As the party continued, I moved over to the railing to stare out at the ocean that I had loved for so long. My mother’s apparition appeared by my side.
“We were happy here.”
I laced my fingers and rested them on the railing then propped my chin on it. “We were happy here. I was happier before I knew I was a witch.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, darling. Being a witch is fantastic. Even though you didn’t grow up knowing your roots, you’re one of the strongest witches that they’ve encountered. Not only do you have my DNA and Hexfords’ witchy genes flowing through your veins, but you have Vinette Halliwell’s. You have to understand that you have the power within you to stop anything and everything that could harm you or the ones you love. You have the strength from the three strongest clans.”
Yet that hadn’t stopped anyone from attempting to hurt me. If only I had the same amount of conviction that my mother had in me. I was unlike my sisters Pippy and Penny. They’d grown up knowing their magic and how to use it. They grew up with their mother and knew their mother’s strengths. Margo and Georgia had the same advantage. They grew up with mothers that knew about magic, what to do, and how to take care of themselves. I grew up in a fragile shell protected from the world around me. No one had taught me magic, much less told me that I was a witch. I had no idea that I, too, would be able to do some of the things that I’d seen prior guests do.
It took me leaving the island to figure out where I fit in. My sisters thought that I needed a night out to celebrate my singlehood, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. All I’d ever wanted and craved was being married to a man like King and starting a family of my own.
As the night carried on, and everyone got hammered, I guided Georgia and Margo to the elevator. No way would I leave them passed out on the rooftop. I led them down to their floor and dropped them off in their rooms. I headed back to the elevator to find my own room, considering I’d been in it only a few minutes before being whisked away. When I pushed the elevator call button, the door slid open, and Watson was standing in the car. He held my gaze and smiled.
“Just the person I was looking for.”
I was tired. I could sleep for a week. My eyes were glazed as I stared up at him. “Unless you know who killed Ryder, can this wait till morning?”
“Did you get too drunk at your bachelorette party?”
“I’m guessing you had to clear the strippers for access to the roof?” I nudged his shoulder as the elevator door slid closed and he hit the button to my floor. “You are security after all.”
“Somebody has to look out for you.” He chuckled.
“Speaking of which, can you get me the background checks on everybody new to the island since I left?”
Watson handed me a file, as if he knew I would ask for it. “Regina called down and asked that I get it for you.”
“At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised by anything.”
The doors opened to my floor, and I stepped out.
Watson held the door from closing. “You’re in room 910, Tess.”
I kept walking and waved the file without looking back, heading to my room. I was going to sleep like a baby as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Chapter 8
I woke with the oddest feeling that I couldn’t place. It was something between uncertainty and gloom. I reached for King to find his side of the bed empty. I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. The room was dark even with the blinds halfway open. The clap of thunder explained it all.
I slid out of the bed and trudged over to the window, opening the blinds. Dark clouds blocked the sun. Darkness covered the sea several miles out.
“It’s scheduled to hit tomorrow,” King said, coming up behind me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my forehead. “Masterson already has the staff moving the wedding preparations indoors.”
“I’m sure the weather had nothing to do with why the wedding was moved inside,” I said, turning in his arms.
King grinned down at me. “A killer on the loose tends to put a damper on things.”
“If you’d rather postpone and leave, I’d understand.” I would understand, but that didn’t mean I had to like it.
“Tess, I don’t care about the wedding. I care about making you my wife. We don’t need a big wedding to accomplish that. I only care about making you happy, and if being here around your family and friends does that, then this is exactly where we need to be.”
If only he were right. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to press a kiss to his lips. “I love you.”
His gaze softened. “I love you too.”
He hugged me tighter to him, and I rested my head on his chest. “Where’s Livvy?”
“Margo and Andrew stopped by to see if we were ready for breakfast. Since you were still sleeping, they took Livvy with them.”
I frowned. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust my sister; I did. I just wanted to keep Livvy within reaching distance until all of this was resolved. “Let me get dressed, and we’ll go find her and get something to eat.”
Within the next thirty minutes, I’d showered, changed, and brushed my teeth and hair and we were headed into the restaurant.
My mother had chosen the marble on the floor. My brother had since redesigned the kitchen to make it his own. The restaurant was open with tables spaciously set apart throughout, but the best ones, the hardest ones to come by, were the ones that overlooked the pool and ocean outside. I’d spent many magical nights watching fireworks and eating ice cream from the very table Noah and Livvy occupied.
“This is one of my favorite places in the entire hotel,” I whispered to King as he led the way.
“That view is something,” King said.
I chuckled. “The view is pretty, but it doesn’t compare to Noah’s cooking.” I glanced around the empty space. “If Margo and Andrew left Livvy in here, I’m going to kill them in a slow and painful way.”
“They wouldn’t,” King said as we approached.
“They did,” Noah answered. “Not that I mind. Livvy here was just giving me updates that Friday, the cat, has now been turned into Theo.”
The cat was something that had even shocked me. He was at the inn, waiting for me when Mildred passed away. He was a man that the Hexfords had spelled years before. It had taken Georgia, Margo, Livvy, and I to perform a spell to release the hex. It was only then that we found out his real name was Theo. “What about Theo?”
“Just that you guys turned him back into a man. You guys have a seat, and I’ll bring you out something to eat.” Noah headed for the kitchen without so much as asking what we wanted.
King and I took seats. “Are you missing Theo, Livvy?”
“I was, but he’s here,” she answered.
I shared a confused look with King. “Theo didn’t come with us on the ferry. He was staying to watch the inn.”
“Not anymore,” she said, finally looking up from the tablet, which looked a lot like Ryder’s witchy family tree genealogy.
“Did he call and tell you he was coming?” King asked.
She turned the tablet toward us and pointed to a tree. “I called him and told him he needed to see what I found.”
“What did I tell you about staying out of Ryder’s things?” King scolded.
“Mildred told me to look,” Livvy answered.
Mildred was my dead grandmother, who only Livvy could see. Mildred liked to stick close because of their strong relationship. It didn’t hurt that she was near, knowing that she could help Livvy with the unexpected magic that Mildred’s death had gifted.
I took the tablet and, on the screen, read Theo’s name. Livvy had found his family tree. “You found his name.”
“Mildred told me I would, but that’s not why he’s coming here.”
I handed the tablet to King. “Then why?”
“I think I know,” King said as he scrolled through the screen. He turned it back to show me. “He’s
related to the Voodoo loving Shields.”
I grabbed the tablet to see for myself. Theo was related to the Shields in a distant kind of way, one that would have taken a lot of prodding and poking to find. My heart skipped a beat as I stared at the tree.
“Tess, he could be…” King let his words trail off as if knowing I wouldn’t like them.
“He’s not.”
Noah returned with plates of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. No matter how many butterflies I had in my stomach, I would never turn down Noah’s food. It was infused with flavor, and witchcraft, to be the best I’d ever eaten.
I bit off a piece of bacon and chewed. “So where did Margo go that was so important that they left Livvy with you?”
Noah made a face, one I’d only ever seen once in my life—the day he didn’t want to tell me that he was a wizard and I wasn’t Masterson’s blood relative.
I lowered my bacon back to my plate. “Tell me.”
He scrunched his face, hesitant.
“Tell me now,” I said, rising from my seat.
“It seems there’s been a snafu with scheduling at the resort.”
Chapter 9
My thumping heartbeat kicked into overdrive. Had my stepmother done this on purpose? My voice was flat and hard. “Isn’t our new stepmother responsible for that?”
“Regina claims that she canceled all the reservations. So when the ferry captain called to tell us that he was en route with the weekend guests, she’s panicked.”
“I just bet she did,” I said, rising from my seat. “I bet she planned the whole thing.”
“You don’t know that it was deliberate,” King said, resting his palm on my arm.
“That truth serum my sisters made would come in handy now.” I grabbed a handful of bacon and spun on my heels.
Noah called out, “Tess, I believe her.”
“She probably put a spell on you too, just like dad,” I called out as I left them sitting there.
This woman was playing with my life, and the lives of everyone I loved. Everyone all in the same place. She could literally destroy everything that meant something to me, and I would be damned if I went down without putting up a fight.
I found Regina in my old office. She’d redecorated since I left. The furniture had changed, along with the color and the pictures on the walls.
I stood in the doorway, and when she finally realized I was watching her, she only graced me with a glance before her fingers started clicking away at the computer again. “I know what you’re thinking, and I didn’t do this.”
I stepped into the office, channeled some of Vinette’s witchy powers, and slammed the door without ever touching it.
She might not have cared I was in her office, but she cared that I’d used magic. Her fingers stilled on the keyboard, and she leaned back in her chair and steepled her fingers together. “Magic is off-limits in the hotel.”
I smirked and crossed my arms over my chest. “You going to kick me out? Or perhaps tell daddy dearest?”
Regina nodded in silent understanding. She had no clue.
She turned the computer around for me to see. “Confirmation emails were sent from my computer, but not by me.”
I refused to budge from where I stood to even get a closer look.
“You're responsible for your computer. Are you suggesting someone hacked you and invited those guests?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” she said, rising from her seat. “You can tell by the date.”
I refused to look at the date. I didn’t care if she’d done it a month ago. I’d been promised that we’d have the hotel to ourselves. Masterson had promised my sisters that he’d cancel everything so I’d have less worry about someone getting hurt.
She pointed to the date. “Neither Masterson or I were on the island that day.”
“How can you be so sure?” I asked, tilting my head.
“We were in Vegas getting married.” She narrowed her eyes. “Now if you’re done accusing me, you can get out of my office the same way you entered. I’m trying to stop any other guests from showing up and ruining your precious wedding.”
The door behind me flew open, startling me. Regina smirked. “You don’t know who you’re messing with, Tess. Now go run along. I’ve got work to do.”
I uncrossed my arms and rested my fists on my hips. “Okay, let’s say for a minute I believe this wasn’t your nefarious plan. How do we stop it?”
“It’s happening whether we want it to or not. We can’t stop it. We can only contain it. I’ve called and spoken with some of the guests and moved those reservations into town to stay at the bed and breakfast. I’ve also given them a free weekend to use at the hotel in the future. When the B&B was filled, I offered the others free offshore excursions on the day of your wedding to keep them out of the way.”
I was riddled with guilt. Maybe Regina hadn’t scheduled this mess and was just trying to clean it up. “Who else haven’t you accounted for?”
Regina typed in the manifest the ferry captain had sent her. “I can’t figure out who Theodore Williams III is. He’s never been a guest before.”
“He’s a good friend and wedding guest.”
Her clenched jaw loosened. “The rest on the manifest were on the guest lists that you and your sisters were given. Their rooms are ready. We’ll only have five people in the hotel that shouldn’t be here.”
That wasn’t as bad as I’d thought it would be. “Are they regulars?”
She shook her head. “No, they’re not. This is their first time on the island. Your father never approved these people, but whoever sent the email did.”
That wasn’t good. I slipped into a seat on the opposite side of the desk. “Dad is going to be upset.”
“Upset?” Regina snorted. “He’s going to be fuming. We’ll be lucky if he doesn’t barricade the hotel doors or refuse them from disembarking.”
“That would be bad for business, he’s not going to do that.” I said, wishing I weren’t right.
Chapter 10
There wasn’t much we could do about it now. Those people were already on the ferry and due to arrive whether we wanted them here or not. I didn’t have a choice in the matter and far be it from me to come between Masterson and his new bride.
“Where is my father?”
“He’s in town visiting with the sheriff to get specifics on Ryder’s death. He doesn’t even know these people are coming.”
“Why don’t you go warn him about the guests, and I’ll go meet the ferry.”
“No, Tess, that’s not a good idea. Somebody killed Ryder, and we don’t know who it was yet. You’ll be a sitting duck if you meet the ferry all by yourself.”
“You're assuming I would go alone.” I opened the door and glanced over my shoulder at her. “I would never be that stupid.” I headed straight for the check-in counter to let them know what was going on. I may not have the same pull that I once had, but the workers here knew what I expected. They knew what Masterson expected, and that was the part that got them moving.
Paperwork was started for the unknown guests, assigning all of them to the same floor and separating out the other wedding guests that were coming. I headed back into the restaurant and explained what was going on to King and to my brother before going to find my sisters. Noah was alerting the driver of the bus while my sisters and I headed for the golf cart.
“How did you talk King into letting you go alone?” Margo asked.
“I didn’t need his permission. I grew up on this island. I know it better than the back of my hand. It didn’t hurt that I told him that I was bringing you two with me.”
Georgia’s laughter filled the trees as I pulled up to the embankment for the ferry. The boat was off in the distance but close enough that I could see the people standing on the deck.
“I guess the good part is that none of the people on the ferry can be the killer. They weren’t here,” Georgia said.
She had a point, but even I knew
that there were other ways onto this island than by ferry boat. I wasn’t ruling out the people that were coming just yet.
“Have you had time to look through any of Ryder’s things?” Margo asked.
“Not yet. I was whisked away to my bachelorette party, which no one told me about,” I answered.
“Well, we couldn’t ruin that surprise,” Georgia said. “Margo wouldn’t let me.”
“Me? I didn’t even want to have the bachelorette party with those people. I would’ve rather had one with just us on the beach drinking some frou-frou umbrella drink,” Margo said.
I linked my arms through my sisters’ and put on my best smile. Speaking through my teeth as the others departed from the ferry, I answered my sisters. “Like I said, ladies, I know the island like the backs of my hands. There’s a place we can go where we won’t even have to worry about anybody popping up behind us.”
“What do you say we get these people over to the hotel and checked in and we find our bathing suits,” Georgia said.
“I’ll get Noah to mix us some drinks in the thermos,” I said.
Even with the approaching storm and gray afternoon, not to mention the killer on the island, the thought of spending quality time with my sisters never seemed more important than today with the uncertainties of tomorrow. It seemed like every week we had somebody trying to kill us or we were hunting a killer. It was time to stop and smell the roses or, in our case, enjoy the salty air, although that was how people died in horror flicks. I wouldn’t let that happen to us. Not on my island.
A couple got off the ferry, each wearing a flowered shirt. They were the epitome of tourists. Wearing wide-brimmed hats, their luggage pulled behind them, they trudged along, their gazes all over the place as they tried to take everything in at once. I gestured toward the tour bus and gave them my Masterson-approved smile.
“Welcome to Venture Island.”
Behind the couple were two men. I didn’t have to be psychic to know these guys were suspicious of everything. The way their eyes locked with mine and my sisters’ and then traveled around the area, it was almost as if they were expecting to be ambushed or something. I hoped they were the ones scheduled to stay at the B&B.
Witchy Past Page 4
