by Bella Falls
“I know, Birdy, I know. I tried to make them clarify their meaning before they left.” Nana took a bite of her biscuit, leaving a little of the strawberry preserves at the corner of her mouth. “But as you saw for yourself, the Gray sisters do and say only as much as they feel they can. It’s up to those who seek them out to interpret their meaning.”
I tapped the corner of my own mouth and pointed at the bit of jelly for her to wipe off. “It’s all getting way too complicated.”
In an effort to comfort myself, I took the clean spoon by my plate and dipped it into the mason jar, retrieving a nice glob of preserves and stuffing it in my mouth.
A loud knock on the back door startled me. Nana popped out of her chair and answered before whoever it was could bang again. I brightened when I saw Mason following behind my grandmother.
“Sleeping Beauty is finally awake, I see.” He came over to me and ruffled my hair before stealing a piece of bacon off my plate.
“Thief,” I accused with a sly grin.
“Whatcha gonna do? Arrest me?” Mason shoved the rest of the crispy piece into his mouth and chewed on it before smiling as he swallowed. “If stealing bacon was a crime, then this whole household would be in a jail cell for eternity.”
Nana scoffed. “The boy ain’t lyin’.” She got up and retrieved an extra plate for the detective.
Mason chose a biscuit and buttered it as he spoke. “So, have you two figured out what exactly those three women did to Charli?”
“We were just talking about that,” I said, pushing the jar of strawberry preserves across the table to him. “Other than their admission that it has something to do with premonitions, we’re stumped.”
“Hmm,” the detective grunted, slathering some of the jelly onto his biscuit and taking a big bite.
Some of the reddish pink jam remained in the corner of his mouth, too, and I couldn’t help but giggle. I tapped the same spot on my own face to clue him in. With a twinkle in his eye, he stuck out his tongue and licked off the sticky confection, wiggling his eyebrows at me like it was all some kinky form of flirtation.
“Do you trust that the sisters were telling the truth?” Mason directed his question at my grandmother.
Nana leaned back in her chair. “I do, actually. And that’s what’s bothering me. I know their appearance and manners are a little odd, but they don’t deceive ever.”
“They also don’t speak that plainly,” I added. “How do Dash and I hold the solution to the binding when we’ve already tried to dissolve it and nothing has worked? And what does ‘change the pattern’ mean exactly?”
My grandmother threw her hands in the air. “I don’t know, and I really did try to get a straighter answer out of them after you’d left the cafe. But they said it’s up to you to figure things out.”
Irritation killed my appetite, and I pushed my plate away. “Well, that’s just peachy.”
Mason finished the last bite of his biscuit and licked the preserves off his fingers. “Not that I want to add to your troubles, but you’ll want to go talk to Dash today.”
My jaw dropped in absolute astonishment at my boyfriend’s suggestion. “Why?”
“Oh, Birdy, if you could have seen the hurt in that boy’s eyes when he was listening to the sisters. Sure, you were rightfully concerned about yourself, but here he was hearing that he’s the cause of something big in your life. That he’s the thing that needs to be removed.” Nana grasped my hand in hers. “That can’t have been easy to hear.”
Mason pushed away from the table and stood. He busied himself with getting some water from the kitchen sink. “I’m actually surprised he didn’t hop on his motorcycle and leave Honeysuckle.” He took a long sip of his drink. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m all kinds of glad that he stayed since his presence seems to make you feel physically better.”
The contents in my stomach churned a little, and I folded my arms across my body in reaction.
“It’s not gonna be a fun conversation, and the guy barely likes to say a whole lot in the first place,” I complained. With a groan, I set my head down on the edge of the table, dreading my next task of the day.
A tingle shot through my body as if someone had plugged me into an outlet. My ears burned and my heart raced. Something in me told me to move, and I half slid and half fell out of my chair, my butt hitting the linoleum floor.
Water splashed down on the vacated seat mere seconds after I’d left it, and Mason stood behind it with his glass tipped upside down.
“What are you doing?” I asked, slapping away the hand he offered to help me up.
“How did you know I was going to do that?” he asked.
“Yeah, did you feel anything different?” Nana added, staring at me from her perch instead of chastising my boyfriend.
I scrambled to my feet and rubbed my behind. “I felt the bruise that’s gonna be forming right here pretty clearly.” I pointed at the spot.
“That’s not what we mean. Think about it,” Mason commanded in his warden tone. “Something kicked in to tell you to get out of the way. What was it, and how did it feel?”
Realization dawned on me, and I did as he asked. “I don’t know. It felt like a sudden zap of energy bolted through me. And then something told me to get out of the way as fast as possible.” I took stock of my words and compared them to what I’d felt. “No, not just get out of the way. It’s like my body knew the exact direction I should go to avoid getting water all over my head.”
Mason nodded. “All very useful information. I could have used special instincts like that in my job up north.”
“Maybe it’ll help keep Birdy out of harm’s way for once,” Nana said with a chuckle. “Although I don’t think there’s a spell strong enough in this entire universe to keep her out of complete trouble.”
I stuck my tongue out at her like a childish brat, earning the same expression from her. Turning my attention to my boyfriend who’d attempted to dump water all over me, I fake scowled. “You took an awful big risk.”
He shrugged. “I followed a hunch and it paid off.”
“What if you’d gotten me all wet?” I countered.
“I was willing to pay the penalty.” He smirked. “Besides, I think I could take anything you dished out.” His left eyebrow quirked up as he grinned.
Quick as a flash, Nana got out of her chair and cleared the dishes from the table. “That’s my cue. You two take your flirtatious selves outside. Just because I approve of you as a couple doesn’t mean I have to watch you pitch woo, as they used to say.”
“Pitch woo?” I teased, walking over and tickling her ribs. “Who in the world says that?”
She jerked under my torturous fingers. “I guess old farts like me.” My grandmother splashed soapy water from the sink at me. “I was gonna give you some preserves to take with you to Dash’s to help sweeten him up.”
Following her gaze to the pantry, I entered and grabbed a mason jar off the shelf with a handwritten label on it. “Thanks, but I think it might take a whole truckload of these to get him out of one of his foul moods.”
Nana shrugged. “It’s worth a shot. Plus, it’s a Southern rule that you have to bring over some form of food or sustenance when someone’s feeling poorly. And that wolf is probably still licking his wounds.” She snapped a kitchen towel at my behind. “Now, git. Let the detective get back on the job and go make up with Dash before he hightails it out of town again.”
Leaning in, I pecked her on the cheek and thanked her for the food. Mason waited for me outside on the front porch, holding Peaches in his arms and talking to her in a low voice. She lifted her head for him to pet and chirped at him in her cutest kitty mew.
“What are you two talking about?” I asked.
He kissed the top of my cat’s head and set her down. “Just thanking her for watching over you last night. I offered to take her back to your place in my car, but she says there are butterflies to chase and plants to sniff, so she’d make it back on her own.
”
My orange kitty waved her tail at us and bounded off the porch in search of her own adventures. I set the jar of preserves down and threw my arms around my man. Standing on my tiptoes allowed me to get my face as close to his as possible.
“You are the most adorable man in the universe.”
Mason chuckled and pulled me into a tighter embrace. “Oh yeah? Just remember that when you’re talking to Mr. Channing.”
I frowned at his slip. Not once in the whole time since the binding had he ever mentioned any insecurity about us as a couple. And yet, I guess deep down, I knew it had to bother him.
“Mason—”
He placed a fingertip over my lips to stop me. “No, I’m sorry. I have no reason not to trust you.” With a sigh, he removed his finger and gave me a quick peck.
Gripping the back of his head with my hand, I pulled him in for a deeper kiss. After a few moments, we stopped, both a little breathless.
I cupped his cheek. “I promise you, no matter what’s going on with this binding business, you’re the only one I see.”
He nuzzled into my touch. “I better be. Now, let’s get off your grandmother’s porch and back to your place so I can pitch woo with more privacy.”
Chapter Five
I stopped at the edge of Dash’s property, staring at the simple brick ranch house. After dismounting from my magical bike, I walked it toward the driveway. Although I could hear some metal crashing and banging away in the garage, I didn’t need the noise to tell me where the shifter was. Closing my eyes and concentrating, I knew exactly where to find Dash based on the connection that hummed to life between us. I’d have to find a way to block out his emotions if he was always going to be this grumpy.
I pushed the bike closer to the house and parked it right by the walkway to the front door. Taking in a deep breath to steady my rapid heartbeat, I reached in and retrieved the mason jar of jelly from the front basket.
“If you were trying to sneak up on me, you failed,” Dash growled from behind me.
Startled, I let the glass jar slipped from my grip. With shifter speed, he blurred in reaction and caught it before it hit the ground and shattered.
“Whoa. I mean, my brain knows that you have special shifter abilities, but seeing them in action is a little different.” I blinked at him as he stood to his full height mere inches away from me.
He held out the jar. “They come in handy from time to time.” The corner of his lips turned up.
“Frosted fairy wings, is that an actual smile? I thought those were rarer than a blue moon,” I teased, taking the preserves from him, forgetting why I brought the container in the first place.
My comment earned me a bigger grin. “It does happen from time to time.”
A little of the stress that had been hitting me eased, and I realized that it belonged to both of us, not just me. If being in close proximity to each other made it harder to block out our emotions, then we’d have a lot to figure out on top of the bigger problem of breaking the binding.
“Here.” I held the jar out to him. “This is for you.”
“You didn’t have to bring me anything,” he gruffed, refusing to take it.
“But I did and it’s good so you should accept it.” I wiggled the glass container at him. “Come on. If you don’t, then I’ll have failed my job as a good Southern woman.”
Dash snorted with an actual chuckle. “Well, we wouldn’t want that.” He finally accepted my gift. “Thanks.”
Now that I’d succeeded in cracking his gruff demeanor a little, I needed to take advantage before his defenses closed again. “Any chance we can go inside and talk?”
His face darkened with a scowl. “It’s not exactly hospitable inside.”
“All I need is a chair to sit on. Don’t care what things look like,” I pushed.
After a long pause, the shifter’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “Sure. We’ll go in through the back door since it’s unlocked.”
I followed him around the side of the house. His garage was wide open, and I noticed several boxes covering the cement floor rather than tools and motorcycle parts.
Dash held the door open for me, and I stepped inside his house for the first time. Sunlight streamed through the windows, reflecting off the dust floating in the air. I noticed a staleness to the air, but other than that, there wasn’t anything offensive about my friend’s place. It lacked the small touches that make a house a home, but the furniture, what little remained, looked comfortable enough even though it had a few years of wear on it.
“I don’t quite know what I was expecting,” I exclaimed as I walked past the kitchen and into the living room. Picking up a crocheted lace doily off the armrest of the couch, I held it between two fingers. “I would never have guessed this was your taste.”
“Most of the furniture came with the place when I bought it, so it was never really mine to begin with.” He picked up the cushions on the couch and wiped them down with his hand as much as possible, fluffing them up when he returned them to their place. “Here’s as good a spot as any.”
Accepting his invitation, I sat down, inspecting the room with new eyes. No wonder it didn’t feel like Dash inside. All he did when he moved to Honeysuckle Hollow was hole up in someone else’s home without making it his. He had been existing in our small little town, not really living. It made me curious to know what his place back in the mountains looked like.
Dash sat down in the leather chair across from me. “What’s on your mind?”
A sudden bout of nerves hit me, and for a second, I fumbled to find the right words to say. “I wanted to talk about yesterday. What the sisters said.”
Any trace of ease evaporated, and a wave of intense irritation beat against me. “It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not, and I was too busy being worried about myself that I didn’t even think about how it all affects you, too,” I said, picking at a loose thread on the doily I still held in my hand.
“I said it’s fine,” Dash repeated in a gruff tone.
I tossed the lace piece back on the armrest and leaned forward. “Listen, it’s not going to do us any good if we can’t speak the truth to each other.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say.” He refused to look at me.
The atmosphere in the room crackled with agitation, and I changed tactics to keep him from running away from this conversation. “Let’s start a little before you came yesterday. For a few weeks now, I’ve been feeling increasingly worse physically. Nauseous. Nervous. I had a sense of uncertainty that I couldn’t shake.” I paused, expecting him to jump into the conversation. When he remained quiet, I continued. “How about you?”
Dash grunted once. “About the same, although I dismissed it as more like having a cold.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think this is some virus. I think it’s because of the binding,” I proposed. “The second you walked into that room yesterday, a lot of the physical discomfort disappeared.”
He frowned. “I didn’t really think about it that way. But yeah, I guess I did feel physically better once I made it to your grandmother’s place.”
Now that I had the man talking, I did my best to keep the talk going. “At least where you were, you weren’t forced to drink awful sludge every day.”
The shifter lifted an eyebrow. “Your grandmother gave you that disgusting drink again?”
“Yep. I’ve had so much of it you’d think I’d get used to the taste. But the last sip is just as awful as the very first one,” I joked, shuddering and making a face just to entertain him.
“Then I guess I’m lucky I wasn’t here. I’m not sure how it would have gone down if your grandmother had tried to force that stuff on me.” His smirk eased some of my anxiety about talking to him.
Leaning into the back of the old couch, I settled in for a longer discussion. “Listen, there’s not enough of Nana’s sludge in the world that’s going to fix what’s going on with our connection. It seems that the longer w
e ignored it, the worse things got.”
He dipped his chin once. “I knuckled through it until recently. Honestly, I got so sick once that it brought me to my knees.”
Hearing him admit that he suffered the same symptoms I had gave me more relief than I expected. “I’m guessing that’s not something you’d want your pack to know about.”
Dash grunted. “Nothing’s their business unless I choose to tell them. And I sure as heck don’t need them knowing that I’m tied to a witch in any way.”
“What have they got against witches?” I asked in defense.
My response earned another half smile. “If you remember what I told you about going up against my brother Kash, he had a couple of strung-out witches helping him to maintain control. They were a part of bringing the whole pack almost to ruin. That left a sour taste in many mouths.”
Dash had relayed a little bit of the reason he’d left Honeysuckle all that time ago. I’d been surprised to see him return for the barbecue competition and more than a little taken aback to see him with some new companions.
“What about those sisters that came with you and your younger brother…Georgia, Virginia, and…Dan?”
“Davis,” he corrected. “And I think you met their older sister Carolina when she examined your unicorn.”
I snapped my fingers. “Oh, right. I did talk to Caro once. But I thought all three of them helped you fight and win.”
“They did,” he said, running his hand down his face and beard. “But that doesn’t mean there aren’t pack members who are afraid of witches in general.”
“Wow.” I considered his words carefully. “So, you’ve had absolutely nobody supporting you while you’ve been experiencing the same effects as I have this whole time?”
He stopped frowning for a second. “Yeah, but I’m much tougher than you.” The slight quirk upwards at the corners of his mouth let me in on his joke.
I threw the dingy lace doily at him, and he batted it away, chuckling. I knew this moment of levity and ease was like catching lightning in a bottle, and it felt amazing to have my friend back. A part of me didn’t want to do or say anything that would change it, but we couldn’t continue ignoring the big elephant-sized problem that affected both of our lives.
