She knew she was missing something.
Her heart and memory longed for something, but it was lost, and she didn’t know where to find it…
She rubbed her head and breathed, trying to stop her nerves from overtaking her.
And in a worrying moment, she suddenly had the terrifying thought that she had been bewitched…
Was it a hangover?
Or had someone put a spell on her?
6.
Braxton sipped a beer and watched the fair as it paraded through the town. There was a rock band playing in the park by the big, grizzly statue of the bear bursting out of a man’s skin, and some of the younger revelers were dancing and thrashing around, singing and drinking too.
It may have only been the second day, but Brax was already weary of it. It was strange being in the middle of Bridge Hollow, and he was beginning to long for the solitude of his mountain retreat.
He and his family had lived so many years up there, and their homes were guarded by large boundary walls and gilded gates. They didn’t ever get tourists or curious townsfolk wandering up there, but if they ever did, they wouldn’t stand a chance of getting inside. Not with the way they had built the place to be like a fortress.
The dragons were wealthy, and for that reason, they had been able to stay unnoticed. They had created their own mountaintop safe haven, a place where they could shift into their inner beasts and be themselves, without having to worry about prying eyes.
Now, Braxton was in town and he was feeling a great sense of uncertainty. Not only was he among the regular townsfolk and weird tourists, but he had also been spotted by the girl in the coffee house. And now, he was having trouble shaking her from his mind.
He had seen the way she had looked at him. It was as if she was scared and turned on at the same time. It had sparked something in him. Something deep and animalistic; it had made his blood burn with the dragon fire he carried inside of him, and it was refusing to be dulled or silenced.
He ran a rough hand across the stubble on his jaw before taking another swig of his beer. Even though alcohol barely touched him, he still liked the little way it could take the edge off his nerves when he wasn’t feeling entirely comfortable.
He had been assigned first watch in the center of town, right opposite the paranormal store, which was also the home of the gateway. Anson and his woman had found the location of the long-hidden mine the dragons had believed they were protecting on the mountain for decades. Since there the terrible accident in Bridge Hollow a hundred years before, there were rumors and legends about what the collapse of the mine had done to their town. Some believed the spirits of the people killed that day had come back to punish the town for their demise… But others now know the truth.
When the mine collapsed, it had opened a veil between two worlds. And now, a whole lot of evil was trying to escape and was threatening not only Bridge Hollow but the rest of the world.
Braxton knew the weight of the responsibility he had resting on him, but that didn’t faze him. What fazed him was the way the girl in the coffee house seemed to see through him. It was as if she could see the outline of the dragon beneath his skin.
She had taken him by surprise. He had felt her the moment he had stepped inside, as if she were pulling him toward her, willing him to turn and look. He had been surprised when their eyes had locked at the exact same time; it was as if a higher force was at play and they were both powerless against it.
“Who is she?” he whispered before he sipped his beer again and cast a glance to the front door of the paranormal store.
It had been boarded up now for weeks, and they had all done a good job of keeping the locals from prying too much, but he knew it couldn’t last forever. And now, with the festival in town, he was sure some of the regular tourists would start asking questions as to why it was closed during the busiest week of the year.
“Infestation,” a voice came from behind him, as if they had read his mind.
He turned and locked eyes with Ryder, one of the bear shifters and owner of the best bar in Bridge Hollow, Shifter’s Bliss.
“Yeah, I heard you had used that excuse,” Brax half-smiled.
“It’s worked pretty well, so far,” Ryder said as he took a swig of beer and leaned against the wall beside Braxton. It may have only been early afternoon but being shifters and owning the bar meant they didn’t need an excuse to have a drink.
“We appreciated you coming down here,” Ryder said genuinely. “I know it couldn’t have been easy leaving the mountains…” His eyes traveled toward the clouds around the mountain shielding the peak from view.
Braxton knew it would be snowing up there as they spoke, and he wondered how well Bishop, his father, was coping without him.
“It wasn’t easy, you’re right,” he smiled. “But I’m glad to be here. Our clan wants to help.”
Ryder nodded and took another swig.
“We’re all getting together tonight,” he said. “There’s a band playing here in the bar and it’ll no doubt attract a lot of people. Tourists and people here for the festival especially. If anything has found its way out of that gateway without us knowing, this will be the place it’ll be heading.”
Braxton looked back to the paranormal store and at the steel panels against the doors.
“Do you really think anything could?” he asked.
Ryder shrugged.
“I think, whatever it is, is already three steps ahead of us and we shouldn’t assume anything.”
Braxton nodded and agreed. Ryder, it seemed, was very wise.
“I’ll come down,” Braxton said. “And who will be guarding the building?”
“We have at least three wolves or bears on it all the time,” Ryder confirmed. “The rest of us will be dotted around the town and then we have your folk up on the mountain. It’s just a case of keeping eyes everywhere and everyone communicating.”
Braxton nodded.
“I’ll see you later then,” he said with a nod. “And I’ll get word up to my father about what you’ve just told me.”
Ryder smiled and he chinked his bottle against Braxton’s before turning to head into the bar.
Braxton smiled before he breathed in deep and took one long, final swig of the bottle of beer. He had never in a million years thought he could ever be friends with another shifter. Especially, a bear. But these guys seemed all right, and they all had the same goal in mind.
They were all there to protect Bridge Hollow and the people in it. Their bonds were growing by the hour, and Braxton could feel a shift on the horizon. Because, together, he knew the bears, wolves, and dragons would be a force so powerful they could bring the whole world to its knees.
7.
The day passed quickly for Elizabeth, and by the time it was approaching 5pm, she suddenly realized she didn’t have much time to get to the post office.
She had spent the afternoon doing tarot spreads for clients across the world, but she still had the one bespoke spell to send off to someone on the other side of the country, and she didn’t want to miss it.
She sipped the rest of her coffee and switched off her laptop before wandering to her bedroom and running a comb through her hair. She had already showered and dressed earlier in the day, applying subtle make-up but making her skin look fresh and rosy. She had chosen a pair of skinny jeans, some kitten-heel knee boots, and a black sweater. She pulled out her long coat, putting it over her shoulders before belting it at the waist and grabbing her hat.
After spending so much time in the shadows of this town, Elizabeth had grown used to how to dress and act to blend in and stay out of sight. A hat was her favorite accessory, and it helped her shield her face when she needed to run errands around Main Street. With it being near the end of the workday, this was usually when she made an appearance, as she knew it was likely to be a little quieter than the rest of the day, with people closing shops and heading home before it got too dark.
However, with the fai
r in town, she knew she was about to walk straight into a crowd of fanatics, and she hoped she wouldn’t get too swept up in the frivolities.
She had spent most of the day getting up from her desk, wandering to the window to gaze outside. It was fun seeing how bustling town was, how many new faces there appeared to be, and how the music and laughter drifted up to meet her all the way up in her apartment.
When ski season was fully underway, it was always tempting to head to some of the local hangouts where people her own age would no doubt be drinking and playing pool, watching sports and eating chicken wings, but she had always lost her nerve at the last minute.
She stopped and looked in her mirror before she left, and noticed a twinkling in her eye. There was something happening to Elizabeth, and she was finding it all kinds of exciting. She had never felt a curiosity like it before, and she was pretty sure it couldn’t all be down to the fact that the Supernatural Fair was in town.
She got a rush of memory, and her mother’s words from the night before came to her, about how she was reaching the peak of her magical years. Maybe, the power surging through her had to do with this. Maybe now that she was gaining in confidence and her magical ability, the idea of being discovered wasn’t so terrifying as it once had been.
She smiled at her reflection and noticed how different she looked. She had lived in hiding for so long , and now, for some reason, on this particular day, she was feeling like being reckless and wild.
She grabbed her purse and the discreetly wrapped spell kit she had to send to her client, and then she made for the front door of her apartment.
It was time for her to finish work for the day and head out to see what this Supernatural Fair was all about.
She made it to the post office with only moments to spare, but she was happy and relaxed once she knew that her bespoke protection kit was winging its way to Chicago for one of her regular clients.
She adjusted the black fedora on her head and tipped it down slightly to cover one side of her face. Even though she felt more confident, there was still a small part of her that wanted to remain invisible.
She wandered toward the crowd on Main Street and moved among the throngs of people. The air smelled of toffee apples and candy floss, and there was a tinge of cider and beer too. Small fires had been lit in metal baskets in front of certain stores, and men and women were crowding around them with paper cups, sipping drinks and toasting marshmallows while children danced in the park to the sound of a brass band. It felt like Christmastime, and Elizabeth’s eyes opened wider as she saw how happy and content everyone appeared to be.
She moved, unnoticed, from table to table, looking at the unique gifts and homewares being sold by both visitors and locals who clearly were capitalizing on the fair being in town.
She slowed when she saw the sign for a Bridge Hollow Magical Tour, and she waited to listen to the man who was working the booth and pitching it to the tourists who were listening.
“While you folks are here in town you would be mad to miss this popular sightseeing experience!” he bellowed, with all the panache and showmanship of a circus ringleader. “Come along with those in the know and board your very own horse and cart ride through the mountains and woodlands of the magical and mystical Bridge Hollow. While you are with us, you will get to visit some of the town’s most sacred sites, see the scenes of many a werewolf and werebear fight and attack, and learn all about the great mine collapse of the late eighteen hundreds.”
Elizabeth’s heart began to pound faster, and she found that she was beginning to feel nervous. The man selling the tour was clearly a local, but there was something odd about him, something that made him almost look untrustworthy. She cocked her head to the side and tried to see his aura. She wondered if he was genuine or making all of this up to draw the crowd.
Elizabeth had heard of the mine collapse, but as far as she and her mother had been aware, it was something that had been downplayed and hidden as much as possible when it came to the supernatural goings-on in the town. She knew it had been a terrible tragedy − a lot of innocent people had died − but for this man to make money off the back of it didn’t sit right with her. She found herself scowling at him.
“And do you honestly think that’s the right thing to be showing people?” she spoke up before she even realized the words were coming out of her mouth. “I mean, we all know there is a lot of strange activity around here… But why bring the mine into it. It was a tragedy; a lot of people lost family members.”
The magical confidence coursed through her veins. She stopped to take a breath when she realized that the majority of the crowd around the booth had now stopped and were staring at her.
The showman selling the tickets smirked and tipped his hat.
“A tragedy, indeed,” he smiled knowingly. “But also, potentially, something that could answer a lot of questions…”
He was looking directly at Elizabeth, and she felt a shiver run down her spine.
“View the mine and places in the forest close to it where two hunters recently went missing, and animals and wildlife began to die off with shocking regularity,” he said as he tried to ramp up the crowd.
Elizabeth took a step back and slammed against someone.
Her breath caught in her throat and she felt a tingle of intensely hot fire rush over her skin. She turned her head to the side and tried to see over her shoulder, and began to experience the strangest feeling. It was as if she already knew who she had bumped into before their eyes even met.
But the man looking back at her was a stranger.
A familiar stranger.
Something came over her − something similar to revulsion − but it was also intrigue. Her head was spinning, and she couldn’t make sense of what she was feeling. She knew it wasn’t natural for her to have this kind of reaction to someone. Especially, someone she didn’t know. Or did she know him? Something wasn’t right.
She rubbed her head as the man took hold of her shoulders and moved her gently to one side before passing her, making his way to the front of the crowd. He looked stern and full of purpose as he stood in front of the showman running the stand, trying to sell tickets, and he calmly told the crowd to move along.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” the showman bellowed at him. “You can’t tell everyone to move away from my stand.”
The stranger who had stunned Elizabeth into silence was looking down at him with fire and rage in his eyes, and somewhere deep inside her, it sparked a memory.
Her breath faltered, and she suddenly felt cold.
She remembered the taste of cider, of the hot zing of a needle being plunged into the tip of her finger… Of her mother squeezing out a drop of blood into a glass mixed with ground crystals and herbs, and telling her to drink it down and not ask questions.
“Forget him…,” her mother had said.
Elizabeth suddenly felt a surge of memory, and the revulsion she had felt toward the stranger quickly vanished.
She had been bewitched. Her mother had cast a spell on her the night before, when she had visited her house… And it was to do with this man. She had tried to make Elizabeth forget him.
Her memory was still hazy, and she couldn’t keep her thoughts together, but she stepped back, out of the crowd, turned and began to run. The stranger was still putting a stop to the tour ticket sales, and she looked over her shoulder to see him staring back at her. Their eyes locked on each other’s, and she felt a race of fire and heat.
She didn’t know who he was… But she knew, somewhere, she had met him before… And for one reason or another, her mother had wanted her to forget it all.
Now, she was determined to find out why.
8.
Elizabeth leaned against a brick wall, hidden down an alleyway, and away from the main hustle and bustle of Main Street.
She breathed in and out deeply, and her mind was swimming with confusion and questions.
When she woke that morning,
she had known something hadn’t been right. Her memory had pretty much disappeared from the night before, and she didn’t have much of a taste for cider to be the kind of person to drink so much that she practically passed out.
Her mother had lied to her.
Her mother had cast a spell on her.
She had met the man who had stopped the tour tickets from being sold before.
She scratched the back of her neck and felt the heat in her skin. She was red hot and full of rage but also full of curiosity. Something had been sparked in her, and she knew it wasn’t easily going to be silenced. She had triggered something, whether it was because she had been out and about in town more than she had ever been, or it had something to do with the mysterious man. All she knew was, she liked how she was feeling, and it was making it impossible for her mind to be still.
She waited until she had composed herself again and then she closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind. She had worked with mind travel many times, and she knew she had to try uncovering her forgotten memories from the previous evening, or she would never know the truth or where she had seen the man before.
She tried to conjure up her memories, but they had been fiercely hidden. Everything remained black and silent, and it wasn’t until she worked her way back in her mind, toward her mother’s kitchen, that she began to that she remember… the cider had been sweet, and she could almost still taste it on her tongue. She repeated the words her mother had spoken to her again and again…
Forget him… Forget him… Forget him…
But who was he?
She sighed and slammed her palms against the cold brick behind her and exhaled. She was feeling so wound up, and not at all like herself, that all she could think about was taking herself to the closest bar and ordering a big drink.
Her mother would never approve. But now, she felt slighted by her and she wanted to rebel. She adjusted the collar of her coat and slipped her hands into her pockets before she moved out of the alleyway and back onto Main Street.
Bridge Hollow Shifters: The Complete Collection Page 45
