Spellcasting with a Chance of Spirits: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Romance Novel (Grimm Cove Book 3)

by Mandy M. Roth

  “Marcy, how do you know Jack?” he demanded, tightening his hold on her waist.

  She pushed at his arm. “I’m going to pop.”

  “Sorry,” he said, loosening his hold. “How do you know Jack?”

  “He’s been appearing to me for months,” she said. “The last time I saw him was in New York, at Dana’s place, right before we moved here. He was in the bathroom with me while I was taking a bath. He’d just gotten back from giving a friend a message. I’m pretty sure he had blood on his Italian loafers, but he didn’t seem to want to discuss where he’d been.”

  Bram thought of the time frame in his head and remembered being told of another Ripper murder in New York at the time.

  His mate had been taking a bath with Jack the Ripper?

  For a second, he thought he might be sick.

  Heat flared through him at the notion she’d been vulnerable and exposed to a serial killer. That he’d had access to her repeatedly from the sounds of it.

  “Bram, you’re acting very odd. You’re not friends with Jack?” she asked.

  “Hell no!”

  She jolted in his arms and he regretted the force of his answer.

  He bent, kissing the side of her head and then her shoulder. “I’m sorry. This is a worrisome development.”

  She sighed and pointed to a photograph of Seward, Holmwood, Morris, Harker, and himself. He still couldn’t remember what had possessed them to pose for one, but they had. “You all look like you were friends. I’m sorry, I just assumed you and Jack were.”

  Confused, Bram held her tighter again. “Marcy, point to your ghost friend.”

  “Spirit is a nicer term and he’s right there,” she said, pointing to Seward. It was then Bram remembered that while his given name was John, he often went by Jack to others. To Bram he had always been and would always be Seward.

  Relief moved through him until he realized what Marcy was telling him.

  “Seward is dead?”

  “Who?” she asked.

  “Dr. John Seward, or as you know him—Jack,” replied Bram.

  Marcy nodded and then stiffened. “I’m not exactly sure. He feels off to me. Not like normal spirits. And he’s powerful for being newly deceased. He can do things it normally takes spirits with decades or more under their belt to do.”

  Bram held his wife to him, mourning the loss of his friend silently.

  “Bram, he said he pinned a message for a friend. I don’t know what he meant but it feels like I should tell you that.”

  It hit Bram then. The photograph with Marcy circled on it had been pinned to the tree. The picture had come from Bram’s private collection. Seward would have known how to access his study with ease. He’d been in it enough times over the years.

  Bram tipped his head back, fighting his emotions. “Thank you for warning me that she was in danger, Seward. And thank you for watching over her for me.”

  Marcy chuckled. “He’s close. I can smell him. I don’t know why he hasn’t been able to show himself, but please know he’s nearby.”

  “Darling, do you realize in one night you’ve turned my entire world upside down in the best possible way? You’ve given me a message from not only my brother, but my friend—who is like a brother to me—and you’ve let me know my mother has been close, clearly guiding you to me. You helped me find common ground with my daughter so that she and I can begin to have a relationship. And most importantly, you have given yourself to me.”

  She leaned back against him and patted his arms. “Do you know what this means?”

  He rarely knew what she was talking about.

  “We’re going to be grandparents!” she exclaimed. “I’m so excited!”

  He couldn’t help but laugh. It faded slowly as he thought about what he’d done. He’d thrown reason away and claimed in her in an underground vault, after she had been tormented by his enemy. She was injured and in need of sutures, yet he’d taken what he wanted from her more than once.

  Exhaling a long breath, he lowered his head. “I do not deserve you.”

  “Sure you do,” she said.

  He stood, taking her with him. “I should have claimed you in a bed. Not on a table. Now was not the time or the place.”

  “I liked it just fine so don’t you go regretting it, big guy,” she said, twisting in his arms. “Want to take me on the table again? Or the chair? That was fun too.”

  Bram couldn’t stop a chuckle from escaping him. “How about we go up and take a nice long, hot bubble bath together? And then I will see where Elis and Austin are with the hunt for Ager.”

  At the mention of the necromancer, Marcy’s smile faded.

  “Bram,” she whispered. “I was married for a brief period.”

  “Yes, I am aware. If you recall Dana mentioned as much earlier,” he said, wanting to seek out her ex-husband and throttle the man.

  She swallowed hard. “I changed my name to his during it but then changed it back after the divorce was finalized.”

  He wasn’t sure why this was so important she felt the need to share it now, but he listened all the same.

  “My married name was Marcy Ager. I was married to a man named Donald Ager,” she whispered. “And tonight, I thought I heard his voice. I’m positive that whoever was with the dark entity called me Marcy Girl. It’s what he used to call me. Bram, he’s evil. He’s dangerous. He’s—”

  Bram snarled and shot forward. “Never going to touch you again. Ripping his spleen out will be too kind of a punishment for him. When I am finished with him—”

  “Bram, we lost him,” Elis said, as the door to the vault popped open. He rushed in, sounding winded. “Whoa. What in the hell?”

  “Did he find Marcy?” asked Austin, coming in behind Elis. “What in the…?

  Confused as to what the issue was, Bram looked over his shoulder at the men to find them standing there, their eyes wide, worry evident.

  Elis lifted a hand. “Bram, think about this. That’s Marcy. She’s Dana’s best friend. You don’t want to hurt her. You have a weird thing for her, remember?”

  Austin squared his shoulders and moved up past Elis. He planted his feet wide and stared at him with eyes that said he wasn’t about to mince words. “Put her down and get the hell away from her or I’ll dust your ass.”

  “Hurt her?” Bram tried to sort out why Elis would think he’d ever harm Marcy.

  The blood, said the demon. It is smeared all over her, as well as you. And they see she is scared and crying. They believe you are the reason.

  “Well, that’s just silly,” said Marcy as she snapped out of her emotional state. “He didn’t hurt me. His rather unique décor did when my ex-husband and his shadow monster bestie scared me.”

  “He didn’t bite you?” asked Elis.

  “Hold up, ex-husband?” questioned Austin. “And when we left Bram, he had on a lot more in the way of clothing than he does now. Why is he shirtless? And is that what I think it is on Burgess’s head?”

  Glancing to the spot Bram last recalled seeing the squirrel, he found it on the top shelf with the bottom portion of Marcy’s bikini on its head, peeking out with wide eyes.

  Bram groaned.

  Marcy laughed softly, coming to Bram and patting his chest with her injured hand. “Wait until you realize Burgess watched the claiming happen.”

  “Time-out!” shouted Austin. “Bram claimed you?”

  “He did,” said Marcy.

  Elis snorted. “Wow. We can’t leave him alone for five minutes. We come back to find he’s traumatized small woodland creatures, seduced a hot babe, and made her his wife.”

  “He has a lot in common with his daughter,” said Marcy. “She scares small woodland creatures too.”

  “I’m not sure if we should be worried or impressed with how fast the big guy got himself a wife,” said Austin. “Does this mean Marcy is now Dana’s stepmother? If so, who is going to tell her? I call not it.”

  Elis shot his hand in the air and
Austin did the same. “Not it.”

  Confused, Bram lifted both his hands, unsure of the point of the exercise. “Uh, not it?”

  Marcy snorted. “Come on. Let’s get cleaned up and then I’ll figure out a way to handle my ex-husband and his buddy.”

  “No,” said Bram, pulling her close. “I will handle them. You will stay far from harm’s way, wife.”

  “We’ll see,” she said before walking off and past Austin.

  Austin turned his head, watching her bottom sway as she left the vault room.

  Bram cleared his throat, and it was all the warning that was required.

  Austin shrugged. “Hey. I think we both know that’s not a sight you want to miss.”

  As much as Bram wanted to be angry, he found himself nodding and laughing slightly in agreement.

  Burgess picked then to jump down from his spot on the shelf. What was left of the crocheted bikini bottoms ended up pooled at Austin’s feet. Bram was about to retrieve them when the squirrel launched into the same hysterics it had when Marcy had been in danger.

  Bram’s demon perked. I sense dark magik. Ager has returned!

  “No!” shouted Bram, rushing toward the door just as it slammed shut in his face. Like before, he tried muscling his way through only to find it wasn’t budging.

  “Shit,” said Elis, quickly coming to Bram’s side and trying to help with the door. “Ager circled back, didn’t he?”

  Bram didn’t want to believe it was true. That meant Marcy was alone with him. He roared and let his demon rise, striking the door so hard the walls shook.

  Elis grabbed his shoulder. “Whoa, stop! We’re not any help to Marcy if we’re buried under ten tons of stone.”

  He had a point, but it wasn’t one Bram wanted to hear. Not when his mate’s life was at stake.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Marcy

  The door to the vault slammed shut behind me and I spun around to find myself standing nearly nose to nose with the very dark entity that had been invading my dreams. It had the shape and form of a man, but beyond that it was nothing more than darkness.

  Fear gripped me fully.

  Intense pounding came from the closed vault door. I knew Bram was the source. I also knew something mystical was keeping that door shut.

  The dark entity let out a sound that was guttural and so loud it made my ears hurt.

  “Lookie what we’ve got here, boss,” said a man whose voice I didn’t recognize. His accent was distinctly Cockney. He was in the darkened area of the hall so I couldn’t see him.

  “Bring her. I can only hold them back for so long.”

  I nearly jumped out of my skin as I gasped and turned more to find a man I’d not seen in years. Donald was there, dressed much like Bram had been before he’d lost half his clothing to me. Donald’s dark hair was cut closer to his head, as he’d kept it when we’d been married. In fact, seemingly nothing about him had changed, even with as much time as had passed.

  He’d not aged a day.

  He looked me up and down as a devious smile came over his face. “Did you miss me, Marcy Girl?”

  I’d heard people mention being frozen in fear. And before being married to Donald, I’d always thought it was just a saying. He’d taught me different. Like years prior, I found myself rooted in place, too scared to move.

  Another man stepped out of the shadows next to Donald. This one was over six feet but not as tall as Donald. He was dressed like he’d leapt out of the pages of the scrapbook clippings in the vault, complete with a long jacket and hat. Like 1880 had ejected him into the here and now.

  He clicked his fingers and the dark entity eased back slightly from me. The man stared at me, grinning as he did. “You’re a beauty. Shame that tonight will be your last night. My pet has enjoyed paying you visits.”

  It took my mind a second to catch up with his threat with how thick his accent was. I was good, but not that good. As I did catch up to what was being said, I inched back.

  The dark entity mirrored my movement, filling the gap, earning him a scolding hiss from the other.

  “Rip,” said Donald to the man and I instantly thought of the clippings inside the vault. The ones about The Ripper.

  It couldn’t be, could it?

  Rip-Van-Creepy leaned against one of the stone walls and pulled a knife from inside his long dark coat. If his intent had been to up his villain game, he’d succeeded.

  I was sold.

  He was a bad guy.

  I really didn’t need the point driven home more.

  Donald continued to stare at me and then narrowed his gaze. “You shouldn’t have left me, Marcy Girl. I was ready to give you the world. The keys to my dark kingdom. When The Order assigned me to you—telling me to tempt you, to lure you to my bed, I was furious.”

  He’d been ordered to romance me? As hurtful as it was hearing that, it also got my temper fired up. Whoever The Order was needed a good talking-to. Better yet, they needed a nice dose of going poof.

  “Changed his tune when he found out whose daughter you are,” said Rip with a lecherous smile. “Then when he saw what a looker you are, he was all in. Didn’t want to listen to the higher ups when they ordered your death. He’s come around to their way of thinking though. You’ll do nicely to turn the Van Helsing vampire dark.”

  Seriously, he was a textbook bad guy. He just needed a blinking sign above him announcing his bid for world domination and the look would be complete.

  I nearly gave in to fear fully, as old habits resurfaced. But I wasn’t the same young woman I’d been all those years ago when Donald had kept me under his thumb, showing how sadistic he was capable of being.

  No.

  I was a forty-year-old fierce (okay, sort-of fierce) woman, who was no longer so desperately starved for love and something that resembled stability that I’d accept anything—no matter the price.

  I’d found my home in Grimm Cove. I was with my people. My tribe—the family I created, made up of friends. And I’d come a long way with accepting I was born different.

  Special.

  The urge to connect with nature struck me and I found my fear giving way to a sense of confidence.

  My gaze slid to the countless number of mounted swords and my what-would-Dana-do scenario popped into my head. While I was no demon slayer, I was something magikal. Something that had the ability to for all intents and purposes connect with nature and everything that involved.

  A fire started to burn deep in my belly, building quickly.

  The dark entity lifted an arm in the direction of the opposite wall. On it I saw a large mossy area. My brow shot up. Had it sensed my intention? And more importantly, was it helping me?

  When I took into consideration who his buddies were, Rip-Van-Creepy and my ex-dirtbag of a husband, I had to admit if I was the dark entity, I’d switch sides too.

  It was a testament to picking your friends wisely.

  Neither Rip-Van-Creepy nor my ex seemed to notice the dark entity motioning to the moss-covered section of the wall.

  My gut said to trust the very thing that had haunted my dreams. It made little sense to me, but I went with it, giving a slight nod. I looked at Donald and dug deep, landing on my inner Dana. “Leaving you was the best thing I ever did. Do you want to know my one regret?”

  Anger flashed in his eyes.

  Rip snorted from his spot against the stone wall, clearly amused by the events unfolding before him. He began to clean under his fingernails with his knife.

  I inched my way toward the moss-covered wall, keeping Donald’s dander up.

  “Do tell,” he snapped.

  A slight smile touched my lips. “Not being there to see Dana kick the crap out of you, because I think we all know she did.”

  He lunged for me as I, in turn, lunged for the mossy area. My fingers connected with the moss as the dark entity roared again, spinning, and slamming into Donald.

  It knocked him to the floor.

  The act
left Rip moving off the wall fast, appearing stunned a second before the vault door gave way. Bram was first through it, going right at Donald and the dark entity.

  Austin and Elis were next out.

  They charged Rip-Van-Creepy.

  My fingers began to hum with what felt like static electricity. Suddenly, everything around me seemed to be whispering to me all at once. I became very aware of every insect in the vault, every creature in the darkened recesses, and every spirit on the premises. Energy burst free of me and rushed out and over the estate. Every single one of the things I’d connected with answered my call for help.

  Austin twisted from his spot and went at the dark entity.

  I shook my head. “No! I think he defected to our side!”

  Drawing up short, Austin looked over at me. He then thumbed in the direction of the dark entity. “You’re talking about that?”

  I nodded.

  His eyes widened. “It’s on our side now?”

  Again, I nodded.

  He sighed and glanced upward. “Seriously, I give up trying to figure out anything anymore.”

  Just then the dark entity charged him and knocked him to the floor.

  I cringed, worried I’d misread the thing’s intentions.

  It wasn’t until I saw Rip had managed to get a sword off the wall and was swinging it right where Austin’s head had been that I understood.

  The dark entity was helping.

  Austin rolled onto his side quickly and came up fast. He rushed Rip from one side while Elis went at him from the opposite one. Neither of them had a weapon yet.

  I reached for the swords that were closest to me. After more than one failed attempt to get them off the wall, I grunted. A dark, shadow hand moved over mine, assisting me.

  The dark entity carefully removed a sword and presented it to me before nodding its head toward the end of the hall. Whistling, I caught Austin’s attention and tossed him the sword.

  Thankfully, he caught it without issue.

  It would have sucked if I’d skewed him.

  Glancing down the hall, I blinked, shocked to see my best friends standing there, along with their mates, Maria, her entire coven, and several others from town.