Twelve Shades of Midnight:

by Liliana Hart

  Pressing the heel of her hand to her temple, she winced. “So she basically infiltrated the Jackson household?”

  Baba nodded, her mouth a thin line. “It’s going to take some doing to get Mrs. Jackson to come back home. That cabana boy she’s shacked up with really is delicious, but I’ll make this right, Winnifred. She needed Randolph’s wife out of the picture, because no one knows Wyatt better than his own mother. My sister realized if his behavior changed even a little, Mrs. Jackson would know. She’d worry, fret—because that’s what mother’s do. So my sister first cast a spell on Randolph, turning him into a grumpy old codger, and then she worked her way into Mrs. Jackson’s mind, convincing her she needed a vacation from her marriage. With that done, she busied herself with Wyatt.”

  Winnie ran a hand though her hair, almost incapable of words. “I thought it was strange that Mrs. Jackson had left Wyatt. Daphne said she was a great mother, very attuned to her son.”

  Baba Yaga smiled warmly. “She is, and I’ll make certain she’s reunited with her husband and Wyatt as though nothing ever happened.”

  Winnie blew out a breath of relief. “So you know all of this how?”

  She smirked. “Oh, my sister was happy to gloat tonight, Winnifred. She told us everything before she immobilized us. But that’s neither here nor there. You saved us tonight. Because of you, Ben and Lola and everyone else is alive. You put your own life at risk. You do understand what that means, don’t you?”

  “That I’m out of my mind, because wow, that was like dumping your whole body into a human mixer.”

  Baba Yaga shook her head. “It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever witnessed, Winnifred. But Fate knew that. He knew you were meant to be here. He knew you were the next Baba Yaga’s guardian.”

  Winnie’s mouth opened then closed. “Her guardian? Didn’t you say I shouldn’t babysit a rock? Now you’re telling me I’m Lola’s guardian?”

  Baba Yaga chuckled. “I said a lot of things. In some ways, it was all a test. In others, it was out of concern. Because I knew you were the one for Ben. I didn’t know you were Lola’s guardian. But it all makes sense to me now. You’re here not just for Benjamin, but for my sweet Lola.”

  Her fingers shook as she tried to absorb. “This is insane.”

  Baba Yaga cupped her chin. “No, Winnifred. It’s not insane. You were prepared to give your life for Lola and Ben. We both know what the outcome of that spell usually is.”

  She nodded, the magnitude of what she’d just done beginning to sink in. “Extinguishment. I knew. I don’t know how I remembered it, or how I managed to pull it off and live.”

  “It’s because you’re powerful, Winnifred. And all this time, while your magic lay mostly dormant, it built, it grew, and turned you into a force at the exact time we needed it most. Fate knew that.”

  “Fate might want to speak up from time to time in group, huh? Give a girl a head’s up, maybe?”

  Baba Yaga’s laughter tinkled around the room. “You know he can’t do that, Winnifred. But he knew you’d sacrifice for Lola and Ben. That was all you. You did that out of love. You’d do it again. I’ll never forget that.”

  “Yaga?” Ben yelled from downstairs. “I want my woman. Time’s up. She’s been through enough for tonight.”

  “Ben’s right. You need to rest. I’m sure your powers are depleted at this point.”

  Her everything was depleted. Slipping from the chest, she stood on shaky feet, her eyes straying to Wyatt.

  Baba Yaga slipped her arm through Winnie’s. “I said I’d take care of it, Winnifred. It’ll be like it never happened for him. I promise. Now we just have one more thing to take care of.”

  “Winnie! Don’t you leave me here in this heap of rubble!” Icabod called.

  Baba Yaga held up her finger. “That’s the one more thing.”

  Winnie stopped short. “You can hear him?”

  “Of course I can. I can hear all familiars.”

  Oh, this was priceless. “Icabod’s my familiar?”

  Baba leaned her against the one wall still standing and stooped to pick away the fallen shingles from the roof, clearing the debris from Icabod. She brushed him off, straightening his once more torn head before handing him to Winnie. “He is, and a really good one. He was trying to communicate to you what we couldn’t.”

  She tucked Icabod under her arm, holding his head in place. “How is it that every other witch I know gets a cat for a familiar and I get a creepy doll?”

  Baba Yaga began helping her toward the stairs. “Cats are so overrated, don’t you think? They’re such predictable choices for familiars. Besides, look at it this way, you don’t have to change his litter.”

  Winnie threw her head back and laughed, wincing when the throb in her temple pounded out an angry beat.

  But then Ben was there, smiling at her, taking her hand from Baba Yaga’s and walking her toward the door of the school. “So, did you hear, Yagamawitz?”

  “Which part?”

  “That I’m a bad ass.”

  “Is this one of those war stories we’ll hear every Christmas dinner for the next hundred years?”

  She giggled. “Oh, at least.”

  “Fine, but you better leave the part out about how I couldn’t break those invisible chains. I won’t have you making me look like some sissy in front of the family.”

  Winnie put her hand on his arm to stop him just before they reached the Pacer. “Do you feel emasculated by my immense power, Benjamin?”

  He grinned down at her. “Nah. I’m okay with average warlock.”

  Winnie reached up and cupped his face, her cheeks suddenly wet as the night’s events hit her full on in the gut. “I was so afraid of losing you and Lola.”

  Ben used his thumb to wipe away her tears. “You don’t ever have to be afraid again, Winnie Foster.”

  Standing on tiptoes, under the light of the buttery moon, she pressed her lips to his. “I love you, Yagamawitz.”

  Always.

  Ben helped her the rest of the way through the parking lot “So tell me about the creepy doll. He’s really your familiar?”

  “Hey, up there, big and brawny. I’m starting to get a little offended by the creepy doll label.”

  Winnie hugged Icabod to her, muffling his complaints. “Let’s go home to Lola and I’ll tell you all about him.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  One year later

  She watched as Daphne crossed the garden, moving through the crowd of people toward her, Winnie’s shock impossible to hide.

  “Hold the phone. Fate is your date?”

  “Fate is my husband,” she drawled. Smoothing her hands over her silver beaded dress.

  “So all this time, all the griping about this ex of yours, and it’s Fate?”

  Daphne rolled her eyes. “I know, I know. It’s a well-kept secret. We don’t put it out there because you know how it goes. Everyone wants to know what’s going to happen in their futures. If people knew he was my husband, we’d never get any alone time.”

  Winnie smiled at her. It was obvious Daphne was happy, and she wanted everyone to be as happy as she was. “So you’re back together?”

  “We are. And look at him, would you? How could I resist?”

  There was no denying Fate was hot. “But didn’t you say he was a lying scumbag who left you for a familiar?”

  “I thought he did. Turns out he was in deep cover, smoking out a shady familiar. He’s apologized at least a hundred times for having to lie to me. But look what he gave me to make up for it!” she squealed, holding up her finger to flash a brilliant sapphire ring, surrounded by a gold band.

  “You can be bought, Daphne. Where has your independence gone?” she teased, knocking shoulders with her.

  “In the shitter, and I figure if he lies to me again, this baby right here’ll buy me some independence at the pawn shop.”

  Winnie barked a laugh. “Then I’m happy for you.”

  Daphne twirled a finger a
round at the lights and the gardens Winnie had spent an entire year planning, nurturing, reconstructing with Lola in honor of Moira. “So, this is beautiful, Winnie. Just stunning. Moira would be so happy and honored. You know that, right?”

  Winnie looked down at her heels—heels she’d bought with the money she’d earned as the permanent teacher’s aide at Miss Marjorie’s. “I’d like to think it would make her happy to see her gardens tended.”

  “It’s amazing,” BIC said from behind her. “Moira would be so proud, Winnifred.”

  Winnie swung around and gave her a quick hug, holding BICs hands away from her body to admire her dress. “I’m sorry, is this Miss Gingham-Checked standing here before me like some goddess in gold and silver?”

  They’d gone on several girls-only outings when BIC had decided a makeover was in order, which Winnie was thrilled to guide her through. They’d struck up a friendship since that Halloween. BIC was the only babysitter she and Ben considered capable of watching Lola.

  BIC fingered the whistle she refused to give up around her neck. “Well, I heard Destiny was going to be here. She’s a little out of my league, but it can’t hurt to try, right?”

  “You know, Destiny was just saying the same thing about you,” Marjorie chirped, her arm through that of the newest warlock in town.

  BIC’s face went crimson. She grabbed a glass of champagne from one of the trolls Winnie had hired to waiter the party. She tilted her glass in Winnie’s direction and winked as she took her leave. “Beautiful party, parolee. You’ve made some magic here.”

  Marjorie bobbed her head. “It really is amazing, Winnie. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many roses in my entire life, and it smells incredible. All the twinkling lights are so romantic. You’ve come a long way from a Pacer and an orange jumpsuit, Winnie Yagamawitz.”

  Winnie gave Marjorie a quick squeeze. “Talk about coming a long way. Who’s opening a chain of Miss Marjories? You, that’s who.”

  “Can you even believe Marjorie Brentford, mousy, afraid-of-her-own-shadow, is a business owner?”

  “A franchise owner. Those classes on assertiveness obviously helped,” Winnie said on a wink. Marjorie, tired of feeling like a doormat, took control of her life, and since then, there’d been no holding her back.

  Well, sometimes, they’d had to physically hold her back. She’d gone a little overboard in the assertion department in the early stages of finding her inner power, but she was beginning to find her balance and it was thrilling to watch her grow more confident.

  “We’re off to dance! But thank you for inviting us; you did a really beautiful job, Winnie!” Marjorie’s handsome warlock twirled her off to the dance floor in the middle of the garden, her laughter mingling with the warm evening air.

  Today marked a year since last Halloween, and in that year, so much had changed. She was now Mrs. Benjamin Yagamawitz, insanely in love, and falling harder every day.

  And then there was Lola—the second biggest love of her life. The incident from last year erased from her mind due to Baba Yaga’s powerful spell, she’d begun to heal. She’d come to trust Winnie and Ben without condition, and the bond between she and Winnie strengthened. There’d been plenty of ups and downs in the last year, but they’d weathered them all—together.

  Nowadays, Lola was just like all the other witches her age. Happy, loved, treasured beyond imagination.

  Winnie’s father had taken to visiting them often, and father and daughter began to mend the gap between them—to heal. Amos was now considering relocating to Paris to be near his granddaughter, and his future grandchild.

  Amos had also been a huge help with the garden they all now stood in, relaying tips on different flowers her mother had shared with him over the years,

  They’d built this garden together—for Moira—so Lola would always have a living piece of her mother. And it was Winnie’s finest accomplishment. Roses in every shade of pink and a multitude of varieties bloomed in fluffy bushes at almost every corner. Lavender grew in clumps, sweet and filling the air with its gentle scent.

  Puffy blue and white hydrangeas, just now seeing their fruition, mingled amongst the baby’s breath and lilacs.

  In the center of the largest of the gardens, there was a black-and-white picture of Moira and Brad, taken when Moira was eight months pregnant with Lola. Brad’s hands rested on her swollen belly, covering Moira’s possessively. Their eyes glowed, their smiles were full of bliss, and just beneath the happy couple, the words read, “There is love…”

  And as Winnie looked out over the crowd of people they’d invited to celebrate Halloween and the day their family truly began, she smiled.

  Icabod and Persimone sat on twin chairs, staring blankly out at the guests, their stuffed hands resting side by side.

  Soft lights twinkled in the trees, a band played Frank Sinatra’s The Way You Look Tonight, everyone was smiling and laughing and dancing, and it filled her up—almost to overflowing.

  This. This was what she’d always been looking for without even knowing it.

  This was everything.

  “It’s amazing, Mrs. Yagamawitz. Every single thing about tonight is amazing, including you,” Ben whispered in her ear from behind.

  She tucked his arms around her waist and laughed. “Not too shabby for a Unabomber, huh?”

  “You’ve come a long way.”

  “Yeah,” she replied on a blissful sigh.

  “Oh, hell. Did you see your father over there by the fountain talking to mine? We might want to discourage all communication. You know Dad and his lets-hit-the-strip-club routine.”

  Turning in his arms, Winnie let her head rest on his broad chest, inhaling his familiar cologne. “Nah. My father’s got a pretty good head on his shoulders. Just so long as he stays away from that loose-as-a-goose Serendipity, I think we’re safe.”

  Ben chuckled, pressing his lips to the top of her head. “So, did you save a dance for me?”

  “All of my dances are saved for you, warlock. Forever.”

  He leaned back in their embrace. “Did I tell you how hot you look in that dress?”

  “Did I tell you I feel like a big, sparkly pink watermelon in it, and I think you’re just saying that so I won’t feel like a beached whale because I’m a hormonal accident waiting to happen and all I do lately is cry and eat?”

  Ben put a protective hand over her swollen belly and gave her a lopsided grin. “Unborn linebackers need to eat a lot, I hear.”

  She rolled her eyes at him and giggled. “If I wasn’t so crazy about you, I’d remind you that my family has a long line of girls. You’re settin’ yourself up for a fall, Yagamawitz.”

  He smiled his devastatingly handsome smile. “If I wasn’t so crazy about you, I’d tell you that my seed is strong and I have a long line of boys in my family. Instead, because you’re a blubbering mess all the time, I’ll just tell you I don’t care what it is, as long as you’re its mother.”

  Winnie pulled him in for a kiss, sighing against the lips that never failed to thrill her. “Then I’d tell you I love you and good answer.”

  “I like you today, Winnie Yagamawitz. I like you a lot,” he whispered back, pulling her close to sway to the music the small band was playing.

  They danced like that for a little while—close, content in this life they’d begun. Lola joined them briefly, clinging to their hands and giggling softly until Baba Yaga called to her niece when the band’s lazy beat suddenly picked up.

  Billy Idol’s Mony Mony struck up, and Baba Yaga held out her hand to them.

  As Ben twirled her to the dance floor, grabbing onto Yaga’s hand and they “rode the pony”, laughing and singing, Winnie sent up a silent wish that Zelda, wherever she’d landed, was as happy as she was.

  Because she was happier than she’d ever been.

  Ever.

  The End

  (For now…)

  About the Author

  Dakota Cassidy is the nationally bestselling author of mor
e than thirty books. She lives in the gorgeous state of Oregon with her real life hero and her dogs, and she loves hearing from readers!

  Connect with Dakota online: Facebook | Twitter | Website

  More Books by Dakota Cassidy

  Fangs of Anarchy The Bundle

  An American Werewolf in Hoboken Wolf Mates Book 1

  What’s New Pussycat? Wolf Mates Book 2

  MIDNIGHT RENEGADE

  Claire Cavanaugh

  Copyright © 2014

  To Kevin, Robin and Rachel. Without you, this book would not exist. Love you all.

  Chapter One

  SEAL team commander, Alex “Ice Man” Winters, scanned the mostly empty medical lab with suspicion. Wheels went up on military deployments at all hours, but o’dark thirty was one hell of a time to decide his team needed another inoculation.

  He didn’t trust unexplained change and he certainly didn’t trust the bullshit orders that had been coming down from command lately. If his team’s overseas op had been re-scheduled, he should have been notified. This mission and his men were screwed up enough already.

  A door clanged and Gabriel Begay, his team’s main point man, entered. The Navajo made a fierce addition to their unit. They were lucky to have him.

  “Hey, Shaman. Any visions lately?”

  “You mocking me, Ice Man? I told you, the Diné have medicine men, not shamans.”

  “Tough, you’re stuck with the name.” Alex lowered his voice. “Begay, I’m dead serious about the visions.”

  The smile dropped from the Navajo’s face. “Expecting trouble?”

  Winters nodded. “My danger alarm’s been going off all day and I don’t know why. I hoped you might.”