by Ruby Raine
Michael gazed comically at his brother. “I cannot believe you turned that down.”
“I will most likely regret that choice,” Charlie grumbled. Always other issues nagging at him. Keeping him from living any sort of normal life. Moreover though, to leave with them, in front of his family. It would be so obvious... yeah, no. Not going to happen.
All that remained on the beach were drying pieces of dead bloodsuckers.
Melinda skipped over and grasped Emily in a deep hug. Melinda tossed Michael a sympathetic smile. She did not need his empathic abilities to feel the large doses of relief and elation pouring out of him.
The stench of warming blood on the beach however, could ruin any good mood, and turned her stomach. “How do you enjoy this stuff, William? I realize it’s your fav thing and all, but I cannot imagine living on a diet of only blood.”
“Don't diss it until you try it.” His face turned stoic. “That is actually not a funny thought in the least.” He was horrified he’d said it.
“Ah, C’mon. It was funny, William.” Melinda grinned. “You're permitted to make jokes, you know.” She eyed him with a pleading look that said, just forget about earlier, and let’s just be us.
He tossed her a lifted brow, agreeing. It was funny.
She laughed. Happy for the brief reprieve from their tension.
Mr. Jordan sauntered up to them. He had been walking the beach, looking over the devastation, collecting blood samples for his research. “I will bid thee farewell.” He stepped closer to Emily. “Thrilled you are still amongst us in the human world my dear. Thrilled!”
She nodded in his direction, smiling.
“Thank you, Mr. Jordan,” said Michael. “Thank you for trying to help. I'd still love to talk more about your work sometime.”
“Sure enough, young man. I'll be in touch.”
There were quick introductions all around, for those that hadn’t officially met him. Charlie wanted to trust the man, but knowing he was Eva’s father, the same nagging apprehension surfaced. “Mr. Jordan. Seeing as you’re a writer and all, there’s no problem in sharing your findings, but anything you happen to see about what we do...”
He held up his arm. “No need to explain. Complete secrecy. I know when to keep my mouth shut.”
Charlie nodded. “Sorry. I hope I wasn’t being rude. We have to be careful.”
“Understood.” He lifted his hand and saluted the group. Mr. Jordan turned and got into his car and drove off. Just seconds later, they heard the beep beep beep of a truck backing up.
“The cleaners,” said Charlie, rubbing his hands together. “Our work here is nearly done.” A large truck came to a stop, with the words, “Demon Isle Cleaning Service” painted on the side. Above it was their slogan. “Dirty? Get our DICS on it!” He laughed every time he saw it.
A young man around Charlie's age hopped out of the cab. Charlie met him, holding out his hand. The young man grabbed it, shaking it.
“Charlie Frickin’ Howard. It is never a pleasure to see you,” the young man sparred jokingly.
Charlie pretended to hit the young man in the arm. “Yeah, afraid we left you a doozy today, Josh.”
“Someone's gotta clean up this shite!” an older voice called out. “And the pay ain't bad neither.” An older, scruffy looking man walked around the front of the vehicle.
“Where you want me to start today, Dad?” Josh asked him.
“Survey the scene. Always survey the scene first,” he reminded his son. “I’d start down the beach apiece. See how far down we gotta clean.” His voice was kind, but gruff, like he’d smoked one too many cigarettes.
“I'm on it,” the young man called back eagerly. “Catch ya later,” he aimed at Charlie, passing by, opening the back of the truck.
“I'll owe ya a beer,” Charlie shouted after him.
“Ha, from the looks of this mess, you'll owe me a six pack.”
Charlie thought, maybe an entire case.
“Ah, he's a wicked good kid,” the older man boasted. “Glad he finally ‘cided to come into the family business. I'm thinkin’ on retirin’.”
Mack joined them. “I didn't picture you as the retirin’ type, Earl Skidgel.”
“There comes a day in every man's life when he realizes he'd rather be catching some wicked friggin’ big’uns on his boat. ‘Sides, I been doin’ this on forty years.”
“Well, this Isle is indebted to you,” said Charlie.
“As I said, someone's gotta clean up this heeah supah-natral messes get left behind. Looks like we got a hell of a mess goin’ on today.”
Melinda had a hard time not laughing at Earl’s accent. It was the quintessential coastal accent that you often heard done poorly in any movie, set in Maine. Only he was the real deal.
Earl didn’t question what happened on the beach. Or what the bodies were. Why there was so much blood. He just joined his son at the back of the truck and prepped for the cleanup.
“I'm gonna stick around, wrap things up here,” said Mack. “Why don't you guys go ahead and take off. Been a pretty long day.”
“Mack, lately, every day has been a long day.” Melinda smirked.
“Ain't that the truth!” she agreed, wiping her brow.
“I'll just fill in the Skidgel's on the beach barrier before I go,” said Charlie. “It will start to fade in about an hour.”
“Good. Good. I'll check in with you guys tonight.” She headed back out to check on her deputies.
A SHORT WHILE LATER, after showering, the Howard brothers sat in their kitchen having a well-earned dinner of beer and pizza.
Melinda was just joining them, disappointed that her new dress was ruined by sucker blood. She’d tried to wash it out, but it was no use. She’d really enjoyed wearing that dress. What a bummer. She tossed it in the trash. She was not surprised to see Michael’s already filling the garbage can as well as William’s.
“Should we really throw these bloody clothes away? I think we should just burn them. Does the garbage man know about the Isle, or us?” she wondered.
Charlie finished his bite. “I’m not honestly sure about that. Probably better not to risk it.”
“Give them to me, Melinda. I’ll burn them in my fireplace,” offered William. He’d just come into the kitchen from his study. She grabbed the bag and handed it to him. They passed a gentle smile between each other. The vampire disappeared, but before she helped herself to a slice of pizza, he’d returned.
Melinda had a hard time eating as her evening date with Riley edged closer. But she did not want Michael to catch on to her feelings, so she did her best to ignore the butterflies swimming in her stomach and nibbled on the slice.
She was still eager to see her motorcycle man. Although it was now dampened by her need to be honest with him about a few things. A few revelations that might send him running away from her, instead of dragging her into his bed.
And part of her felt guilty for being excited to see him. But she knew nothing had changed between her and William. Even though everything had changed. Nothing could ever come of it though, and that’s what mattered in the end.
Michael had driven Emily home so she could have dinner with her father, but could only be talked into letting her out of his sight upon her insistence that she was headed straight to bed after dinner. A bed he planned to join her in later if she’d let him.
William took a mug of warmed animal blood out of the microwave. He sipped it, frowned and set it down. It wasn’t what his tongue craved, or satisfying in the least.
After dinner, when everyone’d had a few minutes to eat and relax after the crazy day, Charlie brought up the subject of what the mermaids had told him, about the attacking mermaid and her being wrong. And explained in more depth what had happened to him after the mermaids had shown up in the yard.
“They were really after your ring?” Michael shook his head. He didn’t understand how they’d know about this, any more than Charlie.
“What do you thi
nk it means?” asked Melinda.
“Honestly, I'm afraid to say it out loud,” Charlie admitted, glancing at William.
“It does have all the signs of a shapeshifter.” William said what Charlie could not.
“But you killed...” Melinda stopped, swallowing hard. “Even if somehow you didn't, you've got the ring now. You’re safe from it. It can’t control you, right?”
“No. It can’t, Melinda.” Charlie comforted. “I just have to say it aloud though. It’s possible I may not have killed the alpha werewolf.”
“What or who did you kill then?” wondered Michael.
“I don't know. I remember thinking that the wolf I fought behind Eva's house seemed different. Not as in control. More savage and wild. And it didn't speak to my mind. At the time I just assumed the ring was blocking it, or the alpha had broken the connection.”
“So the whole thing was a setup?” Melinda let out a tense breath.
“Maybe?” Charlie shrugged. “I don’t get how the shifter, alpha, whatever you want to fucking call it... how would they have had another werewolf on hand to fight me like that?”
“Perhaps it was a beta,” suggested William. “Perhaps someone the alpha had control over, but didn’t want as much as you. Someone the alpha saw as dispensable.”
“Anything’s possible I guess.” Charlie couldn’t imagine using someone like that. The thought that he killed some helpless innocent raked him. “What I really don’t get though, is how this alpha shifter knew I had to take the ring off voluntarily.”
“Voluntarily?” questioned Michael.
Charlie threw him a confused look. “I told you this last night. Remember, down by Nina’s cottage on the beach. She told me it could only be taken off voluntarily. It’s a built in safety feature.”
“Well, that’s good to know, but it’s the first time I’m hearing about it. I was with Emily last night. You and I didn’t talk about the ring, Charlie.”
Charlie opened his mouth to speak and closed it. “When did you get home?”
“Well after midnight. Emily and I were walking on the beach.”
“Walking?” razzed Melinda.
Michael smirked. “Actually. Yes. Walking. And also not important right now.”
Melinda scrunched her nose, something eerie dawning on her. She opened her mouth to speak but stopped when Charlie jumped out, threw his hands to his head and growled angrily.
“I wasn’t talking to you last night, Michael. I don’t believe it. It wasn’t you.”
“What are you talking about?” He didn’t understand.
Charlie explained being at Nina’s cottage and speaking to someone he thought was Michael. “It looked and sounded just like you,” he explained, completely weirded out by the situation. “The Michael I spoke to last night even told me Melinda explained where Nina’s house was located.”
“I did,” Melinda squeaked out. “It just hit me and I was about to bring it up. Michael had left for Emily’s and I was sitting on the front porch before bed. He came up the driveway a bit later and asked me if you’d come home yet. You hadn’t, and we talked about where you might be. He, it, acted worried about you. I didn’t give it a second thought.”
“This is super frigging freaky.” Michael eyed his siblings, with no idea what to do.
“And unfortunately seems to confirm that the shifter still lives,” expressed William, wearing a disgruntled frown.
“Does anyone else have a major case of the hee bee gee bees now?” Melinda shook, goosebumps rising on her arms.
No one spoke for a moment. The fact that the alpha werewolf slash shapeshifter was still alive, sucked. The fact that it had successfully impersonated one of the siblings, gave them the mega creeps.
“We have much to be cautious about,” William warned evenly.
They each looked at him, hopeful he would shower them with words of wisdom, or somehow soothe their concerns.
“In light of recent events,” William continued, “the warning from the Guardians, the arrival of the Deanes, and now potentially still having the alpha werewolf on the loose... I’d like to make some changes.”
“How do you mean?” asked Charlie.
“I’d like to begin with battle training.”
“We've learned how to battle,” said Michael with a short shake of his head.
“No. You have not,” William disagreed briskly. “Yes, you have used many of the spells, but in a true battle, you would each fail.” His words were cutting, but true. “I do not wish to sound dismal, but if it comes to it, I would rather have you hate me and live, versus die, because I did not tell you the truth. Real war is brutal. Something none of you has yet experienced.”
“What is it we don't know, William?” Melinda was confident she was not ready for a real fight.
“Many things,” William didn’t expand much. “I want to train with each of you, and once I believe you are ready, you will dual each other.” His tone was quite serious. “I may even call upon some experts in this area, to assist me.”
“Okay,” agreed Charlie. “You've never led us astray before, William. If you think we're not ready, then I guess we had better get ready. You're the only one here that's ever been in any real battles.”
William nodded sternly, in approval. “I also believe we need to reassess our security here at the mansion. It suddenly feels, lacking.”
“I’m afraid I agree with you on that one, too,” said Charlie. “We can’t chance the shifter getting in, or the Deanes.”
A quiet awkwardness fell over the table.
On Melinda’s part, she felt oddly uncomfortable sitting in her own home, reeling over the fact that it might not be as safe as she’d always thought it was.
Charlie was eager to get started. He wanted to implement new safety precautions as soon as possible.
Michael just tried to keep his own feelings separate from his sibling’s, as he had the same concerns, but just wanted to get to Emily, and hold her, just to make sure she was really still human. And safe.
William was pleased. He had decided it was time to make some changes, to reaffirm his place in the Howard’s lives. He was their mentor. Their protector. This is how it had been, and this is how it would remain. It was especially necessary after these last few days, to remind himself and not just them.
“Oh, William,” Charlie spoke after a few minutes. “I got so sidetracked today that I never got the chance to tell you. I've got an idea I want to run by you. A possible way to track the thing that took Dad. At least find out what direction it went after leaving the Isle.”
“Really?” Michael’s interest perked up.
“I'm not sure of course. But I think it's worth a shot.”
“We can start right away if you like,” said William. “We can discuss possible new security measures as well.”
Charlie nodded in agreement.
“Do you guys mind if I sit this one out?” Melinda bit her lip, anxiously.
“Yeah. It's no problem, Sis. We can handle this,” said Charlie.
“Plans?” wondered Michael.
She knew he was using his empathic ability to search out her feelings.
“Thought I might go out for an evening stroll. Maybe grab a cup of decaf before Grace closes up the cafe. And catch a movie,” she lied, needing an excuse as to why she’d be home so late. She didn’t want them to worry or wonder where she was, or ask questions she wasn’t ready to answer. “I just need to clear my head a little.” Another lie. Where does it stop?
“Okay. Go do that.” Charlie didn’t question. He figured it was better to just let her go. Michael eyed her distrustfully and opened his mouth to speak when surprisingly, William came to her rescue.
“Michael, would you reheat my blood mug? I still can’t figure out how to start that confounded microwave, and my blood has gone cold.”
“Oh, yeah, sure. No problem.”
William darted by Melinda, his mouth turning up in the slightest of smiles. A strained
smile, she thought. But she thanked him just the same. So softly only the vampire could hear. She slipped out of the house before anyone drilled for in depth answers.
ANTHONY JORDAN STEPPED into his house. A short while later, his daughter’s jeep pulled up the driveway. He waited by the front door for what he knew would be an indignant entrance.
Eva stalked up the stairs, each step heavier and louder than the previous, plowing through the door letting it slam shut behind her.
“Don't ask me how my fucking God damned day went!” Her white hair flailed around her head in a fury, acting out her emotions. She displayed her empty fingers. “No ring, all you need to know.”
She poured herself a whiskey and let her anger fly.
“I almost had him. Those stupid ass mermaids! They almost had that ring off Charlie Howard’s finger, and they went and jacked it all up!” She took a deep swig, breathing through the burn. “That ring is causing me a ridiculous amount of grief! It’s blocking me from his mind. I can’t tap into his thoughts anymore.”
Her father just waited, patiently, to be sure she had finished.
Eva huffed, taking another swig, emptying the shot glass. She poured another.
Anthony spoke softly, but in a tone meant to pique her curiosity. “It’s a rough blow, no doubt. But, my day went a little bit better.”
She sighed in an irritated manner.
“K. I'll bite.”
“First, I spent the day living in the world of the Howard Witches. I saw hours ago that you had failed, being that the ring was still on Charlie's finger.”
“And how is this a good day?” she barked bitterly, warning him to get to the point.
“I found out some very interesting news today.” He poured his own shot of whiskey before continuing. “The Demon Isle’s power source does not give the Howard Witches their abilities. They would be witches regardless of its existence.”
“Their powers are not tied to the source. They came out and actually told you that?” Her eyes lit up.
“The young man, Michael. I used some of that plant research drivel, wondering if the power source affected the local plant life and he just offered the information freely.”
