“Okay, but it's going to sound very strange,” she said, her voice weak. “It showed up on my doorstep, literally, just over a week ago. The day of my twenty-fifth birthday. It was all wrapped up like a present with my name on it. When I opened the package, the pendant was there, as well as a bus ticket to Everlasting. I’d never heard of this place before then.”
Worry lanced Jake. “And you came? A random present shows up with no name attached and a ticket to a town you’ve never heard of, and you came? Woman, do you have a death wish?”
She stared at him a second before anger flashed through her eyes. “No. I’ll have you know that I had no intentions of coming here. But then life sort of left me no choice. I lost my job, had a hold no one can explain placed on my account at the university, and got evicted, all in the span of a week. I had nowhere else to go. I don’t have people—friends or family—for a support system, Deputy March. I have me. Only me. And I’m trying very hard to be brave right now, when all I want to do is cry and retreat to my corner.”
Tears streaked her cheeks and Jake instantly wanted his words back. He hadn’t meant them. He was concerned for her. That was all.
Wilber surprised Jake by going to Kelsey and pulling her into a gentle hug. He patted her back, acting every bit the grandfather he was and nothing like the hunter Jake knew the man could be. “There, there. No tears. Not over Lunkhead’s words.”
Lunkhead?
Jake snorted.
Wilber shot him a look that said “shut up, I’m trying to fix this.” He continued to pat Kelsey’s back as she kept crying. “It’s not worth tears. I’m sure Deputy March was simply worried about your well-being. Nothing more. And it sounds like you didn’t have a choice but to come, no matter who or what brought you here. My guess is that the deputy over there is mighty happy you did make the journey, or did you miss his production with the gumball machine and the tongue-tied bit? Can’t say I’ve ever seen Jake be clumsy or have trouble saying what was on his mind. That’s the effect you have on him.”
Kelsey laughed through her tears and looked up at Wilber. “No. I didn’t miss the gumball bit. I saw the whole thing.”
Great.
Wilber grinned and bent to be eye level with Kelsey. “And you’re wrong, Kelsey. You do have people now. You have us. You have me. You have Jake. You have Penelope, who took to you instantly. You have Everlasting. It tends to attract those who require it most.”
She wiped her cheeks and beamed. “Mr. Reyes said something similar.”
“Did he now?” asked Wilber, the tone of his voice changing.
Kelsey clutched the pendant. “I don’t want this if it means more trouble. And I swear to you both that I didn’t know anything about a matching ring or a stone of truth. I still don’t even understand what it all means. All I knew was that my life got flipped upside down and everywhere I turned, there were suddenly signs for Everlasting. Like I was meant to be here.”
“You are,” said Jake, wanting to go to her and hold her.
Wilber closed her hand over the pendant. “This needs to remain with you. It’s where it should be. Don’t let it out of your sight. And remember, no one can take it from you unless you will it so.”
“Okay.”
“Why don’t you wear it?” asked Wilber, in a way that said he already knew the answer.
“I don’t put it on because I want to put it on more than anything in the world. That probably doesn’t make sense.” She sniffled and glanced uneasily in Jake’s direction, as if she was worried about his reaction to her statement.
“Makes perfect sense to me,” said Wilber. “You’re scared of the pull of it, all the while not wanting it far from you.”
“Exactly.” She nodded.
“Good. Means you’re pure of heart.” He looked at Jake. “We need to go check on some things and gather supplies. Kelsey, are you staying close to downtown?”
Kelsey touched his arm lightly. “The place I rented isn’t too far from here.”
“Put the address on a slip of paper and leave it on the counter for me before you head out. If you need anything, call March. He carries a cell phone with him at all times,” he said, glancing at Jake. “We need to get a move on it.”
“I can run Kelsey to where she’s staying and then meet you back here,” Jake said, unsure he wanted Kelsey walking around by herself if trouble was brewing.
Wilber shook his head. “This can’t wait, and I’m not sure she’s ready for all of it just yet. My gut says she’s safe for right now. Just don’t let the pendant out of your sight, Kelsey, and when you feel the moment is right, put it on. Don’t let your head guide your heart. Find your bravery and do what feels right.”
Kelsey appeared perplexed but agreed. “Okay. And I’m not sure how you close up shop, but I can give it a try.”
“No. Go ahead, we’ve got everything covered,” said Wilber. “Straight home with you, okay?”
She nodded.
Jake found himself walking to Kelsey as if on autopilot. He touched her shoulders and stared down at her. “You call me if you need anything at all. I mean that. I don’t care what time it is. Got it?”
“Yes.” Worry filled her gaze.
Without thought, Jake pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead. When he realized what he’d done, he stepped back fast, trying to look nonchalant and cool. Like he meant to be a stud or something.
Though he was pretty sure he failed on the stud front. The gumball machine incident weighed in heavily.
Kelsey snatched the crumpled paper up and pushed it into his hand. “It was nice to meet you…Deputy March. I really wish I understood what was happening here because I get the feeling you won’t be available to help stack firewood tonight.”
Jake grinned. “Call me Jake.”
Her brows met. “Wait, as in the Jake that some guy named Wilber supposedly tied to a chair and held hostage in a cabin on the outskirts of town?”
Jake groaned. “Does everyone know? Is it on a billboard somewhere? Tell me Hugh and Curt didn’t have fliers made announcing it to everyone. It’s bad enough they made sure every business in town hung up a charity calendar.”
Wilber laughed. “No, but I’d be more than happy to have a sign put up.”
“I’m sure you would, seeing as how you’re the one who tied me up!”
Kelsey spun around. “Wil—as in Wilber?”
Wilber nodded. “One and the same. Tell me how it is you heard about the cabin incident.”
“Petey told me,” she said, backing up slowly from both men, as if she were afraid of them.
It wasn’t as if Jake could blame her. It had to be hard to be a human without a clue about what really went on in the world and then to suddenly be smack-dab in the middle of a supernatural event.
Jake locked gazes with her. “I swear we’re not as crazy as we sound. Wil and I worked out our differences, for the most part. And he really was only trying to protect Penelope. Not that I was going to hurt her or anything.”
She lifted a hand. “You thought she killed people but that was really Sigmund? But Sigmund killed bad people, so you took him away to Canada or something for a while?”
Jake made a mental note to have a nice long talk with Petey about his tendency to overshare. “Yeah. That’s about the size of it. Except for the fact Sigmund is in Louisiana. Not Canada.”
She swallowed hard. “If Petey was telling the truth about all of that, is everything else he told me about this town true as well?”
“I’m afraid to ask what all he said,” answered Jake.
Wilber inhaled loudly. “It’s Petey we’re talking about. It’s safe to say he told her everything.”
“Everything?” asked Jake.
Wilber nodded.
Kelsey paled. “This is all too much. I think you’re all very nice and sweet, but I can’t participate in the crazy anymore. I’m going to go back to my place, make a cup of tea, and try to figure out how to find my way back to a normal life.”
Kelsey took a small step back. “But the things he’s talked about are so out there.”
“That doesn’t mean they aren’t true,” said Wilber.
She locked gazes with Jake, her eyes searching his.
Jake winked. “I promise it gets easier to accept with some time.”
Wilber grinned. “Give Everlasting a chance. It’s bound to surprise you. And, Kelsey, Jake there is harmless. He’s a good guy. Bit of a horse’s ass at times, but hey.”
Jake rubbed the bridge of his nose at Wilber’s dig at him being a centaur. “Classy.”
Wilber beamed. “I do try. Now, we need to go.”
Reluctantly, Jake stepped away from Kelsey, making a show of putting her number in his pants pocket. He watched as she put the pendant back in the velvet bag and then placed that in her backpack. He noticed a bag from the general store on the floor near the backpack. There wasn’t much in it, from the looks of it, and that bothered Jake. He’d also been upset to hear her say that she had no people, no friends, no support system. He’d wanted to wrap his arms around her and tell her she had him, but he wasn’t sure why he felt so strongly about it all.
About her.
Had Jolene’s discussion of mates left him open to the idea of dating, so much so that he was putting far too much stock in a chance meeting?
She headed for the shop door, and it took all of him to let her leave without him. He watched her through the window as she headed down the street. He then turned his attention to Wilber.
“Okay, I want to know everything you do,” he demanded. “I want her safe.”
Wilber nodded. “Of course you do. It’s natural for a shifter male to want his mate protected at all costs.”
If Wilber said anything after that, Jake didn’t hear it over the ringing in his ears. He backed up fast and spotted an antique chair. He sat, worried if he didn’t, he’d fall over from shock. “W-what did you say?”
Wilber approached and snorted. “You can’t tell me you didn’t figure it out already. I had an inkling based off my crystal ball collection, but I knew for sure about four seconds after you nearly took out the gumball machine that she was your mate. Your actions since have only proven it to me.”
“She can’t be,” protested Jake, though he wanted it to be true more than he’d ever wanted anything.
“Why not?”
Jake blinked in surprise. He wasn’t expecting that question. “Because she’s human.”
“Pfft, says who? Says you? Get your sniffer checked, boy. It’s clearly broken. That girl has supernatural and magic written all over her. She couldn’t let off a witch smell any more if she rolled around in a Winter Solstice gathering.”
Jake drew back slightly. “Witch?”
“That would be my guess,” said Wilber as he motioned for Jake to follow him to the door leading to the basement. “We’re going to need a few items to help us uncover what’s really going on here.”
“Wil, is Kelsey really safe?” asked Jake, unable to get her out of his mind.
“For now.” Wilber glanced away.
“And you think she’s really my mate?”
“Don’t you?” the man countered.
FOURTEEN
KELSEY USED one hand to pull her jacket shut tighter and the other hand to hold her bag from the store as she walked down the stretch of highway leading out in the direction of the cabin. Since the days were shorter this time of year, the sky was already starting to darken and it wasn’t even dinnertime yet. She quickened her pace, her gaze darting back and forth at the woods to both sides of her.
They’d not bothered her before, but all the talk of spooky things had given her the heebie-jeebies and left her on edge. Now she was positive the boogeyman was going to leap out of the trees and drag her off to its lair.
She walked so fast that she might as well have been running. The small road that was off the highway was just ahead. She just had to go a bit more and she’d make it back to the safety of the cabin. Sure, the cabin didn’t have a locking door or heat, but it was at least something.
Her step faltered as she thought about the cabin and how unsafe it was. Not only was it falling apart, it was isolated. No one would hear her screams.
She came to a stop on the side of the road, suddenly regretting her decision to use the ticket to come to Everlasting and try to figure out who’d sent her the pendant. All she wanted to do was go back to Boston and get far from all of the whacky in Everlasting.
“Well, not far from Deputy March,” she said, walking again, a smile touching her lips as she thought of Jake.
From the moment she’d seen him knocking over the gumball machine, she’d been swept up by him. His dark features. His strong jawline. His powerful frame. It hadn’t taken her long to realize he’d been the same man she’d taken an interest in upon the bus’s arrival in Everlasting. The one who had been leaning against the service station’s garage door.
It was ironic that he’d been the tongue-tied one, when she was normally the wallflower when it came to the opposite sex. She reached up and touched her forehead lightly where he’d planted the smallest of kisses. Thinking of the action made her chest tight and her body warm, helping to chase away some of the chill.
The feeling of being watched came over her once more, and for a second, she was positive that she wasn’t alone. That the woods had eyes and they were all upon her.
Rattled, she took off into a run, as fast as she could with her bag of grocery items and her backpack.
She spotted the road that led to the cabin and ran through the grass to get to it, shaving off some of the distance. In the back of her mind, she knew she should have been winded, slowing, anything, but she wasn’t. She felt as if she could run for days if need be. The adrenaline in her was pumping that fast and strong.
She veered down the small dirt road the cabin was on and kept up the fast pace. The sight of the warning signs that looked to be dripping with blood were so incredibly welcoming that she nearly shouted for joy. Kelsey hurdled over two of the signs posted in the drive as if she were a professional track star.
Artemis sat on the front porch, looking as if she’d been waiting for Kelsey. The cat didn’t so much as move as Kelsey leaped up and onto the porch, skipping the steps altogether. She’d built up too much speed and ran into the front door that Petey had spent so long fixing for her during one of his evening visits.
Whatever he’d done made the door hold up to her slamming into it. Kelsey took a moment to collect her thoughts and take a deep breath, her blood pumping so loudly that it was all she could hear.
“Calm down. You let your imagination get the better of you,” she said, nodding, as if, by saying it, she would somehow really believe it.
She opened the door and Artemis darted in, meowing as she went. Kelsey followed behind and shut the door, scowling when she realized it would only latch closed, not lock. Not that the rest of the cabin was intruder-proof or anything. A strong wind could come along and knock an entire wall down, letting anyone waltz right in.
Still, Kelsey wanted an added layer of protection after all the talk of strange things. She spotted the chair that Jake had been tied to. Quickly, she set her bags down and retrieved the chair, using it to wedge the door shut from within.
It made her feel slightly better.
She looked to the cat, who was by the small pile of wood near the wood-burning stove. “We’re fine out here. I’m being silly.”
The cat tipped her head and then licked one paw, looking unconcerned with much of anything.
A laugh escaped Kelsey as she realized how she’d allowed her imagination to run wild. Embarrassed, heat stained her cheeks and she was happy she was alone. That no one had seen her foolishness.
With shaky hands, she went to work putting
away the things she’d bought at the general store. Once she was done, she lit a burner on the stovetop and placed the tea kettle on, adjusting the heat level. She needed something to calm her nerves.
All the talk of gemstones, rings, and pendants had made her imagination spiral out of control. Even with that knowledge, she found herself peeking around the entranceway to the kitchen to make sure the chair was still wedged under the door handle.
It was.
While it wasn’t the best intruder deterrent, it was at least something.
Would a chair help stop vampires, werewolves, and were-krakens? Everything that Petey had spun tales about during his visits? Everything that might actually be real, if she was to believe Wil, Jake, and Petey?
Maybe the whole town is just nuts.
Maybe the drinking water is tainted and they share mass hallucinations.
Worse yet.
What if it was all true?
Tensing, she grabbed for anything that could be used as a weapon and came up with a broom. Unless the monster was afraid of housework, the broom wouldn’t do much good. With a sigh, she propped it back against the wall near the kitchen.
“I’m being ridiculous,” she said to Artemis, as if the cat understood her.
The cat lifted her head, regarding Kelsey with an expression that strangely made her feel like she wasn’t being that crazy after all. Artemis came toward her, rubbing against her leg and purring softly.
Kelsey bent and scratched behind Artemis’s ears. “Are you hungry, girl? I got you some food today. No more eating any of Petey’s smelly fish. Although you seemed to really like those.”
The cat sat and watched Kelsey as she opened a can of cat food and plopped the food onto a small plate. She set the plate on the floor near the cat, and she sniffed the food and looked up at Kelsey with an expression that said she wasn’t at all happy with the change.
Total Eclipse of The Hunt: A Cozy Paranormal Mystery (The Happily Everlasting Series Book 5) Page 10
