Third Charm: A Reverse Harem Tale (Lovin' the Coven Book 3)

by Jacquelyn Faye

  "That's okay. I'll tell you something else. Dar was another accident. I didn't mean to do it. He was shot and there was a lot of blood. It got everywhere."

  "Oh."

  "Feel better now?"

  "Yes. Are you mad at me?"

  I shook my head and gave her a small smile. "Sad that you didn't trust me, but not angry."

  She got up from the couch and crossed over to me, leaning over and giving me a short hug. She wasn't the affectionate type, so I let her pull away as soon as she was done.

  "I won't ever not trust you again." She plopped down on the couch next to me. Dar gave a little snort and put his head on my leg. I scratched behind his ear.

  "What's going on?" Josie stood in the doorway of my bedroom, staring at the three of us.

  "Just a little family bonding."

  "Well, I'm going to use your shower. I smell like wet dog."

  "You can go after me. I smell like wet dog blood."

  Yes. You do.

  "Go lie down. I'll be back shortly," I said to Dar before turning to Yuki. "You watch a movie or something. You going to hang out here tonight or with the vampires?"

  "I need to run home and feed. I'll be back after that, if that's okay."

  "I gave you a key for a reason. My house is yours."

  She nodded, still a little remorseful.

  "I'll be back later." She got up and almost skulked out the front door. I hadn't lied, I wasn't angry with her, but she needed to stop being so damn sulky. Sighing, I got up and headed for a much-needed shower.

  Not wanting to get into the shower with my arm all bandaged, I tugged at the tape holding the gauze and pads against my wounds. It was already wet from giving Dar a bath, but I still winced as it pulled the hair on my arm. I couldn't see anything, so I moved over to the sink and turned the water on, grabbing the antibacterial soap. A good cleaning before having Josie heal the puncture wounds was probably a good idea.

  Running my arm under the water, I scrubbed it, the blood foaming pink in the soap. At least it stopped hurting on the ride home. In fact, I couldn't feel anything at all…

  Staring, I rinsed my arm off under the hot water and gasped. The wounds were completely gone. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was like it never even happened. I had no clue what was going on with me, but my natural healing ability had been amped up exponentially. Not that I was complaining, just confused. I decided not to think about it while I took a shower.

  I shut the water off, dried myself, and put on a pair of sweatpants and an oversized hoodie. It was a pajama kind of night. Maybe I could find a half decent movie to watch while I did absolutely nothing. I deserved the rest of the night off.

  Grabbing my wine off the counter as I passed by, I did just that, parking my ass next to Josie. Dar even came over and lay on top of my feet, keeping them warm.

  Thanks, I thought at him.

  Don't get used to it. I'm drained. Stealing some of your energy.

  Works for me.

  Your other familiar…she's moody.

  She's a vampire. They're supposed to be.

  Instead of answering, he harrumphed.

  I blinked in surprise. He was very articulate for a dog. Sure, German Shepherds were smart, but this was…strange. I'd never had a familiar before Yuki, so I wasn't an expert, but my understanding was that all animals could speak on some level once the bond was formed. I'd never heard of one being able to handle complex conversations, though.

  Dar, what's four plus eight?

  I'm not a calculator. I believe you have one of those on your phone.

  Just seeing if you knew the answer.

  Fourteen.

  I gave up. Apparently, it was a night for weirdness. Trying not to let my shock show, I picked up the remote and flipped to the movie channels, stopping when I saw a mindless, comic hero movie. Some guy in a red suit that was pretty funny and totally scrummy. Until I saw him without the mask…

  "Ew. Shower time." Josie got up and headed for her room.

  "Where's Candace?" I hadn't seen her since I got home, but knew she was still on her leave of absence from work. It was unusual for Josie and I to be home alone. Shea had shadow walked back to Ashville to start the process of moving. He'd only come with us to get familiar with the area so he could come and go as he pleased. Jimmy and Dennis were both working, and Chief had called it a night.

  "She's sleeping."

  "Still not on normal hours, eh?"

  "Doubt she ever will be."

  Dar picked his head up and started watching the movie. I could have sworn I heard him chuckle a few times. It was beyond creepy. Ignoring it harder seemed like a prudent choice. I'd take a smart dog over a dumb dog, any day.

  The movie was just getting interesting when a sudden drop in pressure made my ears pop. Even Dar dropped his head to the ground and covered it with his paws. I began yawning frantically, trying to get my ears to equalize. Static popping erupted behind me. Springing from the couch, I turned and froze as Dar started growling next to me.

  Josie and Candace poured out of the hallway, stopping and blinking.

  "Get back!"

  They moved back into the room and I could barely hear the sound of their door slamming over the cacophony of the electrical discharge. I backed slowly out of the room and into the kitchen, ducking behind the counter and watching the lightshow by the sliding glass door.

  "Dar!"

  He turned and ran, joining me in the kitchen.

  Something is coming, he shouted into my brain. I winced.

  Hopefully it's not wicked.

  The wall next to the sliding glass door had lightning crackling up the surface. Mini cracks of thunder pounded my senses. After a few moments, the wall began to darken as the blight took a rectangular shape when the plaster turned to wood. A flash of lightning and a pound of thunder later, a door had formed just off my living room.

  "What the fuck?"

  The door rattled and the ancient knob slowly turned, the door creaking open and grating on my last nerve. I lifted my hands and called forth some fire with a whispered word, poised to blast whatever the hell had the nerve to somehow create a portal into my home.

  White smoke, smelling of sage, bellowed out from the open door. I heard the clacking of heels as a shrouded figure stepped out through the cloud. It began waving its arms around frantically, dispelling the smoke. I slowly lowered my arms as the figure became more visible.

  "Hello, Child."

  "Nana?"

  Chapter 8

  Ding.

  Herb needed to change the chime over the door, but that just might have been me being picky. I'd heard it so many times, I was getting sick of it. I made a mental note to look for an electronic one on Amazon that made random noises. I'd give it to Herb as a Christmas present.

  "How quaint," Nana muttered as she passed by me through the open door.

  "It's just as good as the Five Star back home," I said defensively.

  "And how many times have you seen me dining there?"

  "Uh…" I stopped and thought about it. "Twice?"

  "If that many," she replied and took a seat in the closest booth, which just happened to be the one with my name on it.

  I breathed a sigh of relief and sat down across from her. She had taken my usual seat, but at least I got to sit in my booth.

  Nana took one look at the placard on the table and gave a little roll of her eyes. "Eat here often?"

  "Once or twice."

  "Mornin, hon. Usual?"

  Glancing up at Marge, I willed her to be polite to Nana with a look. From her return stare, I'm sure I came across as constipated. "Yes, please."

  "Welcome back," she said to Nana with a smile.

  "Back?"

  "Aren't you Dot's mother?"

  "No."

  Marge looked at me in confusion. I should have known she would get the two mixed up. Nana and Mother looked more alike that either would care to admit, and while I shared a resemblance, it was nowhere close. I figu
red I had too much of my father mixed in. Almost giggling out loud, I had an image of Nana cloning herself and begetting my mother. It might have even explained why they didn't get along. At all.

  "Marge, this is my grandmother, Cathleen Blackwell. Nana, this is Marge. Her husband owns the diner and will hopefully be selling you a house. Soon." I hadn't meant to add the word, but after one night with my grandmother, I was ready for her to move. Back to Ashville preferably.

  Marge's face was priceless. She knew better than to make a scene or even say anything about how young my grandmother appeared. "My apologies. What can I get you to drink?"

  "Tea, please."

  She nodded and practically ran away. I didn't even get a chance to ask her to have Herb come talk to us. I sighed and picked up the menus she'd left. Handing one to Nana, I decided to go for something different and opened mine.

  We were an hour or so from lunch, so I had no idea which way I wanted to swing. Breakfast sounded good, but so did a burger. That's when I noticed the sticker on the inside of the menu. Due to popular demand, Herb had added the Dot to the menu, and the bright yellow, star-shaped sticker proudly announced it. Rolling my eyes, I prayed silently to the Lady that Nana didn't notice it.

  Her short bark of laughter squashed my dreams.

  "You have a sandwich named after you?"

  "Yes, Nana. I eat here quite often," I said with a resolved sigh.

  "No shame in being unable to cook for yourself."

  "Good thing, or Mother would spend the rest of her days in the box of shame."

  That caused her to cackle merrily and took some of the heat off me. My grandmother was a conundrum. Aloof, beautiful, wise. When she was scrutinizing you, it almost felt like being under a heat lamp. Even the force of her gaze was withering. While I regretted sacrificing my mother's honor to escape the spotlight, I was grateful for the respite.

  "The woman burned water, once," my grandmother said wistfully, reminiscing in the joys of my mother's flaws.

  "I remember." My mother had been determined to make pasta for me in my youth. She had set a pot of water on to boil and poured oil in it to keep the pasta from sticking together. Then, in typical motherly fashion, forgot about dinner. The water boiled away, and the oil caught on fire. It only took her a few moments to magic the kitchen back together, but about a week get rid of the smell. I do believe it was the last time she attempted to cook dinner in my lifetime. Thankfully.

  Marge returned with our drinks. "Here you are, ladies. What can I get you to eat?"

  "Actually, I think we need a few moments. Could you ask Herb to join us when he has a moment? Need to look at some properties."

  "You keep it up and you're gonna own half the town."

  "Yes, but I need your husband to make sure I buy the good half."

  "I'll send him out, darlin'."

  I let Nana peruse the menu while we waited. I knew what I wanted and had settled on the best of both worlds. The hangover burger. It had an egg on it and was smothered in hollandaise sauce. I hadn't tried it yet, but it sounded like the perfect answer to my brunch desire.

  "Hey, Dot."

  Herb smiled when I looked up. "Hey yourself. Herb, this is my grandmother. She needs a house. Quickly."

  "Well, I can show you a couple after the lunch rush… Miguel can handle the diner until dinner. How big of a house?"

  "Around the same size as mine."

  "Let me check the listings. Call you after lunch if you're around."

  Nana lowered her menu, gazed at Herb and actually said, "Thank you."

  "Thanks, Herb."

  He gave a quick nod and headed back to the kitchen, wiping off a couple of tables with the rag he'd been carrying.

  "The cook is also the real estate agent?"

  "He isn't a cook. He owns the diner."

  "How quaint," she reiterated.

  I decided not to tell her about the whole coroner situation. I somehow doubted she would find that as quaint. "What are you going to eat?"

  "I think I shall have the Salisbury steak."

  "Good choice. It's yummers."

  "Yummers?"

  "Delicious."

  Marge came back around, we placed our order, and she was about to put it in when the door chimed behind her. I glanced over her shoulder and my day brightened in the form of a six-foot hunky police chief walking through the entrance. The sunlight was filtering through the glass around him and illuminated him in a swath of light. My heart began fluttering, and I was pretty sure it had nothing to do with the illumination. His face lit up when he saw me sitting there.

  "Hey sexy," I said with a little giggle. Leave it to Chief to reduce my mannerisms to that of a teenage girl.

  "Ditto."

  "You eating in or taking out?" Leave it to Marge to ruin the mood.

  "Mind if I join you?" He looked unsure if I wanted the interruption with Nana.

  "Please." For the love of the goddess, interrupt.

  I scooted over, letting him slide into the booth next to me. He must have sensed my agitation and simply placed his hand on my leg as he leaned over and gave me a quick kiss.

  "So, what are you two beautiful ladies up to today?"

  "Lunch and house hunting," I answered before Nana could say anything snide or condescending. It wasn't that she didn't like Chief. It was like she didn't like anybody. She marginally tolerated me.

  "Herb finding you something, Miss Blackwell?" He actually tried instigating a conversation with her.

  "Call me Cathleen, please. But, yes, he is. After he makes our lunch, apparently."

  Chief chuckled. "He is a man of many talents."

  "What about you? Is the chief talented, Dot?"

  I felt the heat rise to my cheeks. Maybe having Chief join us wasn't the brightest idea I'd ever had…

  "Yep," I managed to stammer.

  "Well, he certainly has no issues tying your tongue."

  I took a sip of my Coke and looked anywhere but at him. His throaty chuckle told me all I needed to know about how much he was enjoying watching me squirm.

  My round in the torture chamber was unexpectedly cut short by an explosion. The boom rattled the plate glass windows in the diner as a plume of smoke and the billow of flames shot over the building across the street.

  Chief shot out of the booth and was out the door before I stopped rubbing my ears. "Wait here," I shouted at Nana and raced out the door after him.

  People were huddled on the ground up and down Main Street. A few of the older storefront windows didn't survive the shockwave of the blast. Thankfully, the diner had been renovated within the last thirty years and had newer glass. Being showered in shards would have been the icing on my cake day.

  I saw Chief round the corner of the building, heading down the alley between. Looking both ways, I ran after him. A secondary explosion, much smaller than the first, sent another cloud of smoke close to the other. The sound of sirens in the distance offered a ray of hope.

  I nearly slipped on some spilled garbage when I hit the alley. The putrid smell made me gag as I righted myself and tried to run a little faster. I blinked in the sunlight as I emerged behind the building.

  The source of the explosion was quite clear. A small tanker truck carrying gray cylinders of propane had gone up. The bed of the truck was obliterated. The few remaining unexploded fuel tanks littered the ground around it. One had rolled away and caught fire, explaining the second explosion. The roof of the building above it added to the growing predicament, flaming and smoking merrily.

  Chief stood there, surveying the damage. "Well, fuck."

  "What happened?" I felt stupid after the question came flying out of my mouth, right about the same time I saw the driver lying half-through the windshield. His blood was pouring over the hood of the truck. Wanting to help, I started jogging toward him. Chief stopped me with his hand as I moved to pass him.

  "Don't. The rest of the truck could go up in any minute." He pointed at the truck's fuel tanks under the cab
.

  Looking up, I sighed at the cloudless blue sky. If there were clouds, I could have caused them to swell and drop rain. Cloudless was hopeless. I couldn't call something from nothing.

  Luckily, the fire engine pulled up behind the flaming bomb about to go off again. Jimmy gave a quick wave as he and two others poured out of the doors. Dennis was driving. Two of the other firemen I had never met grabbed the hose as Dennis pulled forward, dragging the heavy hose off the rack on top of the truck. It was almost mesmerizing watching their coordinated movements as they hooked everything up. When the spray started, Jimmy slowly approached the hood of the vehicle, checking on the driver. As soon as he touched him, he began shaking his head.

  Then the fuel tank Chief had warned me about exploded.

  My world blew up with it…

  My mouth opened as a primal scream of despair tore from my throat as the fireball expanded, engulfing Jimmy and a portion of the rear of the fire engine. The scene quickly disappeared as Chief tackled me, covering me with his body as the heat from the flames blasted over us.

  "No, no, no," I chanted as I frantically pushed him off me. Wide-eyed, I scrambled off the already wet asphalt beneath me and ran to where I had last seen one of the two men I loved.

  "Fuck me," Chief yelled as he staggered closer while the smoke cleared. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." He sounded almost as desperate as me to find him. I feared the worst, but until I saw his body…I would continue to hope.

  I saw the dent in the side of the fire engine as my eyes slowly lowered. Then I saw him. Crumpled in a heap beside the tire was Jimmy, my Jimmy. His arms had been thrown over his face and weren't moving. I cried out as I ran to him, everything else around me fading away to nothing.

  I skidded to a stop and dropped to my knees, praying softly to my goddess as I reached out to touch him, tears steadily rolling off my chin.

  "Jimmy! Jimmy, you fuck, don't you be dead! I'll fucking kill you!"

  My fingers touched his jacket and his flesh was rock solid beneath it. With a hopeful gasp, I frantically tried to pull his arms away from his face, wanting nothing more than to see it, but they wouldn't budge. I felt the magic as it left him, his flesh once again becoming supple…