Bound to Forbidden

by Keira Blackwood

  That’s right, James had said the rabbits weren’t real. I tried to remember what all had happened. I’d seen a bird, then there was a bang on the roof, and I crashed. Buddy was there, dragging me through the woods. Had he made me see the bird? Had it been him on the roof? None of it made any sense.

  I looked up at James and his injured expression over the loss of his pie. I smiled. “I guess we’ll have to get you another piece.”

  “Pie is serious business,” James said.

  “I...yeah.” I nodded and laughed again.

  James took my hand and gently led me to the door. The tender gesture felt so natural, so familiar, and yet so profound.

  “We better grab a cinnamon roll before Buddy steals all of those, too.” An intensity passed across James’s face. “When we find him, I’m not letting him go until we have answers.”

  Answers sounded good. Cinnamon rolls did, too. I brushed my thumb over James’s knuckles and said, “Fair enough.”

  As soon as we stepped into the hall, someone slammed right into James’s chest. I took a step to the side, wondering who was running in the hall.

  Blond hair, dilated pupils, black eye liner. No surprise, it was Mitchell, one of the members of Scrotal Eclipse of the Heart from next door. Come to think of it, they didn’t disturb my sleep last night, but that could have been because I was too exhausted to notice them. The accident had taken a lot out of me.

  Also, strangely, the guy smelled like an Italian restaurant. Oregano and garlic. I didn’t even want to know what that was supposed to mean.

  “Here.” Mitchell turned to me and handed me a book. “I know who’s behind these attacks.”

  Yeah, right. This was the same guy who was outside biting himself not so long ago. Nothing he said could be believed. “Sure, Mitchell,” I said.

  “Really. It’s a vampire.” He waved his fingers in the air like they were fluttering wings.

  It wasn’t clear by his tone or the way he swayed back and forth, but I could tell he wasn’t lying. This guy actually believed we were dealing with a vampire. Yes, vampires were real. No, they did not cause hallucinations or make people harm themselves.

  Mitchell was having a bad trip. End of story.

  I’d think a bad trip was the only thing going on in the B&B, except for the fact that Buddy had attacked me, and that hadn’t been a bad trip.

  “Buddy is a motherfucking bloody vampire!” Mitchell looked back and forth between us. “I’m going back to his room. I’ll find proof. If you’re smart, you’ll listen. But even if you don’t believe me, get yourself some protection.” He pulled a string of garlic up from under his shirt.

  “Sure thing,” I said.

  James growled.

  Mitchell looked at him and then ran away.

  I followed James down the steps, half-watching where I was walking. The rest of my attention was on the book Mitchell had given me. I expected it to be filled with drawings of television depictions of Dracula, wooden stakes, and holy water. Instead there was a lot of repetitive writing. It looked really old, too. Words were written in chunks, like verses or song lyrics, some in one direction, while others went another.

  “I swear that thing is everywhere,” James said, looking over his shoulder.

  “What?” I looked up from the book.

  “The vulture,” James said. “Could be like Sophie’s dog—possessed by a demon.”

  “What?”

  “Strange things have been happening in Forbidden lately,” James said, as if that explained everything.

  I shrugged. There was a big bird out in the field when I started hallucinating and crashed. But given the whole bunny thing, I could have imagined the bird, too.

  James filled the doorway to the kitchen. “Tell me there are still cinnamon rolls.”

  “Good morning, James. Anna.” Daphne’s chipper voice greeted us. “Watch your step.”

  I slipped in between James and the door frame.

  There were pieces of broken glass all over the tile, and Daphne was kneeling down picking it up. Judging by the scene, Mitchell, Razor, and Blade must have beat us to breakfast.

  “Hey, Daphne,” I said. “Might be worth picking up some plastic trays for however long they’re still here.”

  She stood up and rubbed her wrist over her forehead. “It just might.”

  James nodded. “Want me to kick them out for you, Daphne?”

  “I’m fine.” She waved away his suggestion. “There’s coffee in the pot, and cinnamon rolls in the oven.”

  “Still cooking?” James asked.

  “Nope,” Daphne said. “For safekeeping.”

  “Smart.” James grabbed a potholder and pulled out the pan.

  There was an ease between the two of them that I hadn’t expected. It made sense, with her being both his brother’s mate and him being her handyman. If the two of them—complete opposites—could fall into a comfortable rapport, maybe I could do the same.

  I wasn’t about to be in Sophie and Daphne’s next video, but I wouldn’t mind helping out and holding the camera again. Preferably with no dead body around.

  “Did Declan talk to you about Buddy?” James asked.

  Daphne nodded. “Buddy was out all night and hasn’t returned.”

  “Good,” James said. “Is Declan around?”

  “He went out to talk to Pearl.”

  “Pearl Crannith?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” James said. “Declan must have forgotten that she’s out of town.”

  Pearl had grown up with us. She was always a bit of a badass, able to keep up with shifters while she was human. Her mom had been the town witch. About the time I left, so did Pearl’s mom. She was traveling the world on senior cruises and Pearl took over the family business.

  James grabbed his food and headed toward the door. He turned to wink at me. “Coming?”

  “Thanks for breakfast,” I waved to Daphne.

  Cinnamon rolls and coffee in hand, we made our way to the porch. James chose the swing and patted the place beside him. It was a tight fit with all the pillows, and I was squished up close to him. It was nice.

  “Can I see that?” James pointed to the book I had cradled between my side and my arm.

  I handed it to him. “It looks old.”

  “It is,” he said, opening it up. “This was down in the basement with a bunch of boxes and files from the fifties.”

  “Oh. Then how did Mitchell get it?”

  “I brought it up,” James said. “But the real answer is snooping. With all the trouble his group has been, they aren’t here for the typical B&B experience. They aren’t the first, and I’m sure they won’t be the last to come for a close look at the old asylum.”

  That had to be hard for Daphne. With all the care she put into all the little details here, I couldn’t imagine she wanted people showing up for what it used to be. She’d want them here for what she was turning it into. She dealt with the likes of Scrotal Eclipse of the Heart with her head held high, and her smile intact. Her perseverance was inspiring.

  “So what does this book have to do with vampires?” I asked.

  “No idea. It’s all nonsense.” James pointed to an open page and read, “Friends are not friends. Trust no one.”

  “There are eyes on the carrots,” I read. “They’re watching. They don’t like when I bite them. It’s dark when they go down. I came in sane, now I’m insane. He did it. He gave them eyes. He made us mad, every single one.”

  James turned the page. There was a stick figure drawing with Elvis hair and a red teardrop just below the right eye like it was crying blood.

  Below the drawing was a single line. James and I read together, “Buddy is not my buddy.”

  Chapter 16

  James

  At the sound of a truck tearing down the drive, Anna and I looked up. Declan parked and got out, then slammed the door.

  “What’s with the attitude?” I asked him.

  He scowled. “I don’t think you should
get to ask me that.”

  I nudged Anna.

  Grinning, she said, “Hey, Declan. What’s wrong?”

  “You two are too freaking happy, that’s what’s wrong,” he said. Then he sighed. “Pearl can’t fix our problem. She went out of town and she doesn’t know what she’d do for it yet, anyway.”

  “What?” I said. Pearl could fix anything.

  “I gave her the info you shared with me about Buddy, but we don’t know what he is or exactly what he does.”

  “But I told you,” I said, pointing to my phone. “I texted you last night.”

  He shook his head. “Hallucinations? Drives people insane so they take their own lives? She’s never heard of anything like that. With the chaos demon, it possessed her, so she knew. She hasn’t even met Buddy. Her exact words were, ‘I cannot help you with a nameless demon.’”

  “So she thinks it’s a demon,” I said.

  “Maybe?” He shrugged and then kicked a rock. “I made a few calls. The pack will be on the lookout for Buddy. I’m going to go buy some more salt and iron shavings.”

  At this rate, the bed and breakfast would be buried in that shit.

  “First, take a look at this,” I said, pointing to the diary Anna held.

  As he approached, a loud, masculine voice came from one of the upstairs windows. “Oh, help!”

  The three of us stood up. I clenched my fists, ready to run inside.

  “What’s wrong?” a female voice answered.

  “I’m—I’m in danger.” He moaned.

  Anna and I locked eyes. That hadn’t sounded like a moan of terror or pain.

  The male voice went on, carrying clearly through the open upstairs window, “This bed and breakfast is haunted and evil lurks everywhere.”

  Declan cleared his throat. “It’s the newlyweds. We don’t need to hear this.”

  “Well, I have just the remedy for that,” the woman answered.

  Anna held a hand to her mouth, trying not to laugh. She was blinking back tears of mirth.

  “Oh—ugggghhhh.” The guy moaned again.

  Their sounds of adventure got even louder. Declan pointed at the front door and Anna and I staggered inside after him. It was a struggle not to burst into laughter. Once the three of us were in the kitchen, we shut the door.

  “I guess,” Anna said, stopping to giggle, “I guess we know now why they haven’t taken off.”

  “Danger can be an aphrodisiac?” I guessed.

  She nodded. Her eyes were intent on mine.

  “Okay, stop that,” Declan said. “You’re like a couple of horny teenagers. You were going to show me something.”

  “Right,” Anna said. A faint blush tinged her cheeks. “The notebook. So, here’s what we’ve found. I definitely think it’s Buddy who’s behind this stuff.”

  Declan watched the notebook as Anna flipped through the pages. She pointed out some repeated lines of text, “Buddy is not my buddy,” as well as the childish drawing of a face with the mole directly below the eye that looked like a bloody teardrop.

  “Yeah,” Declan said, nodding. “There could be something here. If it’s the same Buddy, he’d have to be, what, eighty or ninety years old? And he’d definitely be some kind of paranormal being, to look so young.”

  The door to the kitchen banged open, and in walked the guy who’d handed Anna the notebook. Mitchell, I thought his name was.

  “I found something,” he said.

  “What?” Declan asked, barely reining in a snarl.

  Mitchell quailed under Declan’s glare. “I just...I found soil in Buddy’s shower. Like from a coffin.”

  Ignoring the coffin nonsense, I shot a glance at Anna. Had that pie-stealing fucker returned to the B&B last night without Daphne or anyone else noticing?

  Mitchell held out his hand, showing us a couple of clumps of dirt. I gave it a sniff, but I couldn’t get much through the stench of the garlic around the guy’s neck.

  “Take me to his room,” I said. If he was there, I’d settle this issue right now.

  The guy looked at Anna.

  “It’s okay, Mitchell,” she said. “Daphne won’t mind.”

  Like he was suddenly afraid of breaking the rules? Right. But he turned around and led us down the hall. He paused in front of a closed door and knocked. When no one answered, he turned the handle and we all stepped inside.

  Declan immediately opened the trunk while Anna peeked under the bed. I went into the bathroom to check out the mysterious soil.

  There wasn’t a lot, just a dusting around the base of the shower pan and washed along the edge of the shower, but I got down on the floor to bring my nose closer to it. It had a distinct scent. This wasn’t from the woods—at least, not any woods that I knew. I sniffed again. The dirt held notes of salt and rot.

  “The basement,” I muttered.

  “What?” Mitchell said.

  “Nothing. Anna? Declan? Let’s head out.”

  “But—what are you going to do?” Mitchell asked.

  I came back into the room with my brother and my mate. Then I reached behind me and grabbed Mitchell by the shoulders, bringing him out in front of us.

  “Talk,” I said.

  “Wha-what?” Mitchell said.

  Anna’s eyebrows rose. She was probably wondering what I was doing. But like Declan, she didn’t intervene. They trusted me enough to follow my lead.

  “Talk,” I said again.

  “We did a sfmumble,” the guy said.

  “Sorry, I didn’t catch that.” I squeezed his shoulder a little harder.

  “A spell!” he yelped. “We did a spell.”

  “When?” Declan asked through gritted teeth.

  “Right before Buddy showed up. We didn’t know it was connected to him. We thought it didn’t work. But now, I think it did. I’m sorry! Ouch!”

  I let him go. I hadn’t realized that I’d squeezed him tighter again.

  “What did the spell say?” Anna asked.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “It was this rhyming poem thing. And...I was high, so I might have made up a few things to be funny.”

  “Fuck,” I said. “What can you remember from it?”

  He looked down. “Just some stuff about evil coming forth and a portal to hell. There may or may not have been rat blood involved.”

  “Yes,” Declan snapped, “that’s fucking hilarious.”

  “It was funny at the time,” Mitchell said.

  Anna closed her eyes, as if wishing for patience. I knew I was ready to smack this little booger. Declan looked ready to throw a punch, too.

  “I’ll call Pearl,” Declan said.

  “Of Pearl’s Doughnuts?” Mitchell asked.

  Declan shot him a look. “Yeah, why?”

  “I was just wondering if you could get me a cruller. I like plain glazed.”

  I smacked the back of his head. “Shut up.”

  Chapter 17

  Anna

  All at once, the O’Malleys were on the move. Declan barked orders, giving everyone a job. James and I were assigned to barricade the basement door in the kitchen while Daphne gathered weapons. Declan called Finn and told him to buy salt and iron, then stepped outside while he called Pearl.

  We tilted the table over, wedging the edge under the door handle.

  “Do you think that’s going to hold?” I looked at James. “If Buddy is a vampire, or even half as strong as a shifter?”

  He tried the knob. It gave an inch when he pulled without too much effort. “See those cabinets over there?”

  I looked to where he pointed, and nodded.

  He said, “They aren’t attached to the wall.”

  The table wasn’t all that heavy, but the cabinet set was made of solid metal. The two of us could barely get it to budge on our own. Okay, James could lift his side, but I couldn’t lift mine. And with everything else that was going on, I wasn’t about to risk damaging Daphne’s new floor.

  Declan came back in.

  “
What did Pearl say?” I asked.

  “Brody method,” Declan said.

  James snorted.

  “What?” I was lost.

  “Throw a bit of everything at the problem, see what happens,” Declan said.

  “When Brody cooks, we all know not to touch it,” James said. “He throws in handfuls of spices, cinnamon and salt—”

  “And a hell of a lot of pepper,” Declan said.

  “Help me with this.” James tapped on the cabinet, and the two of them lifted it with ease. They set it by the basement door, right up against the table.

  “Okay,” I said. “So no new plan?”

  “Right.”

  James tried the door again. This time it didn’t move. “That’s as strong as it’s going to get. If I pull harder the door will break. No way it can be pushed in from the other side.”

  Declan grabbed it and tried after him. The door still didn’t move.

  “Didn’t believe me?” James cocked a brow.

  “Just being cautious,” Declan said. “Last thing we want to do is let a demon escape into Forbidden.”

  “Again.” Daphne was standing in the doorway to the hall with what looked like a flamethrower in her hands.

  “Again?” I asked.

  “A lot can happen in ten years,” Declan looked from me to James. “Or in a single night.”

  A blush rushed over my cheeks.

  James punched his brother in the shoulder. Declan smirked at him.

  “There was a Pomeranian chaos demon staying in the B&B,” James said.

  “Sure, of course,” I said, like that made any more sense than the rest of this crazy shit.

  “I’ll tell you all about it.” James offered me his hand.

  I smiled and accepted.

  “Before we start lighting people on fire,” Daphne said, in a completely even tone, “are we entirely sure Buddy is a demon or vampire or whatever, and not just some weirdo?”

  “No,” I said. “Let’s err on the side of not murdering people, and see what happens.”

  Daphne laughed.

  “Come on,” James said. “I think I hear Finn’s truck.”