Bone Spell (Winter Wayne Book 4)

by D. N. Hoxa

  Table of Contents

  Also by D.N. Hoxa

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  Eight

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  BONE SPELL

  WINTER WAYNE, Book 4

  D.N. HOXA

  Copyright © 2018 by D.N. Hoxa

  This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Also by D.N. Hoxa

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty one

  Twenty two

  Twenty three

  Also by D.N. Hoxa

  ———————————

  Demonic Mage (New)

  Nova Unchained

  Morta Fox Trilogy (Complete)

  Heartbeat

  Reclaimed

  Unchanged

  Starlight Saga (Complete)

  Assassin

  Villain

  Sinner

  Savior

  Chronicles of the Demon Hunter

  A Soul's Worth

  Book Two (Coming Soon)

  Book Three (Coming Soon)

  Water Wielders

  Trapped

  Book Two (Coming Soon)

  Book Three (Coming Soon)

  One

  The case I was working on was no different from any other missing person case I’d cracked before—but I’m happy to report that it was still as much fun. The stories alone were worth it, each and every time.

  Everything was fine, the missing person was happy as far as his family and friends could tell, and then poof, they were nowhere to be found. The paranormal element added some spice to it, too. Like my last case: a missing twenty-two-year old wolf, who’d abandoned the Brigham’s pack three years ago. Granted, the fact that he was packless could tell you that everything wasn’t fine with the guy, but his older sister, the one who’d hired me, was in contact with her brother almost every day. He seemed to be fine, happy even, working for Xander Ramos to make a living, until Xander Ramos died at the hands of the ECU—who, by the way, were still not taking the blame for it. Now, his apartment was empty, his closet untouched, his sink full of dirty dishes. I checked it out myself.

  Having spoken to his friend—another packless wolf—about what they’d been up to during Galladar’s killing spree in New York, I put the pieces together rather quickly. He and others from Xander’s pack had been holed up in their safe-zone for four days, during which time they’d fought, drank, and experimented with a pretty impressive variety of drugs.

  “And who is the guy who brought the drugs to the safe-zone?” I’d asked the missing guy’s friend, and he gave me a name, a name I researched and found within one hour. One of Xander’s closest people, it seemed, gone even rouger now that his fake alpha was dead and he had nobody to answer to about the amount of drugs that used to belong to Xander that he now sold for a living.

  I’d have gone over there to check myself, but the sister insisted I let her go find him as soon as I had a location, so a text to her was next on my to-do list before calling it a day.

  The loud noise coming from all the reconstruction work being done in Geraldine Street never seemed to stop these days. The ECU, together with the humans, had made it their mission to finish everything within three weeks. Four more days to go.

  When I finally convinced my aunt Amelia that I was fine living on my own, I took a cab back to my office. Don’t get me wrong, she did know how to spoil me, but the soup. I swear to God, if I’d had to drink another bowl of the soup she made me every single day, I wouldn’t have survived the night.

  Now that I was back in my office and on my own, I kind of missed having somebody around to talk to from the second I woke up, but I did have my landlady to keep me company.

  Speaking of the devil…

  Ms. Riley walked in, smiling brightly like she already couldn’t wait to see what I was up to. Unusual visiting time—it was barely six in the evening—but now that I was done with my case, I had nothing better to do so she was very welcome.

  Ms. Riley didn’t think so, apparently. Maybe she was there to see if I’d still gotten her a birthday gift again? Her birthday was in three weeks. I hadn’t forgotten, but I just hadn’t found the right thing for her yet.

  When she saw me sitting behind my desk, my feet crossed on top of it, playing a game on my phone, she almost passed out. “What are you doing, Winny?” Yeah, she wasn’t going to give up on calling me Winny anytime soon. Still sucked. Still put up with it.

  “Just playing a game.”

  Walking fast toward my desk as if she couldn’t already see what I was wearing, her wide eyes scrolled up and down my body a few times. “You’re going to be late!” she cried.

  I cringed. “Yeah…I’m not going.”

  “You’re not going?” A dumbfounded smile took over her wrinkled face.

  “Nope. Staying right here.”

  “Winny, dear, you have to. I’ve already spoken to Amelia. She expects you to be there.” Right. I totally forgot that my landlady and my aunt spoke regularly on the phone now, and they had become very close friends. Ms. Riley even made me drive her all the way to Bloomsburg twice since I came back, just so she could go drink tea with Amelia.

  “I’m busy. Working on a case,” I lied. Not that I didn’t want to talk about it but…okay, I didn’t want to talk about it.

  See, there was an event being held at one of the biggest event venues in Manhattan. They had it all prepared: pretty decorations on the tables, the fanciest dinner ever cooked, and a band with violins and harps and pianos and whatever.

  Oh, did I mention the fairy royalty that was going to attend?

  “Don’t know why. I already told her I wasn’t going,” I mumbled. Maybe not in so many words, but I did stay very silent for a second or so after Amelia said: you’re going, right?, and then I changed the subject. Couldn’t get any more obvious than that.

  “But…but…” Behold! My landlady was at a loss for words for the first time since I met her! For a second. “But Winny, you defeated that fairy guy. Everybody is going to want to see you there.”

  “Actually, only a few people know about what happened. Remember, Ms. Riley? You’re not supposed to talk about it with anyone. Ever.” No idea why Amelia had told her the story, but she’d promised she wouldn’t share it. I did trust my landlady, but she was old. It wouldn’t be too hard for her to forget about the promise she made.

  “You’re being whiny. I don’t like it. Go get dressed,”
she demanded, crossing her arms in front of her chest. I put my feet down and straightened on my seat.

  “Um…no.”

  A fancy dinner in a fancy place with fancy people and fairy royalty was not my kind of a party. I was not being whiny, I just didn’t want to be there, because Julian Walker was going to be there.

  It had been almost three weeks since I killed Galladar in the fairy realm and came back to Earth. Three weeks was a long time, especially since Julian had told me himself he’d be here as soon as everything was over. Now, I wasn’t mad or anything…well, to be honest, I wasn’t sure if I was mad or not, but I was sure about one thing: I did not want to see him in that setting with all those people around. I’d rather wait for whenever he decided to come see me in my office.

  Ms. Riley offered me her hand. “The keys.”

  I looked up at her face. “Beg your pardon?”

  “The keys to the roof. Now.” And she waved her hand to tell me to hurry.

  I smiled. “Ms. Riley, come on.” She couldn’t be serious. For the past four days, she’d let me use the roof of the building to train. I’d had no idea how much I’d actually missed training until I found myself up there, all by myself, with nothing on my mind but the movements of my body. I’d gotten so excited, I’d gone and bought second-hand training gear, too.

  And she wanted to take it all away from me now?

  “I know why you don’t want to go, and I’m tired of seeing you holed up in here all day long. You’re either going, or you can forget about the roof and train here instead,” she said, her voice so much different from the one she always used.

  “You know I can’t train here! There’s no space!” I cried. It was why I’d asked her for the roof in the first place. “Ms. Riley, please.”

  With a sigh, my landlady stepped back. “Since we seem to be on the same page, I suggest you get dressed.” How the hell did she come to that conclusion? We were definitely not on the same page. “You’re my ride, anyway.” And she turned for the door.

  “Ms. Riley, I’m not going!” But she was already out the office and I couldn’t even follow her because my phone vibrated with an incoming call. It was my aunt. Cursing under my breath, I almost threw the phone against the wall.

  I decided against it because I was not going to pick it up. Nope. Not tonight. In the morning, maybe, but right now, no way in hell. Just no.

  Goddamn it.

  “Hey there,” I said on the speaker, rolling my eyes at myself. I couldn’t believe how weak I had gotten.

  “Hey there yourself. Are you ready? The event starts in an hour,” Amelia said.

  “Um…yes, I know.”

  “I was thinking about Julian. He is the Prince of the Unseelie Court, right? Which means he’ll be there with his parents. You should definitely wear a blue dress. It makes your eyes pop.”

  I cringed. “No, no. I’m not wearing a blue dress.” I didn’t think I ever wore a dress as an adult. And Julian’s parents? Just the thought of meeting them made me feel like I had spiders crawling all over my skin.

  “Suit yourself. I’m on my way. I’ll meet you there?” Amelia said. I obviously couldn’t keep playing this stupid word game any longer, so I cleared my throat and faced the music.

  “Aunt Amelia, I’m not going.” There. I said it, even without going in rounds.

  I wasn’t afraid of my aunt or anything, but she was the only family I had, and the need to keep her happy with everything was overwhelming to a point where it made me put up with stupid things—like this one. Or the soup. I drank it every time she gave it to me, when I could have just said no. But saying no meant making her sad, and I still couldn’t stand that. So, I sacrificed myself at every chance I got.

  “Winter, honey, you can’t do this,” Amelia said. “This is the most important event of the century. We’re finally going to receive fairies as guests in our world, and we’re going to come to an agreement about the future of both our worlds.”

  “Yes, I know how important this is. I just don’t think you need me for anything.” And I didn’t need to feel like I was standing on needles every second of the stupid event. Social gatherings of that level just weren’t for me.

  “You’re wrong. I do need you. I haven’t brought any guards with me tonight because I thought you’d be there in case things go south.” Amelia sighed. “Winter, if you really don’t want to go, that’s fine, but I really think you should. You are the only half witch, half fairy we have. Don’t you see how important it is for everyone to see you?”

  Closing my eyes, I took in a deep breath. We could kid ourselves all day long but everybody knew that, after what happened with Galladar, the paranormals of Earth now hated fairies more than ever. Who could even blame them? The fact that the ECU and every paranormal leader out there wanted to make this work with the fairies of the fairy realm didn’t change what the people felt.

  Neither did I.

  “It’s okay, Winter,” Amelia said after a while. “I’ll just talk to you tomorrow.”

  Fuck. Only she could make me feel guilty by giving me what I wanted.

  But was I crazy enough to actually go to that event? Because the whole world was going to be there. The whole world—people who didn’t have a clue of what had happened in the fairy realm, who had no idea what I could do, and who judged me by my pointy ears and violet eyes. Yes, the world needed to cooperate with the fairies, but neither side wanted to have anything to do with me—and I was fine with that. In fact, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

  But now that Amelia was talking to me like she knew exactly what I meant, it was impossible to ignore the need to indulge her.

  “Can I wear pants?” I mumbled on the phone. Yeah, it looked like I was really going to the nameless event. Somebody stop me. Please.

  “You can wear anything you want,” Amelia said. I could already hear the smile in her voice.

  “I guess I’ll see you there.”

  When I hung up the phone, I put my feet on the desk and continued to play my game. It was still early. The venue was barely fifteen minutes away from Geraldine Street, and since I was wearing black pants and a black shirt—exactly what I had on now—all I was going to need were more weapons, some Pretters in my braid, and I’d be good to go. I could do all of that as soon as Ms. Riley came to get me.

  As I played my game, I tried not to think about what this meant. I tried not to worry about anyone or anything, but even completely focused on something else, a part of my mind was stuck on one thought only: in one hour, I was going to see Julian Walker again.

  Two

  “Are you sure that I look presentable enough?” Ms. Riley asked me for the fifth time.

  We were in Turtle, driving to the event, and she was a nervous mess—much worse than even I was.

  “You look perfect, Ms. Riley. I promise,” I said with a grin. She did look good. Her baby blue suit and the hat on her head full of dried flowers made her look like she’d come right out of Queen Elizabeth’s court.

  “My cousins are going to be there, dear. I want to look my best,” she said. “I can’t wait to show them the kind of company I keep.”

  She’d said this, too, a few times since we got in the car. Claimed her cousins had always looked down at her for leaving the pack when she was young, and for marrying a witch, but now, when she sat down with the leaders of the Bone coven, she was going to show them. Aunt Amelia had done great by inviting her. She was as excited as a teenager.

  “You do look your best. Just don’t forget the smile.” Because she only had one teeth on her upper jaw, I advised her to use a delicate, close-lipped smile when we got there, and for once, she agreed with me.

  “Of course not,” Ms. Riley said. “But are you sure you want to meet fairy royals wearing that?” She flinched at my black jeans and sneakers and looked away before her eyes made it up to my simple black shirt. I’d had to wear a leather vest, too, to cover my knives and guns. But I’d taken the time to brush my hair and redo my
braid, so that had to count for something. Plus, I was wearing makeup. Not too much, but some mascara, blush, and lipstick, the color of which was called dusty rose. If you're going to wonder why I bothered, think about who’ll be there.

  “I’m fine. I’m on duty, remember? I’m guarding my aunt.” I was pretty sure that Amelia said she’d left her guards back just to get me to go, but it was an excuse for my outfit either way. Besides, the place was being guarded better than the Declaration of Independence. No way would something happen while everybody who was anybody in our world was there.

  “Yes, you did say so,” was her way of telling me that she didn’t believe me. But it was okay, because we’d already arrived.

  The line of cars was very long, and I gladly parked Turtle two blocks away. It didn’t fit with the rest of them, anyway. Ms. Riley didn’t complain about having to walk, and I was glad I got the chance to do a check around the neighborhood and see how many people were on the streets with my own eyes: werewolves, vampires, witches were all over the place, checking every person that walked by until they were a hundred percent sure that they posed no threat.

  Which ended up being a problem for me when we made it to the entrance. There was no banner and no hostess at the entrance, just a red velvet rope behind two large werewolves. When they looked down at me, I didn’t think they could actually see my weapons, but the black jeans I was wearing might have given them the wrong signal.

  “I’m on guard duty,” I said before they even had a chance to speak. “With the Bone coven leaders.”

  The werewolf on the right, whose eyes were stuck on my pointy ears, opened his mouth to probably send me to hell, but then…

  “Wayne, you made it!” someone called from the inside of the two-story building, and a second later, Bender was in front of us. Boy was I glad to see him. “It’s okay, guys. She’s with me.” Patting both werewolves on the shoulders, he practically forced them to step aside and make room for me and my landlady. They did so, reluctantly, and when they put the rope back in place, still watching me, they sure looked bloodthirsty. I smiled as I walked backwards, just for their pleasure. Before they could start a fight, Bender pulled me to the side by my arm.