by Amy Boyles
Cordelia pointed sneakily at Molly. So they’d seen her.
“Would you like a drink?” Axel said.
“Sure,” I said without thinking.
He dropped his mouth to my ear. His breath tickled my flesh, and my hormones bloomed right there on the dance floor. “Be right back,” he murmured.
Axel cut straight through the dance floor. Literally people tripped over their feet to clear a path for him. That’s what happens when you’re a powerful werewolf wizard. Nobody wants to mess with you.
He took a spot a few people down from Molly, who clearly noticed him. She eyed Axel, tipped her head back and laughed at something Blake had said. Then she pointed toward the door, and Blake moved away from her.
As soon as the vampire was out of sight, Molly snaked her way to Axel, tugging on his arm to get his attention.
Anger, bright and hot, flared inside me. I suddenly wanted to stomp over there and yank Molly away from Axel. But I obviously couldn’t do that without being noticed by, like, everyone.
“It seems our friends know each other.”
Blake Calhoun stood beside me.
“How did you…?” I pointed from Molly to my side and shrugged. “Never mind. I’m sure your stealth has everything to do with the fact that you’re a vampire.”
One corner of his mouth curled into a sly smile. “Surprisingly it does. Tell me, how are you holding up?”
“Didn’t we talk about this today already?”
Blake’s eyes narrowed. He slid the backs of his fingers down my arm. “We did, but we didn’t talk about it in the dark, like it is now.”
My eyes flared. Nerves fluttered in my stomach. I was suddenly very acutely aware of the vampire’s power. His ability to seduce.
I tipped my chin toward him. “Are you using your gift on me?”
Blake cupped his hand around the back of my neck and squeezed. He hit the pressure points in a way that turned my knees to slush. I bit back a moan.
“You’re trying to seduce me,” I said.
The cranberry drink that Rufus had given me seemed to kick in. I felt light, as if I could simply float away. It felt like I was drifting atop the ocean, rocking back and forth.
Or maybe that was the weight of Blake’s stare. The way he looked at me made me feel like I was the only woman in the room.
I jabbed his chest. “Stop using your vampire powers on me.”
“Now what makes you think I’m doing that?”
I shook my head, trying to clear out the fog that had invaded my brain. “The way you’re looking at me.”
“I just think you’re a beautiful woman.”
I pointed to Axel. “And I think he’s a beautiful man.”
Blake smiled but his eyes turned icy. “It can be lonely trying to convince someone to remember something that they don’t.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What do you mean, lonely?”
Blake lowered his mouth to my neck. A shiver ran all the way to my toes. “What I mean is, if you ever need comfort, I’m available.”
Before I could say another word, the vampire disappeared, leaving me alone. I shook out the spell he had seemed to cast over me.
Just as my head cleared, shouting sounded over the beating of the music. My gaze darted to the bar, where Amelia and Molly had squared off against one another.
Their faces were red and their fists raised.
“I said,” Amelia shouted, “get your hands off him!”
“And I said,” Molly snapped, “that’s it’s none of your business.”
Was Amelia talking about Axel? I glanced around. Where was Axel? I didn’t see him.
“Quit,” Amelia shouted.
“Oh yeah?” Molly said in a challenging voice. “And what are you going to do about it?”
Amelia raised her fist. Magic glowed from her hand. “This is what I’m going to do about it.”
Power coursed from Amelia’s hand. A ray of magic shot forward. It was aimed right at Molly’s head.
Chapter 11
As the magic flew from Amelia’s fist straight for Molly’s head, a burst of power appeared out of nowhere.
Amelia’s magic dissolved into thin air.
Axel stood in front of the two women. “Stop it right now,” he growled.
His voice was so hard, the tone so clipped and angry that it took me by surprise.
“That’s enough,” he growled.
Amelia, whimpering, backed off. The bartender came around from behind the counter and pointed to the door. “Time for you to leave.”
Cordelia, who’d been standing off to the side, came up and placed her arms around Amelia’s shoulders. Amelia hung her head, and Cordelia gave her a hug before turning to Molly.
“She’s sorry,” Cordelia said.
Molly rose and sniffed the air. “Where is my date? I think it’s about time we left, too.”
She pranced away from the bar, and quick as lightning, Cordelia snapped her fingers and Molly’s drink disappeared from the counter.
My cousins headed toward the exit. I started to move toward them, but then I remembered—Axel.
When I glanced over at him, Axel was staring at me. I made my way to him.
He nodded toward the door that my cousins had just walked out of. “Do you need to leave?”
I grimaced. “I should.” Of course I couldn’t tell him the truth. I couldn’t imagine how that would sound.
Why yes, I need to leave because we’ve snagged Molly’s drink, which is probably actually illegal in the witch world since her saliva is in it. Because, you know, you can work black magic against someone if you have a part of them. But don’t worry, we only want it because we’re trying to figure out if Molly is the person who spelled you.
Absolutely none of that sounded good. At all.
Axel took my hand. “I’ll walk you home.”
I gestured toward Laney, who was still gyrating on the dance floor. “What about your cousin?”
“She’ll be fine. I told her we’d probably leave together.”
I smiled to myself. Well, Pepper, at least you’ve had one victory tonight.
As Axel walked me out of the club, my gaze snagged on Blake, who was back beside Molly. He raised his drink to me and smiled.
“That was a bad date,” Axel said.
I laughed. “It wasn’t bad.” At least it didn’t start out bad.
Our gazes locked and we waited a moment before both of us broke out into laughter.
“Okay,” I admitted, “it was pretty bad. But it wasn’t your fault. My cousins wanted to go there.”
“The music was too loud. I could barely hear anything you said. I thought the point of us going out was for me to start to remember you.” He stared at the ground before glancing over at me. “How am I supposed to remember you if I can’t even hear you?”
“Good point.” I clapped my hands. “Well, we’re alone now. And it’s quiet. And cold.”
He wrapped his arm around me. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?”
Axel shot me a mischievous smile. “To our house.”
I bit my bottom lip. I needed to get home, to see what Betty discovered from Molly’s glass, but I didn’t want to waste an opportunity to be with Axel, not if it meant he might be able to unclog his screwed-up memory.
My decision made, I followed as he trotted through the streets to our house. Within minutes we were inside, a warm fire burning in the hearth and an open bottle of wine sitting between us.
Axel raised his glass. “Here’s to remembering.”
I clinked the side of my glass to his. “To remembering. May it be swift.”
Axel smiled. I sipped the wine and stared at the fire.
“What if I don’t remember?” he said.
My shoulders tensed, but I quickly pushed aside my worry. “Of course you’ll remember. I mean, you’ll have to.”
“But what if I don’t?”
My gaze dropped to the floor. “How does it fe
el when you kiss me?”
“Honestly?”
“No, lie to me.” I swatted him. “Of course, honestly.”
Axel stared into his wine as he traced the rim of the glass with his finger. “It feels familiar, but you also feel like a stranger.”
My heart constricted. I was a stranger to him. I bit down the bile edging up the back of my throat. Of course I felt like a stranger to him—I was. Because someone wanted me to be.
It hurt so much to hear it. What had I expected? For Axel to say everything felt right? That my lips weren’t foreign to him? Of course they were. Everything about me was foreign to him.
Everything.
I smiled encouragingly. “That’s okay. It’s just part of it.”
Axel nodded, but his eyes looked glassy, as if he was distracted by his thoughts. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
I squeezed his arm. “You didn’t hurt me. It’s no big deal.”
He dragged his gaze from the wine to study me. I nearly gasped at the intensity in his eyes. “Of course it’s a big deal. We should be married by now. Married. But I don’t know who you are. I’ve spoken to you. We’ve kissed, but the feelings I’m supposed to have for you are locked away, buried somewhere, and I can’t reach them.”
The bite in his words stung. I flinched but tried not to show him how his statement paralyzed me.
He raked his fingers through his hair. “You have no idea how frustrating it is. How I know I’m supposed to be this person who loves you and how I haven’t the slightest clue who you are. Do you know what I thought today?”
Before I could answer, he kept talking, “I thought that maybe we should just go ahead and get married. Eventually the feelings for you will come, won’t they?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but no words came out.
“But what if it doesn’t?” Axel murmured. “What if every bit of love I had for you is gone?”
“Don’t say that. It can’t be gone. It’s just hiding somewhere.” I tapped his chest. “In here. It’s there. I know it is. You and I have shared so much.”
“But we never mated. We never bonded in that way.”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Even if we did now, I doubt it would stick. I wouldn’t feel the passion for you that I’m supposed to. It’s what we would need to make sure we’re correctly bonded together. Without that emotion, I won’t have protective feelings for you. You won’t be mine and I won’t be yours the way a wolf and his woman should be.”
I exhaled and felt like I was deflating. Like all the fight and gumption that usually lived inside me were slowly seeping away.
He pulled me into a hug. “But don’t worry about it. Not yet at least.”
I slipped from his arms. “You know what’s wrong with this situation?”
He cocked a brow. “Other than the fact that a whole portion of my memory is gone, you mean?”
“Yeah. Other than that.”
“Tell me.”
I leaned into him, stared Axel right in the eye and jabbed my finger in his chest. “You aren’t angry enough.”
Skepticism filled his face. “I’m not angry enough.”
“No.” I fisted two handfuls of his shirt and yanked Axel forward. “The Axel I know would be ticked off about this. You’d be seething. Someone stole your memories? Of me? The woman you love? You’d want to rip them apart. Where is that fight in you? Why aren’t you wanting to go rip someone in two?”
“What makes you think I don’t want to? Because I’m sitting here with you having a glass of wine? Trying to get to know you instead of working a thousand spells on myself?”
“Maybe,” I huffed.
“For one thing, I know Betty Craple. I’m pretty sure she’s been trying to crack whatever spell is on me.”
“Aren’t you mad, though? Angry that someone did this to you? Why would they do that?”
“Who am I going to lash out at? The world? Yes, I’m mad.” Axel placed his glass on the floor and rose. “But what am I supposed to do? Wish to be the beast and destroy the town? Make a mess of things?”
He shook his head. “No. I’m not some raging hormonal werewolf intent on destroying everything that surrounds me. That’s not me. Everyone, and I mean everyone, has been telling me how much I love you. Do you know what that’s like? To know that inside yourself you have a world of love for someone, but you can’t unlock it?”
Axel raked his fingers through his hair and sighed. “How much have I let you down? And I don’t even know you. To me, I’ve only just met you and I’ve ruined your wedding. Ruined what’s supposed to be the happiest day of your life. And I suppose it was the happiest day of mine, too. How does that feel? I feel horrible. The only thing I know to do it to try to get to know you, but how is that going to help? I’m playing catch-up to your year and a half of feelings for me.”
When Axel exhaled, he seemed to deflate. “So yes, I’m angry. But I sincerely don’t know what to do. Do I rip myself apart trying to find the piece of me that knows you? And what would happen if I try too hard? What if I rip it away and the memory never returns? Worse, what if I unleash the beast? I don’t know what sort of memory magic we’re dealing with, here. I’ve scoured my books for spells on this and can’t come up with anything.”
He dropped to his knees and took my hands. His face twisted in anguish. “You have to believe me when I say I’m doing all I can, but I don’t want to make the situation any worse than it already is. I want to keep the Axel you love. If I destroy him, any chance at happiness we might have would be lost forever.”
I sank onto my hips and studied him. Sincerity filled his eyes. Axel may not know me, but he was the same person. He was being loyal to me when he didn’t even remember that he loved me.
It hurt so much. My heart ached, and I’d had a headache ever since this started. All the stress, I suppose. There was nothing easy about the situation I was in.
But now Axel watched me as if waiting for my response. I gripped his hands. “Thank you for explaining it to me. I’m so sorry this happened to you. It hurts my heart to watch you go through this. But like my daddy always said, everything happens for a reason. When this is over, when you remember me, I know that our connection will be even stronger. We’ll be better.”
He smiled encouragingly, but there was still no recognition in Axel’s eyes.
I rose and gave him a hug that he returned. “You don’t know me now, but you will, soon. I know it.”
Axel ran his fingers through my hair. “I hope so.”
My heart cracked in two at the memory of his words—that he didn’t feel anything for me. Part of me felt this hug was only for show. That as he worked his fingers through my hair, he was only trying to comfort me, to ease my own pain rather than giving himself any sort of comfort.
After all, how could I comfort him when he didn’t even remember me?
I pulled away and knuckled a tear from my lashes. “I should get going.”
“Pepper,” he said in a husky voice, “I’m sorry. I know what I said was hurtful, but I had to tell you the truth.”
“I understand. I really do. You have to be honest. And I’m going to be honest with you, too.”
He arched a brow. “Go ahead.”
I took his hands and squeezed them. “I won’t stop fighting for you. If it takes the last breath I have, I will do everything I can to help you remember. Someone has stolen something from you and that’s wrong. Whoever it is, I will find them and they will pay.”
Axel closed his eyes. “I hope to be standing beside you when you do.”
“Oh, you will be.” I took one last look at the fire and wine on the floor. “I have to get going. I think my cousins are waiting for me.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. We have an important spell to work.”
“Can I walk you home?”
Even if Axel didn’t feel anything for me, he was still a gentleman, and that made my heart soar.
I smiled widel
y. “I would like that, very much.”
Chapter 12
“What have you found out?” I said as soon as I entered the house. “Was it her? Because we’ve got a real problem on our hands.”
Amelia, Cordelia and Betty stood around the cauldron. Betty had settled it on the coffee table, and the three of them looked like they were doing a football huddle, preparing for the next game play.
Cordelia draped her long hair over one shoulder. “What problem?”
“That Axel has no feelings for me. I feel like I’m losing him instead of growing closer to him. This is not good, y’all. So if Molly is the vixen who spelled him, we need to figure it out.”
“We had to wait for you,” Betty snapped.
I frowned. “What’s with the attitude? I’m only trying to get to the bottom of this, same as you.”
She grimaced. “I’m sorry, Pepper. It’s just that Garrick called today. Looks like he received a nastygram.”
I shucked off my coat and pegged it beside the front door. “What sort of nastygram?”
“It seems someone or something has been making a mess in the Hillbilly Hills.”
I blanched. “The giants?”
She nodded. “Those are the ones. A whole bunch of their trees got messed up. It looks like vandalism.”
“When did it happen?” Amelia asked.
“Last night,” Betty explained. “Worse, whoever did it made it seem obvious that it was someone from Magnolia Cove.”
Amelia folded her arms. “If it was obviously someone from Magnolia Cove, why didn’t you say something earlier.”
Betty clamped her lips tight.
It was impossible not to guess what was going through Betty’s mind. “Because it could have been a werewolf, am I right?”
She pursed her lips. “Possibly.”
“But it wouldn’t have been Axel.” Nervous energy surged through me. I twisted my hair and pulled it over my shoulder. “Right? It couldn’t have been him. He went home after he forgot who I am.”
It was impossible to keep the bitterness from my voice. Amelia shot me a sympathetic look. “Town is full of werewolves. It could have been anyone.”
