be sorry for. But before I go, I will say this: I’m not a piece of property, I don’t belong to you, and I’m not sure I even want to be a part of this coven anymore.”

  Jake listened to the slam of the front door as Justin and Annabelle left, wondering if he should follow them, but Joslin stayed where she was, so he did too. There w
as a long silence at the table as everyone digested what Annabelle had just said, then Joslin got up from the table and started for the door, but turned back before she opened it.

  “I always thought that Annabelle was just being a baby when she said that you used her and her power to get what you wanted, but I can see now that she was right. I don’t blame her for wanting to get away from you; I feel the same way right now myself,” she said, looking directly at her father. “It looks like I’m going to have to make this right since you’ve got yourself under Deacon’s thumb; if I were you, I’d find a way out of that contract and fast, or you’re going to lose both of us.”

  Joslin opened the door and walked out, but then she poked her head back inside. “Jake, do you want to come with me?”

  He was so shocked by her invitation that it took him a second to get to his feet, then he followed her out the door without a word, leaving the silence in the kitchen for the fresh air outside. It was a relief to be outside and an even greater relief when Joslin headed back toward the tree. He wasn’t sure why, but it calmed him to stand under its leaves, to feel the rough bark under his hands, and right now he needed some calm.

  Chapter 3

  ***Joslin***

  Joslin wasn’t sure why she’d asked Jake to come with her, maybe just to have some company, or maybe because he was just as tangled up in this mess as she was. Finding out that her father had signed a marriage contract had shocked her, had made her question who the man really was. It was clear that Deacon was using the contract against her father, had manipulated his way into her family with promises of something more than money.

  That was the part she didn’t understand; they lived a very comfortable life. A house in the city, this compound to come to whenever they wished, and enough money to buy just about anything they wanted. Why her father would have traded her sister for money was beyond her, and that was why she was sure that Deacon had used more than just his charm to finagle his way in.

  The problem was finding out what he’d done. Annabelle had found evidence of black magic in his apartment: candles, blood, and the heart of some small animal. But she’d been so shocked at the time that she’d run without taking pictures for evidence; now it was her word against his. Thanks to her father, no one believed Annabelle; in fact, he’d spread word that it was just an excuse she’d used to get out of the marriage. A little fact that Joslin had only discovered tonight.

  When they finally got to the tree, she leaned up against the rough trunk and slid down until she was sitting on the ground, pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her arms on them. Looking out into the dark forest, she opened her senses knowing that it would not only calm her, but center her. Soon her pet was sitting next to her: a cute little black and white long-haired kitten who took one look at Jake and began to hiss.

  Jake took one look at the kitten and began to chuckle, “Fierce little thing, isn’t he?”

  Joslin pulled the kitten into her lap and tried to stroke his soft fur, but the kitten wasn’t having anything to do with it. Jake took the kitten out of her hands, hissing and spitting, held it up, and looked into its eyes. It immediately began to calm, and before long, it was sitting in Jake’s lap purring.

  “He never lets anyone touch him,” she said, surprised to see her unfriendly pet rubbing up against Jake.

  “Let’s just say that I have a way with animals,” Jake said handing the kitten back to her, then hesitantly added, “Do you want to explain to me exactly what happened in there? I think I’m a little lost.”

  Joslin sighed, “I wish I knew exactly, but I think that either Deacon has something he’s blackmailing my father with or he’s put a spell on him. The man I used to know would have never signed a marriage contract for one of his daughters, at least I don’t think he would.”

  “What does your mother say?”

  “Nothing. My mother would never dream of questioning my father; it’s always been that way. I think that’s why he thinks he can rule us too. Don’t get me wrong, I love her, and she’s always taken good care of us, but when it comes to my dad, she has no backbone,” Joslin said, shrugging her shoulders. “Sometimes I wonder how Annabelle and I came out so headstrong, but I guess we take after my dad.”

  Jake was silent for a long time, “I don’t know how to help you, but I do know that I’d like to see that Deacon guy fall into a big hole and disappear, although something a little more violent might be more satisfying,” he finally said, with a wicked grin.

  Joslin looked over at him, realizing for the first time that Jake was a grown man, not the little kid she’d been thinking he was. She couldn’t help but smile, “Well, there might be something you can do.”

  Jake looked so relieved, she had to laugh. “I could use a spy.”

  “A spy?” he asked, not sure what she meant.

  “Yeah, someone to find out what’s going on between Deacon and my father, someone who could be a fly on the wall and listen in to their conversations,” Joslin said, getting more excited about the idea by the second.

  “I am not turning into a fly,” Jake said, indignantly.

  “I didn’t mean you had to actually turn into a fly,” she said, then asked, “Can you turn into a fly? That’s not really an animal.”

  It was Jake’s turn to laugh, “I can turn into any living creature I want to, but I’m not becoming a fly; maybe a mouse but definitely not a fly.”

  When Jake laughed, his eyes lit up in the darkness, and for a second, Joslin felt a little strange, like butterflies had erupted in her stomach. She dismissed the feeling, deciding that it was just gratefulness that she was feeling, not attraction. Jake was four years younger than her, had only been out of high school for a few years: it was impossible for her to be attracted to him.

  “A mouse might be perfect; you can get in and out undetected, find out what’s going on between my father and Deacon. Maybe we can find a way to help Annabelle and Justin, stop this inquisition before it even starts,” Joslin said, finally feeling the first bit of hope since they’d heard about the inquisition.

  Jake’s heart missed a beat when Joslin smiled at him that way, and he realized that he’d do just about anything for her just to see that smile again. “You’ll have to tell me where to go and what to do.”

  ***Justin***

  For the next two weeks, they met every morning in the library at the main house and pored over old record books looking for anything that might help their case. There wasn’t much to discover since the practice of marriage contracts had disappeared hundreds of years before, but one thing was clear: if they could prove that Deacon had gotten her father to sign it under duress, it was invalid.

  It wasn’t easy deciphering the old books and notes, but Jake found that he had a talent for it, surprising them both. “Look here; this is a case a lot like your sister’s and the council voted that it wasn’t black magic because it was done for love. I think we should use it,” he said one day after they’d been searching for days without finding anything.

  Joslin looked at the page Jake was pointing to, but to her, it all looked like gibberish. “I don’t know how you can see that; this doesn’t make sense to me,” Joslin said, “I can read the spells, but the rest of it looks like a foreign language.”

  “Well, lucky for you I have a talent for foreign languages,” Jake said, pride in his voice. “Most of this writing is Old English, so a lot of the words are still truer to their original spelling and pronunciation than our current language. Their roots are in the romance languages, Italian, Greek, and Spanish, and I speak all three.”

  He could tell that she was surprised. “You speak Greek?”

  Jake shrugged his shoulders, “The winters in Colorado are pretty long, I had to find something to occupy my time, and as I said, languages come easy for me. I learned Spanish first, and then Italian, after that I needed a challenge, so I learned Greek. I’m thinking that next I’ll learn to speak Mandarin or something like that.”

  “Well,
if we’re going to use this as part of our defense, you’re going to have to do the talking; I bet no one on the council will understand it either,” Joslin said, with new respect for Jake in her eyes.

  “I’ll make a translation; that should help,” Jake said, then asked, “Has Deacon shown up yet?”

  Joslin shook her head, “I’ve asked everyone, including my dad, but no one knows where he’s disappeared to. He left with the council and hasn’t been seen since; it makes me really suspicious that he’s up to something we aren’t going to like.”

  Jake was quiet for a few seconds, “Joslin, don’t think I’m ignorant, but you’re a witch; isn’t there a way you could find out where he is, a spell or something?”

  “Annabelle might be able to; she’s a much stronger witch than I am,” Joslin said, “She’s always been the strong one.”

  Jake wanted to pull Joslin into his arms and tell her that she was just as strong as her sister, but instead, he took her hand, surprised to feel a tingling in his fingers when they touched hers. Joslin must have felt it too because she looked down where their hands were joined and then back up at him, a look of confusion on her face.

  His heart soared when he realized that she felt it too, that the attraction he felt for her might just be returned. The urge to kiss her was stronger then, but he pushed it away and said, “I saw you with those wolf-shifters, Joslin; you may think that you’re not strong, but you are. You’ve been living in Annabelle’s shadow for too long.”

  “I like living in Annabelle’s shadow; it’s nice and comfortable there; no one asks that much of me, and I’m free to do as I please,” Joslin defended herself, feeling like Jake was attacking her life choices.

  “I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with it, I’m just saying that you’re just as strong as Annabelle. Look at how you’ve handled this so far: you didn’t just run away and hide from it, you’re taking it head-on,” Jake said.