Vincent looked over at her and grinned. “This was my dad’s first car; he had this before he even met my mom,” he said.
“Wow, that’s very cool,” Charlie said, turning to look at the back seat. “They don’t make cars like this anymore. Look how big that back seat is. Four people could fit back there.”
“Or two if they’re laying down,” Vincent said, a mischievous grin on his face. “I drove this to prom.”
She felt her face turning pink, slapped him on the arm, and turned back to face the front. “That was something I didn’t need to know,” she said, an image popping into her mind that had no business being there.
When Vincent turned off the main road and onto the drive that led to the golf course, the trees seemed to close in around them, blocking out the world for a moment. They emerged from the canopy and Charlie sighed with pleasure when she saw the main building. Covered with lights and gleaming in the darkness, it made her feel like she’d stepped back in time.
Vincent parked and turned off the car. “The golf course was built in the 1920s. We’ve done some renovations to get it up to code, but for the most part, it looks just like it did when it was built,” he said.
Charlie looked over at him. “This is a strange place,” she said, a grin on her face. “I can’t think of anywhere else where I could stay in a medieval cabin, ride in a car from the 50s and go to a speakeasy from the 20s.”
“And the night has just begun,” he shot back, grinning at her and making her heart do crazy things in her chest.
He helped her out of the car, offering her his hand, then never let go of hers as they walked inside, and for a minute, she forgot everything but the feel of his hand in hers. But when all eyes turned to them, quickly followed by whispers that seemed to travel all over the room, she was suddenly nervous. She looked up at Vincent, who smiled down at her and squeezed her hand, then gently propelled her into the staring crowd.
“Vincent, we’re over here,” a man she’d never seen before called from across the room.
The crowd seemed to take this as a cue and conversation filled the room again as people began to take their seats for dinner. She followed Vincent across the room, trying not to attract attention, but felt eyes on her the entire way. It was a relief when they finally reached the table and Vincent pulled out a chair for her.
“Sorry, I should have warned you,” he said. “I forget how people in this town are around strangers.”
“Speaking of strangers,” the man who’d called out to them said, “I’m Adam, and this is my wife Molly. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you both,” she said, her voice shaking.
Another man seated at the table rose to his feet. “I’m Gabriel, town doctor,” he said, but she understood that wasn’t his only role just from looking at him.
“I don’t think you’ve met my wife Amy,” Michael said.
“Oh, we met at the bookstore yesterday,” Amy said from the seat next to her, a welcoming smile on her face.
“It’s nice to see you again,” Charlie said, feeling a bit overwhelmed to be surrounded by them all.
“How have your first few days in Prospect been?” Molly asked from across the table, clearly welcoming Charlie to the group.
“Well, this is a very interesting place,” she said, looking over at Vincent, who grinned at her. “I’m never quite sure what to expect next.”
Molly laughed. “I felt that same way when I finally got my first look at the town, but you learn to love it pretty quickly.”
“You didn’t come to town first?” Charlie asked, slightly puzzled by the way she’d phrased it.
Molly turned to Vincent. “You haven’t told her?” she asked.
He shook his head. “We really haven’t had time,” he said, looking a bit guilty. “But I’m sure you’d be happy to fill her in.”
Molly looked up at Adam and grinned. “I think I’ll let Adam tell the story tonight,” she said, the love in her eyes clear. “The whole thing really was his fault.”
“Only because I knew I loved you from the moment I saw you,” he said, leaning over and kissing her on the forehead.
After a groan from the table, Adam launched into the story about how he’d rescued Molly from a demon and the deceit that had led to them falling in love. When he was finished, Amy said, “If you think that’s bad, wait until you hear what Michael did to me.”
Michael groaned. “I’m never going to live that down, am I?” he asked, but his voice was full of warmth.
Amy looked up at him. “Not everyone has such a good story about falling in love, so I guess the answer is no,” she said, grinning.
“Fine, but I still say I was only doing what I had to do,” Michael said, kissing her quickly on the lips. “But if you must, try to go easy on me. I did try to prepare you.”
“Which is why I only fainted once,” Amy said, then launched into her own tale.
Chapter Eight
***Vincent***
Vincent could almost see the wheels turning in Charlie’s mind as she listened to Amy’s story, and he wondered if bringing her had been a good idea. The last thing he needed was her back to insisting that he let her go demon hunting. As hard as he tried, he still couldn’t see sending her out on patrol.
“But you’re not even a shifter,” Charlie said when Amy finished her story of sending the demons back to the underworld.
Amy shrugged. “I’m not sure what happened or if I could even do it again,” she said. “Arthur thinks it has something to do with the fact that I supposedly have a trace of Merlin’s blood.”
“You mean like the magician?” Charlie asked. “I’ve always heard that he was our creator or something like that, but I didn’t really believe it.”
Amy shrugged. “According to legend, it’s true,” she said. “But I’m afraid that’s a story for another day; it’s getting late, and I’m supposed to be at the bookstore early in the morning to help Horace get ready for the festival.”
After she and Michael were gone, Adam and Molly made their excuses and left. “I think I’ll call it a night as well,” Gabriel said when it was only the three of them. “You know what they say about three being a crowd, and I’ve got patients early in the morning.”
Charlie said her goodbyes, but he could tell that she was a bit distracted, so it was no surprise when she turned to him and said, “I keep feeling like I’m missing something. There’s more going on here than just a demon portal.”
Her eyes were searching his, looking for the truth, but he didn’t say anything. “Vincent, what aren’t you telling me? Don’t you trust me?” she finally asked.
He thought about that for a minute and realized that there was a small part of him that didn’t. “Let’s get out of here,” he said, looking around them at the crowds of people.
She narrowed her eyes at him but let him help her up, then followed him to the car silently. After he’d helped her in and started up the car, she asked, “Are you going to answer my question?”
“I will,” he said, starting up the car and heading for the main road. “But before I do, there’s something I want to know.”
Charlie looked over at him. “What?”
“Why are you here?” he asked, taking his eyes off the road for a second to look at her.
“Sebastian sent me,” she said. “You know that.”
He shook his head. “No, what I want to know is why you want to be a demon hunter. You have to admit, it is a bit unusual. It couldn’t have been easy to get this far,” he said.
Charlie looked over at him, then back out the window, and for a moment, he thought she wasn’t going to answer. But then she took a deep breath, looked over at him once more, and started to talk. “I’m my family’s last hope of restoring our name to the rank of guardian. If I can’t do it, the name will die away. I’ve been fighting for years just for a chance to prove myself, to show the council that a woman could fight just as well as a man,” she said.
“Sebastian has fought me all the way, and now you’re ruining the one and only chance I’ll have.”
He was a bit shocked by the honesty of her words, and he could tell she was too. “Oh, I...” she stammered, then turned and stared out the window.
After a few minutes, she turned back to him. “I’m just frustrated,” she said. “I thought this was going to be so simple—come here, kill a few demons—but it’s turned out to be so much more complicated. I’m so afraid I’ll disappoint my father. If I fail, after centuries of McKensey’s being guardians, the name will just disappear. We’re descendants of the original guardians, Vincent, and it will be my fault.”
“That’s a lot to put on your shoulders,” he said, trying to comfort her.
She shrugged. “As soon as my father realized that he wasn’t going to have a son, he set out to get me appointed the first woman guardian,” she said. “He said it was my destiny.”
They were silent as he pulled up in front of her cabin. Something about what she’d just said struck him as important, but he wasn’t sure why. “Charlie, I know I owe you some answers, but I think there’s someone who can explain it better than I can,” he said, thinking about Arthur. “He’s a demonologist who’s been here helping us.”
Charlie's eyes got big. “A demonologist?” she asked. “Now I’m even more curious.”
“Will you come meet him tomorrow?” he asked, feeling on more solid ground. “I think I can explain better with his help.”
She studied him for a minute. “Why are you suddenly being so nice to me?”
“Because you don’t belong here, Charlie; you have to trust me on that one,” he said, pulling up to her cabin and turning off the car, then turning to face her. “Sebastian has been trying to push Adam out for years; he wants Prospect Falls.”
“So, what does that have to do with me,” she asked. “And if you say it’s complicated, I’ll slap you.”
Vincent searched for a way to tell her what he needed to, hoping that the reality of the situation would bring her to her senses. “Sebastian has been doing things for years to sabotage Adam: he challenged his marriage and mating with Molly, he’s been denying us a natural witch for the festival for years, and now when we finally ask for help, he sent us you,” he said.
“What do you mean, he sent me?” she asked, a dangerous edge to her voice.
He took a deep breath, searching for the right words. “An unexperienced demon hunter who’s never made a kill,” he said. “And a woman. I’m sorry, Charlie, but it’s true. Don’t you see? He knew that it would throw us, and it has.”
***Charlie***
Charlie thought back to that day in Sebastian’s office, the conversation she’d overheard and the parts she’d missed, and realized that Vincent was right. She hadn’t made the connection until now, but it made sense, and just like that, she knew that she’d been sent not to help but to muddy the waters. Humiliation washed over her, and tears came to her eyes as she realized that she was only a joke, that what everyone had been saying for years was true.
Everything she’d been working for all her life suddenly vanished like a puff of smoke, and she wanted desperately to get as far away from Vincent as she could. She knew that it wasn’t his fault; what she’d been aiming for had been ridiculous. Women weren’t guardians, and that was the way things were. It was time to face facts: the best she could hope for was to marry well and live the life her mother and generations of women before her lived.
“I have to go,” she said, fumbling for the door handle. “I don’t feel well.”
“Charlie, wait,” was the last thing she heard before she slammed the door and ran for the cabin.
Once inside, she stumbled to the living room and collapsed into the chair by the fireplace, then let out the breath she’d been holding as tears began to roll down her cheeks. Soon, she was sobbing with disappointment and frustration, lost in a world that would never accept her, and for the first time in her life, she couldn’t see her future, just a dark cloud of uncertainty.
Sebastian had tricked her, used her as a weapon in a battle she knew nothing about, and the way things looked, the only thing she’d be doing while she was here was running errands for Vincent. She’d been a fool to think that anyone would take her seriously, had been so sure that since the council had approved her, she’d have a real chance to become a guardian. Just thinking about how disappointed her father would be made her sob even harder, and she almost didn’t hear her computer beeping at her over in the corner.
When she picked up her head and saw the clock above the fireplace, her tears dried up immediately as panic replaced the anguish that had consumed her only seconds before. Wiping away the tears with the back of her hands, she took a few deep breaths, then a few more before rushing over to the computer and clicking on the video call from her parents.
“Oh, there you are,” her mother said when they popped up on her screen. “I thought maybe you’d fallen asleep.”
“Hi, Mom,” she said. “I just got home.”
Her mother narrowed her eyes at her, then looked over at her father. “Isn’t it late there? And what are you wearing?” she asked, sending an elbow into her father’s side. “Look at her, Roger.”
“Mom, it’s not that late,” she said. “I do need to change though, so hang on I’ll give you a tour of the cabin.”
She quickly picked up the computer and turned it around so that she was out of the picture, then in a silly voice, showed them the cabin. When she got to the bedroom, she pointed the camera out the window. “I’m going to change my clothes. I’ll be right back,” she said. “Why don’t you catch me up on what’s going on there.”
After throwing on a long tee-shirt, she stuffed the dress into the closet, planning to never wear it again, then quickly wiped the smeared makeup off her face while her mother chattered on about their neighbors. When she finally picked up the computer again and climbed onto the bed, she was feeling more like herself, but it only took her mother a minute to figure out that something was wrong.
“You’ve been crying,” her mother accused, then elbowed her father again. “Look at her, Roger, she’s been crying. I told you nothing good could come of this ridiculous plan of yours.”
“I’m fine, Mother,” she said, forcing a big smile.
“See, Josie, everything is fine,” her father said, shooting her mother an exasperated look. “Now tell me about the demons there. Are they like the ones we used to have here?”
Charlie hesitated, not sure what to say, then just blurted it out, “I haven’t seen a demon since I got here; they’re not crazy about the idea of a woman demon hunter, so I’ve spent all my time planning a big festival coming up in a few weeks.”
Her father’s face turned stormy, and she knew what was coming; she’d heard his opinion more times than she could count, was the product of that belief. “That’s ridiculous,” he said. “You should be fighting demons, not planning a party. I have half a mind to fly over there and set those boys straight.”
“Dad, don’t you even think about it,” she said. “I have to handle this on my own, but I know how important this is to the family. I won’t let you down. You’re just going to have to give me some more time. I’ll find a way. I promise.”
Her mother made a sound in her throat and turned to her father. “You aren’t helping,” she said. “Leave Charlie alone; she’s doing the best she can. Did you really think they’d welcome her with open arms and send her right out to hunt?”
“Well, I suppose you’re right,” her father said, looking sheepish. “I’m sorry, Charlie, I know you’re doing your best; you always do.”
She sighed with relief. “Thanks, you guys, I...” Her words were cut off by a knock on the door.
“Is that someone knocking on your door at this hour?” her mother asked.
“Mom, I’m a grown woman, but I love you both,” she said. “I’d better go. We’ll talk in a few days.”
Chapter Nine
&
nbsp; ***Vincent***
Vincent made it to the end of the driveway, came to a stop, looked up and down Main Street, which was deserted this time of night, but didn’t pull out. He hadn’t meant to be so harsh with Charlie, just wanted her to understand that what she wanted was impossible. But as he sat there riddled with guilt, he began to wonder if he was right, if it really was impossible for a woman to become a guardian, his conversation with his mother playing again in his mind.
He was just about to put the car into reverse when his phone began to ring on the seat next to him. He looked over, not the least bit surprised to see his father’s number scrolling across the screen. “Hi, Dad,” he said when he picked up the call. “I’m surprised to hear from you this late. Is there something wrong?”
“Well, according to your mother, there might be,” his dad said. “She’s been bugging me all night to call you, said that the two of you had a strange conversation earlier.”
Vincent sighed. “I just had a few questions for her. It wasn’t that big of a deal.”
His father was silent for just a little too long. “I see,” he finally said. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on, or should I put your mother on the phone?”
“The demon hunter they sent us is a woman,” he said, deciding just to wade right in.
“And?” his father asked.
“What do you mean and?” he asked. “She’s a woman, Dad. I can’t send her out to fight demons.”
“I see,” his father said again, something he always did when Vincent was wrong. “Was she approved by the council?”
“Well, yes,” he said. “But she could get killed, and how would that look? You know Sebastian is just looking for a reason to remove Adam.”
“While that may be true, have you stopped to consider the possibility that he’s actually done you a favor?” his father asked. “Think about it, son; if Sebastian thinks she’s useless and she’s not, you have another weapon on your side.”
Dragon Hero (Guardian Dragons 0f Prospect Falls Book 3) Page 5
