Wild Spirit: Huntress

by Victoria Wren

  Ella’s eyes flew skyward, her mouth downturned like a child. “I can’t bear the thought of it. He says he doesn’t have feelings for her anymore. But he was with her for a long time. Old habits die hard, you know?”

  Win could sense where Ella’s train of thought was headed. “Has he said how he feels about you?”

  Ella chuckled sadly, emotion bubbling under the surface, shaking her head. “It’s been amazing, though.”

  Win could tell she was eager to talk about him. She grinned devilishly at her friend, taking her hand and giving it a hard squeeze.

  “Okay, you do not get to keep secrets now…I want to know everything!” She giggled. “No leaving out any details. You owe me!”

  Ella laughed, quickly brushing away another tear before it fell. “Everything?”

  “Everything! Every juicy, naughty detail. And then I can tell you mine!”

  “Win! No way you tell me first.” Ella broke into a fit of giggles, settling her elbows on the table. Win shook her head, her curls bouncing freely about her face.

  “Uh-uh. Not fair. Besides, mine isn’t going to be as juicy as yours. You owe me that, at least. I want to know when, where, and how.”

  Ella settled back, blushing furiously, unable to prise the grin off her lips. “Okay…well, here it goes. It was six weeks ago. We’d been working a long shift, and he’d been his usual moody self. On great form all day, he picked fights with me non-stop. But my dad was out of town, and the car was in the shop, so he gave me a lift home.”

  She paused for effect, and Win realized she had been leaning her upper body across the table. They both broke into a fit of giggles, and Win eased back. “Get to the good bit.”

  “We went to the diner for a drink…I think your sister’s friend works in there, by the way.”

  Win rolled her eyes. “Evan. Yes, she’s everywhere. Anyway, carry on, come on!”

  “Anyway.” Ella bit her lip, the memory causing her to blush to her roots. Win could hear Ella’s pulse racing, her skin prickling, and every little hair on her forearms standing up to attention. Win shook off the odd sensation and listened to the story, trying to avoid living it with her friend. “We were in the car, and he pulled over in a side road and said he was sorry for the way he’d been acting. He was tired and worried, and he didn’t mean to be a douche to me at work. Then he kissed me!”

  Win squealed out loud, customers turning in their direction. “Keep it down,” Ella hissed.

  “Sorry, sorry,” Win mumbled.

  Ella looked awkward; she wrung her hands, fiddled with her straw. “I mean, it wasn’t what I was expecting at all. But I wasn’t about to say no. I’ve had feelings for him…for years. Then before I knew it, we were in the back and ….”

  Win slapped both hands on the table in dismay. “You did it in his car? Ella!”

  Ella looked crestfallen. “I know. It’s not how I pictured things happening. We were both taken by surprise. He dropped me home, and the next day I went to Mercy to confront him. I wanted to be so cool, you know? Like it was no big deal, we could still be friends.”

  Win tutted. “No big deal?”

  “I wanted to be coy…like I was casual, and it didn’t matter. Of course, that’s not me. At all. We were talking in his room, saying we’d be friends, and it happened again. This time was better…much better!”

  Win’s mouth gaped. “Oh! You mean it wasn’t good the first time?”

  “No, no, it was. But I mean, that was my first time. I didn’t know what I was doing. It was weird and awkward but still nice. And it was in a car, for god's sake. It’s hot and stuffy, and there’s no room to move.”

  Win grinned darkly. “Sounds intense. So the next time was better?”

  “Much better.” She looked wistful, her eyes glazing over with the memory, and Win felt a slither of ickiness. She wished she could turn off the sensations vibrated off her friend. It made her feel like a voyeur; she wanted to know the details, not live them. “And that was the start of it.”

  “And the time I walked in on you?”

  “It was us trying to talk about what was happening with him and Rosene.”

  “But you had sex instead?”

  Ella smirked. “It really makes things complicated. I don’t do very well resisting him. Neither of us wanted you to find out that way. But having the secret was kind of exciting, you know? And you have this massive part of your life so dangerous and exciting, and I wanted that for myself. Does that make any sense at all?”

  Win did understand, only too well. Her relationship with Grayson had been so irresistible because of the danger, the nervous energy, and the terror she might get caught. “I get it,” she answered. “So when is this all going to come to a head?”

  “Luke has to go to Boston next week for a preliminary hearing. I don’t think he’ll have a problem getting emancipated, eventually, but it could take a year! It’s what happens after. School, money…a place to live.”

  “And meanwhile, they are selling Mercy. Be better if they burned the damn place to the ground.”

  They were silent for a moment, both lost in thought. “Now, you tell me your news!” Ella said brightly.

  “Well, I kissed Grayson!” Win said, and Ella squeaked. Win rolled her eyes, sniggering. “Which, after what you just told me, sounds a bit dull in comparison but, you’re right. It is dangerous,” Win said finally, circling back to Ella’s remark. “Things are happening. Things I don’t have any control over. I’m changing every day. I didn’t mean to lash out at you. I was worked up. I’d found Iris’s remains…my grandpa is fading, and I keep having these visions. And Grayson and I aren’t going to see each other for a while.”

  Ella’s face crumpled. “Oh, Win no!” Win swallowed back the lump in her throat. It was her turn to take a long sip of her shake, thick, sweet cream clagging at the back of her mouth.

  “It’s for the best,” she let it out in a rush. “He isn’t helping. I get very worked up around him. And while things are so unsettled, it's better we keep apart.”

  Win made quick work relaying Iris’s story, how she had found the animal bones in a box under the floor. Ella’s eyes widened as she listened intently, her mouth dropping open when Win revealed that she and Luke were distantly related. But the conversation soon circled back toward Evan. Ella was keen to understand Win’s thoughts.

  “And you aren’t keen on your sister’s friend?”

  Win narrowed her eyes, staring at the swirling bits of chocolate floating on the surface of her shake. “You mean my sister’s girlfriend?”

  Ella’s eyes widened in surprise. “But you don’t like her?”

  “I like her.” Win didn’t want to sound defensive. “She’s part of a tribal family who knows what we are. She claims she was called here because of me. She says she is here to help.”

  “And you don’t believe her?”

  “It’s too convenient. She turns up now? Why?”

  “Maybe she is here to help…look!” Ella ducked and hauled up the pile of books on her left. She picked up an old copy titled ‘Tales of the Shaman’ and flicked through the worn old pages. “I found this in Lincoln Library.”

  Win pulled it in front of her. “What is it?”

  “It’s a book about the Native Americans who lived here, the Atoloa. There are some copies of the rituals they used to do, meditations.”

  Win flipped the book shut, disappointed. “Meditation is all Rowan makes me do.”

  Ella brightened, flipping the book open again and ignoring her friend’s dismissive tone. “Ah-ha! But have you ever done it with animal bones?”

  Win’s eyes flew wide. “What?”

  “The remains you found…I was reading this last night and was thinking we could do some kind of séance, but now we have bones—it’s even better! You can chant over the bones, call to the spirit of the animal…in this case, your great aunt. She could lead you to the lost ones?”

  W
in backed away from the book, shaking her head. “Ah, I don’t know. It sounds like something Evan ought to be doing. You know, an actual ancestor of a Shaman.”

  “Let me look into it,” Ella insisted. “I want to help. Besides, if you don’t think you can trust her, trust your instincts…for now. You aren’t always wrong. You knew something was off in the attic. You knew, on some level, about Luke and me.”

  Win took the book gingerly in her fingers, staring down at the worn old text, wondering how on earth Ella had come across this in the library. When she glanced up, Ella was staring out of the window, down the street, her face ashen. Win followed her gaze. “What’s the matter?”

  Ella jerked, her lower lip working soundlessly. She tore her eyes away from whatever had caught her attention. “That woman—the book lady.”

  Win shuddered. “What about her?” She twisted in the booth, leaning across the leather seats to get a better look down the street. “Where is she?”

  Ella shook, rubbing her upper arms, having broken out in goosebumps. “She was over there by the butcher's door. She was standing there staring.”

  Win broke out in gooseflesh. “Staring at you?”

  Ella swallowed, shaking her head. “No. She was staring at you.”

  Fifteen

  THE BELL CRASHED against the wall as Win burst through the glass door and out onto the street. Her temper flared as she stared down the street, eyeing the sidewalks for evidence Jennifer Riley had been watching her. The sidewalks were still being cleared from the festival, stray pieces of hay floating across the road, and banners were being pulled down. Behind her, the door clanged again, and Ella joined her, the books tucked under her arm.

  “Where is she?” Ella asked nervously. “Jeez, she really gave me a scare.”

  Win stood on tiptoe. “Maybe she went back into her store.”

  “She’s as creepy as hell. The way she was looking at you….”

  Ella’s voice faltered, and Win’s head whipped in her direction. “What?”

  Ella shrugged; the look on her face said she wished she’d kept her mouth shut. “She …I don’t know. Her eyes were black. She really gave me a shock. She was just standing there!”

  Win shook out the tension in her shoulders, hoping the creeping sensation would soon ebb away. Ella darted back inside the café, quickly paying the bill and joining Win back out on the street. Win crossed her arms defensively as they walked back up the street, shoulder to shoulder.

  “I don’t think you should confront that woman, Win. She’s been watching your family for years,” Ella said as they fell into step with one another.

  “She wrote the book on my family, literally,” Win said, her chin down, staring dismally at the sidewalk as they went.

  “Then stay away from her,” Ella insisted.

  “It’s not the first time I’ve caught her watching me.” Win stopped and stared at the books protected under Ella’s arm. “You think it could work?”

  “I don’t know. I mean, it’s worth a try. You can do amazing things when you concentrate, look at the astral phasing you managed, phasing into memories? We might need more of us, though.”

  “How many?” Win was uncertain. This was starting to sound like something out of a horror movie, evoking the dead. She wanted to find her lost family.

  “Well, the incantation I came across mentioned four people, for the four corners? Maybe Rowan and Evan?”

  “No, not Evan. Not yet,” Win shot back, more testily than she needed to. “Luke? Technically he is family?”

  Ella rolled her eyes. “It's so weird. Who would have thought, huh?”

  The sidewalk was becoming crowded with afternoon patrons as they approached Upper Street, near the jailhouse. Hardy’s was packed out front in the early afternoon sunshine. Several gentlemen stood up and took off their hats, causing both girls to stop and follow their gaze. A large white van with a long blue stripe running along its side was traveling slowly down the main street. The van had the word ‘Coroner’ printed on its hood. Win froze, watching as people came out of their storefronts to witness the van pass through town.

  She threw her head over her shoulder as an elderly gentleman happened to brush past her. He was tall and thin with a shining, balding scalp; she instantly recognized him as one of her grandpa’s friends. “What happened?” she asked as he passed by.

  He turned and gave the van a nod. “Robert James Fraser died this morning in his sleep. A kind end for an old bastard if you ask me,” he snorted. “May he rest eternally in hell.”

  Ella’s tires crunched over the stony driveway of Hickory House. To their surprise, they saw Luke’s blue fiat parked over by one of the sheds. Win and Ella exchanged worried looks.

  “Why is he here?” Win muttered to herself. “I mean, I’m not unhappy to see him, but we didn’t exactly part of the best of terms.”

  Ella gripped the steering wheel, chewing over her bottom lip. “He’s alone, Win. I guess he doesn’t have anywhere else to go now. The house is empty.”

  “Wouldn’t he rather see you?”

  Ella shrugged. “He knows where to find me.”

  Win pushed away the memory of standing over the old man, eyeing him like he was her next meal. She shuddered and closed her eyes. Was his death her fault? Did she push him to his end? Robert Fraser wasn’t a liked man. No one was sorry to see him go. Win thought about how sad and lonely it must be and how only a few months ago, Luke had been on a very similar path.

  She got out of the car. “Wish me luck,” Win called through the window.

  “I’ll call you about the S-P-E-L-L,” Ella mouthed, and Win laughed and rolled her eyes.

  “You don’t have to spell it out. I know what you meant.”

  “Yes, but some of your family have big ears…all the better to hear us with!”

  Nodding in agreement, Win watched her drive away and jogged up the steps to the house. The porch door clanged behind her; she was greeted by her father sitting with his legs up on the couch, reading a newspaper.

  “Dad…where’s—?”

  “Back porch,” Ben answered without folding the paper down. “And before you ask, your grandfather is out. Probably a good thing, I heard the news.”

  “And Rowan?”

  “Out,” he answered dully. “Running with Evan.”

  Win was relieved the house was virtually empty. She flew into the kitchen and pulled two glasses from the draining board, slopping some cold juice into them before heading to the back porch. She peeked through the mesh and saw Luke sitting on the bottom step. He was reading on his tablet, his glasses perched on the end of his nose, thick, black hair falling into his face. He glanced up, getting to his feet awkwardly as she bumped the door open with her bottom before handing him a glass.

  “Win. You’re back.” He tried to smile, but it was half-hearted. Win sat down beside him on the porch steps, the breeze whipping through her hair.

  “Well, I saw the love mobile parked out front, so I thought it must be you,” she teased, to which he pulled a face.

  “The love mob…oh. Oh. You’ve talked with Ella.”

  Win wiggled her eyebrows. “You sure know how to show a lady a good time.”

  Despite her teasing, his face split into a grin, which as always, made him look boyish and young. It was impossible to stay mad at him. “Great, I should have known girls like to talk.”

  “We do…but Luke, I’m sorry. For the way, I acted.” She reached for his hand, closing her palm around his. “And I’m sorry about your grandpa.”

  He snorted, staring dismally down at their entwined hands before jerking it out of her grip. “Are you? I’m not. I think you’d have to go a long way in this town to find someone who actually is.”

  Win sucked in her breath and let it out, along with everything she needed to tell him. He listened, going wide-eyed when she revealed that his grandfather had married her great aunt, which made them second cousins.
r />   “So, we’re related?” he mused. “I knew there was a reason you bugged me so much!”

  “Hey!” She punched his shoulder. “Seeing as you just had a death in the family, I’ll let that go. I’m not that bad. You could do worse!”

  Luke laughed. “My family aren’t exactly upstanding members of society.”

  “Well, he can’t have been all bad,” Win said. “My great aunt married him.”

  “That did her a world of good, didn’t it?” He rubbed his eyes. “I can’t say I’m horrified we’re related. As long as I don’t start…you know…growing hair in weird places?”

  Win laughed. “Ella did mention those strange marks on your back,” she chided, and when he snapped his eyes furiously in her direction, she burst out laughing. “I’m kidding! I think you’d have to be pure Hickory to have anything to really worry about. But at least you have family here now, feud or no feud. You are Iris’s grandson.”

  “I’m not sure how your grandfather will feel.”

  Win leaned back against the upper step; she stretched out her long legs. “He has bigger problems, trust me. So what is your plan? Ella mentioned you have to go to Boston.”

  Luke mirrored her position on the steps. “Next week. Hopefully, I can convince the judge to consider the emancipation, and then I can be done with them.”

  Win let the air drift between them, knowing she had to reveal something. “When I saw your dad at Mercy, he did seem kind of…” Win searched for the word, recalling the sneer on Jake Fraser’s face. Upset would have been the wrong word, affronted better. Annoyed? Finally, she said, “Bothered.”

  Luke’s eyes snapped up. “Bothered? Trust me, the only thing he was bothered by was the fact he had to make the trip.”

  “I know.” She felt terrible. His expression said it all. It was over. Jake wasn’t going to fight to keep him in his life.

  Luke exhaled, kicking his legs out in front of him. “Guess then it’s real. I’m really going to do this. No more Fraser…I’ll be going by Blakely now.”