It was something out of horror movie.
Astral Frank fought to get back to his physical body, grasping wildly at the silver thread, but his arms were melting. With each drip, a portion if Frank disappeared.
And then Astral Frank was gone.
Frank in the physical realm seemed to be having similar issues. He had dropped my body onto the floor, his lip trembling. “Natalie, what had you done?” He looked from my astral form to my physical body. “Undo this spell. You’ve killed us both! Undo it!”
But I couldn’t undo it. I didn’t know how. I looked down to see my own astral form melting like someone pouring out a bottle of old molasses.
I was going to the same place Frank was, but I’d done it.
I heard voices calling my name and arms dragging me down as I sunk into the darkness.
Chapter 22
My eyes flew open and I gasped. I wasn’t in the sea of lost souls. I was laying on a mattress on the dirty floor of a garage. A big, shiny fire truck glinted in the morning sunlight streaming though the windows that ran along the tops of the three walls.
A bag of blood dripped through an IV into my left arm. Another bed cot sat beside me, but was raised up higher. A man’s thick, tanned arm dangled from the side. A needle stuck into the crook of his arm. His tube was also connected to the bag. Gravity was drawing his blood out into the bag and into arm.
I was receiving some kind of backwoods blood transfusion—in a filty garage, no less.
I tried to sit up but found I was strapped in with multiple restraints buckled across my body.
“She’s awake!” Benjamin stepped onto the end of the mattress, picked his way between my legs. His butt wiggled with excitement as he licked me on the most.
“Ew, Benjamin, no, gross,” I said, weakly. I turned my head, nudging him away with my shoulder.
“I saved you,” Benjamin said indignantly.
“What an I tied up? Who’s blood is that?”
The arm shifted above me and Liam leaned over the side of his head. He grinned, dark bags under his eyes. “My blood,” Liam said. “You’re welcome, by the way. I’ve been sitting here for two days without wifi.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. His skin look pale, his eyes dull. When he leaned over, I saw he was still wearing that bloodstained t-shirt from the other night.
“Why are you giving me your blood? Is this sanitary?”
“God, no. We’re in a garage,” Liam said, pausing to get a deep breath.
Another voice spoke, “We didn’t have a choice. You were dying, and a hospital wouldn’t have been able to save you.” Blake sat down by the mattress and touched my hand. “We’re the ones who should be thanking you.”
“He’s just saying that because he’s in love with you,” Liam said. “Never mind that I had to practically bleed myself dry to save you.”
Blake got some gauze from a shelf in the makeshift infirmary. “Thank you,” he said, pulling the needle out of Liam’s arm and wrapping it up.
Liam slowly scooted up in his bed. He touched his head. “I feel like I have the worst hangover of my life.” He wages his finger at him. “Don’t even say I never did anything for you.”
“Thank you, Liam,” I said, shifted in the bed. “Can we take of these restraints?”
Blake and Liam exchanged glances.
“What?” I asked. “What’s wrong? You guys are scaring me?”
Blake looked down at me, hands on his hips. “How are you feeling?”
“I don’t know. Like I almost just died.”
“He means, do you feel any sort of animal instincts? Any canine impulses, any urges to throw your head back and howl at the moon?” Liam said, some of the color coming back to his cheeks.
“Blake, what’s he taking about?”
“Well, we didn’t chain you up for your own amusement, Love.” Liam said, giving me winked at me. “I wouldn’t do that to you without you deciding on a safe word.”
“Can you not say things like that out loud?” Blake rolled his eyes.
“Would you rather me think them then?” Liam said, carefully swinging his legs over the edge of his bed. He moved slowly, and it was clear he wasn’t feeling like himself.
“I’m going to let that go, because you saved her,” Blake said. “Just this once.”
“Until the next time you need my blood to save her.” Liam lowered one bare foot to the ground, then the other. He groaned as he straighten up.
Blake knelt back down and started undoing the straps. “It’s been two days. If you were going to change it would have happened by now, I think.”
“Can someone please tell me what happened?”
Benjamin scooted to the other side of the bed, and rested his head on the edge of my pillow. “You performed the killing curse on Frank on the astral plane. He died, and you were about to die. The spell made you weak, and your astral body couldn’t make it back to your physical body. Blake found you in time to carry your physical body to your astral body and reconnect your soul.”
“I saw Frank when he was on the astral plane with me. He got pulled down by all of those skeleton hands.” I shivered.
Blake undid the last strap and sat back. “When I got to you, you weren’t moving. I was sure you were dead.”
I searched his face for clues. “Ok, but what happened after that?”
“Blake bought you here, where I’d just regain consciousness. And I very gracious agreed to donate my blood to you, straight from my arm.” Liam popped open the lid of a gatorade and took a long gulp. “And I healed you. Think of werewolf blood as a superfood—full of antioxidants and nutrients. Call it a supernatural food, if you like”
“Are you really making puns right now?” I sat up and pulled the needle out to my arm. “But why was I strapped down?”
Liam held up his hands. “Don’t look at me. The kinky restraints wereBlake’s idea. I didn’t know he was into that stuff.
Blake glared at Liam.
“What? It’s the truth,” Liam insisted.
Blake shifted uncomfortably. “We had to give you quite a bit of werewolf blood. I knew from Martha that it was a considerably amount more than what any person could safely drink. We were afraid you were going to change.”
“Change in to a…” I didn’t finish the sentence. I didn’t even want say the word.
“A werewolf,” Liam said. “You can say, Love. It’s not a swear word.”
Blake wrapped gauze around my arm just like he had Liam’s. “It was a risk, but it was our only chance of saving you.” Blake cleared his throat.
“And you never know,” Liam said, “Those straps might come in handy later on.” He strolled out of the garage, tossing his gatorade bottle in the air carelessly.
“And the jokes just keep on coming. I touched Benjamin’s slick black fur, and interlaced my fingers with Blake’s. “You all saved me.”
“And you solved the murder,” Blake said.
“All in a day’s work,” I said. “But there’s one thing that. I don’t get. How did you get to me so fast? Did Benjamin get to the station that fast?”
Blake shook his head, grinning. “It was the darnedest thing,” he said. “Frank Honeycutt butt dialed me. I heard the whole thing. He had one of those glitchy phones like the rest of us around here.
“The Juniper Tech butt-dialing bug.” I nodded. “Saved me life. I should really use that for their PR campaign. That’s gold right there.”
Blake caught my hand. “Oh, there’s one more thing. Someone named Grant came up here looking for you this morning. He said he’d been trying to call you for days but your phone went straight to voicemail.”
“Grant.” I froze. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Blake shrugged. “Unlike, Liam, I’m not really in a kidding mood.”
“What did you tell him? Where is he now?”
“He’s probably next door, badgering Angie with questions and attempting to file a missing person’s report.”
&n
bsp; “I can confirm that,” Liam said, poking his head back in. “His Porsche is still parked out front.”
“Missing person’s report?” I repeated.
Liam shrugged. “We couldn’t exactly tell him we had you chained to a mattress, now could we?” Liam chucked. “Although that would be funny.”
I covered my face with my hands and groaned. I turned back to Blake. “You guys, wait here. Benjamin, you can come with me. I might need backup.”
Chapter 23
I pushed the door to the sheriff’s department open expecting the worse.
And it was even worse that that.
Grant stood, red-faced, in front of Angie’s desk, jabbing his finger at a pile of papers. “She’s missing, and this is all you’re doing about it? I can’t believe you people. My girlfriend’s been missing for days and you have absolutely zero leads? This is unbelievable—unbelievable!” He slammed his fist on the desk.
“Grant, calm down,” I said, entering the station.
Nathan’s eyes went wide as he braced himself on the edge of Angie’s desk.
“And I’m not your girlfriend,” I said.
He tugged at the lapels of his suit jacket, trying to regain his composure. “I guess we’re done here,” he said to Angie.
“Guess so,” she said, leaning back in her chair, looking relieved and slightly amused as she watched Grant move across the room to scoop me up in a hug.
“Grant, stop,” I said, pushing him away. “What are you doing here?”
He stepped back as his look of surprise changed into hurt. “What am I doing here? I was worried about you!”
I took his hand and led him out of the police station onto the porch.
He grimaced at the two hound dogs now lazily sleeping on the in the morning sunshine. Then he saw Benjamin. “Who’s dog is that?”
“Mine.”
“You hate dogs.”
“He’s actually been a lot nicer to me than you, and that’s really saying something because Benjamin’s got some serious attitude,” I said.
“Are you feeling ok?” Grant touched my forehead. “You don’t look so good.”
“You lost the privilege of worrying about me when you cheated one me. Go back home. I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine.” He gathered my hands in his. “You were missing for days. No one knew where you were. The sheriff wasn’t doing anything about it. Your aunt’s real estate lawyer didn’t know. And then I had to deal with this sketchy flannel shirt guy telling me that you were ok, but that I couldn’t see you.”
“His name is Blake, and I like him.”
“Is he your new boyfriend or something?” He shook his head, looking out at he mountains. “What’s going on with you? Have you lost your mind? This is all my fault. You were so upset when I broke up with you. I should’ve known you were spiraling.”
That got me fired up, and the words flew out of my mouth before I even realized what I was saying. “This isn’t about you at all, you pretentious, lying jerk. Dating you sucked, but I was too swept up in the image of it all—Natalie and Grant, the power couple—that I didn’t even realize that you’re the worst.” I threw up my hands. “I think I just thought whatever we had together was as good as it could get.” I shook my head. “But this place made me realize there’s so much more to this world than what I’ve known.”
“What are you talking about?” Grant looked genuinely confused. “Come on, let’s go back to Atlanta. You can tell me about your big epiphany on the way.”
“And then what?” I demanded? “Are you asking me to get back together with you? To just move on in and forget what you did? I’m not doing that.” I paused. “And you know what—I’m not going back.”
“Is this about that neighbor with the pickup truck who apparently was driving you around town all week? Is that why you’re staying?” He snorted. “I’ve got news for you, Natalie. That’s called a rebound.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I know you, Natalie. You’re ambitious. You love your job, and you’re great at it. This place—there’s no future for you here. You really think you’ll be happy living out in the middle of nowhere? You’re going to be bored out of your mind.”
“I’m going to stop you right here because you don’t actually know me,” I said and when he opened his mouth to protest, I cut him off. “You can’t possibly know me because up until I came out here, I didn’t even know myself.” I held out my arms. “This is where I belong. This is who I am now, and maybe it’s who I always was.”
His eyebrows knitted together and he paced slowly on the porch, looking down. “What will you do here?”
“I’m going to witch, and I’m going to fight evil, and I’m going run a freaking ski lodge. Do you have a problem with with?”
“I’m waiting for the punchline here, Natalie. Because I’m assuming that’s a joke.”
I folded my arms. “Did you really drive four hours up here to insult me?”
“No, no. Of course not.” He expression softened as he stepped closer to me. He touched my cheek. “I came here to win you back. It took the fire department three hours to get me out of that revolving door and in that time, I realized what an idiot I was. Natalie, I love you. I can’t imagine my life without you.”
“You were stuck in that revolving door for three hours?” Apparently I was more powerful than I thought. I’d have to add that spell to the Wilder grimoire.
“That’s not the point,” he said, color rising to his cheeks. “You’re the love of my life.” He dug in his pocket for something, and to my horror, he dropped down to one knee.
“This cannot be happening,” I said.
“Natalie Miller,” he began.
“No, Grant, get up,” I protested.
He open up the small velvet box and revealed a gorgeous, sparking diamond engagement ring. “Will you marry me?”
I stood there in shock. I’d wished this day would come for this for so long—so long! But in that moment, the only thing I wanted was for Grant to get into his car and get the heck out of my life.
“Absolutely not,” I said.
His mouth fell open. “What?”
“You heard me. And don’t even try to use that line about ‘reconsidering things’ or ‘fixing this’. Because I tried that one on you last week, and it didn’t work”
“But I think you should reconsider.” He swallowed, still holding the ring up like he was a model on the home shopping channel. “You’re in shock. Your aunt died. You’re not in your right mind. I know you want this. I saw how crushed you were when I broke up with you at the restaurant.”
“I was crushed. I honestly thought you were going to propose to me that night, and I was so excited. But at lot’s changed in three days. I’m not that woman anymore. I have absolutely no desire to be Mrs. Grant Brewer or even Natalie Miller.” I stepped away from him. “I’m Natalie Wilder, this is where I belong, and I love this big hairy Rottweiler more than I ever loved you.”
With that, I spun on my heel and stormed into the police station. I heard Grant respond, but he was cut off by a very scary-sounding growl from Benjamin.
Good boy, Benjamin,I thought.
Inside the police station, Angie sat with her feet up on the desk. She gave a low whistle when she saw me. “That was something else.”
“You heard that, huh?”
She chuckled. “I think the whole mountain heard that.”
“I’m sorry if he caused you any trouble.” I sat down in the chair on the other side of his desk. “Thanks for covering for me.”
She tapped her pen on the top of her desk and waved her hand dismissively. “Trouble? That guy?” She gave me a rye smile. “I deal with werewolves, witches, vampires, and murderous lodge managers on this mountain. Compared to them, that was no trouble at all.” Then she cleared his throat, pulled his feet off the desk. “So you’re not selling the lodge?”
I shook my head. “I’m going to stay here on Wolf Mountain, and I’m going to run it.” I smi
led. “And I’m going to help you protect the people on this mountain.”
She nodded. “I had a feeling you’d come around. You’re a lot like her,” she said. “Your aunt, Martha. She’d be proud of you.” She clasped his hands. “I’m not going to sugar coat it—it’s dangerous living here. That’s why your mother left, and that’s why Martha never tried to contact you.”
“I know the risks, and I’m staying.”
“Ok then.” She held out his hand. “I think you and I will make a good team.”
Epilogue
I sat in Lola’s bakery, sipping coffee and reading over my latest press release for the Wolf Mountain Lodge. I’d learned a bit of magic since taking up permanent residence on the mountain, and I wasn’t above using it to benefit the lodge. Liam and Ace had shown me every creaky stair, every rusted ski pole, and every stain in the carpet. My mantra became, “There’s a spell for that!”
And if it couldn’t be fixed with magic, I rolled up my sleeves and did I myself, along with my new friends.
My days were spent making calls to local papers, scrubbing the floors, and giving every room in the lodge a fresh coat of paint.
I’d never felt so proud of a project. Sure, I’d been using a small-town bakery as an office, but it did have excellent wifi. Plus, the coffee was ten times better than that slick in-house coffee shop at the PR firm.
Wolf Mountain felt like home.
I pushed my laptop aside as Lola set down a stack of pancakes with butter melting down the sides. “Thanks,” I said, spreading the paper napkin across my lap.
“You’re welcome, Sweetie,” she said in a thin voice. I noticed smudges of black around her red eyes that told me she’d been crying.
“Doing ok?” I asked.
“Clearly not,” Lola said with a sniff. “My dad has a heart attack and my boyfriend dumps me all in the same week. Shame on me for dating someone in this small town. It breaks my heart all over again every time he shows his face here.” She nodded over her shoulder. “At least he’s started only ordering to go.”
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