by Amy Boyles
Thorne glared at me. “No, I haven’t. Can your mother and great-aunt corroborate this?”
“Most definitely.”
He turned to Rots. “I’m going to check on her alibi, Mr. Smythe. But in the meantime I strongly suggest you don’t accuse random people in this town of being criminals.”
“She’s not random,” Rots spat. “I saw her.” He pointed a finger at me. “You were in my house, and I’m going to prove it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay. Well, why didn’t you use your power to just fix your coat? Is there something wrong with your magic?”
“There’s nothing wrong with my magic.” His mouth twisted into a grimace like he wanted to say, See? I told you she was in my house. She knows my secret.
Rots yanked down his hat. “Good day,” he said stiffly before leaving.
“Good riddance,” I murmured. I pivoted toward Thorne and was about to smile when the dark scowl on his face filled me with fright.
My voice wouldn’t work. Heck, my brain wouldn’t work, either.
“I can’t protect you,” he growled in a low voice.
The arrogance of his words irked me. “I’m not asking you to. Never have I said I want you to protect me. The way you’re looking at me now, we’re not even friends.”
More anger flashed in his eyes.
The tavern door opened, and his gaggle of merry vampires entered, chuckling and laughing. They took one look at Thorne’s expression and shut up quickly.
“Wait right here,” he growled.
I jutted out my chin in defiance. “Why should I?”
“Because I’ve got to take you home. But there’s something I need to do first.”
I thumbed toward his officers. “You’re going to leave me with them?”
“You’ll be fine.”
With that, Thorne stalked off. I could practically see the anger rolling off him in fat waves.
I cringed, but what could I do? I was about to focus hard on my fingernails because I really didn’t want to have to engage with Peek and the band, which was exactly when Peek decided to pull my attention toward him.
“Well hello, Charming.”
When I first met Peek, he wore Carhart pants, a T-shirt and a baseball cap. He had been incredibly rude, bordering on threatening, that first encounter, and I can’t admit that every time I’d seen him since had been all sunshine and rainbows.
Nonetheless, I pushed forward a hard smile. “Hello, Peek. How’re you?”
He snickered and swaggered toward me, moving with all the fluidity and grace bestowed on a bloodsucker. The curl of his lips sent a chill straight to my bones.
Thorne trusted him, but I thought the dude was creepy.
Or maybe he just wanted me to think he was creepy because, well, he was a vampire and that’s what they did.
“I’m surprised to see you here.” Peek stood in front of me now. His red hair was cut sharply at his chin, making him look like someone had taken a razor to his tresses.
I folded my arms. “Why are you surprised? Maybe I’m reporting a stolen wallet or something.”
He cocked his head. His eyes burned with dislike. “Thorne generally doesn’t take ladies anywhere, especially not ones who are witches.”
I sucked in my cheeks, trying to temper my anger. “He only brought me here because I was accused of a crime I didn’t commit.”
“Great way to end your evening, huh?”
I shivered. “What do you know about my evening?”
“We have to patrol,” Peek said, his words dripping from his lips like satin. He traced a finger through the air as if tracking points on a flow chart. “I saw you out.”
I hiked a shoulder. “Trust me. It’s not what you think.”
To me, that was the end of the conversation. I put a chill in my voice just to convince him of that fact. But Peek didn’t seem interested in dropping it. He leaned forward, his dark eyes sparkling.
“The last woman Thorne cared about hurt him pretty badly.”
I raised my palm. “Let me stop you right there. Whatever you think about this relationship, you can just forget it. We had dinner. That was all. He’s not interested in me, and I’m not interested in him.”
Peek dragged his gaze from me, leaving goose bumps scattered across my skin. “That’s good. It’s good that there’s nothing going on, because you don’t want to end up like his last girlfriend.”
Irked to the hilt and tired of his hints and games, I whirled on Peek. “And how was that, Peek? How did his last girlfriend end up?”
Peek licked his lips. “Dead. She wound up dead.”
My bones froze solid, stapling me to the floor. I stared at him, unsure of what to say, how to counter. There really wasn’t a response to that, was there?
While I swam in my thoughts, Thorne reappeared. The deep scowl was gone. His anger had vanished as quickly as my body had become as solid as an ice cube.
A light smile touched his face. “Ready?”
I nodded dumbly. My gaze darted to Peek before returning to Thorne. “Yes, I’m ready.”
We drove in silence. I didn’t know what to say, how to bring up what Peek had told me, and I felt I shouldn’t. Would Thorne be angry that Peek had said something?
I felt that yes, most definitely Thorne would be.
Keeping my mouth shut seemed the best solution. “Thank you for dinner,” I said. “Sorry I ruined it.”
He chuckled softly. “You didn’t ruin it. Far from it.”
I turned toward him, adding a touch of pleading to my voice. “So do you think you’ll maybe drop by Rots’s house?”
He steered the wheel with one hand, his thumb caressing the leather wrap over it. “We’ll see.”
My hopes dropped. “We’ll see? Are you kidding?”
“I can’t just barge in.”
“But—”
“But,” he said pointedly, “I can check around and see if anything funny is in the place.”
I sighed, relieved. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Our gazes locked, and a buildup of pressure filled the cabin. I stared at him, my breath floating somewhere in my lungs, not ready to be released.
Thorne glanced away, and the car slid into a slot on the road. “We’re here.”
Then this was it. The moment at the end of a first evening when the couple shares a kiss. What would kissing a vampire be like? Would his teeth snag across my lips? Would the pounding of my pulse be too much for him to bear?
Why was I thinking this? I wanted to scream. Why was I even considering it? Peek had just told me Thorne’s last girlfriend wound up dead.
Dead.
As a doornail.
Maybe Thorne killed her.
The thought slid into my brain.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Nothing. Look. Thanks again for putting up with me.”
“You’re welcome.”
I glared at him.
He chuckled and I couldn’t help it but I found myself laughing, too. The tension in the cabin dissolved, and I glanced at his thick lips. My gaze darted from them to his eyes, and next thing I knew I was tucking a strand of hair behind my ear as if I were a shy teenager.
We sat like that for a moment and I knew—we wouldn’t kiss.
Which was fine, really. I didn’t want to kiss a vampire. I’d almost been killed by one. Why would I even consider kissing a being that had once tried to destroy me?
What an idiot I’d been.
I curled my fingers around the door handle. “Okay, so I guess I’m going to go. See you—”
“I’m not going to kiss you.”
I glared at him. “What? Is there something wrong with me?”
“You’re not ready. You still think I’m a beast.”
I scoffed. “I never said that.”
He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “You didn’t have to. It’s the look in your eyes. You think I can’t control the hunger, the feed.
Let me tell you, I’ve kept my hunger under control for a long time.”
“But you hunt?”
He nodded, slowly, deliberately, eyeing me as if to gauge my reaction to every tidbit of information he revealed about himself.
“In the woods that surround Witch’s Forge. I hunt.”
I digested this. “Every day?”
He shook his head. “I don’t have to eat that often.” He squeezed my hand. “You’re still licking the wounds from your attack as a child. Your prejudice for my kind is evident. You’re not even ready for friendship with a vampire.”
“That’s just plain rude.”
His lips coiled. “Then why do you argue with everything I say?”
I opened my mouth to answer and stopped myself. “Because you say very contrary things.”
“Is that the whole truth?”
I closed my eyes and really looked inside. “I thought you liked our banter.”
“You’re feisty. Yes. Not like a normal person.”
My eyes flared open. “What?”
“But I think,” he said calmly, “that what part of it stems from is your dislike for my kind. For me.”
Thorne inhaled deeply and released his breath. “I had a nice time, Charming.”
And that was it. I felt like Thorne had nailed a coffin lid shut. Yes, I was the coffin lid in that scenario.
I murmured good night and stepped from the car, heading down the sidewalk toward the house. Numbness overcame me.
I considered that my own stubbornness and hurt hindered me. What Thorne said was true. I was barely nice to any vampire, much less him, and he’d helped me out so much—including not arresting me when Rots identified me as the perpetrator in his house.
Yet there were boundaries even Thorne wasn’t willing to cross. I could understand that. Why would you be nice to a woman who threw roses in your face? Why drive yourself crazy for her if she was only going to spit and hiss every time you said a kind word?
As I trudged up the stairs to my room, I realized Thorne was right. I was my own worst enemy. I was letting myself get in the way of—well, I didn’t know what, but I had to figure that out.
I exhaled a deep breath. First thing tomorrow, I would do something radical.
I would be nice to the vampire.
Chapter 16
The next morning I was still reeling from the realization I’d had about Thorne, how mean I’d been to him and that he didn’t want to kiss me.
My feelings knotted my gut. I still balanced on the rope of decision as to whether or not I wanted him to kiss me, but his words chimed in my head.
I wasn’t ready.
There were few things in my life that I would admit I wasn’t ready for. Very few. Thorne’s words stood like a challenge I needed to conquer.
I would prove I was ready.
I headed down the stairs ready for a day of matchmaking and nosing around town. I decided to head off to find the train conductor and hope he had some information on what Corley and Reese had discussed.
“I still don’t understand why my power hasn’t returned,” Mama remarked when I reached the kitchen. “I wouldn’t have thought that machine would take very much of it, but I’m confused by this.”
I frowned. “Maybe it’ll slowly start to seep back within a few days.”
She frowned. “I hope so. But on the other hand, my hair is back.” She fluffed her silky strands. “At least one thing about me has returned to its normal state of marvelous.”
I smiled. “Yep. At least one thing.”
Broom brushed past us, sweeping the floor clean.
“Now don’t throw away those apple rinds,” Rose said. “I’m saving those for Pig.”
Broom gathered apple skins into a pile, and Rose let Pig eat right off the floor.
I turned to Mama. “I’m going to track down the conductor of the train. What’re y’all doing today?”
Mama sipped her coffee. “I’ve got to come up with another method to free Reese. I worry the longer she stays trapped in that spell, the worse it’ll be for her. I need to talk to Thorne and see if he’ll bend on his proclamation that no man shall kiss the woman without her permission. Please. If it was okay to do in the Middle Ages, surely it’s okay to do now.”
I pressed down a frown line from my forehead. “I have a feeling the Middle Ages were a violent time for mankind.”
She shrugged, not interested in my theory.
I grabbed a cup of coffee and headed toward the door. “Okay. Well, I’m off.”
I’d almost made it out when the question arose. “How was your date with my vampire?” Rose asked. “I say mine because I still believe there’s time for the two of us to get together.”
And here it was. The big question I’d been trying to avoid. “Well,” I started slowly, “it was good.”
Mama quirked a brow. “Except?”
I blew a shot of air from my mouth, vibrating my lips like a motor. “He says I’m not ready to date a vampire. Which is ridiculous. I’m a matchmaker. My days are spent surrounded by love. I don’t know what he’s talking about.”
“You do have issues, darling,” Mama said.
“And here it comes,” I murmured.
“You’re rude to him at every step. You make it obvious you don’t like him. The man is only doing you a favor. I’m sure that’s the way he sees it, too.”
I scoffed and started to argue but bit my tongue. “Okay. I’m not always the nicest to him, but I’m going to try. Besides, we’re not even compatible. At least, not that I know of.”
She started to argue, and I cut her off.
I held up my hands. “Look. I don’t care. It doesn’t matter to me if I date this vampire or not. I mean, wouldn’t I always be worried that he’d want to drink my blood?”
“Oh, I’d be asking him to,” Rose said. “That sounds as thrilling as a roller coaster, but a lot sexier.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well. I’m off. I’ve got my coffee breakfast. I’ll stop and have a sandwich somewhere. Bye, y’all.”
They said goodbye, and I headed out the door, convinced that I could be nice to Thorne despite my mother’s tongue lashing.
She’d told me everything I already knew. Yet for some reason hearing it from her made the news all the worse. Don’t ask me why, but it did.
I arrived at the Witch’s Forge Express a little while later. Steam rolled from the wheels. It looked like the train was about to take off.
I hopped on and found the conductor near the cabin where we’d discovered Reese.
“Sorry, miss, it’s too early to board yet,” he explained.
The conductor looked like the one from The Polar Express, I kid you not. He wore a striped vest with a crisp white shirt underneath, a hat and a striped tie.
Oh, and a fat mustache sat above his lip.
He was so darling I wanted to pinch him.
I controlled myself.
“I’m not a passenger. My name is Charming Calhoun, and I was wondering if you had a few minutes to answer some questions about the woman, Reese Baylor, who was found unconscious?”
He swept dirt from the floor into a dustbin. “Told the police all I know.”
“Yes, well, you see, Reese is at my house. My family and I are charged with bringing her out of the coma. So anything you can offer would be a great help.”
He studied me and then set his dustbin aside and pointed to a seat. “Sit and we’ll talk.”
I slid onto a bench. “From what I understand, Reese made friends with a Miss Corley Duvall, a woman who was murdered.”
The conductor scratched his head. “Heard she was poisoned.”
Oh, was she? That was news to me. Wonder when Thorne was going to relate that little tidbit?
Probably never.
“Do you know what Reese and Miss Corley discussed?”
He pulled off his cap and scratched his head. “Men, I reckon. From the hushed whispers between them and whatnot. I heard the name Jamison from
that Miss Reese.”
I edged forward. “And what about from Miss Duvall?”
This could be it. If the conductor held this nugget of information, then everything might be over. I could give the name to Thorne, he could track down the killer, which would put us one step closer to helping Jamison realize that Corley had been using him and it would open his heart and mind to Reese, which was what I desperately needed.
Please, please have the name.
I nearly dropped to my knees and started begging the man.
He rubbed his chin in thought. I needed him to think faster, darn it. “Let me see. Seems like it’s on the tip of my tongue, but it just won’t come out. Was it Roger?”
My heart leaped to my throat. “Was it?”
He shook his head. “No, it wasn’t Roger. Not him. Shucks, it’s just not coming to me, I reckon. Sorry about that.” He slapped his knee and rose. “Tell you what, if it does pop in my head, I’ll give you a call.”
I handed him my business card. “Thank you. Call anytime—day or night. If you think of the name, don’t hesitate.”
The conductor smiled. “Will do. We roll out this morning, but I’ll be back soon.”
With that, the conductor winked and returned to sweeping.
I left the train, a barrage of thoughts assaulting me. Why hadn’t Thorne told me that Corley had been poisoned? That information could help us figure out how to help Reese. It might not be a handsome prince with big fat lips, but it could be a workaround.
I left the train station and needed a few minutes to clear my head and calm down. If I saw Thorne now, I’d rip him a new one, but since I’d decided to be nice—as painful as it was—I needed time before I bumped into him.
So I headed to Fire Town to see Blaire. She might have a new treat for me to try. Plus, Blaire was the only female in town who didn’t need my matchmaking skills. At least she didn’t want them. Not right now.
But I had a feeling eventually she would seek me out.
I parked my Cooper and entered Blaire’s store. “Morning,” she chimed from the counter.
I waved. “Morning!”
Her face split into a wide smile. “I’ve got a tasty treat for you today!”
I grinned. “Great. I want it.”
“Don’t you know what it is?”
