Enigma, Maine, Bundle 1

by Iris Abbott

  The women all blinked three times and then opened their arms to embrace the elements of the universe and the magic it holds. A cloud slithered across the full moon and covered them with darkness. “It’s done,” Julie said to her companions. “Now we wait until Halloween to see what the universe and fate have in store for us.”

  Brittany huffed in annoyance. Everyone that knew the owner of the self-defense training facility knew that patience was not her strong suit. She had a strong and vibrant personality, and she was tired of dating men that deferred to her for everything. She was waiting for a man to step forward who was strong enough to hold his own against her forceful personality. She used her considerable self-control to push down the annoyance. When she took into consideration everything that she stood to gain, what were three more weeks in the larger scheme of things?

  Her friends were moving out and heading in separate directions. She thought about going home to a hot bath, but she wanted to finish a new sequence of self-defense exercises she was working on. She wanted to kick things up a notch for her next women’s class. The physical activity would help take her mind off of the waiting because Halloween couldn’t come fast enough for this witch!

  ONE

  Brittany was alive with the anticipation of what could be the biggest night of her life. Tonight was Halloween! It was also the night she and her friends would find out if their mated souls spell worked. She glanced at Selena and then back to Julie’s apartment door. She found it highly amusing that both dressed as witches.

  “I hope at least one of us was more creative when it came to a costume,” Selena lamented.

  Brittany tucked a strand of sleek auburn hair behind one ear and laughed. “I think we look hot. Besides, it’s only fitting we’re dressed as witches since tonight is the night our mated souls spell is supposed to work.” She was the clotheshorse of the group, and she knew the short black formfitting dress and wedge heeled boots were a witch’s best friend. Heck with this outfit they might not even need a mated souls spell. If only, she thought.

  The door opened, and Julie took one look at them and giggled. “Really?” she arched a brow. “Not only are the three of us dressed as witches, but we have the same dress. Unbelievable! The only thing different is the boots.”

  “Well,” Brittany jumped into the conversation feet first as she was known to do. “We are witches, and you know what they say,” she winked, “great minds think alike.”

  That sent all three women into gales of laughter.

  “You look gorgeous by the way.” Brittany arched a brow. “And you thought to get a prop. I love the lighted pumpkin.”

  Julie just shrugged.

  Brittany could tell both her friends were nervous and on edge. Of the three Brittany was the confident and outgoing one. She could trace her roots all the way back to one of the founding fathers of Enigma. She knew with her ability to summon the powers of the universe in the form of magic she was different. Instead of growing up awkward and timid because of that difference, she embraced the secret legends of Enigma and reveled in that which made her different. She wasn’t sure if she believed the whispered stories of vampires and shifters that had been passed down through generations of Sheldon’s, but it made her feel better all the same.

  Syn, the stray black cat that Julie found hanging around her front door several days earlier, came running. Julie reached down, picked him up, and gave him a big hug. “You hold down the fort, Syn. The girls and I are up for one hot night tonight.”

  The cat looked at the three witches with big yellow eyes and meowed in agreement.

  Brittany and Selena gave him a pet behind the ears. He purred especially loud when Selena hesitantly scratched him under the chin. Brittany noticed her friend seemed uncomfortable around the cat. Selena even snatched her hand away when his purring grew louder.

  Julie put Syn back in the house and locked the door behind her. “I swear that cat loves you more than me,” she pouted at Selena. “And I’m the one that rescued him from the rain and took him into my home.”

  Selena moved aside the neckline of her costume to show her friends the tiny scar where her shoulder and neck met. “Right! Have you forgotten that your cat bit me? And it scarred.”

  She let out a huff of indignation. “It’s the only scar I have too, because I’ve been able to heal everything else, but nothing works on this stupid bite mark. Even my magic came up short!”

  Brittany looked at Julie, and they frowned at each other. “I didn’t realize it left a scar,” Brittany lightly touched it with a finger and jumped back in confusion when it burned her. “Ouch,” she glared at Selena. “You burned me!” It was the last thing she expected from Selena, the timid one of the bunch.

  Selena gave Brittany an affronted look. “No, I didn’t! Stop playing pranks and let’s get to the party. I can’t wait to see what happens tonight. I have been jittery all day, and that usually means something big is about to happen!”

  Whoa! What was going on? She hadn’t been playing a prank. She got burned when she touched that bite mark. She crinkled her brows and forehead. There was something strange about the cat. She’d have to have a long talk with Julie when the night was over. A legend about black cats, familiars, and guardians nudged the back of her mind, but she shut it down for now. Tonight she had other things to concentrate on like finding her soul mate!

  All three women moved toward Selena’s black sports car. There was an extra pep in Brittany’s step, and she was the first one to reach the car.

  “Let’s get this show on the road,” Julie said. “I can’t wait to see what magic and the universe have in store for us tonight.”

  That was probably true for all of them Brittany silently added. She hadn’t been this excited about anything in ages.

  ****

  Brittany took in the heavy forested area thick with fog as Selena drove up to the imposing looking wrought iron gate. She could hear the surf pounding in the distance. They were close to the Atlantic Ocean. Brittany felt a chill work its way down her spine.

  Something about the place seemed vaguely familiar. Brittany was positive she visited it with her grandmother as a very small girl. “How’d you find out about this party anyway?” Brittany finally asked Julie. She was pretty sure none of them knew the person or people who lived in the fortress behind the imposing gates.

  “I found the invitation lying in the foyer of my apartment when I returned home the night we cast the mated souls spell,” Julie responded. She shrugged. “I took it as a sign that this is where we’re supposed to be tonight.”

  Brittany was getting an uneasy feeling about the party, and so was Selena if the size of her frown was anything to go by.

  “Isn’t that the same night Syn showed up on your doorstep?” Selena asked. Yep, just as Brittany thought, the circumstances surrounding the cat’s sudden arrival were becoming more and more curious. There was more to that cat than met the eye.

  Julie puckered her forehead. “You know, you’re right. I never thought about the two events being connected before. It was probably a coincidence that Syn showed up that night.” She gave a nonchalant shrug and turned her attention back to the castle looming at the end of the long driveway.

  “Wow look at this place,” Selena exclaimed. “It’s like a medieval castle. I had no idea anything like this existed around here.”

  Brittany heard a sudden intake of breath from Julie who stopped dead in her tracks. “It’s absolutely gorgeous,” Julie whispered in awe as she started moving forward again. Brittany followed her, as did Selena, but at a more leisurely pace.

  “I don’t know. It looks kind of spooky to me,” Selena murmured so low that Brittany could barely hear her.

  Brittany laughed at her friend. “That’s rich coming from a spell-casting, card-carrying witch.” All three women giggled as they entered the huge front door.

  “What are you afraid of anyway vampires and werewolves?” That sent all three women into a fit of laughter that was soon
drowned out by the noise from the party. Brittany added the last statement as an afterthought. Her friends didn’t have to know that she was half serious when she said it.

  The sounds of throbbing music and chatting people immediately surrounded them. All three women jumped when the heavy door clanged shut behind them.

  Brittany let the beat of the music seep into her being. She loved to dance. She rolled her shoulders and moved in time to the music. She felt the comforting feel of her sleek hair sway back and forth with the movement of her body. She was ready to cut loose and have fun. She was with her friends, and this was supposed to be a momentous occasion for them.

  The dance floor called to her, and she drifted that way to join the huddle of bodies already enjoying the dance music. She danced from person to person, offering a quick smile and hello as she went. She danced her way through several groups until she found herself at the back of the dance floor. It was less crowded there, and Brittany forgot about the other guests and closed her eyes and let the music take over her body.

  ****

  Logan had not planned to attend this or any other Halloween party. Something transported him to his current location, and it hadn’t been his neural implant. The best he could tell he was in Enigma, Maine sometime in the early 21st century.

  Evidently, it was also Halloween because he landed in the middle of a costume party. He was in and out of Enigma a lot because the group of time travelers he belonged to always kept in touch with the guardians. His usual council contact was Phillip Saint John. The guardian had been living in Enigma for more than two centuries.

  Sometimes the guardians asked the time travelers to help with time-sensitive issues. Logan thought that maybe he’d been summoned somehow by Phillip. He looked around for the cat shifter and saw him about to pounce on a blond witch. He must have felt Logan’s eyes on him because he looked up and nodded then went back to focusing on the blond.

  Nope, the guardians hadn’t summoned. Something else was afoot. Logan was afraid he wasn’t going to like whatever it was. It was always said amongst his kind that when one found the time and place where he was meant to be the neural implant that allowed the time travelers to manipulate atomic structure and travel through dimensions of time ceased to work. Logan had a nagging suspicion that his days of time travel were over.

  He shrugged and looked around the crowded room. At least he was dressed for Halloween. He preferred roaming the high seas during the early eighteenth century. He most recently was aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge with Blackbeard and his crew. Logan was dressed as a pirate, and he fit right in with the witches, vampires, and other naughty creatures he could see depicted in costume. No one had to know that the gun he carried was real!

  Logan found a deserted spot at the back of the large ballroom. He wanted to see not be seen. A witch with sultry pouting lips and fiery red hair caught his gaze. She danced closer to his hiding place.

  He saw the three women dressed as witches as soon as they walked in the door. The redhead caught his attention, and she refused to relinquish it. He was drawn to her almost as if by magic. His walked toward her before he realized he was moving. He knew without a doubt that his appearance at the party was no coincidence. Fate wanted him in the space at that particular time, and he knew it had something to do with the redhead.

  The legend of his people and their beginnings nagged at his mind. Didn’t it have something to do with a red-headed witch, a mated souls spell, and a time-traveling pirate stuck in the 21st century? A shiver ran down his spine. He had a plaguing suspicion that he’d just come in contact with his past, present, and future all at once.

  Logan had a sneaky suspicion that even if he could get his implant to work, he wouldn’t be going anywhere. He looked down into the deep blue eyes of the bewitching redhead. His heart raced. He still managed to offer her his most seductive smile.

  Logan didn’t have time to dance no matter how tempting the partner. Neural implants didn’t malfunction for no reason. Something was going on, and he needed to find out what it was. He spirited the redhead away from the dance floor, found an empty hallway, and tried the first door he located. It was unlocked, and the room was empty. It would do nicely.

  Once they were inside, he turned toward the redhead. “My name’s Logan.” He crossed his arms and let them come to rest across his broad chest. “And I’m from the 23rd century. Maybe you want to explain to me why and how I was sucked from the eighteenth century to where we are now.”

  ****

  Brittany looked up, way up, into a pair of stunning ice blue eyes. Wow, the mysterious stranger was well over six feet tall. She was only five and a half feet tall, and she felt really petite next to the man. He moved closer. Brittany’s lungs seized, and she tried her best to suck in a deep breath of air.

  The sexy as sin pirate’s smile could melt the largest iceberg. Brittany never claimed to be made of ice. Her red hair said it all. She was all fire and heat inside and out! “Hi, I’m Brittany,” she introduced herself. Finally, his words penetrated the dense fog, clouding her brain.

  Brittany furrowed her brows. She was descended from one of the oldest most powerful lines of witches. She’d head the whispers of vampires, and shifters her entire life. She’d never heard anything about time travelers. Was that even possible?

  “Um, I’m not sure why you’re here.” She backed toward the door. “I’ll just be going back to the party now.” She grabbed for the doorknob, but he was right behind her.

  He placed a strong hand on top of the delicate one that was already clutched around the doorknob. “I was summoned here for a reason, and I believe it has everything to do with you.” His eyes narrowed. “Let me take a wild guess at this. You and your friends are witches. The costume was your idea of a joke,” he smirked. “And you recently cast a mated souls spell.” His eyes narrowed when she let out a gasp that was extremely loud in the otherwise quiet of the room.

  Brittany couldn’t help the gush of air that rushed from her lungs and then her mouth. “How could you possibly know that?” Her expressive eyes narrowed to mere slits. “Did one of my friends put you up to this? Do you know Julie? Is that how she got the invitation?” Brittany’s friends weren’t really pranksters, but the thought that this man might be telling the truth boggled the mind.

  “No, I don’t know your friends. Let’s just say that your spell must have worked, and now I’m trapped here in the 21st century.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Why would you be trapped?”

  “Even if you’re a witch I can’t take you from the time in which you belong. That means if we’re destined to be soul mates I’m stuck in the 21st century.”

  She didn’t see the problem. “What’s wrong with that?”

  “I’m a pirate at heart, and there isn’t much call for pirates nowadays. Figures!” He narrowed his eyes and paced around the small room.

  Brittany rolled her eyes. Only her Prince Charming would turn out to be a pirate with a bad attitude. “No one is making you stay here. Just do whatever it is you do when you travel through time and leave.” She didn’t want a soul mate who felt trapped and would fight the attraction between them. And boy was there an attraction. The chemistry between them was hot enough to create a blazing inferno. It smoldered just below the surface, but with a little oxygen, it could blaze out of control without any warning. Once ignited it would be really hard to extinguish!

  “If only it were that simple,” he grated out between clenched teeth. “My neural implant isn’t working. That means I’m supposed to be here, and I can only guess you’re the reason since I haven’t been able to take my eyes off of you.”

  “Well there is that, I guess.” She didn’t try to hide the sarcasm. Better he see that instead of the hurt feelings she tried so hard to hide. She had such high hopes for the night. She should have known better.

  Men were apprehensive of her strong will, and she was used to being overlooked in favor of someone frillier and less intimidating. Now
it seems fate sent her a soul mate that wanted to be anywhere but with her. An image of the pirate being dragged kicking and screaming through space made her laugh. He arched a brow at her, but she wasn’t willing to share just yet.

  “It’s a shame to waste a great party and great music.” She opened the door and stalked out of the room. She took a wrong turn and reached the end of the hallway before she realized she was walking away from the music, not toward it. “Great,” she muttered. The pirate had her all out of sorts. She turned on her heel and ran into a broad, muscled chest encased in black silk. Strong arms wrapped around Brittany and kept her from falling.

  “Steady,” the voice warned. “I’d hate for you to fall and bruise that enticing backside.”

  Brittany gasped at the pirate standing in front of her. That was the last thing she expected him to say. “I….”

  The door next to them opened, and three men wearing suits exited the room. Brittany saw several similarly clad men earlier and assumed they were wait staff. Now, she wasn’t sure who they were.

  The taller one seemed to be in charge and stepped forward. He narrowed his eyes and showed off a mouth full of teeth. It sent a cold shiver down Brittany’s spine. The word werewolf sprang to mind. “You’re not supposed to be back here. This area is off limits to all guests.”

  Brittany couldn’t help her smart reply. “So what are you doing here then?” She hadn’t done anything wrong, and she was going to stand her ground. She felt the pirate who’d inched closer to her stiffen.

  “I don’t think this is anyone you want to antagonize,” he whispered into her ear. He put a supporting arm around her waist at the same time. The neural implant inside his brain heightened both sight and hearing. He heard the words vampire hunter, alpha, and takeover. They’d stumbled into trouble, and he needed to try to backpedal their way out of there delicately.