“Bronwen and I have known each other for thirty years,” June explained. “We dated for a time, but she wanted to see the world and wasn’t content staying on Moonstone Bay. I could never leave my father’s hotel. You know that. We went our separate ways without bitter feelings.
“Through the years, we’ve spent time together, but usually only a few weeks here or there,” she continued. “One of the reasons Bronwen wanted to stay at my hotel on this trip is because she’s thinking of making a move back. A permanent move back. We’re trying to ... figure things out.”
I had so many questions. “You said you had a crush on Wesley.” My tone was accusatory. “You said that, like, three days ago. How can you have a crush on Wesley — something I brought up to May because I wanted to work it out — if you’re a lesbian?”
Instead of being offended by the question, June let out a hearty laugh. “I’m more than one thing. I like both men and women. It’s simply who I am. That said, you shouldn’t have gone after your grandmother that way. She and Wesley are soul mates. They belong together. He was never going to leave her, despite her being a ghost, and you put her in an awkward position.”
I frowned. “I was just trying to help.”
“I know you were, my dear.” She patted my hand in a conciliatory manner. “The thing is, your grandfather’s love life is none of your concern. My love life isn’t either. You’ll have to worry about your own love life and stay out of the business of others if you hope to have a chance on this island.”
“Whatever.” I was feeling grouchy. “I still can’t believe I didn’t realize you were bi-sexual ... or however it is you refer to yourself.” Something niggled at the back of my brain. “Galen knows, doesn’t he?”
“It’s not exactly a secret.”
“Does he know about your relationship with Bronwen?”
June hesitated before answering. “I don’t believe so. She visited a few times when he and Booker were children, but I was careful to keep them separate from my personal life. It’s not that I was embarrassed or anything, mind you, but they both had difficult mothers and I didn’t want to encourage either of those women to limit my access to their sons. Those boys needed a steadying influence, and that’s what I provided.”
I couldn’t argue with that. “Yeah, well ... .” I pursed my lips and glanced between their faces. Bronwen now looked like the woman I’d seen on the docks, her glamour firmly in place. “I forgive you from hiding it from me.” I rubbed my hands together and focused on Bronwen. “As payment, I want to learn to do that.”
“It took me a very long time to perfect,” she countered. “It’s a skill you can’t learn in one day.”
“Just teach me the basics ... and tell me why you do it. I mean, I can see changing your appearance because you’re on a covert mission and want to hide your identity, but … long haul? It has to be exhausting to keep it up for hours upon hours, day after day.”
“It is exhausting,” Bronwen agreed. “Why do you think I’m considering moving back here? I want a chance at a relaxing life again, and this is the best place I know to get it. As for why I do it, vanity and money. I give paying customers the face they expect to see. It all depends on them.”
Ah, well, that made sense. “It’s still a cool trick. Show me.”
“Okay, but you need to practice before you take it out for a test drive. That’s very important.”
“Sure.” I waved my hand impatiently. “What do I have to do?”
22
Twenty-Two
I spent an hour under Bronwen’s tutelage. She wasn’t always patient. She snapped at me a few times for getting ahead of myself, and when the glamours I tried turned out to be abject failures, I realized she was right. I enjoyed rushing headlong into things and despised taking the time to learn them properly. That was something I would have to get over.
I hadn’t heard from Galen, so I figured he was still sleeping. His injuries weeks ago had healed quickly, but I’d wondered if they would eventually catch up with him. He talked big, puffed out his chest and flexed his muscles, but he was still human. I figured the sleep would do him good.
It left me with nothing to do and nowhere to go. If I returned to the lighthouse, I would wake him. He wouldn’t allow himself to fall asleep a second time. That meant I had to find something else to do with my time, and it was only when I was passing in front of Lilac’s bar that I got an idea.
“Do you want to go on a spying mission with me?” I wasted little time and launched straight into my spiel when I caught her at the bar. “You’ve been living here the past few days and need a break — the red roots of your hair agree — and I think some fresh air would do you good.”
Lilac continued shaking a martini as she eyed me. “You want to spy on someone? Who?”
“The people on the beach.”
“Why? They’re all miserable. I should know. I’ve been waiting on them for days.”
“I don’t think they’re all miserable. I’m sure a lot of them are. One of those miserable people took a shot at my boyfriend today. I would like to figure out which one.”
“Can we kill him or her when we discover the culprit?”
I was uncomfortable with the bloodthirsty question. “I was kind of thinking we would just hand him over to Galen.”
“Wuss.” She barked out the single word, but her expression had lightened a bit. “You know what? I think that’s a fabulous idea. Let me finish this order and tell the other bartenders we’re heading out.”
“Great. It won’t be an issue if you leave them alone, will it?” I didn’t want to be responsible for Lilac’s business falling apart because I was bored.
“They’re professionals and I pay them well. They can handle it. Give me five minutes.”
TRUE TO HER WORD, LILAC AND I WERE on the sidewalk and heading to the beach within the promised five minutes. She sucked in an extended breath the second we were outside, and I could tell she was trying to calm herself.
“I’m guessing you’ve had it up to here with witches?”
“Not all witches,” she countered. “I don’t hate you or anything. I just ... big groups of them have always made me nervous.”
“Is that a demon thing?”
She held out her hands and shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. I think it’s more that I don’t like it when people are plotting against me because of what I am. I get the feeling that all the people visiting this island are plotting against me.”
“That’s kind of paranoid.”
“Yeah. I can’t help it. They make my skin crawl.”
A quick look at her profile told me she wasn’t exaggerating. “Why do you think that is? And ... wait ... I don’t make your skin crawl, do I?”
The look she shot me was full of annoyance. “Would I be spending time with you — voluntarily, I might add — if you made my skin crawl?”
“Probably not, but you’re a nice person. You don’t like to upset people unless they’ve really got it coming. I could see you trying to spare my feelings.”
She snorted. “You aren’t the sort who would want her feelings spared and I’m not the type of person who wants a friendship built on lies.” She shot me a reassuring look. “We’re solid, Hadley. You don’t have to worry about that.”
“Good.” I was relieved. “You’re kind of my best friend on the island, so that would’ve been a total bummer.”
She snickered and shook her head. “You’re kind of my best friend, too.”
We lapsed into amiable silence. She was the first to break it.
“How are things with Galen? You guys moving in together is a big step. Are you excited?”
“I think it’s going to be good. But Booker kind of irritated me when he said that it was fast.”
“I told you to ignore Booker. He’s not a good judge of relationships. Besides, I think he’s going through an existential life crisis or something.”
“Oh, yeah?” I was amused at the prospect.
/> “He and his mother aren’t speaking right now because of what happened with the cupids. I think he told himself he always wanted that, but the reality is more difficult for him to deal with than he envisioned. He doesn’t have Galen to annoy and he’s not keen on making new friends. I think there was a hot minute when he considered pursuing you because you’re not attracted to him simply because of those cupid pheromones, but he realizes that’s a lost cause. You and Galen bonded so quickly that it was over before anyone else got a chance to stick a toe in the water.”
And that right there was one of the things bothering me. “Do you think we bonded too fast? I mean ... do you think the way things are between us burns too bright to last for a long time? I’m a little worried he’s going to lose interest in a few weeks or something.”
She slowed her pace. “Are you really worried about that?”
“Do you think I’m being ridiculous?”
“Um ... yeah. Galen is over the moon for you. That won’t change. You obviously feel the same way about him. There’s no rule about how fast people should fall in love. Sometimes you just know.”
I cast her a sidelong look. “What about you? Do you want to find someone to be with?”
She bobbed her head without hesitation. “Absolutely. But finding someone to put up with this isn’t easy.” She gestured toward her hair, which looked redder than normal under the sun. “The truth is, ever since I unleashed my demon powers to help protect the reapers I’ve been having a bit more trouble reining them back in.”
That was news to me, though in hindsight it really shouldn’t have been. Her hair had been vacillating between red and blond for weeks and I’d been a little worried ... and also a little too nervous to question her on it. I was a witch, somehow powerful even though I wasn’t sure how I’d gotten there. Her demon powers were a sight to behold, though, and I had no doubt she could take me out if she put her mind to it.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“I just need a stretch of quiet time. On this island, though, that doesn’t seem to be a possibility lately.” Her gaze drifted to the bodies milling on the beach. “I just hate those stupid witches.”
I tried to contain my laughter … and failed miserably. I was laughing so hard by the time that Aurora joined us that I had to struggle to catch my breath.
“Do I even want to know what you guys find so funny?” the siren asked as she glanced between us, her gaze lingering on Lilac’s hair. “Who pissed you off?”
“She hates witches,” I volunteered as I recovered, rubbing my hands over my shorts and straightening. “She wants to kill them all.”
“You and me both,” Aurora lamented. “These idiots ... well ... you would think after the tenth time I prod you with a spear that you would stop doing the stupid thing that made me prod you. Not so with these people.”
The words had a sobering effect on me. “How are things? You haven’t found anyone trying to hide a gun, have you?”
Aurora shook her head. “No, and we’ve been looking. What happened earlier was ... ugly. Right now, we’re keeping up constant patrols. If we see a group that looks like it’s going to get out of hand we immediately go over and break them up. It seems to be working so far.”
“But how long can you keep it up?”
Aurora shrugged. “We’ve split up into groups so we can take shifts. We should be okay for a few days. Galen said he’d have everyone off the island before that’s an issue.”
Which brought up another problem. “Once these people are allowed to leave we’ll lose our shot at catching a killer. Galen will deny it, of course, say we’ll continue pushing, but he knows as well as I do that his chances are pretty much nil once we lose track of these people.”
“Do you have any firm suspects?” Aurora challenged. “I mean ... it was my understanding that you believed Alastair was guilty of killing Salma, which is why you tracked him to Cooper’s Hollow. He’s been dead almost as long, though, which means you have no suspects.”
“That’s true. I’m more interested in how someone managed to cross your boundaries without you knowing, kill a man, and then sneak away without anyone seeing as much as the hint of a shadow. What’s up with that?”
Aurora’s eyes darkened. “I don’t know, but Cordelia isn’t happy. She’s demanding a committee investigate how it went down. Someone will pay for that mistake. There should be no way someone can cross our borders without us knowing.”
“Even if they came in from the ocean?”
“Especially if they came in from that direction. We know the water better than anyone. We would’ve known if someone was in it.”
“Then ... whoever it was had to approach by land, and it’s a haul to get out there. It seems to me you would’ve heard a vehicle, even if they parked down the road a bit. There are no lights and yet you couldn’t see without having headlights on. Someone should’ve seen something.”
“Are you suggesting we have a mole in our group?” Aurora looked distinctly uncomfortable at the prospect. “How would that even occur? It’s not like our people hang out in Moonstone Bay to make friends with a killer.”
“You’re in Moonstone Bay quite a bit,” I argued, realizing my mistake too late. “Not that I think you’re a killer or anything. I mean ... you’re definitely not a killer. I was suggesting that perhaps one of your people manages to get into town more often than you realize. I don’t think you’re a killer.”
“Stop babbling, Hadley,” Aurora ordered, earning a perfunctory head bob from me. “I know you don’t think that I’m a killer, though I have killed multiple times. I simply haven’t done it in this fashion. As for someone managing to get into town without anyone noticing, I have my doubts. As you said, I’m in town all the time, and Cordelia never has trouble finding out about my trips.”
“Does she get angry at you for them?”
Aurora’s shrug was noncommittal. “Cordelia is a woman trying to keep a dying community together.”
I was taken aback. “What do you mean? How are you dying?”
“Not in the literal sense,” she replied on a dry chuckle. “We’re simply at a crossroads. Those who prefer a new way of living now outnumber those who enjoy the old ways. Cordelia is hanging on by her fingernails. They will snap eventually.”
“What will you do when it happens?”
“Figure things out, as I always do.” Aurora’s eyes narrowed and fixed on a spot over my shoulder. “Do you know them?”
I looked behind me, frowning when I caught sight of Luster and Thalia. They stood together under a large palm tree, their heads bent together. “Yeah. They’re two of the witches that Alastair paid to be here. Supposedly they realized that things were going to go south but had no choice to attend if they wanted the money Alastair promised.”
“I very much doubt they’ll get that money now,” Aurora noted, straightening when she realized the witches were heading in our direction. “I wonder what they want.”
“I don’t know, but I’ll do the talking.” I laughed at myself when I realized what I’d said. “Maybe Galen and I are spending a little too much time together.”
“You’re fine.” Lilac planted her hands on her hips as she stared at Thalia. “She was in my bar yesterday, and she wasn’t pleasant. I don’t like her.” Lilac’s hair darkened, causing me to take an inadvertent step back. She wasn’t kidding when she said she didn’t like the witches. Perhaps it was a bad idea to bring her here after all.
“I’ve got this.” I strode forward and fixed Thalia with what I hoped was a pleasant look. “I see you still have your head. You must not have ticked off the sirens too badly.”
The look she shot back was withering. “Where is your boyfriend?”
“He’s otherwise detained. Is there something I can help you with?”
“I seriously doubt it,” Thalia replied with a sneer. “As far as I can tell, you’re not good for anything. I want to talk to the sheriff. Now ... where is he?”
My temper ratcheted up a notch. “He has other things to deal with. The sirens are in charge out here now. If you have a problem, take it up with them.”
“Or keep your mouth shut,” Aurora countered, smirking when Thalia gave her some serious side-eye.
“Did you find out where the sheriff is?” Luster asked as she joined the group. As usual, she looked absolutely clueless. “My skin is starting to chafe under this sun. We need to find him.”
“She says he’s otherwise engaged,” Thalia replied, jabbing a judgmental finger at me. “I think she’s full of it. She just doesn’t want us to spend time with him because she’s territorial.”
“He is all kinds of yummy,” Luster enthused. “Do you think he’s taken?”
Thalia pinned her with a hateful glare. “This is why we don’t spend more time together. You always ask why I can’t stand you. This is why.” She threw up her hands. “Did I not just refer to the sheriff as her boyfriend? That means he’s with her.”
“Oh.” It took Luster longer than it should’ve to catch up. “I didn’t even think about that. I guess it makes sense. That’s why they’ve been holding hands a few of the times I talked to them.”
“And probably why he rolled on top of her to keep her from being hit by a stray bullet,” Thalia added.
“I don’t know.” Luster’s gaze was keen as it roamed my face. “I don’t think she’s his type.”
Lilac cleared her throat. “How do you know what his type is?”
“Because I’ve seen him. He’s so dark that he would look better with a blonde. Like me.” She smiled serenely. “Do you know where he is, by the way? We really need to talk to him.”
I ran my tongue over my teeth to refrain from saying anything biting. While I debated how to respond, Lilac jumped in.
“She already told you that he’s busy doing other stuff,” the demonic bartender snapped, her temper on full display. “Do you not understand the meaning of those words? He’s not here. If you have a problem, take it up with the sirens.”
Hex Type Thing Page 21
