Pushing the thought away as far too dangerous, he looked down at his desk and the stack of papers that was still there and groaned. The idea of dealing with any of those people right then made him feel exhausted, and he knew that it wasn’t going to happen. He needed a few hours to decompress, and Charlie had given him the perfect excuse. Grabbing the stack of papers, he left his office, shutting the door and hoping he wouldn’t see it until the next morning.
When he stopped at the front desk, Janice ignored him for a minute, and he had the urge to blow up at her but controlled himself, even more convinced he needed some time off. “I’m going to head out for the day,” he said when she finally looked up at him. “Something came up, and I need to deal with it right away.”
“I see,” Janice said, narrowing her eyes at him. “Does it have anything to do with that woman you just hired.”
He took a deep breath and waited for his annoyance to fade. “Janice, not that it’s any of your business who I hire, but Charlie was sent here by an old friend who knew I needed help,” he said, his voice as even as he could keep it. “She came highly recommended, and I need the help.”
“Well, I don’t care what you think; she’s not who she says she is,” Janice said, putting her nose in the air. “I can smell her kind from a mile away. She wants something more than just this job. You mark my words, she’s going to be trouble, and don’t think I didn’t see the way you were looking at her. Shame on you.”
Vincent sighed, knowing he’d been caught. “You can’t blame a man for looking, Janice. I’m sure you get plenty of looks yourself,” he said, deciding that fighting with her wasn’t worth it.
A pleased smile spread across her face. “You’re a terrible man, Vincent, preying on an old lady’s vanity,” she said. “But I’ll take that as an apology.”
He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be sorry for, but he let it go. “I do have a favor to ask,” he said.
“I should have known,” Janice said, but she was still smiling.
He handed her the stack of papers. “Could you reschedule these for tomorrow?”
Janice looked at him, then at the papers. “First, you won’t give me the job, and now you want me to do the work.”
“I’m sorry. I just need some time away,” Vincent said. “I haven’t spent more than a few hours at home in over two weeks. Please, just this once.”
He knew that Janice wouldn’t be able to say no, so less than a half an hour later, he was sitting in his living room, the shades drawn, waiting for the other guardians to show up. The silence in the house was comforting as he sat there, letting his mind wander, trying not to think of the hundreds of things he should be doing at that moment and only partially succeeding.
The sound of tires on the gravel drive that led to the house pulled him out of a light sleep, and he sat up but didn’t move. When Adam, Michael, and Gabriel found him in the living room, sitting in the dark, they filed in and sat down, waiting for him to speak. “Charlie McKensey is a woman,” he said abruptly, satisfied when he heard three gasps of surprise.
“I didn’t see that coming,” Adam said, a bit of humor in his voice. “Sebastian won that round.”
“How can you joke about this?” Vincent asked, finally sitting up. “Don’t you see? She’s just another problem we have to deal with. She’s young, untested, and a woman.”
There was a long silence. “You didn’t really think Sebastian was going to send us the best, did you?” Adam finally asked. “Besides, how do you know she’s not a capable demon hunter?”
“She’s a woman,” he said, shocked that none of them seemed upset by the idea. “What’s going to happen when she gets herself killed? Can’t you just hear what Sebastian will say?”
Another long silence told him that his opinion might not be shared by the rest of the group. “I’ll admit that it is kind of unusual, but the council must have approved her, and just because there hasn’t ever been a female demon hunter before doesn’t mean she can’t do the job.”
“You haven’t met her,” Vincent said. “She’s not exactly, well, you know what I’m trying to say.”
“No, I’m not sure we do,” Michael said.
“Well, she seems fragile,” he said, knowing he was lying but out of good reasons.
“Where is she now? I’d like to meet her,” Michael said. “I have deputies in the department that look fragile but are anything but.”
“She’s with Horace getting a history lesson,” he said. “I thought she’d need it since I turned over the festival planning to her.”
“What?” Gabriel asked, reaching up and switching on the light. “Have you lost your mind? The town is going to have a fit.”
“It will be fine,” Vincent said. “You’ll see; the town will fall in love with her, and she’ll do a much better job than I would have. Besides, it will keep her busy for a while and away from the demons.”
“Are you sure this is the way you want to handle this?” Adam asked, a skeptical look on his face.
“Unless you want to train her,” Vincent said, “then I think it’s the only way.”
***Charlie***
Charlie emerged from the bookstore just as the sun was setting behind the mountains, dazed by all she’d learned that day but not sorry she’d gone. Horace must have understood who she really was and why she was there because his stories had focused on the demons and guardians who’d spent their lives protecting the valley. It wasn’t until the end that she truly understood just how important the Medieval Festival was to not only the town, but the entire valley, and realized that she’d been given an important task.
As she walked back towards the main part of downtown, she wondered what kind of man would give so much responsibility to someone he barely knew. But as she thought about it some more, she realized that there was only one reason: something far more important was going on in town. It annoyed her that Vincent wasn’t telling her anything, that her role of demon hunter had been swept under the rug, but she was there, and that counted for something, she reminded herself.
Her father had taught her to always make the most of any situation, and this was no different; she just had to figure out how to make it work to her advantage. She was so lost in her thoughts; she didn’t notice the commotion in front of the grocery store. A white semi-truck was parked in the street, blocking traffic; the food truck was pulled up next to it, and the cook who served her breakfast was standing on the curb, yelling at two men.
She skirted the crowd that had gathered and slipped a little closer to the men who looked like they were close to throwing punches, but the sound of a horn blaring interrupted the fight. The sheriff’s vehicle came into view, and the men stepped back from each other, still exchanging angry glances as it pulled up. When Michael got out of the car, followed by Vincent, who looked like he’d been sleeping in his clothes, there was a murmur from the crowd, and they surged a little closer.
Michael took one look at the situation, then turned to the crowd. “I want anyone who doesn’t belong here to go home. If your car is stuck behind the truck, sit in it and wait,” he ordered, his voice carrying easily to very back. When no one moved, he added. “Now!”
There was a scramble, but Charlie didn’t move, just hung back and waited, curious to see what happened next. She listened as the driver explained that he’d just pulled up and was going to park when the food truck came roaring down the street and blocked him. The owner of the food truck began speaking, and Charlie suddenly understood what the problem was when Michael and Vincent only stared at him, uncomprehending the Spanish that came pouring out of his mouth. Finally drawn out of her hiding place, she approached the group, ignoring Vincent’s narrowed eyes.
“Maybe I can help,” she said.
“You need to go back to your cabin,” Vincent said. “We can handle this.”
Michael looked at him a bit surprised but said, “Unless you can speak Spanish, I’m afraid he’s right.”
Charlie turned
to the man and rattled off a greeting, then asked him what the problem was. It only a took a few minutes to straighten out the mess and get the food truck on its way so the semi could unload. “Thanks,” Michael said. “I’m Sheriff Anderson, but you can call me Michael. You must be Charlie.”
She smiled at him and shook his hand. “The one and only,” she said.
“Welcome to Prospect Falls,” he said. “I’m afraid it’s been a strange day around here.”
“I hadn’t noticed,” she said, laughing.
Vincent was giving them dirty looks. “I expect to see you first thing in the morning,” he interrupted. “I hope this afternoon wasn’t a waste, that you’re ready; we have a full schedule tomorrow.”
The smile disappeared from her face. “I’ll be ready,” she said.
“Good, then I’ll see you bright and early,” Vincent said. “I suggest you go home and get a good night’s sleep.”
Before she could reply, he walked away and got back in Michael’s vehicle. “Did he just tell me to go home and go to bed? The sun hasn’t even set. How old is he, anyway?” she asked, then slapped her hand across her mouth. “Don’t tell him I said that.”
Michael burst into laughter. “Vincent is much younger than he acts,” he finally said. “He hasn’t had much sleep lately.”
She looked over at him. “I’ll have to take your word for it and hope he gets a good night’s sleep tonight,” she said.
He laughed again, then looked over at Vincent, who was staring at them and scowling, then looked down at her again. “You know, you might just be what we needed after all,” he said.
Vincent rolled down the window and yelled, “I’d like to go home at some point tonight if you two could wrap it up soon.”
Michael studied Vincent for a second, then a grin spread across his face; she couldn’t see what was so funny, but he turned back to her and she couldn’t ask. “If you want groceries, I’d take Mike up on his offer and get inside there before he lets everyone else in; that load isn’t going to last very long,” he said, then grinned at her and walked away.
She watched them drive away, feeling like she’d missed something but not sure what, then turned and headed to the grocery store, shaking her head at the strange place that had become her home, if only temporarily. The store turned out to be an experience all its own, and she finally stumbled home, her arms full of bags as the sun dipped behind the mountains.
Chapter Five
***Vincent***
After a quiet dinner at home alone, twelve solid hours of sleep, and a big breakfast, Vincent was ready to face the day, but he wasn’t prepared to find Charlie already in his office. She was bent over his desk sorting papers when he walked in, and the immediate rush of desire that hit him at the sight of her jean-clad backside left him slightly breathless.
“What are you doing?” he barked at her, annoyed by his reaction.
She jumped, let out a little cry, then turned to face him. “You scared me,” she said, putting her hand over her heart, drawing his eyes to her chest. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that.”
Forcing his eyes back up to her face, he said, “Well, since this is my office, I wasn’t expecting anyone else to be in here.”
Charlie looked through the window at Janice, who was watching them, a sour look on her face. “I tried to wait for you out there,” she said, looking at him again, “but it was weird.”
He looked over at the front desk. Janice quickly turned away and pretended to be busy on her computer. “Janice isn’t very happy with me right now,” he said. “What did she do?”
“You mean besides glaring at me and asking a bunch of very personal questions?” she asked, looking back out the window again. “What’s her deal?”
“You took the job she wanted,” he said.
“Well, she can have it,” Charlie said. “This is a huge mess. I don’t know who was in charge of planning before but from the look of things, they were totally incompetent. You were right to find someone else.”
Vincent knew that she was right, but didn’t appreciate having it pointed out so bluntly, and his anger flared. “Since you seem to know so much about all this, I’ll leave it to you. You can clean up the mess I made while I take the day off,” he said, then turned and stomped out.
He was already on the street when he realized what he’d just done, but he wasn’t about to go back inside, not until Charlie left. Heading for his truck, he thought about all the things he could do with a free day and began making a list in his head, but before he started his freedom, he decided to drive out to the campground.
The snow had been melting steadily for the last few days, and barring another storm, it would all be gone in three weeks when the festival began. His fear wasn’t snow so much as mud, which could make things nasty if there were hundreds of people making it their temporary home. He stopped on the way out of town to gas up his truck and grab a few snacks, made small talk with Jimmy, then hit the road, his windows down to let the warm fall air into the cab.
When he got to the campground a few minutes later, he was pleased to see that the snow had all melted and there were only a few spots that were still muddy. A crew was working on the bathrooms, new this year, with showers and laundry facilities; they were one of his biggest accomplishments since becoming mayor. Glad to see that at least something was going as planned, he parked his truck and strolled along the road that wound through the campground.
When he’d made a full circuit and was satisfied that the sites were ready for campers, he stopped by and chatted with the workmen for a few minutes, then headed back to town. Feeling bad about the way he’d acted earlier that day, he decided to stop by the paper and see how Charlie was doing, but he didn’t make it that far. As he drove past the cabins, he noticed a sheriff’s vehicle blocking the drive and behind the trees, he could see what looked like one of the tents from the festival.
He pulled up into the drive, parked, and got out. “What’s going on back there, Max?” he asked the deputy standing next to his vehicle and looking bored.
“Auditions for the festival,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m supposed to keep people out unless they have an appointment.”
“Not the greatest assignment; sorry about that,” he said. “Think I’ll just go on back and see what’s going on.”
Max grinned. “It’s not so bad. Charlie promised me she’d save me some food,” he said. “And I already got a coffee, but don’t tell Michael; he’ll give me a lecture about taking bribes.”
Vincent slapped him on the shoulder. “Your secret is safe with me.”
When he emerged from the trees, he paused, taking in the scene in front of him, then shaking his head, he started toward the tent where Charlie sat watching a group of jugglers. As he got closer, he saw that on the table in front of her, there were plates of food lined up and several glasses of what looked like beer. He waited behind her, watching her laugh and cheer for the jugglers, then when they’d finished, sat down next to her.
She looked surprised to see him but covered quickly. “I thought you were taking the day off,” she said.
“I was, until I saw this,” he said. “What exactly are you doing?”
“Getting everything done at once,” she said. “This way, I can taste the food and watch the performers at the same time: two days of work done in only a day.”
“And the tent?” he asked, his stomach growling at the smell of the food even though it had only been a few hours since he ate.
“I just wanted to see what they looked like, and a very nice man offered to put this one up for me,” she said.
“I see,” was all he said, the sound of his stomach rumbling again loud enough for her to hear.
“You should try some of this,” she said, handing him a plate.
***Charlie***
Charlie sat next to Vincent, trying not to shift nervously in her chair as her heart did strange things in her chest. She really hadn’t expected him
to show up, had been prepared to forge ahead as if she were the only one responsible and hope that she didn’t mess anything up. And now that he was here, she wished that he would have stayed away, not because she didn’t want his help, but because of the jittery way he made her feel when he was around.
Stealing a quick glance at him, she was loath to admit what that feeling was, but when he looked over at her and smiled, the flutter in her stomach made it impossible to ignore. Wondering why now and why with him, she kept her eyes firmly focused on the makeshift stage in front of them and tried not to think about the warm place inside her that Vincent had awoken.
“This was actually a pretty good idea,” Vincent said, interrupting her thoughts.
She shrugged. “About half of these people are staying here anyway,” she said. “Miranda seemed only happy to oblige us when I promised her free food.”
He stared at her for a second. “Miranda can be a bit difficult,” he said.
Charlie smiled. “Yes, I got a small glimpse of that this morning,” she said. “But when she realized who I was, she got very cooperative. I’m having breakfast with her tomorrow.”
Vincent groaned. “Do you have any idea what you’ve agreed to? Miranda is the biggest gossip in town,” he said, slapping his hand onto his forehead.
“I can handle her,” Charlie said.
He looked over at her. “You know what? I think you can,” he said, then turned back to the stage. “Who’s up next?”
She wasn’t exactly sure what, but something changed between the two of them at that moment, and the burst of happiness she felt was sudden and unexpected. Her heart fluttered, and her pulse tripled as a thrill of desire raced through her. For a second, it was difficult to breathe. Hands shaking, she grabbed the paperwork for the next round of applicants and handed it to him.
Guardian Dragons of Prospect Falls: (A Paranormal Shifter Romance) Page 27
