by Amy Boyles
My heart rate fluttered in my throat. He was here!
I raced to the head of the line and threw myself in front of the bouncer. I could feel the glares of about fifty people boring into my back.
“Roman Bane, is he inside?”
The bouncer’s dark eyes gave me long, bored look. “Lady, we don’t talk about who’s inside. You want access, you get at the back of the line.”
I grabbed his coat sleeve. “Please. He’s in danger. Someone’s going to attack him.”
“Sure, lady. This guy jilt you?”
I opened my mouth.
“Don’t answer. Back of the line,” he directed.
I clenched my fists and flared my nostrils. “No. I will not get to the back of the line. Listen to me. Roman is my husband. He’s in danger. Someone inside is going to attack him. They might kill him.”
“Sure,” the guy said. “Back. Of. The. Line.”
Forget this. He was never going to believe me. I took a step back, away from the line and waited.
The doors opened and a couple exited. I didn’t know if this would work, but it was the best shot I had. I ran toward the door and slipped past the bouncers.
“Hey,” one of them yelled behind me.
I darted inside and was immediately assaulted by heart-thumping music. Every pulse hammered my body. The whole place glowed with red light, which didn’t make it all that easy to tell who people were, but I couldn’t miss Roman.
His bulk alone betrayed him. My husband stood by the bar, eyes scouring the crowd.
I darted across the dance floor, barely evading the bouncers, who I could still hear yelling behind me.
I scurried between dancing couples until I finally reached the bar. “Roman!”
He straightened. The look of concern on his face nearly broke my heart. My chest tightened.
“Darlin’, what’s wrong?”
The bouncer grabbed the neck of my shirt. “I got you. Who do you think you are, running past me?”
“Hands off, Remy. She’s with me.”
Remy’s eyes widened to saucers. He brushed his hands on his jacket. “Why didn’t you say so, lady?”
“I did,” I snapped. “About a thousand times.”
Remy stalked away.
I grabbed Roman’s arm. “This place. It’s a trap. Flynn isn’t here. It’s Jeremy. He’s behind everything.”
Roman nodded and grabbed me. “Come on. Let’s go.”
“Not so fast, Bane.”
The voice came from behind. My heart seized. I was too late. The ambush was here. My lips twitched. But so was I. It wouldn’t just be Roman against two of Jeremy’s guys.
We turned around.
I swallowed a knot in my throat.
There weren’t two men in front of us. There were five. Jeremy had sent an army after Roman. They pounded their fists in their hands, rolled their shoulders and cocked their heads to crack their necks.
Looked like there was about to be a party up in Hellfire.
Roman smirked. “Is this all you’ve got?”
The guy in front traced his fingers over his pencil mustache. “Looks like it’s enough to beat the two of you.”
“You sure about that?” Roman cocked his head toward the bartender. The man serving drinks flipped a switch. The house blinked to life, flooding the room with bright light.
The dancers scattered. An army of what looked like bouncers encroached on us. My heart skipped a beat. Roman knew. He’d realized it could be a trap, so he’d told the staff to be ready.
They were.
Fear flared in Pencil Mustache’s eyes. He lowered his head and glared at Roman. “Guys. Get ’em.”
Everything happened at once.
Pencil Mustache shot forward. Roman punched his chest, sending the guy flying backward. Hellfire’s bouncers descended in a swooping, birdlike manner. In less than ten seconds the men were surrounded and put out of commission.
My heart pulsed in my throat. I glanced up at Roman. I’m pretty sure I had a startled, deer-in-headlights look on my face.
Roman kissed my forehead. “Thanks for the heads-up.”
I smirked. “It doesn’t look like you needed it. Look, I’ve got to get back to Silver Springs.”
“Why the hurry?” he said.
I cringed. “Because I’ve split myself in half. I need to see how the other part of me is doing.” I kissed his cheek.
“Take this,” he said.
I took what he’d handed me. “I’ll see you back at the house.”
With that, I snapped my fingers and disappeared.
TWENTY-FIVE
I reached the O’Reilly house a few minutes after Reid and Jeremy arrived. I stalked to the back, where I’d seen them enter. The place was eerily quiet as I pulled myself up on the stair-less back deck.
I crept inside, wishing that I knew a spell to muffle my steps. I walked slowly. When a board started to creak, I shifted my weight and placed it on another.
“So now we’re all here,” Jeremy said.
Low light came from the kitchen doorway. I peeked around the lip and saw Jeremy, Reid, Polly Parrot and Flynn, who was tied to a chair. He had a red knot on his head. It looked to be turning purple as he sat.
Jeremy walked around the room like big man on campus. “Reid, my dear. I need you to work your magic and figure out how to get Polly Parrot to reveal his secrets.”
Reid stared at Polly blankly.
“We’ve come so far,” he said. “So far. You stealing the bird for Lucinda and then buying the battery. I still can’t believe my battery bomb didn’t work. Flynn, I blame you for that.”
“You’ll never get away with this,” Flynn spat. “Never.”
Jeremy laughed. “What a waste.” He stroked Polly’s head. “You couldn’t hide the bird from me. Thought you could.”
“You set me up,” Flynn said. “Sent that Bane after me.”
“The spell you had on the house kept me out, but me and the boys found you fair and square.”
“Lucinda was wrong about you. You’re evil.”
Jeremy laughed. “I’m the one who gave that two-bit thief the idea about the parrot in the first place. Heard about it from my grandfather. Lucinda knew about the Apels. Gave me the idea to reel in Reid. But Lucinda wanted to use the power for her stupid spirit portal stuff. Insisted on it to the point she was going to betray me, tell the police what I was planning. I had no choice but to get rid of her. I thought I’d get rid of you, too, once the police discovered you were the one who purchased the battery that killed her.” Jeremy ran his fingers through his coiffed hair. “But no, you outwitted Bane, telling him lies about your wife.”
“I was protecting her,” Flynn said.
Jeremy laughed. “You were screwing Lucinda!”
“I didn’t want my wife involved in any of this.”
While they were arguing, I took a look at Reid. Maybe, just maybe I could blast Jeremy with magic strong enough to send him sprawling across the floor. That would give me time to grab Reid and Polly Parrot.
Rethink that.
Take out Jeremy. Free Flynn. He might have enough strength to fight with me. If Jeremy had another battery stowed around here, he could pull on its power, making him stronger.
I couldn’t think about that. Right now, I had to focus on what needed to happen. Jeremy had to go.
I stepped out from around the lip of the door, took aim and fired at Jeremy.
He staggered forward a step, stopped and turned around. His face was twisted into a dark scowl that froze the blood in my veins.
“Well, well, well, looks like big sister has come to save the day.”
“Let Reid go,” I shouted, hand raised.
“Why should I when she’s been so helpful? So accommodating? After all, if it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have Polly Parrot and I wouldn’t be close to knowing how to unlock his secrets.”
I smirked. “You’re not close. You’re nowhere near it.”
&
nbsp; “Is that right?” He jerked his head toward Reid. “Go on. Make him talk.”
Reid placed both hands on Polly’s side. The bird opened his mouth. His throat became a loudspeaker as Milly’s voice boomed from his body.
“To become two, you must first see yourself as two.”
“No,” I screamed.
“So many governments would love to have their hands on this technology. I’ll be a very rich man. I just have to get rid of the three of you first.”
Jeremy raised a hand. Raw magic flared from his palm and slammed into me. The blast hit my chest like a punch to the gut. Air flew from my lungs. My head slammed against the wall. Stars lit my eyes.
A groan wheezed from my lungs. I sucked in, but no air came. I blinked my eyes open to see Jeremy. He extended a hand and gripped my throat.
My eyes popped wide.
“Looks like I’ll be finishing you the old-fashioned way,” he said. “Death by asphyxiation.”
I couldn’t breathe. Nothing could come in and nothing could escape. His grip tightened. He would crush my windpipe if given enough time. I pressed my finger to his side and sent a pulse of magic into him.
He didn’t even flinch.
The pressure on my throat increased. I’d failed. I didn’t save Reid. I couldn’t even save myself.
“Let me go,” came a voice from the doorway.
Jeremy froze. He glanced over. His hand loosened enough where I could look.
The other me stood in the doorway. I’m not going to lie, it was surreal as heck to see myself in the room, a .45 in my hand.
“Put her down,” the other me said.
Jeremy looked from the me he was holding to the me in the doorway. He sneered. “So I guess you’ve already figured it out. You know the secret. Don’t worry, I’ll know it soon enough.”
He raised a hand.
The other me fired and dodged right as his magic crashed into the wall, sending plaster crumbling to the ground.
Jeremy staggered back. He glanced down at his chest. A red splotch grew over his T-shirt. He dropped to his knees and then tipped face-first to the floor.
The other me walked up and extended a hand. “You okay?”
I coughed and sank to my rump. I nodded and pointed to Reid. The other Dylan walked over to our sister and yanked the bracelet from her wrist. Beads clattered to the floor, scattering across the room.
“What?” Reid said, blinking as if coming to life for the first time. “What’s going on? Oh my holy jeez, why are there two of you?”
The other me extended a hand and helped me to my feet. “Because my dear, it was the only way to save your life.”
TWENTY-SIX
“I’m giving up men forever.”
Reid, Sera and I sat at Grandma’s. It was a couple of days later, and we were enjoying a lunch of chicken salad, lemon bars and sweet tea.
I poured myself a fresh glass. “I think that’s a great idea.”
Reid scowled. “How can I be such a lousy judge of character?”
Sera curled a hand around Reid’s arm. “He fooled you, Sis. Plain and simple. He wanted one thing and fed into your wants to get it. It could’ve happened to anyone.”
Reid folded her arms like a pouting toddler. “Yeah. Whatever. I’m just glad it’s over and that I didn’t reveal any of Polly Parrot’s secrets.”
I smiled at her. “I think you should be impressed with yourself. You can command insects and unlock Polly. There’s no telling what kinds of spells Milly had on that thing.”
“How’d you know how to do it, anyway?” Sera said.
Reid flipped her burgundy hair off her shoulder. “No clue. I just did it. No idea how.”
Sera and I exchanged a look. I finished my bite of food. “Maybe you need more training. Specialized training. If you can unlock a parrot with protection spells on it, what else can you do?”
Reid shrugged, obviously bored. “I don’t know and I don’t care. It doesn’t concern me. I’m sorry Jeremy’s dead, but his plan to sell the spell to bad witches makes me want to vomit up half a lung.”
Sera nudged me. “And how’re you doing?”
I forked some food. “Fine. Good. It’s weird. I didn’t know what my other self was doing when she was away, but once we rejoined, I had all her memories.”
“Weird,” Reid said. “And what about the shooting?”
I glanced at my food. It was still difficult to come to grips with the fact that I’d shot someone. Jeremy. And had shot him so well I’d hit his heart on the first try. I didn’t like to talk about it, much less think about it.
“I’ll be okay,” I said. I turned to Sera. “And what about you? Wedding still on?”
My sister smiled mysteriously. “It’s on and the planning is going great. I’ve come to terms with what my new life will bring.”
“So what about the store?” I said.
Sera grinned from ear to ear. “I’m going to hire a few people and train them. Brock said we can split our time between here and Monkey Town.”
I clapped. “That’s great. You can still have your business and work sometimes.”
She nodded. “It’s the best of both worlds. I couldn’t be happier.”
I squeezed her arm. “See? All you had to do is ask. He was more than happy to bend to whatever you needed.”
She sighed. “I know. I guess I just got overwhelmed with the whole thing. I thought I needed to be someone else instead of myself.”
“I love yourself,” I said.
Reid laughed. “I love yourself, too. You’ve got a great self.”
Sera smiled shyly. “I love the two of y’all, too. Now, just a few months until the wedding.”
“A Christmas wedding,” I said.
“A Witchmas wedding,” Reid corrected.
We laughed so hard my side hurt. We finished lunch. I went home while Reid went to work at the store.
I found Milly and Grandma leaving my house.
“Dylan,” Grandma said, flinging her arms around me. “Great work finding Polly Parrot.”
“Thanks,” I said.
Milly caned up to me. “You did good, toots. He’s safe and sound back at the house.”
I clicked my tongue. “Thing about that is, Reid got Polly to open up, start spewing what sounded like a recording of you explaining the spell.”
Grandma and Milly exchanged glances.
Grandma rubbed her chin. “Looks like we’ve got to keep an eye on that girl. She’s got more raw power than we initially suspected.”
Milly nodded. “Yep. She’s one to watch. Good work, Dylan. And you thought we were pulling your leg.” Her eyes lit up mysteriously. “You gotta watch us old witches; we have plenty of secrets up our sleeves.”
I smiled. “So it seems.”
They left and I entered to find Roman in his office. The computer was fired up, and he was typing.
I slid over to him and hefted one half of my tush onto the chair’s arm. “Whatcha doing, handsome?”
He eased back and wrapped a hand around my hip. “Writing up our report of what happened. It helps to remember facts. In case we ever need to return to the case.”
“Be sure to include that Flynn lied to us about his wife in order to protect her.”
“Already done.” He rubbed his eyes. “Funny thing that he lied about her identity thinking we wouldn’t check into it.”
“Made her sound crazy,” I said.
“And Vera was so convinced Flynn had killed Lucinda that she admitted to the crime. Now we know it was Jeremy.”
“And he’s gone. Good riddance.”
Roman chuckled. “Reid needs to stay away from men.”
“I agree.” I pressed the top of my head to his. “I’ll have to start dinner in a few hours. What would you like?”
“Oh? Sera isn’t dropping off our box?”
“No, she says I need to wean myself— Hey,” I lightly punched his shoulder. “How do you know about that?”
He smirke
d. “Darlin’, it didn’t take a genius to figure that you were paying your sister to cook our meals.”
“I’m a terrible cook,” I groaned.
“How about I help you make something?” He tipped his face up. Smudgy lashes framed his green eyes, and a dusting of beard lined his jaw. “Dylan, you don’t have to serve me. I can cook, too, you know. Lived by myself for a long time.”
A wave of relief washed over me. “That would be amazing! Would you do that?”
“Absolutely. No one opens a jar of marinara better than me.”
I deflated. “I can do that.”
He winked. “Kidding. How about broiled fish and chips?”
“Sounds horrible for my waistline and perfect for my stomach.”
“It’s a date then.”
I dipped my head and kissed him. Roman’s full lips took me gently. When we parted, I pressed my forehead to his. “What would I do without you?”
“Hopefully you’ll never find out.”
My phone rang. “Maybe it’s a new client!”
I darted to my purse and thumbed it on. “Hello?”
“Dylan, it’s me, Reid.”
The level of panic in her voice made my heart speed up. “Is everything okay?”
“No. It’s not okay.”
I walked back to the office and mouthed to Roman, It’s Reid. “What’s wrong?”
“Ever since I got to the store, your dresses have been acting funny.”
“What do you mean, funny?”
“They’re reaching out to me.”
I shot Roman a worried look. He rose. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, they’re acting like I’m a magnet. They keep trying to grab me. They’re clinging to me like a guy who won’t take no for an answer.”
“I’ll be right there.” I hung up and grabbed my purse.
“What is it?” Roman said.
“Something weird’s going on with Reid. She’s become a clothes magnet. I’m afraid it has to do with how she could make Polly Parrot spill his secrets.” I clutched Roman’s arm. “I’m worried about her. I’m afraid something bad is going to happen.”
Roman’s jaw twitched. He snatched his keys from the desk. “Let me just grab my wallet and we’ll figure this thing out. You ready?”
