by M. L. Briers
LEY COVE
The Siren’s Song
By
M L Briers
Copyright © 2015 by M. L Briers
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover Design: SelfPubBookCovers.com/Shardel
Table of Contents
LEY COVE
The Siren’s Song
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
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CHAPTER ONE
Some folks would say that you shouldn’t poke your nose into other people’s business, not me. I’m a firm believer that the more you know about your next door neighbour the more you’re ready for the day that they go postal and try to kill half the town. At least in theory.
My neighbour on the left side, old Mrs D, was about as likely to go postal with her knitting needles as my neighbour on the right, Max, a retired Dr to the supernatural world. But then you could never quite be sure, they do say the quiet ones are the worst. Amen to that.
I, on the other hand, was sailing very close to the wind today with the Macauley twins kicking their infernal football up against the side of my house while I was trying to write my new novel. The fact that my new novel was also my first novel and I didn’t really have a damn clue what I was doing was neither here nor there. Meg, the local psychic had said that I would be big in books… I was getting the feeling that I should be selling them and not writing them.
When the telephone rang for the umpteenth time; it was more with a sigh of relief that I answered it than an intrusion into my writing time. Although, I very much doubted that a bestselling author would call staring at a blank-pretend white sheet of e-paper on my laptop, writing time. But who was I to deny the calling of my destiny by not giving it a go? Even if I did want to rip the twins heads off and shove them where the sun didn’t shine.
“Speak to me.” I oozed sunshine and flowers down the line when inside I was growling with the pent up aggression of not being able to take it out with glee by thumping on the keys of my pretend typewriter. Ah, the modern age of technology was a wonderful thing…
“Joss, we’ve got a little problem down at the store that you need to get your sweet backside down here and sort the hell out.” Douglas Cartwright wasn’t a man to mince words. He was one of those guys that liked you to just jump ten feet in the air right off the bat without bothering to ask how high.
Now he was a man that I just might put on my going postal list. Oh, this was fun. I was sure by the end of the day that I’d have a full list to be able to type into my not-a-typewriter onto my blank not-real-paper.
“Sure, Doug, shall I bring dancing girls and a pizza while I’m at it?” I couldn’t help being an arse, because Doug was the biggest arsehole I knew, and I always liked to give a little back to the community in whatever shape or form it was dished out.
“Now, Joss. You know I don’t appreciate it when you smart mouth me, sweet lips…” He had that acid tone to his voice now that made me wince. And the sweet lips remark, well that was deserving of me making him wait a full half hour more for my attention.
“You know what Doug, I’ll get there when I get there.” The sound of his spluttering down the line as I dropped the phone back on the hook was a delight but it didn’t stop the annoyance that was bubbling inside me, and I tried a shifter growl. It might work for them but it didn’t really work for me, not being a shifter and all. Nope, I was what they liked to call a witch, although, some had replaced the W with a B on more times than I could count, but who cared right? Not me. Witches had to be thick skinned, especially in the town of Ley Cove.
Nestled on the west coast of the country and with the kind of whether only a hippo could love, we had so many damn Ley lines running through our town that only a mouse might be able to tiptoe between the cracks as they crossed… Ok, I exaggerate, maybe a mouse was a wee bit too big, but I’d give an ant odds on though. So the more Ley’s the merrier, and they attracted every shifter, vampire, witch, faerie, goblin, warlock… and some things that even I didn’t wanna know about.
Well, let’s face it, where there was the Fae and friends… and trust me when I say I use that term liberally, there was always going to be trouble. We did have a few humans dotted around the community, and don’t even get me started on the tourists that thought our quaint little town looked so nice in the brochure… Ha! If they only knew the underbelly of the town where they laid their heads down to sleep on holiday…
I looked down at the blank page on the laptop and thumbed my nose at the idea of being the next great thing, or even settle on selling one book to someone who wasn’t a friend. Nope, my destiny lay elsewhere, and today I had to put my peacekeeper hat on and go face smug-Doug, oh lucky me. Hopefully one of the goblins hadn’t gone through Doug’s stock of chocolate covered baby raisins again after playing with the magic mushrooms… That always sent up a shit storm, at least for the goblin, and about eight hours later…
I snapped the lid shut on my laptop and headed for the backdoor. Going around the front would have been too easy. The moment I stepped outside the Macauley twins heard me coming and made a beeline for their football. Suckers, with a flick of my wrist that thing was up on next doors roof and out of their reach… I always liked to help the community out and this was one of those times. Hopefully it wouldn’t blow off again until the next storm, which would probably be sooner rather than later in this town.
“Ah, what’d you go and do that for, Joss?” Iain whined.
“Well, it was the roof or your backside. I’m being nice, take it while it’s on offer.” I tossed over my shoulder as I walk around the house to my nice flashy convertible and tossed my hair up into a lose ponytail so that I can actually see whilst driving down the road. I find it helps…
“Maybe we should gloss over your windows while you’re out.” Nate muttered bad-naturedly… and there it was, if anyone was going to go postal in this town it would be that little man when he was older.
“Maybe I should just turn you both into gargoyles for the next eight years?” I turned fast towards them and they took off on even faster legs, with a squeal and a laugh to boot. I reached up with my magic and tossed the ball back down to the ground. What did I care? I was going out anyway and if the little buggers broke my windows, well, I knew where their mother lived.
~
I’d made it to town in record time. Not for Doug’s benefit, just because I liked to drive fast and live dangerously. Not too dangerously, I was still rejecting the offer from the vampire at the top of the hill for our mutually beneficial capitulation, or whatever such romantic terms he had phrased it in at the time. Some things, like fangs and blood loss, just didn’t interest me.
I groaned inwardly as Doug stalked out of the doorway of his shop to meet me. To say that the bear had a sore head would have been an under-exaggeration. Doug liked money, and money never sleeps, apparently, so neither did Doug. He flatly refused to hibernate as the other bears did, and his sore head, three hundred and sixty five days a year, was the result.
“Those little fuckers have been at it again, Joss, and I’m going to rip them apart with my bare hands when I…” He growled and grunted and twisted his
fists in front of him as a couple of tourists stared wide eyed at the scene that way playing out. Oh joy…
“Don’t mind him. His growl is much worse than his bite.” I offered them the chance to get the hell out of there before the shit really hit the fan, and thankfully they took it, on a laugh and fast feet, as I reprimanded Doug with a scowl.
“Don’t look at me like that, woman. Those little shitty fuckers have been at my raisins again!” He growled out.
I rolled my eyes within my head and prayed for winter. Less tourists, less hassle, and more peace. This one wasn’t down to tourists though, but it made life easier when you didn’t have to worry about being overheard by one.
“May I remind you that the penalty for humans finding out about us is death?” I growled at him as best I could to try to get it through his thick bear brain.
“I know that.” He growled back.
“So, a couple of packs of raisins is worth two human lives to you, is it?” I demanded his attention with that one.
Doug snapped his head back on his neck and his mouth closed as he stared back at me. His stance softened and I was grateful for it. It meant I wouldn’t be chasing his big backside all around town as he hunted Goblins.
“Now that we have regained some of our composure…” I started again with a softer voice and less menace to my tone.
“It’s not just a couple of packs…” He started again as he bit down on his annoyance and leaned in towards me.
Wow, bear breath. I really didn’t want to know where that man’s tongue had been lately. “Those little fuckers cleaned me out of raisins and nuts!” He growled again and I snapped up my hand and pointed my index finger to the sky to silence him. Thankfully it worked.
“Goblins aren’t fond of nuts. It was probably a joint effort with the damn squirrels…” I informed him.
Spreading his wrath was a safer bet for all involved anyway, and where the squirrels were concerned; those little shifters could run and hop from tree to tree, unlike the big bad bear. I grinned inwardly at the thought of Doug trying that one… Damn, I’d pay to see that spectacle.
“Bastard toilet brush tailed little vermin…” He spat out with a shake of his big old head and another growl to boot.
“I’ll sort out remuneration while you sort out getting in more stock. Deal?” I eased him into it. His eyes snapped up to mine and they narrowed into slits in disbelief.
“No! No deal. I want those little fuckers to suffer someone’s wrath and if it can’t be mine then it will be yours.” He growled back. I had to sigh. I knew exactly what he wanted me to do, something he couldn’t, destroy the wild mushrooms for good. Damn, no one was going to be happy about that, in more ways than one, and when you take away someone’s happy… well, that might get someone to go postal.
“Doug.” I tried to come to another agreement with him, but his eyes flashed with anger.
“It’s the mushrooms or their heads. Your choice, woman, but don’t say that I didn’t warn you.” He turned on his feet and stomped away. Literally, the ground actually shock beneath my feet. I rolled my eyes and my body away from Doug and caught sight of one of those damn squirrels across the street. Time to kick some squirrel butt…
“Hold it right there you little idiot.” I hissed out as Marcus tried to turn on quick feet and scurry away from the scene of the crime. His little shoulders dropped and he sighed aloud at being caught almost red handed.
“Ok…I’d like to say I had no part in it, but I can’t because, I did…” He rushed out as he turned back towards me and his words spilled out as if he was dying to get it all off his chest. “You caught me, Joss. I give up. I own up, it was all me, me, me, me…” I held my hands up in front of me and tried to sooth his angst.
“Calm down, your nose is twitching like you caught the scent of Doug’s backside after a tin of baked beans.” His eyes glazed over at the thought of food… “Oh no you don’t.” I took a step in front of him and blocked his way. Right on cue his stomach made a rumbling sound.
“I didn’t mean for it to happen. I’m not a bad person. I was just so hungry after…” He slapped his hand across his mouth and gave me the look that he’d said too much.
“Yeah, I know. And that damn bear is demanding that I get rid of those damn mushrooms…” I informed him and watched as what looked like his world came to an end.
“But, Joss. They don’t do any harm.” His tone was soft and his words were sweet. I wasn’t buying it for a moment.
“You’ve got one hour before I get to the field and annihilate the crop, go get your buddies and do what you do best, gather and store.” I informed him and saw his eyes light up with relief. “And then you guys had better come up with some cash before the bear decides to take it out of your winter coats, if you get my drift?” He nodded as fast as he’d spoken and then he was gone.
So now I had an hour to kill before I needed to head up to the field and do the dirty on the magical crop. I eyed the bar and checked my watch. I wasn’t the kind of woman that lived by the rules, and yet a drink before midday still held a taboo for me.
“Fuck it.” I sauntered up to the door and pushed it open in front of me and there at the bar was a nice fit backside in a pair of jeans that hugged in all of the right places. Not that I was sexist or anything, but in town like this, well, I figured if you can’t beat it out of them then you might as well join them.
I knew whose damn backside that was without following his broad muscled back up to wide meaty shoulders or getting a look at the side profile of his handsome features. Cane was in town. I saw him lift his chin and sniff the air to see who had entered the bar without having to look, and then when he recognised my scent; he made a slow turn on his stool towards me. Here we go again…
Those damn piercing blue eyes could reach right into my soul, and he knew it alright. The sexy way he smiled at me left my womb a wakeup call that it received on a jolt about a second later, well I was only human, and when he reached out and patted the stool beside him; I was sure I was going to trip over my own damn tongue… on my rush to be… anywhere but next to him.
“Why do you fight it so, my love?” Cane teased me.
Shifter wolves were always a little playful around this season, especially when they were hunting for a warm body to spend the winter beside. If they hadn’t found their mate then they were loyal to the one that they were with at the time. Mostly.
“Same reason that she fights against her lust for me.” The vampire’s tone was melodic and tempting as always, and I hadn’t seen him there in the darkness of the corner of the room. Great, two boy toys that wanted to play, not.
I climbed up onto a stool in the midway point between them and motioned to the weasel behind the bar for a drink. That wasn’t a derogatory comment, the man was actually a weasel shifter. The bartender, Warren, rushed off to get my usual.
“Yes, but we can all understand her reluctance to be stained by a vampire’s touch, while a wolf…” Cane waved a hand as if that said it all.
“Still has fangs and claws, and a mate out there somewhere to boot.” I offered. It was a logical theory that I wouldn’t want to get involved with either man while his mate could be waiting around the next corner for him, and it was one that I was sticking too…
“Ah, our little witch is looking for true love.” Scott’s vampire tone was starting to work on me, lulling me into a false sense of security. I reached for the shot glass and tossed the fiery liquid down the back of my throat with one gulp… Yep, that did the trick and it hit the spot.
“This witch is certainly not looking for anything, least of all you.” I offered it to him point blank between the eyes, but I knew that it wouldn’t get through to his thick brain or the centuries worth of ego.
“See, vampire. Be gone. Turn into a bat and flap away.” Cane leaned in towards me.
“We could spend a very cosy winter wrapped in each other’s bodies and enjoying the benefits of…” He was offering me something I knew
would be fantastic, amazing, and I wasn’t the least bit turned on by his gravelly tones. One gravelly voice had become much like another, and that sexy drop-dead gorgeous smile on his lips didn’t do much for me either.
“Tempting…” I offered him hope. “But not in this lifetime.” And snatched it away again. I could have laughed out loud as the smile on his lips faded with the sound of the vampire’s chuckles.
“Admit it wolf, you just don’t have what she needs.” Scott offered and I had to roll my eyes and hold onto my annoyance at being spoken about as if I wasn’t even sitting there.
“And what is that, you?” There was the sound of a deep growl that came from the doorway as King stalked into the bar.
I could have face planted the counter top in front of me. The king of beasts had arrived just in time to make my nightmare complete. Three alpha’s in their own right all vying for my attention, well, my body for the winter at least, and in Scott’s case; a meal of two every day to satisfy his bloodlust. What more could a girl ask for than three hot men fighting for her body…?
CHAPTER TWO
“If anyone is right for Joss, it’s me.” King offered and had no qualms about taking the stool next to me and brushing the backs of his fingertips against mine. I groaned inwardly and outwardly. Today was not a good day to leave the house… Three horny beasts and one little old me… Hmm.
“That’s it, I’m outta here. You boys keep comparing your… egos.” I dropped down from the stool and headed towards the door before anyone pissed me off enough to feel my wrath. A witch’s wrath was a wonderful thing, especially when she got to zap… people-ish.
Winter was fast approaching and the beasties were hunting. What better time to take up my new hobby of not writing that impossible book that would keep me inside my four walls and away from the chase? I needed to do two things, set a wildfire and annihilate the remaining mushrooms, and get some much needed supplies for my food cupboards before I hibernated for the rest of the week until things settled down a little.
