by Ruby Raine
“Always a pleasure to talk to a pretty sweet lass like yourself.”
“Grace,” called out Emily, “I gotta run, see you.”
Grace waved her off realizing she had important news to tell the Howards and brought Freddy a steaming cup of coffee. “One sugar, just like you like it.”
“Thanks, Hon. Hey, do you think what I told her will really help them find the missin’ man?”
“Don’t know, but she sure was in a hurry to get outta here. Good sign if you ask me.” She eyed him, a bit of distrust. “You tell her the truth, Freddy Collier?”
“Sure ‘nough, did. Every word.”
“All right then.” She went back to her duties behind the counter leaving Freddy to ponder and drink his coffee.
Outside the café, Emily walked with a fast gait toward the Howard Mansion. She still needed to fulfill the request to check in on Melinda, but right after, she’d find out where Michael was and meet him. This news warranted a person-to-person explanation.
The lighthouse story had turned out to be true! And beyond that, it was extremely possible she’d also discovered a huge clue regarding the disappearance of their father, Jack.
It was almost too much to keep in. She raced inside the mansion and up to Melinda’s room. She saw the door was open but when she stepped inside there was no Melinda. She called out but there was no answer. She hopped into Melinda’s bathroom and saw the shower was still wet. She plodded back downstairs calling out for her.
She sighed, hoping Melinda hadn’t gone off on her own again, without telling someone what she was up to. That never went over well with her brothers...
“What am I going to tell them?” she mumbled as she left the house. She decided for the moment that her news was more important and dialed Michael’s number.
“Michael, where are you?” she asked urgently, not even allowing him to say hello.
“Um, we’re all about to meet up at The Demon Headlight actually. Why? Is everything okay?”
“Yup! Everything’s great. I just have TONS to tell you. I need you all to meet me back at Suicide Light though. I’ll be there as fast as I can!” She disconnected before he could say another word.
MELINDA FOLLOWED A short distance behind Riley. They had not spoken for a while, and she had no idea where he was leading them.
He stopped, getting a strange look on his face.
“What?” she asked him.
“The feeling’s getting hazy.”
“So what does that mean?”
“Either we’ve arrived, or I don’t need to go where I thought I did, or sometimes if I’m too early it just sort of makes me wait.”
“Huh. Interesting gift you’ve got there.” She leaned back onto a telephone pole, crossing her arms. The clouds were rolling back in and the breeze was a bit heavier than it had been. She hoped it wasn’t going to storm again, things were just starting to dry out from the previous days’ rains.
Riley kicked around some gravel on the shoulder of the road. They had left the main streets of the Isle and were walking alongside a lesser used road toward the southeast side of the Isle.
“So um, speaking about gifts, Melinda, you apparently have at least one of your own? And I’m guessing those times you had to leave so suddenly is because you were on the job? I mean, you’re a Howard, it is still your job to protect the Isle, right?” He paused adding, “Only if you want to talk about it.”
“Yes,” she answered, her tone sharper than she intended. “It is my job. And yes, when I left it was because I had work to do. Work that could not wait.”
“One thing the magical world doesn’t do well, waiting,” mumbled Riley.
“Yeah, you can say that again,” Melinda agreed with a sigh. “Makes having any kind of normal life a real pain in the ass.”
“How do you do that? Have a normal life I mean?”
She wasn’t sure how to answer that question, seeing as she’d only recently even tried to carry on any sort of normal life. “I don’t know. I mean it’s just that I’ve... I’ve never really,” she frowned.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“It’s not that Riley,” Melinda sighed, caving. “It’s just, do you remember how you got the impression that I’d been in jail or something?”
“Um, yeah.”
“You were not so far off really.”
“So you are some kind of juvenile delinquent?” he spoke mischievously.
“No, I was not. Am not! But I have a bit of a... social anxiety thing. I spent the last few years sort of hiding, inside my bedroom mostly.” She kept her head down but rolled her eyes up trying to get a sense of his reaction.
“I guess I get that. Like you said, it’s not an easy life,” he told her. His eyes said something else.
“As long as it’s clear I’m not some kind of delinquent!” she spewed hotly, tightening her crossed arms.
He had to hold back a laugh at her feistiness. God damn, if it didn’t make her even more desirable. He ignored her perfectly pouty lips, pleading for his feeling to start working again. But nothing happened.
“I wasn’t judging you,” he claimed a minute later.
She just shrugged.
“I was thinking that you’re smart. Beautiful. And I can’t imagine why you’d ever feel the need to hide. I guess there’s a lot we don’t know about each other. And being who we are, I guess we won’t.”
“No. I guess not. But whatever, it’s fine. Forget it.” She didn’t want to talk about her anxiety issues with him.
“Am I allowed to ask about your gift? I think I might have an idea, but I’d still like to know.”
“What’s your guess?” she countered.
“Um, something that’s similar to what I have. But I’d guess more specific than what I can do.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Whenever you had to leave, it was like you had some sudden intention that came out of nowhere, and yet you knew exactly where you had to be.”
“You’re way too observant for your own good,” she noted. “But you’re not wrong.”
His head shot up and his eyes danced with eager excitement as he waited for her to continue.
“That boy on the beach earlier, I saw that it was going to happen. I had a dream about it.”
“A dream?”
“Yeah. Sometimes, well a lot of the time, I have dreams that come true. Mostly, I dream about death. Someone usually dies. And if I’m lucky, my siblings and I can stop it from happening. Like that boy on the beach; in my dream the wave carried him out to sea, and his father tried to swim out and save him, and they both drowned.”
“Wow. So you knew that was going to happen, and that you could stop it. That’s... that’s a really kick ass gift, Melinda.”
“I’m not sure I’d go with kick ass. It has its moments, I guess. Sometimes it can be gratifying, knowing I saved someone. But mostly it sucks and is really terrifying. I watch people die. And... I haven’t always been able to save everyone I’ve dreamed about.”
She let out a huff, crossing her arms.
“And you know, why the hell would that be? I mean, I’m given these dreams for a reason, right? So why is it I can’t save all of them? What is the point? I watch people die in my dreams. Then hope I can save them, but sometimes they die anyway.”
She shrugged and shook her head, pissy about it all. And a Deane was the last person she should be venting to. She fisted her hands, biting her lip. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to rant.”
“It’s okay, Melinda. I get how frustrating it can be. Seeing people die every night can’t be fun. But my gift has never led me to saving someone’s life, either.”
“That’s actually not true.”
His lids fell half-mast in question of what she meant.
“You saved my life today, Riley. And I didn’t even thank you. I yelled at you.” Her eyes cried, sorry.
“Oh, well. It’s okay.”
“No. It’s
not.” Before she could stop herself, she tore over to him capturing his lips with her own. He didn’t flinch or fight it. His arms enclosed around her, one around her shoulders, the other low around her waist.
Reality sliced in and Melinda pulled away, pushing against his shoulders to get out of his grasp. He held tight.
“I’m not ready to let you go,” his voice quivered. “If this is our last kiss, Melinda, I don’t want you to ever forget it.”
Last kiss... the words bit into her. Was it going to be over? Before it had even really started.
His molasses eyes swirled in dark misery. Melinda wanted to lighten that pain; she was certain her baby blues were saying the same thing to him. How unfair that her body and heart betrayed her mind and broke her willpower so easily. He had lips she wanted to devour, eyes to get lost in. Hands she wanted desperately to explore all her secrets, over and over and over.
Her body relaxed. She stopped fighting to get away. His lips swept across hers leaving behind a luring sting. His soft sweeping intensified, his tongue seeking hers.
Each touch, each tug, saying goodbye. Wishing it wasn’t a goodbye. Hoping that just maybe, it wouldn’t be a forever, goodbye.
But it had to be.
Riley’s hands found her hips, fingers squeezing into her sides. He forced his fingers to release her, and stopped his kiss with a sweep to the tip of her nose, up to her forehead.
He groaned, stepping away from her.
“Shit,” he exhaled.
“Yeah,” that about summed it up. Her mind was blank and yet full. So very full. And heavy.
“No, sorry. I mean, yeah, for sure, but, my feeling just came back.”
“Oh. Right. Um, where to?” She sounded dazed. And bit her lip to hold back tears threatening to surface. That, was so not going to happen.
“This way.” He pointed down a dirt road that veered off the main road, not too far ahead.
“That leads to Suicide Light,” she told him.
“That’s where I need to go.”
“Okay.”
They didn’t speak. Footsteps and breaths too loud for comfort.
After a long silence, Riley broke it. “Your gift, Melinda. It might suck to have those dreams, but you make a real difference in people’s lives. That mother would be a childless widow tonight if you hadn’t had that dream and intervened. That’s an incredible gift. Something you should be proud of, not afraid of.” Something told him that her dreams were at least partly to blame for her spending so much time locked away.
She stopped. Just staring at him. He seemed so good. Perhaps the Deane name meant nothing in the case of Riley. “Stop saying things that make me want to kiss you...”
“I really am sorry, Melinda. If I’d known. If I’d even been smart enough to get your entire name,” he shrugged, tossing her a look of, is it really this hopeless? Have we no chance? At all...
Familiar voices ahead yanked Melinda out of her hazy hopelessness. She looked toward the lighthouse and gasped. With wide, dread-filled eyes, she yanked Riley off the road and hid them in a small grove of trees.
“What?” He didn’t understand what was happening.
“Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh. My. God.” Her lungs burned, unable to get enough air.
“What?” he demanded forcefully.
“Shut up!”
He backed away, throwing his hands in the air in full surrender.
She pointed for him to look at the people standing near the lighthouse. He nodded that he saw them.
“My. Family.”
“Oh,” sank out of him. Melinda swore she saw his heart drop to his feet and watched the color leave his skin.
“Why on earth would your feeling bring you here?” she yelled at him with her loudest whisper.
“No idea. I’m sorry. Really, I’m... I’m sorry.”
“You say that a lot.”
She saw William step away from the group, made up of Charlie, Michael, Emily, the sheriff- Mackenzie Briggs, a.k.a. Mack, and Eva Jordan.
Melinda sucked in and held her breath as if somehow this act would stop what was inevitably about to happen. “Oh, no,” she whimpered. “We’re too close. He can smell me here.”
“Smell you? What the hell are you talking about? Smell you?”
“Vampire,” she explained.
“V-Vampire. You have a vampire?” Riley stammered. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and started dialing.
“What are you doing?”
“My brother, Lucas. He’s gonna kill me, but this is gonna get ugly! I just want him to know where I am before your vampire drains me.”
“William wouldn’t do that,” she insisted, blowing off his concern. “He’s part of our family and one of my closest friends. His temper is very controlled. William!” she gasped. The vampire stared them down, an intense gaze passing between the two.
“Melinda. I confess myself, confused.”
Guilt. Fear. It was all over her face. Leaking out of her pores. Her skin drenched in it.
There was another smell mixed in. The same one that had covered Melinda’s body and nearly sent him spiraling out of control a few days prior. This was the pathetic excuse of a man she’d been seeing.
William’s gaze narrowed in on Riley, his dark stare flaring towards deadly. A vicious snarl erupted from his lips while in an unseen move he pinned Riley to the trunk of a tree, his fangs precariously close to his exposed neck.
“William!” screamed Melinda.
The rest of the group approached, curious as to what William had darted away to see. They started running when they heard a familiar voice screaming.
“William! Stop it! Please don’t hurt him!”
Charlie came to a sudden stop upon seeing Melinda, along with William nearly sinking his teeth into a stranger’s neck. “William! What the hell are you doing?” He had never seen the vampire behave in this manner before.
“I smell your blood,” William spat angrily. His rage aimed purely at Riley.
Everyone stood, frozen, staring at William with no idea what to do. How exactly did you stop a vampire on a sudden and inexplicable rampage?
“I have a stake in my car,” warned Mack. She’d never make it to her car and back in time to cause any actual damage to the vampire, but she hoped her reminder would be enough to catch his attention.
It worked. Shook him out of whatever rage he’d gotten himself into.
William let go of Riley and stepped back. His chest heaved, his lips furled in anger. His fangs retracted but the look on his face was scandalous.
“His blood. He’s a Deane.”
They had never heard such spite spewing from his mouth before. William had stored the blood smell into memory long ago, so as never to forget the smell of Deane blood.
No one spoke; everyone was too stunned. Not just by William’s revelation, but by his reaction of coming face to face with a Deane.
Melinda couldn’t look at William. Too mortified by his reaction to Riley. They’d just been kissing and his smell would be all over her. It was all out in the open now, at least with William. He knew this was the guy she’d been seeing. Her secret was out, and out in the worst way.
She had expected some anger, and disappointment, but she hadn’t expected the level of hatred and distrust that lashed out of the vampire. And she had no idea how much was just because of his Deane blood, and just how much was due to the fact it was a Deane she’d been seeing. The worst possible betrayal.
Why didn’t I just tell everyone? Like Riley did with his brother. Once again, her avoidance of potentially awkward and difficult situations was making things ten times worse than they needed to be.
This was not how her family, and especially William, should have found out about Riley. But here they were now. She’d have to deal with the consequences. She held her breath, waiting for the inevitable onslaught of questions to begin.
“A Deane?” Michael finally mustered out. Under his breath he noted, “I guess it’s cl
ear how William really feels about them.”
Melinda heard her brother’s remark and cringed. She wanted to sink into despair. But she needed to fix this, if not for her own sake, for Riley’s. He didn’t deserve this. It was one thing she felt confident about.
“What are you doing here?” Charlie interrogated Riley unkindly. “And what the hell are you doing with my sister?”
Before Riley could speak, Melinda found her voice, pleading, “Stop. Just stop. Everyone please, just, take a breath. I can explain all of this.”
They each looked at Melinda expectantly. She gulped hard, having no idea what she was actually going to say.
“Um. Well, you see,” she started out shakily. “I fell asleep after lunch and had a dream. You were all busy helping Eva, so I decided to handle it on my own. I saw Riley...”
Emily coughed, choking.
Melinda knew she had just put two and two together. Michael patted Emily’s back, but she waved him off saying she was okay. She shot Melinda an agonizing gaze. This is why her friend had been in hiding. It was a guy problem, but not one Emily could have guessed in a hundred years. Melinda had fallen for a Deane; this was not going to end well.
“Your name’s Riley, is it?” confirmed Charlie.
He nodded tightly, but did not dare speak.
“Will you let me finish, please?” Melinda eyed her brother with pleading vexation.
“Sorry, go ahead.”
“Anyway, in my dream I saw Riley helping a child on the beach. There was this massive rogue wave and he was trying to keep the boy from drowning.” She glanced at Riley. He was not about to disagree with this incorrect version of the story. “I saw in my dream that he and the boy were going to die. They weren’t going to be fast enough, so after I woke up I raced to the beach. I got there just in time.”
“So the boy is okay?” asked the sheriff.
“Fine. Just fine. And I have to say, in part thanks to Riley. Because once I got there, well, I barely got there in time. The boy was saved, but the wave... the current dragged me out. I couldn’t use a spell under water, something I need to learn I guess. He, Riley, he um, saved me from drowning.” That part was actually true.
Again no one spoke. The group’s eyes wandered to the silent Riley Deane. Melinda let out a long breath, hoping they’d believe her story and let Riley be. She did not know whether she could trust him for certain, but she was confident he did not deserve the welcome he’d gotten.
