She turned off the engine and gathered her thoughts. When she was a child, she spent a lot of time there, but now, she realized she didn’t much remember the store. She had vague memories of running around lots of dusty bookshelves, the hot and spicy scent of incense lingering in the air, the way there were wind chimes in each and every corner that sang with the whistle of the wind as it rolled through from the windows and front doorway. But the finer details, the way the place had looked and the layout, were completely lost on her. She didn’t know what she was about to walk into, she just hoped it was somewhere that wouldn’t make her miss her mother more than she could bear.
She stepped out of the car and locked it behind her. She gripped her purse strap firmly in her fist and then she stepped out on Main Street to cross to the other side. As she got closer to the doorway, her heart began to pick up pace, but then, she felt herself begin to relax. She could already smell incense, and little tufts of smoke were drifting out of mini cauldrons that had been placed on the tables outside.
“That smells like home,” she said with a smile as she reached for the door handle.
She had barely grazed it with her fingertips when the door flew open and an elegant lady with silver hair came into view with her arms held open wide. She swept Krystal into them and pulled her close, and as they embraced, Krystal felt tears prick the corner of her eyes.
“Aunt Beau,” she whispered as they held each other.
“Krystal,” Beau beamed.
They hugged in the doorway for what felt like an eternity before both women laughed and separated. The two went into the store.
Krystal’s eyes widened as she scanned the room and it all started to come flooding back to her. It was as if she had subconsciously yearned for this place and deliberately blocked out the magical wonder of it. She looked at the lofty ceilings and the beams that ran across with fairy lights entwined around them. There were shelves of books in rows on one side, but they seemed so much smaller than she had remembered them. She looked at the crystals on display and for sale, she looked at the tarot cards and the dedicated area at the back of the store where Beau must do her readings. It was all so familiar, and yet there was something not quite right. As she saw the details and the memories came back to her, she was sure the store she remembered had been bigger. It had been more of a library with a separate area at the front for selling occult items, but this place had less space for books.
“It seems so different,” she said. “I don’t remember it being like this… I feel like my mind is playing tricks on me.”
Beau smiled, and Krystal couldn’t help noticing how smooth and unlined her skin was. With her long silver hair, from the back she could have easily been mistaken for an old woman, but Beau couldn’t have been any older than forty. She was her mother’s younger sister and had always been the more eccentric of the two. She wore a deep purple shawl and her blue eyes seemed to glow against the paleness of her skin and hair.
“It is different,” Beau said. “But I suppose it has been a long time since you and your mother left…”
“Twenty years,” Krystal said. “I haven’t been back since Mom wanted to move.”
“Well, I know,” she half laughed. “I’ve had to visit you every year since.”
Krystal gave a mischievous smile.
“Mom didn’t want me to come back,” she said. “She hated it here.”
“Your mother was stubborn,” Beau said warmly. “And I have the feeling you’ve likely inherited a lot of that.”
Krystal laughed.
“So,” Beau said as she sat at the counter and stirred a cup of herbal tea. “Would you like a cup?”
There was a small iron teapot next to a small mug and Krystal shrugged and nodded. She watched as Beau poured it for her and passed it her way. The scent of cinnamon and clove seemed to explode from the steam, and it made her long for candles and a roaring fire. She loved this time of year and coming back to Bridge Hollow was certainly expanding her love for Autumn and all that came with it.
“This is a completely different building,” Beau said suddenly. “The store your mother and I opened when we were younger was on the other side of town.”
Krystal felt her eyes widen with shock; that had been something she hadn’t been expecting to hear.
“Wow,” she said. “Really? How come?”
Beau shrugged her shoulders, and as Krystal let herself acclimatize to the place, she realized there were still boxes stacked in corners and toward the back of the room that hadn’t been unpacked.
“You’ve moved in recently?” she asked.
Beau nodded.
“Only last week.” She took a sip of her tea. “And I know the place is probably looking like a shabby mess, but what can you do.”
“No,” Krystal shook her head and looked back around the place, “I can’t believe you only moved in last week, it looks incredible.”
“It still needs a lot of work,” Beau admitted. “And I suppose I could be done in the next couple of weeks or so, if I didn’t have to leave.”
Finally, she made it to the subject Krystal had been eager to hear more about. It must have been ten months since she had last seen her aunt. Even though Krystal hadn’t been back to Bridge Hollow, she had regularly met with her aunt halfway between there and the city, or Beau had come to stay with her. With her mother gone, the two had remained close, and Krystal would do anything for her, and vice versa. But Beau hadn’t wanted to tell Krystal what was going on in a letter, and now that she had arrived in town, she couldn’t wait to hear the truth.
“What’s going on?” Krystal asked as she sipped her tea. “You’ve got me here, but you’re going to have to fill me in…”
Beau nodded and sighed.
“I don’t even know where to begin,” she said. “I suppose I could start with the fact that this place isn’t everything your mother always led you to believe.”
“Oh, great,” Krystal laughed. “Do continue…”
Beau laughed too and she reached out and squeezed Krystal’s hand. It felt good for them to be there together, and she realized how at ease she was there. She had spent so long trying to forget and ignore this place. Until she had received the letter, she had barely even considered what it would be like to come back and really throw herself into Bridge Hollow life.
“Have you seen the news?” Beau asked. “The theories online?”
“I’ve seen some,” she said with a shrug. “Strange weather, missing people… that’s the official story on the news, anyway… Online, though…”
“Yes,” Beau said with a raised brow. “Online, it’s a different story.”
“It’s been kept relatively quiet?” Krystal asked as she stirred her cup and listened to the ting of the spoon on the side.
“For good reason,” Beau said. “No one really understands what is going on.”
“And where are you going?” Krystal didn’t like skirting around subjects. She had to be tough with losing her mom at such a young age, and now that she was confident in her own skin, she wasn’t about to let her aunt be vague with her when she had dropped her whole life to help her.
“I need to find some help,” she said. “I need to travel to Europe.”
“What’s in Europe?”
“An old friend.”
A chill rolled up Krystal’s spine.
“He’s an expert in this sort of thing,” Beau said. “But for now, I just need you to look after the store, keep us ticking over, enjoy yourself here, and get to know your heritage.”
She looked at Krystal hopefully, but she didn’t know if she was convinced.
“Are you sure that’s the only reason?”
Beau threw her head back and laughed.
“Isn’t that one big enough?” she asked with wide eyes. “I need to find an expert who might be able to help us out here. The government supposedly has sent people along in the past who have looked into climate change, the mineral levels in the soil and some of th
e strange happenings, but so far, no one has been of any use.”
“And why does it fall on you to go?” Krystal asked.
“Because I’m the one with the connections,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “It’s nothing to worry about, dear,” she laughed. “I’ll be home in a few weeks.”
Krystal shrugged again and sighed. She had known when she had trekked out of the city and came across to the mountains that she would be walking into riddles, but at least her aunt was being as upfront as she could.
“Okay,” she smiled. “No problem.”
“I don’t trust anyone else,” Beau said. “You’re my family… you understand why I have to ask?”
“Of course, I do,” Krystal said as she wrapped her arms around her aunt. “And you know I would never let you down.”
“Thank you,” Beau said as she gave her an extra squeeze of affection. “Now, let’s get your things upstairs and unpacked, and I can cook us something to eat.”
“You live here?” Krystal asked with a raised brow as her eyes traveled to the ceiling.
“Perks of the job,” Beau shrugged. “Get the shop space and the three floors above. It’s a big building. Wait ‘til you see it!”
She gripped Krystal’s hand and dashed to the front of the store to close down for the day. Krystal watched as she extinguished candles and incense, and then she helped to bring in some of the tables and for sale items from the sidewalk. When Beau turned the sign on the door to CLOSED, and they locked the door for the day, it was as if she had actually done a full day’s work herself. Krystal was suddenly exhausted from the drive and all the information she had to process.
“Come on then,” her aunt said with a grin. “Time to show you your new home for the next few weeks.”
What Krystal had yet to tell her was now that she was back, she had no intention of leaving. She just hoped Bridge Hollow was going to welcome her home with open arms.
3.
Anson watched from the window of his truck as Heidi ran up the steps to school with her friends and was welcomed at the door by their teacher. He smiled and waved as she turned back to wave at him, and he felt good in the knowledge that she was safe and occupied for another day.
He had been up all night working and his head was pounding, but he knew he couldn’t just abandon the rest of his life and responsibilities because there was shifter business to attend to. They may have been his brotherhood, but he had a livelihood to run too. He had properties to oversee, building projects to help map out, and a town to keep on its feet with the festival that was getting closer and closer by the second. When it reached this time of year in town, it was always a reminder that the annual festival was well on its way. When October had passed and November came rolling in, it was only a matter of days before the tourists began to descend, and that was if they hadn’t already come by Halloween.
The bell for class rang out and once he saw the doors were closed and locked, and Heidi was most certainly safely inside, he finally edged the truck away from the sidewalk and drove toward the center of town.
He crept along the traffic of Main Street with his window still down and took in the sights and sounds of his home. This was one of his favorite times of the day, and he could already smell the fresh bread and cakes being cooked in the bakery, the coffee and hot chocolate being served up in the cafes and coffee houses, and he could also smell Beau’s incense drifting out from the paranormal store in the middle of town. He had to smile. If there was one thing he could count on when it came to this place, it was that the locals loved it as much as he did, and for that reason, he was happy to give them decent rates when it came to their leases on commercial property.
He pulled the truck to a halt when he found a spare place to park, and paid the meter before he headed to his buildings. For years, Anson and his family had owned a vast majority of the commercial space along Main Street. He was from one of the original shifter bear families that had settled in Bridge Hollow, and they had built and acquired much of the land around the area. Now, Anson had the responsibility of helping the locals run their businesses. He promised to keep rates low so they could continue to thrive, and when Beau, the lady who ran the paranormal store, had come to him asking for help when her last landlord had hiked the rent, he had been more than happy to oblige. Even throwing in a place to live with it and letting her have the entire four floors of the building.
He would be lying if he said he didn’t want to help her more than others around town. He knew that if there was anyone who could help him and his brotherhood when it came to the strange happenings of Bridge Hollow, then it would be Beau. She had been in town for as long as he could remember, and he had seen how the tourists flocked to her for mystical palm readings and to hear their fortunes. She seemed to have her finger on the pulse of the town, and it was clear she had the respect of many of the shifters in the area, some of them even traveling to her to hear their fates.
It had been bad luck and a clear sign to all of them when even she hadn’t seen the evil that had come to the town all those weeks before, and even she was stumped as to what was causing these strange phenomena.
He stopped when he reached the store and ran a hand through his hair. It was another beautiful day, and he had a lot on his plate, but while it was such a stunning morning, he was determined to let himself enjoy it and move at a slower pace than normal. He owed it to himself to at least try not to drive himself mad by working too hard.
He opened the door and a bell chimed above his head. The now smoky darkness of the store came into view, and he was still surprised at how different it was to what it had been like before. When he had first leased it to Beau the space had been a completely blank canvas. The walls had been white, the floor light wood, and the beams above them were dark and bold in contrast to the rest of the clinical nature of the white room. Now, the beams were glistening with fairy lights, tapestries hung on the walls and half of them had been painted bright colors. Lush, fur rugs were spread out across the floors and the whole room popped with colors and glistening crystals and orbs. Candles were lit and incense swirled in the air, wind chimes tinged and low music was playing. It was like stepping into an Aladdin’s cave, and it completely brought back to him how much he loved going into the old paranormal store when he was a kid, when Beau and her sister had run it across the other side of town.
“Beau?” he called as he closed the front door behind him, and the bell chimed again.
The store seemed completely empty, but he stepped further inside and began to look at some of the spines of the books that were lined along the shelves, tightly packed like sardines.
THE PSYCHIC WORLD… TAROT FOR BEGINNERS… WITCHCRAFT AND MAGICAL HISTORY OF NORTHERN AMERICA… CRYSTAL HEALING… DIVINATION…
The titles were all so enchanting and made him stop and take notice, and he was just about to reach up and pull the history book from the shelf when he heard the slam of a door somewhere out the back and the hurried rush of footsteps. He dropped his hand and was about to shout hello to Beau when a voice he didn’t recognize came first.
“Good morning!” A bright, cheerful girl’s voice rang out from the back of the store. “Can I help you?”
He spun around on the spot and his eyes found her. She was close to the back of the room, a cardboard box hitched up under her arm and resting on her hip. She smiled at him, and her long black hair was right down the length of her waist, curled and thick. Her eyes were blue, and they shone out at him, and he noticed the curve of silver gripped tightly to one of her nostrils.
A piercing… Spunky… he thought.
He smiled and crossed his big, muscular arms over his chest and then took a step toward her.
“New girl?” he asked.
She narrowed her eyes and stepped in closer, the smile still playing on her lips, but her guard most definitely up.
“Maybe,” she said as she set the box down on the countertop next to the cash register. “And who are you? You certai
nly don’t look like the kind of clientele we usually get in here?”
He cocked his head to the side with confusion. Who the hell was this girl, and what the fuck did she know about him and the kind of people who came into this store? He had never seen her before in his entire life and she was busting his balls in the building he owned…
She was in for a whole world of trouble.
He grinned and laughed.
“I’m here to see Beau,” he said finally, deciding to soften up. He didn’t want to get this girl fired on what could easily be her first day. “I’m the landlord…”
Her face fell a little and then she shook her head and laughed.
“Sorry,” she said as she took a step forward and held out her hand. “I’m Krystal, Beau’s niece.”
As she stepped toward him, a surge of energy hit him, and he found himself locked in on her eyes. The blue was so deep and intense, he almost gasped. His heart was raging in his chest and a tingle rolled up his spine. It all happened so fast to him, but it was almost as if it were playing out in slow motion. As Krystal stepped toward him and he caught her scent, he felt himself open up, a place inside him came alive and the animal inside him was beginning to stir.
He instinctively took a step back and felt his jaw sag open.
What was happening to him?
A tremble rolled through him, but the feeling was divine. It was something he could easily become addicted to. It was warm and electrifying but there was also something very calming within it too.
Surely, this couldn’t be happening…
He had heard others in his pack, and many elders talk about the day they found their fated mate. The one true other half of their soul and the person they were supposed to spend the rest of their life with. But Anson had gone through his days pushing it well out of his mind… But this feeling… it was just like they had all described.
Bridge Hollow Shifters: The Complete Collection Page 33
