by Ruby Raine
“You okay, Melinda?”
She nodded. “Heart might take a few hours to beat normally again.”
“I am really sorry about that. But, um, why are you out in the middle of night, alone? Isn’t that a bad idea?” He looked her up and down, silently reminding her she was an easy target for the vampire.
“Maybe the vampire prefers your type,” Melinda argued hotly.
“My type?” he questioned, eyes pinched inward. If Melinda wasn’t mistaken Lucas was instantly squirming in his own skin at that thought.
“I just mean, who’s to say it will only suck chicks dry? Men have to be in danger too.”
His shoulders relaxed a little. An odd response, she thought, considering it meant he was in danger as well. But he was being entirely odd lately anyway.
Lucas pulled a wooden stake out of his back pocket. “You carrying one?”
Of course she wasn’t. “Okay, fine. Coming out in the middle of the night-worst idea I’ve had in about, oh, the last fifteen minutes of my life.”
He tugged at his lip, holding back an unexpected, but sympathetic, laugh. He shoved the stake back in his pocket, gaze grazing the alley again. Though prepared to fight a vampire, he was still acting funny.
“I’m guessing I’m not the only one questioning their every move tonight,” Melinda quipped daringly, hopeful he’d share.
“You are definitely not alone there, especially if you add sanity to that equation. And it’s probably not safe for anyone to be out at night. Me included. I have a stake, but I highly doubt I’d react fast enough to kill the thing if it attacked.”
“Why are you out tonight?” she asked boldly. She pointed her head toward the alley. “You’re back again.”
“You noticed,” he sighed.
She’d had about enough for one day and put her hands on her hips, trying to pull a Lizzy look, ordering him to spill. Truth is, they didn’t need more crazy. Maybe this was a problem she could fix.
“I really don’t want to talk about it.”
“Tough.”
“You’re going to think I’m crazy.”
She cleared her throat. Great. It really was more crazy to deal with.
“We’re on The Demon Isle,” she reminded. “The land of crazy.”
“But this is... I don’t know what this is.”
“What what is?” she prodded, unrelenting.
“Why do you care?” he got suddenly defensive.
“Lucas, you’re not going to close down and run away from this one.”
“I don’t run away from things.”
“You might not have flown off on a motorcycle to who knows where, but you wanted to leave too. You planned on leaving. I have a feeling you’d leave right now if you could. But something is keeping you here. So spill.”
He groaned. These women he was surrounded by were going to drive him mad.
“You’re not wrong,” he admitted. “I don’t like it here and I’d prefer to leave. And I really don’t understand what’s happening to me.” He leaned his back against the shadowed building. She joined him. “It started right after the whole Feyk thing ended.”
“What did?”
“Seeing ghosts,” he muttered, with a fleeting side-glance. Melinda didn’t flinch, just looked inquisitive. “At least I think they’re ghosts. I keep seeing things that are not real. And after, find out they are real. Or were real.” Confusion wrapped around Lucas tightly.
“Okay. So you’re seeing ghosts. What are these ghosts doing?”
“When I was on the ferry, coming home after looking for my brother, I was out on the deck and swore I saw this guy jump over the side of the ferry. Except Lizzy saw none of it. I thought I’d fallen asleep or something. Dreamed it. And then she told me about this story she’d heard about a guy who’d done that same thing, and I swear, it was exactly what I saw.”
“Huh?” Melinda got curious. “That wasn’t the only time though, was it?” She looked across him to the alley he’d just fallen out of.
“No. That day I ran into you, I saw that same man. The one who jumped overboard and killed himself on the ferry. I thought I was nuts but my legs automatically followed him into that alley. About half way in everything changed, like I’d stepped back to a different time.”
“Wait, so you saw the same guy go down that alley?” Melinda confirmed. “What was he doing this time?”
A pinkish blush blotted Lucas’ cheeks. “Um, he was meeting with a young woman. I think he was a few years younger than when he died, at least he looked it.”
“So what happened?”
“Do I really have to say?” He eyed her in a knowing fashion.
“Oh. That kind of meeting. So they got it on and you stayed and watched?”
“Not because I wanted to,” he countered. “I was kind of stuck. I tried to walk back out the way I came in, but it wouldn’t release me. I couldn’t get back into my time.”
“Almost like with my visions,” Melinda murmured. “Don’t let you go until it shows you everything you need to see. Except I see future events.”
Lucas’ entire being despised where she was going with this. What she was hinting at.
“I wish I knew why it was happening. I mean, what’s the point of watching someone getting it on in an alley? What could I possibly decipher from that? Mostly, I was hoping by coming back tonight I could force it to happen again. See if it was some strange fluke or if it really meant something. To try to understand why I’m seeing this same dead guy.”
Melinda left the wall and gazed into the dark alley.
“I hate to say it, Lucas...”
“Couldn’t you just call me crazy and leave it at that?”
“Pretending it isn’t happening isn’t going to help. Believe me. I’m speaking from personal experience here. I think perhaps that being on the Isle, or the trauma of what happened, or you starting to embrace your supernatural side, or all of the above, might have kick-started some magical gift you didn’t know you had.”
“Sure we can’t just stick with crazy?”
She punched him in the arm.
He humored her by pretending it hurt although it was barely more than a tap.
“I’m not an expert, Lucas, but it seems to me you have some sort of gift that allows you to see into the past. Maybe Lizzy will know if this sort of thing runs in your family line. A lot of the time, these gifts get passed down through the bloodline.”
“I don’t want it,” Lucas stated.
“Ha. Join the club.” She grabbed his arm and dragged him down the street.
“Where are we going?”
“To see Lizzy.”
“It’s like, two in the morning.”
“I can guarantee you she’s not sleeping. Probably just getting home.”
“How do I give the gift back? I don’t want a magical gift,” Lucas blurted out. “I don’t want anything more to do with magic.”
Melinda stopped and faced him.
“I don’t think you have a choice anymore, Lucas.”
“Lizzy keeps saying that too.”
“She’s right. I realized tonight, I don’t have a choice either. We both need to deal, accept, and move on.” She didn’t give him the chance to argue and pushed him onward. They walked in contemplative silence all the way to the Deane Manor. Lucas opened the front door to the sounds of Lizzy’s voice.
She stopped and shook her head, glaring at the two of them, with a phone to her ear.
“She’s here, Charlie. Just walked in.”
“Oops,” whispered Melinda. She should have known her departure would not go unnoticed for long.
“Yeah, okay. Night, Charlie.” She hung up. “He says he’ll yell at you when you come home. Which better not be until daylight, or by getting a ride. It is beyond foolish Melinda, to wander off in the middle of the night with a vampire on the loose.”
“Yeah, you’re right. But if it’s William he would not hurt me.” I don’t think.
“I�
�m not sold on it being William yet,” Lizzy responded sharply.
“Really?”
Lucas listened, confused. He hadn’t been caught up on the night’s events yet and the reporter locked in the Howard’s basement.
“I’ll fill you in later,” Lizzy aimed at him.
“I guess it was stupid, but I had to come. And part of me needed to see if it is William, for myself.” Melinda admitted her poor judgement.
“Do you have a death wish?” Lizzy barraged. “If it’s not William, it’s a killer who would not hesitate to suck you dry.”
“Okay. I get it. Geesh.”
“Sorry,” Lizzy said with a dampened chuckle. “I promised Charlie I’d give you hell. Although seriously, you are total vamp bait.”
“I know. Stupid me. Again. Add another mark in the dumbass things I’ve done this week column.”
“I thought it was dumbass things I’ve done today,” Lucas pointed out, amused.
Melinda rolled her eyes.
Lizzy planted her attention on Lucas. “Where have you been?”
Melinda nudged him. “Go on. Tell her.”
“Tell me what?”
Lucas explained, begrudgingly.
Lizzy’s eyes lit up as he did.
He finished with, “Melinda thinks it’s some magical gift.”
“It is,” confirmed Lizzy. “I had a cousin with the same gift.”
Lucas had hoped this was not true and this whole thing was some temporary weirdness that would go away.
“My cousin called himself a traveler,” Lizzy continued with a grin. “Because when it happened, even though his body never left the present, he said it was like going back in time for a few minutes. Witness, to some past event.”
“That’s exactly what it’s like,” Lucas droned.
“You really need to get over your aversion to magic,” Lizzy said. “Embrace it, Lucas. It’ll make life so much easier.”
“Really? I think there are a few people who might disagree.”
“While part of me might disagree, Lucas,” Melinda interjected, “magic is a part of my life and I can’t deny it. I can’t change it. But I also refuse to let it rule my life. And I refuse to let what happened, or what might happen,” she croaked a little thinking of William, “rule my life. I very much intend on becoming the best, most kick-ass witch I can.” She wrinkled her nose. “Even though I still get panic attacks and do stupid things like flee the house in the middle of the night with a vampire on the loose. I guess what I’m trying to say is, it’s time to grow up. No more hiding in my room when things get too hard to handle. No more refusing to accept my gift. And definitely no more letting myself get into a situation like I did with the Feyk.”
Lucas frowned.
“You could do it with me, Lucas. Lizzy’s going to teach me some stuff. A lot more stuff than making potions, I hope.” She shot a pleading look to Lizzy. “The other reason I fled tonight. My brothers are too protective and I need a teacher willing to show me everything. And not hold back.”
Lizzy nodded, thinking on it.
“I don’t want to put you in an awkward situation with my brother,” apologized Melinda.
“No. It’s not awkward at all. For me. He might have a problem, but he’ll have to deal with it. Won’t he?”
Melinda clasped her hands together, ready to start right that minute. “Lucas?” She hoped he’d join her. His frown deepened. “It won’t be so bad,” Melinda insisted. “We can be like two kids going off to school for the first time. Actually, it would be kind of nice to have a study partner who knows as little as I do.”
He groaned. Giving in. He was stuck here, so what choice did he have? The last of his personal freedom washed away. He was sitting on the bottom of a dried up river bed, waiting for the next flash flood to drown him.
Lizzy gave a short squeal of excitement. “I always wanted to be a teacher. We’ll start tomorrow. Oh no, wait. Day after tomorrow. I have a lunch date with Charlie tomorrow.”
“Oh I so can’t wait to see how my brother screws that up,” mumbled Melinda.
“Me either,” grinned Lizzy.
“You’re going to make him work really hard, aren’t you?”
“Oh hell yeah. I intend on working over every last nerve until he,” she went quiet, clearing her throat. “Never mind.”
Poor Charlie, thought Melinda. That instantly changed to, strike that. He needs his ass kicked around a little.
Lucas wasn’t paying attention, instead, wishing for an impossibility. For any way out of this situation. For any way to escape this island, and forget about magic, his Deane blood, and find a simple life. But it wasn’t to be.
“Let me grab my truck keys, Melinda. I’ll drive you home.”
“Thanks, Lucas.” He left the room. “Charlie really is going to be pissed at me, isn’t he?”
“For storming off tonight, or becoming an unstoppable kick-ass witch?” questioned Lizzy.
“Crap. Both. I never realized I let my brothers hold me back. I don’t think they meant to, or want to. It’s their nature to be overprotective and it’s easy to let them. But it will not change.”
“You are right about that. I’m afraid that’s one thing that has not changed even in all the years I’ve been on this earth. Men will do anything to protect their women. Whether siblings, lovers, spouses, friends... it’s not a bad thing to be so loved.”
“But I need them to stop. For at least a while.”
Lizzy understood perfectly. It was the right choice, doing this. Her father had taught her to stand on her own two feet. Melinda needed the same.
“Poor guy,” Lizzy lamented about Lucas. “I’ve never seen someone hate magic so much.”
“Maybe after a time, he’ll change his mind. Heck, maybe we all will. He wasn’t so far off in his assessment of how we all actually feel right now.”
Lizzy got a stern look in her eye. “I do not believe it is William killing these people.” Her gut was telling her they were missing something. Or it might just be denial. Her brain refusing to believe it, like everyone else’s.
“You know, that thought is equally thrilling and terrifying.”
“I agree. If it’s not William, there’s a super scary vamp out there terrorizing the Isle.”
“And if it is him, that super scary vamp is...” The man I’m in love with. The man who almost died trying to save my life. And who did steal away at least one woman’s life.
Reality sucked.
CHARLIE STOPPED OUTSIDE the door of a restaurant called the Mystic Mermaid. It was one of the fanciest and most expensive eateries in town, but being Charlie Howard, and the manager being an old friend of his father’s, he’d managed to scrounge up a reservation for lunch. He’d even put on jeans. And a real shirt, with a collar on it. Not his usual shorts and tank.
Lizzy fell behind quite a few times during their walk and every time he stopped to let her catch up, he spied her eyes lifting from where his ass had just been. Apparently, he needed to drag jeans out of the closet more often. Especially if she was going to keep licking her lips like she was about to taste him from head to toe.
She was outwardly surprised though when Charlie opened the door to the Mystic Mermaid and motioned for her to go in. He was unable to register whether this was happy surprise, or a, what the hell are you thinking, surprise.
The door shut before she could step inside.
Charlie growled.
His entire body releasing an outburst of animosity all targeted at a young man ambling down the street, ogling the ass of a young woman passing by him.
“Who is that and what’s he done?” Lizzy needed to know.
He grumbled out, “Dominic. I’m-going-to-fucking-strangle-him. Landon.”
Known by his sister as Jerkwad.
Charlie had a few other choice names for him.
He strode down the sidewalk like a tornado who planned on destroying just one thing in its path. Lizzy hustled to keep up, wondering what this
guy did to piss off Charlie.
“Charlie Howard,” the young man had the gall to call out, acting like they were old friends. Dominic was a foot shorter and nowhere near as built as the werewolf. From his hair, to his smile, to his stride, he was dressed in cocky arrogance that assumed he was every woman’s fantasy. “Got another job for me?”
Lizzy wondered what the man meant. Charlie responded to Jerkwad’s greeting by grabbing smug-asses’ collar and tugging him unkindly into an alleyway before anyone had the chance to question the move. Once Lizzy was at his side Charlie thrust his palm outward and cast a spell to hide their conversation from the public.
“Hello. Dominic.” The gritty greeting spit through clenched teeth.
“What the hell man?” Dominic was a local, aware the supernatural was real, so seeing it in action didn’t faze him. However, the werewolf barely maintaining his human façade knocked him down a peg. For a few seconds.
“Charlie?” Lizzy called out softly, worried he was about to go over the edge. She hoped the Guardian ring did its thing and kept him in check. He rattled out a hot breath tainted by a low snarl, but let go of Dominic, crowding the space between them.
“I hired you to take my sister out for dinner.” His tone accused, nothing else.
“I did. She had a great time.”
“Not what I heard.”
“I can’t help it if she’s,” Charlie’s hand slammed around his throat.
“If you ever come near her again, speak to her again, even look at her again,” he coated Dominic’s face with a menacing growl.
“Are you threatening me?” the smug prick replied. “I think you underestimate the cards I hold. I know a lot of secrets I’m sure you witches don’t want out.”
Charlie got right into his face, the Guardian ring giving into his will, freeing more of the wolf.
“You might want to rethink your plans. Because I know where you live. And I don’t need to know where you live to make your life a living hell. You get me, Dominic?”
“Yeah. I was only joking. I wouldn’t tell. Swear.”
“Your oath means nothing to me. I will be watching you. Do not ever go near my sister, again.”
