A Bundle of Trouble (The Lynlee Lincoln Sets Book 1)

by Olivia Hardin

  I stepped out into the hallway to answer.

  “Lynlee, get me the hell out of here. I can’t take this anymore, please help me.”

  I orbed to Teddy’s location, which turned out to be the center of a huge mountain lodge. About two dozen pairs of eyes surrounded us and without even looking at him I could feel Teddy step closer to me as if seeking protection.

  “Merry Christmas, guys.” I put on a plastic smile, eyes sweeping side to side to keep an eye on everyone. Judging by the looks on their faces I figured Teddy’s pack wasn’t ecstatic about me being there.

  “Let’s go, Lynlee. Let’s get out of here.”

  One of the weres took a step towards us, an older female who I quickly guessed to be Teddy’s mother. I wasn’t keen on being surrounded by angry werewolves, who at any moment might shift and pounce me, so I pointed my wand at the floor. A shining metallic circle appeared around Teddy and I.

  “Stay clear, everyone.” I advised the pack, raising an eyebrow and tossing them my best “don’t mess with me” expression.

  The circle looked enough like silver to give the weres pause. It wasn’t silver of course. If I could conjure precious metals out of thin air I could set myself up for life and wouldn’t need to work so hard at becoming a Neutralizer.

  “I just want to get out of here.” Teddy growled, leaning in close to me. He hadn’t told me what the problem was over the phone, but he sounded upset enough that I gave in and rushed to rescue him. The fact that I was anxious to get away from discussing magic with Beck might also have had something to do with my willingness to get here so quickly.

  “Don’t do this again Teddy.” Another woman pleaded, her hands stretched out to him. She was pretty, with delicate hands and waves of golden brown hair reaching to her waist.

  When she got close to the circle, Teddy stiffened and shook his head wild. “Ruth, stop.”

  Clearly he was worried about her stepping onto the “silver”. Which, had it been real, would have seared her feet and poisoned her blood. I didn’t have the chance to wonder about his concern for her because a group of weres to our right crouched low and started shifting into wolves.

  It was time to get out of here. I said as much to Teddy and he nodded his acknowledgment. In my pocket I held the keystone to my grotto. I grabbed it tight with one hand and took Teddy’s wrist with the other. In a matter of seconds the world turned colorful and sparkly, my body tingled with magic until we were back in my orbing cave.

  “Shit, it sure took you long enough to get us out of there.” He fussed, snatching his arm away and sitting down on a huge rock a few feet away from me.

  “You know, a simple thank you would work too, Teddy.” He frowned, then growled, his eyes flashing red at me, a sure sign he was getting worked up enough that he might shift into a wolf if further agitated. “And you’d better cut that crap. If you turn wolfie on me I’ll lock you in a silver cage for Christmas. Understand?”

  He made a sound like a puppy, but nodded his head. I waited for his eyes to stop glowing, then took a seat on a rock across from him.

  “Don’t look at me like that, Lynlee. I didn’t do anything wrong. I just didn’t want to be there anymore.”

  A deep sigh escaped my lips and sympathy overtook my irritation. “What happened then, Teddy? I mean, I don’t even know how you came to be in Tig’s charge. There must be a reason you ran away from your pack and your family.”

  He shrugged, averting his eyes from mine. “I’m the alpha’s son. I’m supposed to take over the pack. That’s not what I want, though.”

  “Being pack alpha is a huge deal.” I offered.

  “Not to me it isn’t. It isn’t me. I just wish people could get that. I wish they could get that I’m different.”

  Damn, that struck a nerve. I had a pretty good idea how Teddy felt based on my own parents’ reaction to my magic. I opened my mouth to speak but stopped when he shook his head.

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Where do you want me to take you then?”

  His brown eyes were big and sad when he gazed up at me. “Can’t I just come home with you? I won’t bother you. I just need a place to hang until school starts.”

  I stood up quickly and shook my head. “Oh, no. Not a chance, Teddy. You can’t come home with me. We’ll find you a nice hotel near campus so that you’ll be there and ready when the dorms open again.”

  “C’mon, Lynlee. It’s Christmas.”

  “I already have a guest and he won’t exactly appreciate me bringing a stray puppy home.”

  Teddy looked so forlorn that my cheeks flamed with guilt. I wondered not for the first time how I always ended up getting myself into so much trouble.

  Teddy and I arrived back at my house in the early morning hours of Christmas day. The light in my upstairs bedroom was off, so I figured Beck was probably sound asleep. Unlocking my front door and stepping into the foyer, I was immediately taken aback by scent of cinnamon wafting on the air.

  About a split second after that wonderful aroma entered my nostrils, the blinking of lights to my left caught my attention. I was so surprised when I looked and saw my entire living area done up with Christmas decorations that I might have been knocked over be a feather . Or a werewolf ….

  Teddy barreled into the room like a bull in a china closet and I had to reach out to grab the wall for balance.

  “Wow! I didn’t take you for a person who got into the Christmas spirit.”

  He was right. I was fairly certain that I didn’t own a single Christmas decoration, and yet here in my house was a 4 foot Christmas tree, sparkling with multicolored lights and red, green, blue and white bows decorated throughout. A garland was draped in two big arches on the fireplace mantle with a single stocking in the center. In the windowsill was situated a small nativity. I was afraid if I looked at the single gift resting under the tree that it would probably have my name on it.

  All I could do was stare in awe.

  After a few minutes Teddy nudged my arm, yawning big for effect. “I sure am tired.”

  Rolling my eyes, I motioned for him to follow me and walked him down the hall to the room I originally had planned for Beck. I was relieved when I noticed Beck’s bag was no longer there, indicating he had taken it up to my room.

  “I’m sure you’re strong enough to lay that mattress and box springs down and make yourself comfortable?”

  Teddy yawned again, his head bobbing up and down in a nod. “Yeah, I can handle it.” I tossed him the sheets from the bathroom counter, in a hurry to get upstairs to my lover.

  When I got to my room and opened the door a sliver of light crossed over the bed, bathing the room in a soft glow. Beck looked perfect in my bed. His usually perfectly coiffed hair was tousled and mussed. The lines of his face were softened, but the sprinkling of dark stubble on his face still gave him a sexy edge. He had one arm sprawled up above his head, the other with fingers splayed wide across his chest.

  I wanted to curl in there with him and wrap myself in the warmth and safety of his arms.

  But first I needed to breathe. I tilted my head back and sucked in a soft gasp of air, my heart thudding wild in my chest. I was falling for this man so damned hard I was afraid all of me would shatter into pieces. He turned on a sensitive part of me that I always kept buried and hidden.

  What I found with him exposed my soft underbelly and made me vulnerable in a way I’d never experienced. I needed him. I wanted him.

  But more than that, I needed him to want me. The real me. The kick-ass witch, the Neutralizer-wannabe, the woman with a mushy side and a penchant for bringing home waifs. I wanted Beck to learn to love that Lynlee Lincoln.

  And I was terrified that he couldn’t.

  “Hey, you,” he murmured in a gravelly voice, gazing at me with sleep-laden eyes.

  “Hey, yourself. You’ve been busy this evening.”

  He grinned, looking a little sheepish. “Maybe it was stupid, but hearing what you said
about your parents and all… I just thought it would be nice for you to have a more traditional Christmas set up when you got home tonight.”

  “You did, huh?” I approached the bed, biting my lip and slipping my fingers into his hand still resting above his head.

  “I even got frozen turkey dinners for tomorrow.”

  A sob rose up from my chest and somehow turned into a broken laugh by the time it escaped my lips. Beck grinned and lifted the blankets, beckoning me to get into bed with him.

  Hopping under the covers with him shouldn’t have taken any thought at all. This man was unbelievably handsome and he turned all my senses on fire. He was sweet and caring; his simple action of giving me Christmas meant more to me than I could have acknowledged without turning into a blubbering mess of tears.

  But would he still be that sweet guy when I revealed the truth about who I was? Could I really take that chance? My parents, the ones who were supposed to love me no matter who or what I was, hadn’t been able to do it.

  As I kicked off my shoes and removed my jeans I realized that in that moment all my worries about Beck’s reaction to my magic didn’t matter. It was Christmas and I had a wonderful guy warming up my bed for me. All the other stuff, all the trouble that would inevitably come could wait for another day. For now I had the best gift a girl like me could ever want. And I wasn’t about to fritter it away by giving my uncertainties any more real estate in my heart.

  Beck’s hand reached out and skimmed along the skin of my inner thigh, caressing me with clear suggestion. I licked my lips and grinned down at him. “Merry Christmas, Beck Hale.” I murmured as I slipped my legs under the blankets, wrapping my arms around him and claiming his lips with mine.

  So this Trivia by Olivia is actually brought to you mostly by the hubby. First, let’s talk about PMS. I was already dating the hubby when I decided to audit one of the history classes he taught at the local university. I will never forget the day he lectured about PMS; the common aspect of many Native American tribes to be Polytheistic, Matrilineal and to have Sex-linked traits. I explained the basics of what that means here in the story itself, but I just wanted you guys to know that I didn’t make it up. The college professor who swept me off my feet about sixteen years ago used that in all of his United States History courses.

  So the other trivia I want to mention is Lynlee’s comment about the football score 222-0. Originally I wrote 100-0 in my first draft, but when I mentioned it to hubby, he proceeded to tell me about the Cumberland vs Georgia Tech game that ended with a score of 222-0. He thought he recalled the year of that game to be 1915, but in actuality it was 1916–still, pretty impressive that his brain can hold all of that “useless” information.

  According to the information I was able to find, it appears that Cumberland College discontinued its football program, but that they weren’t allowed to cancel this particular game against Georgia Tech. The internet provides lots of myths about the game, some of which have been debunked. But I have to say the quote from the Atlanta Journal pretty much sums up what the game must have been like:

  “As a general rule, the only thing necessary for a touchdown was to give a Tech back the ball and holler, ‘Here he comes’ and ‘There he goes.’”

  Oh, and one more fun fact. The coach for Georgia Tech that year? None other than John Heisman.

  Trolling for Trouble (The Lynlee Lincoln Series One)

  Olivia Hardin

  All rights reserve. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Copyright © 2012 Olivia Hardin

  All rights reserved.

  With shoulders sagging, I stepped outside the huge granite grotto with heavy dragging footsteps. I yanked the gold chain attached to my multicolored amulet from its slot in the stone wall, then slung it over my head and around my neck to rest just above my breasts. Eyes narrowed, I flashed an exasperated look up at the ceiling of the old storage shed and opened my mouth to speak, “I’m done,” I muttered to no one in particular. “Done! Lynlee Lincoln is officially off the clock. I need sleep!”

  I hated this time of year. It never failed that my monitor would go into overload during the days leading up to and during Halloween. It didn’t matter that MAUCs (Magical And Undead Creatures) were advised to remain out of sight during this particular holiday. MAUCs knew Halloween made normal people more susceptible to the subtle nuances and evidences of their existence. Still, some creatures just couldn’t resist the opportunity to spread their wings so to speak. Sometimes, literally.

  “Geez…” I muttered, thinking about the “vampire bat” sighting, my first call of the night over five hours ago, “Stupid kid!”

  He technically wasn’t a kid since he was about 158 years old, but considering Montgomery Janeck was little more than a teenager when he was turned, he looked all of 15. Once again he’d found a way to attend a teenybopper Halloween party. Just about the time all of the other children’s parents started arriving to pick them up, young Monty the Vampire transformed himself into a bat, buzzing all the young girls across their budding breasts and smiling in a lascivious way that any normal bat shouldn’t be able to smile. It wasn’t the first time he’d pulled such a stunt and was the main reason he’d requested to be in my charge ten years ago.

  I’m a freelance “neutralizer.” It’s my job to clean up all the sticky messes MAUCs get into when they mix with normal people. The Salem Witch Trials might have been averted if there’d been people like me around at the time. Yes, I’m a witch, but to be honest my magic isn’t my most important asset. Oh, it helps me sure, but generally my no-nonsense attitude and assertive attention to detail was what got my MAUCs out of trouble.

  I glanced in exasperation at the body of the faux bat on the ground just outside the opening to the grotto. I’d “killed” the thing in order to convince the panicked parents it must have only been the overactive imaginations of their children and not an undead beast flying overhead. Some local doctor would likely do a little extra business treating one or two kids unnecessarily for rabies, even though each of the families would receive a letter in tomorrow’s mail certifying the animal had not had the disease.

  Exiting the storage shed, I hurriedly locked the rickety doors behind me, and trudged towards my house. With a flick of my wrist, I waved my hand behind me to engage the invisible shield around the building as an added protection. When I bought this place my home inspector suggested I tear the shed down and build a new one. I figured the run-down shed was the perfect façade to detract would-be snoops.

  Exhaustion was taking its toll on me and even though my stomach grumbled in protest, I avoided the kitchen and started up the stairs towards my bedroom.

  I absently slipped my hands into the pockets of my coat, then dropped my head back and rolled my eyes when my fingers brushed against something rubbery. I pulled the toy toad from the confines of my coat and tossed it over my shoulder without even looking to see where it would land.

  Vampires certainly weren’t the only MAUCs to take advantage of the ghoulish holiday. No, in fact witches were the worst offenders. Still, I was more than a little shocked to get a call on the monitor from Grammie Charley earlier tonight.

  Grammie loves Halloween almost as much as she loves little children. As a hag-witch she looks the epitome of the character one
might find in an exaggerated child’s tale. That being said, Grammie’s a kindly soul and likes nothing more than to make little kids happy. That’s why each Halloween she decorates her home in the true fashion of the holiday with cobwebs, pumpkins, fake tombstones, etc. She even takes the time to divide the house into age appropriate sections.

  For the ten to fifteen age-group she annually concocts her “toad brew.” The neighborhood children of that age know that if they bring Grammie a toy toad, she’ll gladly dunk the little object into her brew and it will emerge as a living, slimy toad. In all the years she’s opened her home to the children, this was the first time she’d ever had a child infiltrate a section they weren’t supposed to enter. And when the little three year old boy precociously stuck his arm into the brew…

  Well, it was any wonder the little boy’s mother fainted dead away when her son gleefully presented her with a wriggling green amphibian growing out of his chubby little arm. I arrived just after Grammie nervously returned the boy to normal. The quickest solution was for me to place a spell on the child’s mother so she wouldn’t remember anything. Careful interviews with the other parents in the vicinity verified that no one else had seen anything amiss.

  Those were only two of about a dozen calls I fielded tonight and it was just barely midnight.

  The bedroom I called my own wasn’t very large, but it was the only updated room in my house. I faux painted the walls in tones of green and cream. My high-post bed was dressed to match with a single-tone green spread and ecru throw pillows. I liked the upstairs room the best and made it mine even though one of the bedrooms on the lower floor was the actual intended master.