Hex Type Thing

by Amanda M. Lee

  “She’s part of the team,” Galen said simply. “As for Alastair, are you aware of what’s going on with the Skyclad Festival?”

  Aurora’s grin turned mischievous. “A festival after my own heart. Who doesn’t love naked dancing under the full moon? We’ve been monitoring the water as you requested. The attendees aren’t exactly into swimming right now.”

  “I don’t really care about that part,” Galen said. “I’m most interested in the part where Alastair took gobs of money from unsuspecting people and then didn’t follow through on certain promises. Well ... that and the murder.”

  Cordelia furrowed her brow. “I didn’t hear about any murder.”

  “Salma Hershey. She was killed on the beach where the festival is taking place. It happened the night before all the guests arrived.”

  “And what does that have to do with Alastair?”

  The way the woman asked the question made me suspicious. They definitely knew more about Alastair than they were letting on. Perhaps it had something to do with the money they came into. I wanted to ask about it, but Galen was determined to make himself the focus of the conversation ... so I let him.

  “Alastair and Salma argued before she died. She knew that he was screwing over everyone.”

  “So ... he’s a suspect?”

  “He’s our only suspect right now.”

  “That is ... troubling.” Cordelia exchanged a look with Aurora, something unsaid passing between them. Finally, she sighed. “Alastair approached us about six weeks ago. He told tall tales about admiring our culture, blah, blah, blah. He offered us a great deal of money in exchange for ownership of one of the cabins on the outskirts of Cooper’s Hollow.”

  “And you sold it to him?” Galen was incredulous. “That doesn’t sound like you. Last time I checked, you guys hated outsiders.”

  “It was a great deal of money,” Cordelia stressed.

  “And we figured we would make him uncomfortable enough he would never want to visit,” Aurora volunteered, ignoring the scorching look Cordelia shot in her direction. “We were wrong.”

  “Does that mean he’s here?” Galen shifted in his chair, eager. “Have you seen him?”

  “I don’t know that we can answer that,” Cordelia hedged.

  Aurora’s expression darkened. “You can’t protect him. We didn’t agree to cover up his crimes when we sold him the cabin.”

  “Yes, but we don’t allow outsiders on our land except under dire circumstances,” Cordelia shot back. “That doesn’t seem to be what we’re dealing with here.”

  “If we don’t work with Galen he’ll have no choice but to encroach on our land. Isn’t that worse than just telling him the truth?”

  Cordelia let loose a heavy sigh, frustration evident. “I wish you would learn your place, Aurora. You shouldn’t have spoken out of turn.”

  “I’m not sorry.” Aurora was defiant. “I’m not even a little sorry. I didn’t want to allow him out here to begin with. You made that decision. It’s out of our hands now. We have to tell the truth. That’s still who we are.”

  For a moment I thought Cordelia would argue with that assertion. Ultimately, she nodded. “You’re right. Protecting him gets us nothing.” Her eyes were stony when they landed on Galen. “He arrived in the middle of the night several days ago. He went straight to his cabin. We haven’t seen him since.”

  “I need you to take me there.” Galen appeared calm, but I could feel his anxiousness. “I’ll take him into custody and we’ll leave within five minutes. That’s the best-case scenario for you.”

  “On that, you’re not wrong. Aurora will show you the way.” Cordelia got to her feet. “Don’t make it a habit to come out here, Galen. Things will get ugly if you do.”

  “I try to stay off your land unless it’s absolutely necessary. I felt this was necessary.”

  “Get your man ... and leave.” Cordelia’s eyes were heavy-lidded when she focused on Aurora. “We will talk later.”

  “I can’t wait,” Aurora muttered, her arms folded over her chest. She remained standing, rigid, until Cordelia disappeared from view, and then motioned to us. “This way. I knew allowing him out here would come back to bite us.”

  We followed Aurora, Galen linking his fingers with mine to keep me close. We walked a long way. It had to be close to half a mile. When we stopped outside of a nondescript cabin that had more in common with a shack than the awesome treehouses I saw in the center of Cooper’s Hollow I was less than impressed.

  “He paid you a boatload of money for this?” I asked, confused.

  Aurora nodded. “I told Cordelia he was only doing it for a place to hide, but she didn’t care. She saw dollar signs.”

  “And nobody has seen him since he arrived?” Booker asked.

  “No. I think he knows better than trying to hang with us. He wouldn’t be welcome.”

  Galen released my hand and moved closer to the cabin, his nose lifted in the air. As a shifter, he had an incredible sense of smell.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, instantly alert. His body had gone rigid.

  “It’s a dead body,” Galen replied, his eyes shifting to Booker. “I don’t think it’s very fresh either.”

  Aurora furrowed her brow. “Are you saying Alastair is dead in there?”

  “I’m saying someone is dead in there.” Galen held up a finger to still me when I started forward. “I think it’s best you stay here. We don’t know what we’ll find.”

  “I can handle dead bodies,” I argued. “It’s hardly the first time I’ve seen one.”

  “Just wait until Booker and I look first,” he pleaded. “Please.”

  Grudgingly, I nodded, pouting as he and Booker headed toward the dilapidated building. They didn’t bother knocking, instead throwing open the door and stepping inside. They disappeared from view, but were back within seconds, their faces drawn and pale.

  “It’s Alastair,” Galen announced. “He’s definitely dead ... he’s been stabbed.”

  “Just like Salma,” I noted.

  He nodded, rubbing his forehead. “We need to get the medical examiner out here.”

  Aurora snorted. “Oh, Cordelia will love that.”

  “She’ll have to live with it.”

  “Oh, she’ll live with it.” Aurora was grim. “And then I’ll lord it over her forever that I was right and she was wrong.”

  19

  Nineteen

  Galen did his best to keep me out of the cabin and away from the body, but he couldn’t watch me every second so I managed to slip inside.

  It was a mistake.

  “Oh, geez.” I almost went to my knees at the smell ... and the sight. Booker caught me under the arms and hauled me up and away, dragging me back through the open door.

  “Are you trying to make Galen’s head explode?” he complained as he moved me to the shade. “I’m serious. His head will just blow right off his neck if he knows you saw that.”

  “There’s no need for exaggeration,” I muttered as I rested my sweaty palms on my knees and tried to refrain from yakking all over the ground. I had a feeling the sirens, who were standing at the edge of the trees watching the medical examiner’s team work, wouldn’t like it. “Besides, I’m fine.”

  “You don’t look fine.” Booker pressed his hand to my forehead and then pulled it back. “Are you happy now? You saw the body. What did you learn from it?”

  “That bugs can do things to the human body that I never imagined.”

  He arched an eyebrow, amusement lighting his features. “They can indeed. You need to stay out of there. There’s nothing you can do inside.”

  “I thought maybe if I saw I might find a clue that Galen missed.”

  “Because he’s such a crappy investigator?”

  I balked. “No, because ... because ... .” Crap in a custard eclair. He had me and he knew it.

  “I get that you want to be part of this.” Booker was calm, rational. It made me want to punch him. “Galen
has essentially made you his partner even though you’re not a cop. I never thought I would see the day when a woman would tame him this way ... and so fast. I want to make fun of him for it, but I’m kind of jealous.”

  I straightened, flustered. I told myself that the sun beating down on me was the reason for my cheeks burning, but I was terrified it was something else.

  “Not that way.” Booker made a face when he registered my reaction. “I’m not jealous because he has you. I’m jealous because he’s so happy.”

  “Oh.” Whew. That made me feel marginally better. “You know, if you would actually spend time with a woman instead of running over them with your libido you might have a chance at happiness, too.”

  He laughed and shook his head. “I never thought it was anything I would want. Now ... I’m not so sure. Galen and I spent years competing with one another for the attention of women. It was a game to us.”

  “I don’t want to hear this.”

  He ignored me. “I thought we would keep up that game until we were forty and then maybe — maybe — settle down. Then you came to the island and ruined our game. He settled down so much faster than I ever envisioned that I didn’t realize the game was over until he was already on to another game.”

  Part of me felt sorry for him. He and Galen could pretend they disliked one another and only worked together out of necessity, but I knew better. They were close ... just in a really odd way. They relied on each other despite the sniping. If one of them was ever in trouble, the other came running. They simply pretended that wasn’t the case.

  The other part figured he could get his head out of his behind and find a woman to be kind to instead of run over.

  “You’ll get over it.” I shifted my gaze to the back of the cabin, where Galen talked on his phone and paced. He didn’t look happy. “Do you know who he’s talking to?”

  “One of his deputies. Things are deteriorating at the beach.”

  I pressed my eyes shut. That’s not what I wanted to hear. “How bad?”

  “I don’t know the specifics. I heard punches are starting to be thrown ... and talk of sexual harassment.”

  I jerked my head in his direction, my heart pounding. “What kind of sexual harassment?”

  “The verbal variety,” he reassured me quickly. “I don’t think it’s progressed beyond that ... yet.”

  I didn’t like the way he tacked on the last word. “We can’t let it go beyond that.”

  “I think that’s the problem he’s having. He doesn’t have enough men to patrol the beach.”

  “No, but ... the island is full of paranormals. We’re talking strong magical beings. Can’t he call in a few favors? Together, we should be able to keep the festival-goers in line.”

  He stared at me for a long time, and I was sure he was going to laugh and make fun of me. Instead, he rested his hand on my shoulder and called out to Galen, who looked annoyed at being interrupted.

  “I have an idea,” he said. “Actually, your girlfriend gave me the idea. She might be a genius after all.”

  “Of course she’s a genius,” Galen barked back. “What’s the idea?”

  BY THE TIME WE GOT BACK TO TOWN IT was well past lunchtime. My stomach was growling but we headed straight to the festival. Galen had to rein in the out-of-control people threatening the balance on the beach, and he was utilizing Booker’s plan to do it.

  “You stay close to me,” he ordered when we reached the parking lot. “Don’t go wandering off. These people have been stranded here for days. They’re bound to be wound tight ... and you might make an enticing target.”

  “Because I’m your girlfriend and they think they can use me for leverage?”

  “The people who would take you for that reason are a concern, but I can handle them. It’s the others I’m worried about.”

  It took me a moment to grasp what he was saying, and when I did, I swallowed hard. “I didn’t consider that. I’ll stick close.”

  “Good.” He flicked his eyes to Booker. “You keep an eye on her, too.”

  “She’ll be fine.” Booker was calm to the point of being annoying. “Nothing will happen to her. I told you my plan was golden.”

  “We’ll just see, won’t we?”

  Galen strode across the beach with purpose, not stopping until he was directly next to one of his deputies. He plucked the megaphone out of the man’s hand and headed for the stage that had been erected in the center of everything. He was so tall, his strides so long, I had to scramble to keep up with him. All around me I heard people complaining ... and they noticed when Galen arrived. He wasn’t easy to ignore.

  “What’s happening?” Bronwen asked from the left. She sat in the shade of an umbrella with her fellow witches, appearing casual for all intents and purposes, and seemed amused at the way I jolted. “Hello, Hadley.”

  “Is that the witch you mind-blocked?” Booker asked, flashing a smile for the woman’s benefit but following Galen’s edict at the same time and keeping me close.

  I nodded. “I think she might want to hurt me.”

  “You’ve already proved you can take her. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

  “What’s happening?” Bronwen repeated.

  I merely shrugged and hurried after Galen. I didn’t want to miss his announcement. It was bound to be epic.

  “Did you find Alastair?” Calliope asked when we arrived at the stage. She stood on the bottom step, all decked out in a performance costume, looking eager for a break. “Are you going to drag him in front of the crowd and let them tear him limb from limb?”

  I frowned at the question. “I don’t think that’s the sort of message we want to send for the health of the tourist industry.”

  “Oh, honey, the tourist industry on this island is officially dead,” Thalia interjected. She was also hiding in the shade, although her cheeks were red enough that I figured she’d inadvertently missed a few spots with the sunscreen. “Once word gets out about this ... .”

  “Things will be fine,” Booker finished, slowing his pace long enough to look her up and down. She wore an ankle-length black skirt, a matching peasant top and an ebony scarf over her hair. “You know, if you wore something lighter in color you wouldn’t be sweating your balls off.”

  Thalia shot him a withering look. “You show me yours and I’ll show you mine.”

  “Don’t tempt me, honey.”

  I wrinkled my nose as I watched the exchange. “Do you like her?” I asked as we closed in on Galen. “I mean ... are you attracted to her?”

  Booker shrugged. “She has a certain something. I don’t know how to identify it.”

  “She’s grim.”

  “She definitely is, but sometimes the grim girls are freaks in bed.”

  My stomach twisted at what he was insinuating. “You’re really gross.”

  “You’re just saying that because you and Galen aren’t freaks. If you’d loosen up a little bit you might find it’s not such a bad trait to embrace.”

  “I’ll have to take your word for it,” I said dryly.

  Theo Rafferty, one of Galen’s newer deputies, was waiting for him when he reached the top of the stairs. “Hello, sir. Thank you for coming.”

  Galen almost looked amused by the young man’s reaction. Almost. “Of course I came. I’m sorry it took me so long to get here. We were on the other side of the island.” As if suddenly remembering me, he turned and searched faces until he found me. “Come up here, please.”

  I did as instructed, but only because I wasn’t in the mood for a fight.

  “Stay up here and you should be fine,” he said before turning back to Theo. “What do you have to report?”

  Ever efficient, Theo pulled out his notebook and started reading off a list of infractions. “One Douglas Stickney, forty-three, punched Eden Jessup, forty-eight, in the mouth.”

  Anger coursed through me. “He hit a woman?”

  “Eden Jessup is a man, ma’am.”

  “Oh.”

/>   Galen offered me a stern look. “Are you okay with a man hitting another man?”

  Violence in general was offensive. Still, I was ready to go to war when I thought Eden was a woman. I couldn’t muster as much enthusiasm now. “I’m good. Well, other than him calling me ma’am. I’m too young to be a ma’am.”

  “Duly noted.” He put his hand on my back as a steadying presence and turned back to his deputy. “Continue. If Hadley interrupts again, keep calling her ma’am.”

  Theo smirked as I rolled my eyes. “Sir. Madeline Johnson, twenty-seven, stole a sleeping bag from Tina Marsters, fifty-one, which resulted in Ms. Marsters pulling her hair and yanking out a weave track ... although I’m not sure what that means.

  “Melody Fisher, nineteen, was caught underage drinking,” he continued. “Dakota Tomlinson, twenty-three, was caught supplying her with the liquor while trying to entice her into his tent. Todd Banks and Colin Jorgensen intervened and gave him two black eyes — one each — because they thought Miss Fisher was a minor.”

  As he continued to drone on, I started looking for a place to sit because the heat was getting to me. Galen grabbed my arm before I could sit cross-legged on the stage and pinned me to his side.

  And still Theo went on ... and on ... and on. I was about to start whining about the length of his speech when he finally wrapped things up.

  “That’s everything?” Galen asked.

  “Oh, don’t ask him that,” I muttered.

  “That’s everything, sir,” Theo replied, kicking his heels together in some sort of weird salute.

  “Thank you for being so diligent.” Galen’s smile was kind as he gripped the megaphone and moved to the center of the stage. He looked official, annoyed, a little tired ... and altogether sexy. I liked seeing him in charge.

  “Hello,” he called out to get the crowd’s attention, waiting until the chatter died down to continue. “My name is Galen Blackwood. I’m the sheriff of Moonstone Bay.”

  “Then perhaps you should arrest yourself,” a male voice called out. “You’re the reason we’re suffering out here. You’re the reason we’re dying.”