Her Lucky Love

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  She cursed her weakness for staying with Greg, even if it had been magic compelling her to do so, making her stay with him and making her forget she wanted to leave.

  When Aiden and Brayden had come back into the house, she’d seen the pact between them as a visible physical bond. At least that trial had been overcome, and they seemed to be working on it. Her kids would be back at the house today when she got home, and she’d be able to see fully how they reacted to Brayden being in their lives. At least she’d look at Aiden. Lacy and Cam were settled with him no matter what—something that thrilled and scared her at the same time. Aiden was the reluctant one, or at least had been. If he could get through it and want Brayden in their lives, then maybe this could work. They’d already gotten a taste of it over the past days, and she wanted to see if they would be okay with them moving in together.

  Allison smiled. Oh, yes, she wanted this to happen. She trusted Brayden. Her new trust was a far cry from her fear before all of this started. She’d endured more than her fair share of heartache and pain, and now she was ready to give in and love…be loved.

  She knew he wanted to marry her—something she’d never in her life thought she’d do again. And when he asked, she’d say yes.

  A smile broke out over her face, and she let a giggle escape.

  Everything had moved so fast, yet in the scheme of things, she’d waited forever for him, as he had for her.

  God, she knew she looked like a freaking Barbie because she couldn’t quit smiling, but she didn’t care. All she wanted to do was go home and be with her family—Brayden included. But, not yet, since she had to work. Though Brayden had told her she was welcome to quit her job if she wanted to, she’d refused. She didn’t want to be a kept woman.

  She snorted.

  Wow, now she sounded like an eighties romance heroine.

  She wanted to pay her way, even if the contribution wasn’t much.

  She walked to the last of her tables and cleaned up their trash and the meager dollar tip. At least it was something. Though sometimes she hated the lulls at the diner because it meant no money, today she needed it because she wanted to just think.

  Just breathe.

  The cook had run to the store for something—probably cigarettes—so she was alone at the diner. Her kids were safe, with Cooper eyes on them at all times, and that’s what mattered.

  Allison started loading the dishwasher, put the food away, got the trash ready to take out and was just about to start a fresh pot of coffee for the next rush when the skin on her arms tingled, and she froze.

  Two people stood in the doorway, a man and a woman who looked to be in their late fifties….and they looked pissed.

  “Can I help you?” Allison asked, her voice surprisingly steady.

  The man spoke first, his voice low, deep, and creepy as hell. “I’m Gerald Malone, you bitch.”

  Allison’s eyes widened, but she wasn’t surprised at the admission. She’d known who they were from the moment she’d seen Gerald. With his narrow nose and pointy chin, he looked too much like Greg and David to be anyone else.

  “Gerald, do be quiet,” the woman scolded lightly. “I’m Marline Malone. You killed both of our sons. You let our Greg die in a car accident and killed David with your own hand. Do you really think you can prance around in this fucking town filled with magic that has nothing to do with you?”

  Allison raised her chin and cursed herself for leaving her cell phone in the break room. “I don’t think what I do has anything to do with you.”

  They stepped farther into the diner as they laughed. Gerald slid the lock into place and turned the sign to closed.

  “Oh, dear, it has everything to do with us,” Marline explained. “We didn’t want Greg to marry you, and yet he went against our wishes. Though I hear he tried to beat that dirtiness out of you, so that at least makes up for it.”

  Bile rose in Allison’s throat, but she didn’t move. She couldn’t show any weakness, though really, she had no idea what she was going to do. She could only pray she could stall them long enough before they implemented their plan—whatever that might be. If enough time passed, hopefully the lunch rush would begin and her cook, Jason, would come back.

  If only.

  Marline walked closer, her beady black eyes looking more mythical than human. “You’re nothing. You’re just a human, and you will not raise those children. They’re mine.”

  “No, they’re mine. You may be a blood relation, but you cut off all ties before. They are my babies. You can’t have them—the law won’t let you.”

  “You think the law will stop us?” Gerald asked as he pulled out a long knife from his back pocket.

  Oh, God.

  “I see we have your attention,” Marline said. “Once you’re dead, we’ll have your babies as their grandparents. There isn’t anything you can do about it.”

  She swallowed hard, looking for a way out of this. “They’ll know it was you.” Brayden would know, and he’d take care of her babies.

  “We’ll make it look like a botched robbery.” Gerald shrugged then licked his lips. “Though that doesn’t mean we won’t stop and play with you a bit. That’s my favorite part after a kill. We even got past those little cops that sheriff of Holiday put on us. Like they could stop us.”

  Marline rolled her eyes. “That man and his playthings. Okay, fine, Gerald. You can cut her up some, but not too deep until the final kill. Make her suffer.”

  Gerald nodded then walked toward her.

  Allison bolted toward the kitchen and the back door, but suddenly she froze. Her arms snapped against her sides, her throat closing as she fought for breath. Her back straightened, her legs coming together forcefully. It was as if someone had held her down, forcing her to not move.

  Magic.

  He pulled her body with an invisible rope to the kitchen and she held back a whimper.

  “We’re fucking gnomes,” Marline spat. “We can make you do what we want. I can watch my husband rape you, and you’ll want it. Do you really think we’ll just let you run away?”

  Allison’s body forcibly turned toward her captors, and tears slid down her cheeks.

  “We could force you to give us your kids, but then we’d have to make sure we kept the magic going continually, and that’s a pain in the ass. I’d rather just have my husband kill you. After he has his fun.”

  Revulsion slid through her as Gerald slowly cut into her arm. Sharp pain sliced through her, even though she couldn’t move. She was frozen, but she wasn’t numb. Though she couldn’t move no matter how much she tried, she felt every slice and every drop of blood flowing. Fear clawed at her, her body trying to shake out of nerves, but couldn’t because they held her down. She smelled the stale stench of his breath as he leaned close, enjoying his work.

  Allison tried to move, but it was no use.

  They’d kill her and take her babies.

  She couldn’t give up…but what could she do?

  She closed her eyes as he pressed the blade harder. Brayden’s face filled her vision.

  Brayden.

  ****

  The coin around Brayden’s neck heated, scalding his skin, and he cursed as he slid out from under the car he’d been working on. He pulled the leather cord from his neck and looked down at the coin.

  It burned red hot, something it’d never done before.

  What the hell?

  The ridges on the edge seem to rise even higher, as if trying to tell him something. He’d always known the heat meant something was coming, but this was different. He could feel the indentions of the symbols and words on the coin rise up and heat. This was something important. But what.

  The coin had only heated when luck was needed, when he was stressed or when he was needed, not when he was just hanging around working. Did that mean he should be concentrating on something else? Something he might need help in controlling?

  Something was wrong… he felt as though someone might be in trouble. He couldn�
��t explain it, but he had a bad feeling. He’d always had a feeling when something was about to be good for him, but this was new. Wrong. He knew the kids were safe since one of his brothers would have called if that weren’t the case.

  That left only Allison.

  Fuck.

  He wiped as much of the grease off his hands as possible and ran to his truck, past his employees with their astonished expressions, knowing they had to think he was crazy as hell. Maybe he was. But his coin was still hot, though not as red-hot as before, so he must be on the right track.

  Maybe.

  After all, he was following his gut and a coin a leprechaun had given him as a kid. What could go wrong?

  He drove like a bat out of hell the seven minutes it took to get to the diner and cursed as he noticed the closed sign. It was the middle of the day, and he knew the lunch rush would happen at any moment. Allison wouldn’t have changed the sign herself.

  Brayden jumped out of the truck, leaving it running and the door open and sprinted to the door. Brayden pulled, only to find it locked, and peered through the glass. He didn’t see anything, but the over-turned stool made his blood freeze.

  He couldn’t see Allison, but he knew she was in there. How, he didn’t know. Stealing himself, he took a step back, kicked as hard as he could, sending glass across the room and into his skin, then ran through the glass shards. He barely felt the pain as he ran to the kitchen, not knowing what he’d find.

  What he found was unimaginable.

  She lay on the kitchen floor, a pool of blood around her, her body pale, her eyes wide. Shallow cuts covered her arms and side from what he could see through her uniform. She was on her back, her hair in wild disarray around her.

  “Brayden,” she mouthed.

  He ran to her, kneeling in her blood and cursing the wounds that marred her body.

  “Ally.”

  Jesus. What had this person done to her? Oh, he thought he knew who it could be, but he didn’t know for sure. She had to be in a tremendous amount of pain, but he didn’t know what to do. Did he move her? Did he cover her? He kissed her brow, lightly running his hand though her hair, afraid to touch anything else. Fuck, why couldn’t it have been him? He’d have done anything to be the one in pain.

  “You’re an idiot, you know,” a woman’s voice said from behind him. “You really should check your surroundings before you barge into a room with a cut-up bitch on the floor.”

  Brayden’s coin heated, and he ducked instinctively as a knife swept over him.

  “Fuck,” the man yelled when he missed.

  Brayden gripped his coin and rolled, pulling a moaning Allison with him. Every time the man swiped, he missed, and Brayden thanked his coin for that.

  “Why are you here?” Brayden asked, barely able to think beyond Allison and the rage filling him.

  “We want the children. Just give them to us, and we won’t hurt you,” the woman said as she stared at him, but Brayden could see the fear in her eyes.

  Bray gripped the coin around his neck. “You recognize this, don’t you?”

  The man backed away, but snorted. “A lucky trinket. It means nothing since you aren’t one of the magic folk yourself.”

  “But, I still have the magic running in my veins. I’m still stronger than those you prey on, and I won’t let you hurt my family.”

  “Your family?” the woman asked. “They’re my blood. Their mother’s a whore for fucking you with no thought.”

  “Watch your mouth,” Brayden said as he felt Allison move beside him. Her movement gave him hope.

  “You will not have those kids!” the woman screamed and came at him, her hands raised, magic like a stream of inky black mixed with the most plum of violets pouring out of her.

  Intuitively, Brayden held up his arms, protecting Allison and himself. The coin around his neck warmed, and a blast of gold light spread out, encircling them in a bubble of protection. The woman screamed again, this time in terror and pain, as her power ricocheted back and hit her, her body catching on fire in a burst of bright, glittering gold.

  “Brayden?” Allison asked, her voice weak. “What’s happening?”

  “I don’t know, baby.”

  The woman continued screaming, frantically trying to quell the flames, but it was no use. The flames engulfed her, leaving only a trail of gold dust in their wake. The man cried out in pain and scooped up her dust, his body catching on fire just like his wife’s had.

  Brayden twisted, covering Allison with his body, not sure if the fire would spread and take them, too.

  But, soon the sounds of a mass stampede echoed in the kitchen as his brothers entered, their faces pale and eyes wide.

  “What the fuck?” Tyler asked as he rushed in, his gun in his hand.

  Brayden lifted away from Allison. “Jesus, baby, we need to get you to the doctor.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “No, no, you’re not.” He leaned down and kissed her softly, aware she had to hurt all over.

  “Don’t touch that, Justin,” Tyler said as the leaned over the gold dust that had once been gnomes. “The Malones used fucking magic to get around the cops I had on their house. Fuck, I’m sorry, man.”

  As they watched, the dust faded away to nothing, leaving only a very confused group of people and a hurt Allison in its wake.

  “What the hell just happened?” Matt asked.

  “I don’t know,” Brayden said, “but right now we need to get Ally to the hospital.” Even as he said it, his coin heated, and he knew what to do.

  He took it off his neck and carefully lifted her head and put the cord around her neck. Her eyes widened as a gold dusting covered her body like a slow wave cascading along her. The skin around her cuts stitched themselves together then faded away. The gold dust seeped into her skin and she lay there as his Allison—fresh and whole.

  “What did you do?” she asked. “That was yours!”

  “Now it’s yours.”

  “But…I don’t understand anything that just happened.”

  “I don’t either, but we’ll talk about it later. I just need to get you home.”

  Home. Their home.

  “But, Bray, this was yours.” She fingered the coin at her neck, but he watched only her even as he heard his brothers surveying the diner dealing with the practical things like the broken door and curious people.

  “You’re my luck, Ally-mine.”

  He leaned down and kissed her, knowing his luck had nothing to do with the coin but everything to do with the woman in his arms.

  Chapter 11

  “For honor and country!” Cameron yelled as he jumped on Brayden’s back, bringing him to the floor.

  Brayden rolled, making sure he landed on the bottom so he didn’t hurt Cameron. “You’ll never get me!” he yelled back then grunted as Lacy dove into his side.

  “I’ll protect you, Daddy,” she squealed, and Brayden choked, letting Cameron pummel his fists into his side.

  Daddy.

  That was the second time she’d called him that, and each time a little part of him fell that much more in love with her. Cam and Aiden hadn’t called him dad yet, but he was okay with that. It’d been only two days since the Malones had come to town and threatened his family. Everyone was still shaken about what they’d seen and the power the coin held. But, Allison still wore it around her neck to her chagrin and his insistence.

  They were making themselves a family…though he hadn’t even proposed to Ally yet. Something he’d have to fix soon.

  He looked over Cam’s and Lacy’s heads at Allison. She smiled at him, tears in her eyes and her arm around Aiden’s shoulder.

  Aid gave him a thumbs-up then ran to help Justin man the grill. Brayden rolled around with the other two for a few more minutes before getting to his knees, his hands up.

  “Okay, you win.”

  “Yes!” Cam pumped his fist then high-fived Lacy.

  Lacy wrapped her arms around Brayden’s neck and kissed his c
heek before whispering in his ear, “I was working on both sides, but I love you more.”

  Touched beyond all measure, he tugged Lacy close to him and inhaled that sweet, little-girl scent that made him want to protect her from all the bad things in life…as well as any boys that might dare come near her in the future.

  Apparently that’s what being a father felt like.

  Oh, he liked it.

  A lot.

  Aiden came running back in, and Allison pulled him close. Brayden stayed on his knees, one arm wrapped around Cam’s shoulders, the other holding Lacy to him. He knew it was past time… no, the perfect time to do this.

  “Allison?”

  The use of her full name had her staring at him as though he were crazy. “Yes?”

  “I know I should probably wait until we’re alone…but this is about more than just the two of us. So I’m asking all of you.

  Her eyes filled with tears as he noticed the rest of his family coming around them, smiles on their faces.

  “Allison, Aiden, Cameron, and Lacy, will you marry me and make me the happiest—and luckiest—man I could be? Please say yes.”

  “Yes!” Lacy answered and kissed his cheek again.

  He laughed, and his family joined him. Cameron hugged his other side, and Aiden tugged his mother toward Brayden.

  “Ally?” he asked, a little bit of fear creeping in because she wasn’t saying anything.

  “Oh, yes, Brayden. Yes, yes, yes.” She fell to her knees, Aiden coming with her, and she hugged him. The five of them wrapped their arms around each other, tears running down all their faces. Eventually, the rest of the Coopers joined them on the floor, and they laughed and congratulated them.

  “It’s about freaking time,” Justin teased.

  He looked up as Allison brushed the coin around her neck, a smile on her face. “I love you,” she whispered. “This coin? It’s ours. Not yours. Not mine. Ours.”

  “I’m the luckiest guy on earth, and I’d take all the time in the world to keep my luck and our life.”