by Bryce Evans
Jessie pulled up in front of her home and got out. She waited at the front of her vehicle until Emerson finally opened the door and followed her. Might as well get this over with, she thought.
It wasn’t until she felt the heat that she realized she was freezing. Funny how she didn’t even feel the cold. When she passed one of the mirrors she had to stop and look at her reflection. Her face was red from the cold, and her eyes were swollen. No matter; she had no one to impress.
“Come sit next to the fire.” Jessie pulled her over to a chair and covered her up with a blanket. “Just rest here while I make us some hot chocolate.”
Emerson’s phone started ringing. Sliding it from her pocket, she turned it off without even looking who it was, then put it back. She figured it was her father wanting to know where she was. He didn’t need to know either. Nobody did.
“Here’s something to warm your belly,” Jessie said putting the mug in her hand. “It’s hot, so let it cool down a few minutes.” Emerson sat the mug down on the table beside her and stared into the flames. She was thankful that Jessie wasn’t asking her a bunch of questions. At least not yet.
Lilly and the guards all tried to pull Nash off the wall but his body was stuck, no matter how hard they pulled.
“What the hell?” River said as she watched as Lilly and the guards all try to yank him free. Sweat rolled down Nash’s face.
“River, we need the Powerful Three’s help. Nash is stuck to the wall and he can’t talk to us to tell us what happened. Please help us. It has to be a spell of some kind. Please?” Nash could hear the desperation in his cousin’s voice. Sindrid came running down the hallway, along with Nash’s Alpha.
“Stand back.” River demanded as Sky and Star put their hands on top of each other then placed it on Nash’s head. They all closed their eyes as a white light surrounded the Powerful Three, then shot out of their entwined hands into Nash.
The reaction was immediate—Nash broke free from the wall, falling forward. Sindrid and Larken caught him before he could hit the floor. He gasped for air, trying to speak, “It was a witch…she froze me, then…”
Larken held Nash in his arms as a fit of coughing interrupted his explanation.
“A witch?” Lilly asked in a rush. “Oh my God, Nash. Where is Emerson? I sent her to your office.”
“She was here.” Nash coughed. “I have to find her, Lilly. You didn’t see the look on her face. I may have lost her. And I want that damn witch found, too. I want her to tell Emerson she used magic on me. I would never have touched her.” Nash slammed his hand against the door.
“We’ll find her, Nash. Calm down.” Lilly started pacing, shaking her head. I just can’t believe this is happening.” Tears fell from his cousin’s eyes as she shook her head. “I should’ve walked down the hall with her. I would’ve known something was wrong.”
“Where was Max?” Sindrid demanded.
Lilly glanced up, confused. “I thought you had him doing something else?”
Sindrid shook his head. “No, he’s on guard duty now.”
“Emerson said nobody was outside her room. She just figured that you had him doing something else and came down alone, but I—”
Sindrid immediately pulled his phone out and walked away, talking in a low tone to someone on the other end.
Nash put his hand on Lilly’s arm. “You didn’t know, cousin, so stop with the guilt. Right now I need help in finding my mate.”
“Her clothes are still here, and her car.” Larken closed his phone. “And the guards said that the woman leaving this hallway walked out the door and left in a Mercedes. I’ll call Larsen and have the cops looking for her.”
“Emerson will have to come back to the Lodge to get her stuff before she leaves, and when she does, I’ll be here waiting for her. When I find that witch, God help me, because I may kill her.”
“Nash, please calm down. You’re not a murderer, so stop talking like that. We will make her understand,” Larken said, but he even looked shocked at what had taken place.
“I don’t know if she’ll believe it. She’s so distrusting of everyone, and I can’t blame her. But don’t witches see when magic is being used against someone? After everything we’ve been through, wouldn’t she see that and believe me?”
“I don’t know, honey. I’m sorry this is all happening to you.” Nash was reeling, and he had no place to put his anger. Lilly didn’t deserve it, but he knew one person who did. As soon as he found Emerson he was going to make her father tell her the truth.
“Son of a bitch. Why didn’t I just bite her? I knew I should’ve, but I wanted her to know that I would wait on her to be sure. The witch even said she wouldn’t have been able to do that if we were mated.” Nash sat down in the chair, holding his head in his hands. “Where is she, Lilly?”
Nash’s phone beeped; jerking it out of his pocket, he read the text. “Thank God. She’s at Jessie’s house. I’m going to get her. I’ll be back.”
“Nash!” Lilly held her hands up, preventing him from leaving. “I think you need to let her be for a while. She’s mad, and if you go after her right now, I…well, I don’t think she’ll believe you.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong, Lilly. It was the witch.” Nash couldn’t believe his cousin was telling him to let her cool off. “What if I do that and she leaves before I can tell her? I don’t care what her father says, I’ll follow her wherever she goes. I have to make her understand that I love her.”
“I know, Nash, but she needs to calm down. I think once she does she’ll realize that something looked off, and realize that the witch was using magic. Once she figures that out, she’ll come to you. But let her figure it out. Give her the control she desperately wants. I have a sneaking feeling that once she calms down she’ll start to put it together. If you go now, she’ll just think we’re trying to cover it up because you’re family. Let her see this.”
“What if you’re wrong?”
Knock, knock, knock. “Nash, are you in there?”
Nash opened the door to Jonas. “What’s wrong?”
“I need your help. I need all hands on deck for this one. We found the second location, and we need to leave now. It’s going to take a while to get to North Carolina from here. I need your help, Nash.” Jonas looked from Nash to Lilly when Nash didn’t answer.
“Nash?” Lilly put her hand on him, giving him a little squeeze and bringing him out of his thoughts of Emerson.
“Yeah, I’ll go. How much time do I have?”
“We’re loading the bus up now. We want to get there when everyone is still at work tomorrow. This is a chance to get some of the workers too and hopefully it will be easier to find the third location. If we move now we may have a chance. Plus, the snow is hindering us and I’m worried that if we don’t act now we may be delayed even longer.”
Nash nodded and glanced back at Emerson’s clothes. “I need to make a call, then I’ll be down in five minutes.”
“I was hoping Emerson would be here with you. Do you think she’ll be up to going and getting her feet wet?” Jonas asked.
“I don’t know. We had a fight and…she left.”
“Shit. We really needed her on this one. Jansen needs her help with the magic in the building. Especially if there’s a witch there.”
“I’ll try to find her, Jonas, but don’t count on it. I’ll tell you what happened on the bus.” Jonas narrowed his eyes at him, then nodded. “I’ll see you downstairs.”
Nash ran his fingers through his hair. Now what the hell was he going to do? “I need to at least tell her what’s going on. If she’s still mad, I’ll try to get her to stay.”
Nash dialed Jessie’s cell phone and waited. “Hello.”
“Jessie, this is important. I know she’s mad, but I’ve got to talk to her. I’m leaving with the Unit. They’ve found another location where they’re keeping shifters. We’re leaving in a few minutes, and…” Nash blew out a loud breath.
“I’ll tr
y Nash, but right now she’s at that calm stage. She doesn’t want to talk about it, but I’ll try to get her on the phone. Hold on.”
Nash paced around the room while he waited. He had to explain things to her before he left. She had to understand.
“Nash, she’s refusing to talk to you. What’s going on? What happened?”
“It was a witch, Jessie. A strong one. I couldn’t break her spell, but I know it was her father who set me up. I know it was. The witch had me pinned against the wall, and she was kissing the side of my face when Emerson came down to go to breakfast. It was planned just right. I couldn’t move one finger, except when the witch wanted me to stare at her as if I didn’t care that Emerson saw me with her. I would never touch another woman…” Nash growled.
His wolf was as angry as he was. This was their mate, and even when Nash had called on him to come forward the witch’s magic wouldn’t allow it. “Whoever she was, she knew exactly what she was doing. Lilly and the others tried for fifteen minutes to pry me off the wall. If it hadn’t been for the Powerful Three, I would still be there. Tell her to talk to Lilly or Sindrid. I’m telling the truth.”
“I believe you, Nash, and I’ll talk to her. I’ll try to make her understand. Just be careful.”
“Thanks Jessie.” Nash hung up his phone and shook his head. “She won’t listen, and now I’ve got to go.” Nash opened the closet door and pulled out a bag. He stopped and looked over his shoulder. “Lilly, will you tell her that I love her.”
“Oh cousin, you know I will. I’ll talk to her, too, and tell her what I saw with my own eyes. She’ll understand once I’m done explaining.”
“Look, go easy on her. She’s been through a lot, and I’m sure what she saw looked pretty bad. I would’ve gone nuts, but Emerson isn’t like that. She’s too nice, and too used to being the underdog. Even her own father treats her like she can’t take care of herself. When you’ve been beat down most of your life, it’s hard to change your ways when life throws you something like this. I don’t want her hurt anymore. I just…” Nash shook his head and walked out.
Chapter Eighteen
Jessie sat back down in the rocking chair beside Emerson and started making some type of jewelry. Emerson finally tilted her head back and pushed her foot against the floor, making the rocking chair move. This would’ve been the best day ever, sitting by the fire watching Jessie make her wonderful creations, but she couldn’t get Nash and that woman out of her mind.
“When you were young, did you ever have the talent to make up spells?” Jessie asked. She never looked up but continued to focus on the bracelet she was making.
“Yes.”
“Me too.” Jessie looked up and smiled and laughed a little. “I remember one time when I was at the orphanage, there was this group of girls that drove me crazy. I’ve always been different—maybe it was the magic—but I kept to myself. But for some reason the leader of that group loved to torment me. So one day I crawled up in the attic and hid from them. As soon as I got behind some boxes, I could feel energy pulling at me from across the room. I didn’t want to get up for fear that the girls would hear me up there, but the feeling got so bad that I tiptoed across the floor. Once I got there, I felt so strange, but that urge was damn near impossible to resist. I opened a box and sifted through a bunch of books. Some were so old they were falling apart.
“I knew that whatever was in that box would change my life forever, so I continued to dig deeper until I got to the bottom. There was a wooden box that was shaped like a book. There were beautiful carvings on it, but the urge to open it was clawing at me by then. So I opened it.” Emerson stopped rocking and leaned forward, listening. “Inside the wooden box was another book. I could tell that it was old because the cover was hide-bound, like from an animal. I went over and sat down beside the window so I could see it better.”
“Was it a book of spells?” Emerson asked curiously.
“Parts of the book contained spells, but it was more of a history lesson about witches and how they evolved. Most of the book was about a witch and her family. I think in today’s times it would have been her diary. The witch’s name was Iris Walker, and she’d started writing in this book in the early nineteen-hundreds. She could make up spells too, but she spoke of her sister, who was called Rose, and how Rose would put love spells on men. It didn’t matter if she really wanted these men, she wanted the women in her village to think that she was wanted.
“But one day, she picked a shifter to do this to. Apparently, this shifter had promised his heart and soul to another. They hadn’t mated yet, but they loved each other. Everyone in the village knew that as soon as Marisa, his beloved, was of age, they would mate and live happily ever after. Now Marisa was considered the prettiest girl in the village, and that made Rose mad, so she used her magic and put a spell on the young shifter boy. Then she made sure that Marisa and her friends would see them together.
“When that happened, Marisa ran away and unfortunately killed herself. This sent the young shifter boy into a depression, and he killed himself, too. But the shifter had told his family what happened, and this spread through the village, making a lot of people mad. The village people hunted Rose down and hung her in the town square where her family watched as she died.”
Emerson squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head. “No…no. Jessie, he looked at me with pity in his eyes when I found them together.”
“Did you stay and ask him why he lied to you, or ask the woman who she was?”
“No.” Emerson’s voice croaked. “Why would I want to know who the woman was?”
“Because if you had stayed and done that then you would’ve seen that Nash was paralyzed, stuck to the wall from the witch’s spell. He was still there when Lilly found him, and he couldn’t move until the Powerful Three used their magic. Someone doesn’t want you two together, Emerson.
“Nash Wilder is an honorable man, and if he didn’t want you, he would’ve just told you that. You’re his mate and he never touched that woman; if you’ll remember, she did all the touching.” Jessie stopped making her jewelry and glanced up at Emerson. “A witch who can do that can make their head move and any part of their body they want to. It’s hard magic to control, but it can be done. Just like Rose, who used her magic for her own vanity, someone used this witch’s magic to keep you two apart. And it looks like they won.”
Emerson leaned forward and stared at Jessie, then jumped up from the chair. “My father. Oh no, please tell me he wouldn’t go this far. God, what have I done? Nash must hate me!”
Jessie stood up and put her hands on Emerson’s shoulders. “Nothing happened that can’t be forgiven. Nash had to leave and go with the Unit. They found another facility, and they had to leave now so they would get there in the morning when the staff would be there.”
“What?” Emerson felt the panic slide through her. Something was at the edge of her brain, something she couldn’t quite remember.
“What is it?” Jessie asked, worried now.
“I don’t…I don’t know what it is, Jessie. Something I want to remember but can’t. What if it’s something that could help them?”
“Then sit down and calm yourself and let it come to you. If you stress out like this and panic it won’t come, so calm. Here.” Jessie helped her sit back down by the fire. “It may be nothing at all.”
“I can’t believe my father would do this to me. Keep me from my mate. How does a father do this to their own flesh and blood?” Emerson closed her eyes and blew out a deep, ragged breath. “All this is because of my mother and what she did; she found her mate, and he was a shifter. I know the way she handled it was wrong, but using that against me…” Pointing at her chest, Emerson shook her head. “He says he loves me and only wants to protect me, but he treats me like a child. To be honest it’s worse, than being treated like a child. He treats me like my mother. As if I was the one who betrayed him.”
“And you let him. Take up for yourself, Emerson. Stop t
hinking the worst of everyone. Give them a fair shake, and if they disappoint you then call them on it, but stop running from everything. I can feel your magic, it’s very strong. That’s not from your dad—” Jessie touched her hand to her heart. “That comes from you. Bring the blame to the person it needs to go on, and forgive your mate. He would never betray you. Once a shifter finds their mate it’s only you they want to be with, forever.”
“I need to find Nash. I’m so stupid. You’re right, he wasn’t touching her. I was so blinded by what I thought I saw. I just saw how beautiful she was and couldn’t believe he would want me when he could have someone like her.”
Jessie pulled her over to a mirror and pointed at it. “See that woman right there? Look, really look at yourself, Emerson. You’re beautiful in every way that counts. You’re beautiful inside and out. Everyone sees that but you. Maybe you need to look closer in the mirror and find yourself. Stop looking for your father to tell you things you want to hear. It’s his problem if he doesn’t see what a great woman you are.”
Emerson turned around and hugged Jessie. “Thank you for being my friend.”
“We are friends,” Jessie said, smiling.
“Can you drive me back to the lodge?”
“Of course. But Nash isn’t there. Remember, he had to go help the Unit.”
“Shit.” Something was nudging at her memory, but she the more she concentrated on it nothing came. “I still need to go back to the Lodge. I need to confront my father. He went too far this time.”
“Let’s go.”
“I have to fly out in a few minutes to check on one of my businesses. I have an employee I need to get rid of.” Franklin said putting his phone away.
“What did he do?” Kingston asked making small talk. His thoughts were on his daughter. She was in so much pain.
“It’s what he didn’t do and I don’t like repeating myself. He’s brought me too much attention with his antics and it’s time to get rid of the collateral damage.” Kingston turned around and stared at him. “Why are you not happy? This was the only way and you know it. You didn’t want an episode like the one with your wife. She disgraced you by bedding that animal. I wasn’t going to let this happen to you again Kingston. I owe you so much.”
