Wicked Good Witches
Book 5, A Nightmare to Remember
Starla Silver
TABLE of CONTENTS
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
CHAPTER ONE
Charlie Howard’s eyes flickered open. For a moment, his vision was hazy but also blinded by brightness. He peered back and forth blinking repeatedly, trying to clear the haze and make sense of his surroundings.
He expected to be staring up at his bedroom ceiling, but instead he gazed up at a bright blue sky etched with pine tree branches and drifting puffy clouds. He sat up quickly, holding his breath, eyes darting from side to side, when the realization hit him that he’d awakened outside, in the woods.
“Not again,” he grumbled, picking himself up off the ground. “Where the hell am I this time? And perfect! No clothes. Again.” He scoured the ground and saw what looked like his boxer shorts, torn nearly to shreds.
Having nothing to cover himself with other than his hands, his arms swung down to hide his privates from public exhibition. His movements stalled. His breath hitched. Dried streaks of red flaked off his arms.
He stared, dumbfounded and horrified. Blood. Lots of it. Covering his arms and hands with bits clinging under his fingernails.
“What the hell is happening to me?” His gaze landed on the black ring; recently gifted by the now deceased Guardian, Nina. “She promised I couldn’t hurt anyone. That the ring would not allow it.”
Was the ring not working properly?
Charlie needed to get home fast. He took a step and stopped, wincing. His calf had a nasty looking gash that was still healing. If Charlie hadn’t had his werewolf ability to heal, from the looks of the wound’s depth, he’d most likely have bled to death.
He closed his eyes and opened them again, hoping this was all a terrible dream. He stared at the protection ring silently pleading for it to explain why it was allowing this to happen. Wishing desperately he could talk to Nina.
She had sacrificed herself to help Charlie. And in the weeks after the ring had protected him from harm, or from harming others, by keeping his werewolf side from surfacing, and therefore endangering anyone near him with its uncontrolled wildness.
So why was this happening? He was obviously injured, and he didn’t believe for a minute that the blood underneath his fingernails had come from his own body. Which meant he had to have injured someone. And to make matters worse, this wasn’t the first time he’d awakened in the middle of the woods, naked, in the previous weeks.
He sucked air in deeply, letting it out slowly, reminding himself that whatever had happened, and regardless of the blood on his hands, he could not have hurt anyone. The ring would not allow it.
So, what? He had self-inflicted these wounds? This blood really was his own? Perhaps it belonged to an animal.
Human or animal was not acceptable to Charlie Howard.
He took in his surroundings. With a relieved breath, he recognized where he was, and it wasn’t far from home. He was in the woods near the back of the Howard Mansion. His home. And on a trail many locals and tourists often used for jogging and hiking. He could at least be glad no early morning risers had sauntered by, or they’d have gotten an unexpected show, and either a good laugh or a good fright.
“At least I know the sheriff,” he jested grimly, picturing some female tourist happening upon him in his current state and thinking he was an attacker.
Although one dazzling smile with his perfect teeth and a captivating stare with his dreamy blue eyes, or a once over from toes to head would send almost any woman into an instant hot flash, or turn her legs to jelly. Plenty of distraction time for him to get away.
Hearing nothing but morning birds chirping, the distant crashing of waves, and a foghorn blowing, he made a mad dash for the gate at the back of his yard. Once he had slipped inside he darted to the back door of the mansion and bounded into the kitchen, breathing out a huge sigh of relief.
It did not last.
He froze for a moment, listening to see if anyone was awake yet. He heard no movement. Of course, William would have heard him. And hearing movement in the house this early would definitely make- Charlie grabbed a hand towel just as the vampire dashed into the kitchen. “William… Um. Morning.”
The vampire didn’t speak for a moment, an eyebrow raised in bemusement over Charlie’s sudden appearance in the kitchen, stark naked and covered in dirt, scratches and blood.
“Do I want to ask?” William spoke in a wry tone. “Let me rephrase… do I need to ask?”
“I just woke up in the woods. Again,” Charlie explained.
“I see.”
“No idea how I got there. Last thing I remember was going to sleep. In my bed.”
“You’ve never been one for sleepwalking,” muttered the vampire. He frowned, disturbed by this turn of events.
“Or sleep undressing,” added Charlie dryly. “I don’t know what the hell is happening to me, William.”
“This is the third occurrence,” the vampire noted. “I think it would be unwise to allow a fourth.”
“I don’t understand why the ring is allowing this behavior.”
“My understanding of the ring is limited, but I trust that it will not allow you to harm, or come to harm, Charlie.”
“Well, I’m sure as hell sick of waking up bare ass naked in the middle of the God damned woods!”
“The better question right now is why didn’t I hear you leave last night? Oh. I went out for a late night patrol. You must have left the house while I was away.”
“I think you’d better put a stop to those late night patrols for a little while, William. When this happened before I just thought it was a freak thing. I was overtired. But now…”
“Three times is not coincidence, Charlie. Something is amiss.”
“You’ve never heard of any such thing?” asked Charlie. “Perhaps it’s some wacky side effect of the ring. Or me being a werewolf, wearing the ring. The rings are meant for Guardians after all. Not werewolves or witches.”
“I cannot be certain, but Nina was certain, Charlie. We must trust this. We must trust the ring, and that the Guardians know what they’re doing in giving it to you.”
“I wish there was a way to talk to a Guardian,” mused Charlie. “You don’t know any way...”
William shook his head. “Sorry. I don’t think one can seek audience with the Guardians. I believe they come to you.”
“It just gets better and better.” Charlie let out a brisk exhale.
“How do you feel this morning? Other than freaked out as you’d say.”
Charlie thought about it for a moment before answering William.
“It’s strange really, but before I fully woke up and got pissed about waking up in the woods bare ass naked, I actually had this sense of contentment. I was tired, but not tired.”
William shot him a questioning gaze. “How can one be tired but not tired?”
“Um, physically tired. Like I’d been running a marathon or doing something that required a lot of physical demand on my body. And a little hazy. Like there was a fog over my brain that was lifting. But not lack of sleep tired. I felt rested and happy… until I woke up in the woods.”
“I see. And as before, no recollection of the night’s events?”
“No. Nothing at all. Like I said, I woke up a little hazy. Almost like I’d been dreaming, but I have no memory of the dreams. You don’t think I’ve been put
under some sort of spell do you?”
“I suppose anything is possible. However,” William added hastily, “I don’t believe the ring would allow you to be put under a spell. If you recall when the mermaids tried to mesmerize you, the ring stopped it from happening. It protected you. I think that falls under the category of possible harm to one’s self, or others.”
“But you can’t be sure, can you?”
William didn’t answer, his head cocking to the side.
Charlie let out an exasperated groan.
“Why don’t you get cleaned up,” suggested William, “before your siblings wake.”
“Yeah. Um, do you mind if for now we keep this just between you and me?”
“What? You don’t want your family to discover you’ve been romping through the Demon Isle woods naked as the day you were born?” The vampire’s mouth turned up in a bemused grin.
Charlie shook his head, not at all amused.
“Very well. My lips are sealed.”
“Thank you, William,” Charlie returned tightly. He headed upstairs to his bedroom.
Though humored by the moment, William did not find Charlie’s unconscious late nights romps funny in the least. He’d do his best to get to the bottom of it as quickly as possible.
Charlie turned on his shower allowing the water to pour out steamy hot.
Before getting in, he stood and stared at himself in a full-length mirror.
Nearly every gash or scratch was healed now, but the caked dirt and blood remained. Was it his own blood embedded beneath his fingernails? Or someone else’s as he feared it was?
Charlie grabbed a pair of boxers and slipped them up over his muscular legs. He turned off the shower and raced down to William’s study. “I just had an idea,” he exclaimed.
“Which is?”
“Could you test the blood underneath my nails? We wouldn’t be able to I.D. whose blood it is, but we could at least find out if it’s mine or not.”
“Let me examine your hands,” said William, motioning for him to come forward.
“Sorry,” said Charlie, as William took hold of his hands to investigate them more closely.
“Why?”
“Making you get this close to blood.”
“This hardly counts as blood.”
“Well, a few weeks ago you did lock yourself away for three days, claiming you needed a cleansing period. To keep your cravings in check. I’d hate to tempt you.” There was a hint of humored reproach in Charlie’s tone.
William lifted his eyes. “This hardly counts as blood,” he repeated dryly. Although after his encounter with Lizzy Deane, and drinking her blood in a lust filled frenzy, even a speck of blood like this would have driven him mad. The cleansing period had been necessary. He simply neglected to tell them the true reason behind it.
Charlie shook his head. Something had happened to William. He sensed a change in the vampire. But he refused to share. It didn’t mean Charlie would stop pressing him about it. After all, it wasn’t fair that his embarrassing situations might soon become public knowledge, and the vampire got to keep his secrets.
After inspecting Charlie’s fingers, William dashed away and returned with a wooden file. “I do believe there may be just enough blood.” He gently scraped underneath each nail and put the blood into three different vials. “I’ll run a few tests. By tonight we’ll know if it belongs to you, along with any other information we can glean.”
“Okay,” Charlie breathed out. “Thanks.”
As he turned to leave, William said, “Don’t spend the morning worrying. I’m sure it will be your own blood. Besides, we have a very important family meeting you need to be alert and present for.”
“Right. The Soul Hunter. I’ll be ready.”
Although inwardly, Charlie didn’t hold the same confidence as William about the blood belonging to him, or that he could lay his worry aside. “I can do it for Dad,” he whispered.
Down in the study, William sighed. Charlie should have realized he’d know right away whether the blood belonged to Charlie or not. William knew the scent of each Howard sibling well. But considering the stress Charlie was under it was no surprise that he’d not surmised this.
The bigger issue however, unfortunately being, that the blood did not belong to Charlie Howard.
CHAPTER TWO
Emily Morgan stopped by during breakfast, which turned out to be a good thing as she kept Michael’s empathic ability from focusing on Melinda; who’d had her ear glued to her cell phone talking to Riley Deane since she’d gotten out of bed.
She and Riley had been dating for a few weeks now, and both Howard brothers had hoped she would lose interest and stop seeing him. Still, the happy energy emanating off his sister was a good thing. It just always came back to, why did it have to be because of a Deane? So far though, the Deanes had proven trustworthy and given the Howards no reason to doubt their presence on the Isle.
After breakfast, Melinda finally unglued herself from her cell and grabbed a coffee refill. She set down the mug and rubbed her temples.
“Headache?” Michael asked.
“Small one. Wacky dreams last night. Tossed and turned a lot.”
“Dreams we need to do something about?”
“No. Just a jumble of chaotic, non-sensical, super vivid dreams. I think everyone I know was in them. We were all chasing something we couldn’t catch, or see, and we were all on the Isle but spread out across it. Then we were all super freaking tall and shouting at each other across the Isle. And it just got stranger from there. The main point being, they were normal wacky dreams. But they seeped into my nerves. Woke up all agitated with this feeling that I’m late for something, and with this stupid headache.”
Emily looked at her inquisitively. “Dreams can be a sign of what we’re feeling when we are awake. Even for gals that have prophetic dreams.”
“It’s odd you say that, Emily, because that’s what stuck with me after I woke up. These recent weeks have been the least stressful and chaotic in ages. It’s been… nice. Really nice.” Melinda shrugged. “I guess even I get to have normal crazy dreams now and then.”
Things between her and Riley were going great. She was spending as much free time with him as possible. Her family was begrudgingly accepting of their relationship… with some cautious distrust and watchfulness from her brothers, but overall, it was the happiest she’d been in a long time.
And things between her and William were going great as well. Perhaps great wasn’t the right way to describe it… less tense. Less awkward. And much less time spent together. They’d just naturally given each other some space. Well, William had given her a lot of space and she’d obliged the best she could. Things were definitely not the same as before her dreams about him had started and she was beginning to think they never would be again. But she’d give William what he needed. Which appeared to be time away from her.
Michael stretched and yawned. “Let’s just hope that last night’s dream was not a harbinger of doom, Sis. It’s been pleasantly quiet the last few weeks and I’d love to keep it that way.” He grabbed Emily around the waist and pulled her in. “And no one has tried to injure, kill or turn my girlfriend into anything otherworldly.”
Emily laughed and kissed his nose. “Always a plus,” she agreed. “It would also be nice to celebrate the fourth of July with the rest of the Isle, and all together, this year. Just a couple days away.”
“Fireworks, beer and food are some of the best around, even if the Isle is overrun with tourists.” Michael couldn’t believe he was actually looking forward to it. “We’ll get your dad to come along too. He’s been spending too much time inside lately.”
Emily’s heart purred. “That’s very sweet, Michael.”
“He did bring the woman I adore into this world.”
“Still, you’ve taken quite the liking to each other the last few weeks. It’s… nice. Spending some extra time with him. And you.”
“I have been at your
place a lot. And he just so happens to enjoy a good game of poker.”
Emily grinned. “Still, you’re right about getting him out. I’m pretty sure he’s not been feeling so great and just didn’t want to bother us about it.”
Us. Michael liked the ease with which she said it. And he enjoyed hanging out with her father. He reminded him a bit of his own… he let out a low sigh. “Family meeting time, right?”
“Yeah, it is,” said Melinda. She didn’t sound anymore enthused to go than her brother. Emily tossed them both a compassionate frown.
“Sorry, don’t mean to be a downer,” Michael droned despondently. “It’s just that we’re getting nowhere in the search for our father, or the Soul Hunter.”
“Maybe the third time will be the charm,” hoped Emily.
“Ugh, don’t remind me,” said Michael, remembering their previous failures. They had attempted to track the Soul Hunter twice in the previous weeks, to no avail. If it was indeed still on the Isle, it was hiding itself well.
Worse yet, they were running out of ideas. The Deanes had offered to help, but the Howards had turned them down hoping to do this job on their own. Melinda might be dating one of them, but the Deanes did not need to know Howard business, especially when it came to magic or protecting the Isle.
Michael and Emily followed Melinda into William’s study, where Charlie was already waiting.
“Good, you’re all here,” stated William.
“Although I don’t really see why,” said Michael, discouraged.
Charlie let out a groan, leaning back in his chair. His brother had it right, seeing as they’d tried to track the Soul Hunter and come up with nothing. They were no closer to locating it, or their father, Jack.
Melinda peered at William, hopeful he had something new to offer, but even their mentor wore a look of defeat.
“There’s got to be something we’ve missed,” she whispered.
“Yes, perhaps so,” William replied. He didn’t linger in her gaze. He’d done better these last few weeks at keeping his distance. Keeping himself from delving into her mind, or from sneaking a peek into her dreams. Trying so ever slowly to get their relationship back to where it had once been. Friends. Very good friends. That worked and lived together, and trusted each other implicitly. But it would take time. And a lot of control on his part.
A Nightmare to Remember (Wicked Good Witches Book 5) Page 1
