by Lucia Ashta
“Your aunts have a plan,” Quade was saying. “They’ll get you back. They have to.” His voice broke and my heart squeezed.
That was real. I definitely felt that.
I was almost back!
I could make it on my own.
Identifying the imaginary thread that linked me to my body, I yanked on it with all I had, pulling myself back next to Quade—when I felt Aunt Jowelle.
She was there with Aunt Shawna and Aunt Luanne, and with a strength of will that was entirely Gawama, they tugged on my consciousness so hard that vertigo swirled through me, making me feel sicker than ever before in my life, and fully disoriented.
Combined with my magic, theirs was too much.
I clenched my eyes shut, wishing the movement to stop. Wishing for steadiness and a body to ground me.
Strong arms circled around my upper body and I was suddenly pulled upward and pressed into Quade’s chest. His heart beat out his desperation and relief beneath my ear.
Wrenching away, I tried to break free of his hold. He held me tighter against him, probably thinking he was keeping me in the here and now before I could disappear again.
I threw up all over his shirt.
Chapter Eighteen
I slammed my face back into Quade’s now vomit-covered shirt, desperate for the spinning to stop. I breathed deeply until I sucked in the rancid scent of partially digested food, choking and coughing on the smell. Turning my head away, I leaned in Quade’s hold until I hung off to the side, pressed against his upper arm, sucking in big swallows of fresh air. His bicep strained under the effort of holding up my weight at the awkward angle.
He rubbed his hand along my back in what was meant to be soothing circles. It worsened the spinning sensation. “No,” I choked out, and he immediately stopped.
Aunt Shawna appeared in front of my unfocused gaze. Seconds later, Aunt Luanne popped up, crouching beside her. Aunt Jowelle and Nan stood behind both of them.
“Marla, my girl,” Nan said, concern creasing her lined face, making her appear every one of her ninety-six years. “Are you all right, honey?”
“Mm. Mmm-hmm,” I mumbled. It was all I had in me at the moment, though I regretted not saying more as soon as I saw my aunts and nan exchange worried looks.
I closed my eyes and waited for the swirling to stop.
After what seemed like a small eternity, the Tilt-A-Whirl ride inside my head came to a full stop and I almost cried out in relief. Everything was once more still, blessedly still. When I pulled back in Quade’s hold, the vomit that coated his chest was cold.
Grimacing, I took in the extent of the damage. It was everywhere. All over him, all over me.
Reading my mind, he shook his head. Thankfully, his beautiful dark hair was unscathed.
“Don’t think on it for a second, Marla,” he said. “I’m so glad you’re back. You had me so freaking worried. Don’t you dare apologize.”
Smiling weakly at him, I didn’t apologize. It wasn’t even the first time I’d puked all over him. When we were teenagers, we’d set off to get super drunk on Beebee’s Monster Drunk Brew. We’d succeeded. I’d learned why the beer was given that moniker, and what exactly it meant to get “monster drunk.” The result hadn’t been pretty; most of it ended up all over Quade; the rest splattered all over the forest floor where we’d been tucked away behind Gawama Mama House.
“Are you all the way back? Are you feeling okay?” he asked, the deep concern in his voice proof he didn’t care that he was coated in yuck.
“Mm. Think so.”
He looked over my head at my family, eyebrows raised.
“I don’t think she should move for a while,” Nan said. “Not till we get her checked out and she feels better. She was really sick there.”
Not moving for like an entire year sounded about right just then, but there was all the vomit. Quade might not mind it, but I sure did.
“Jo, fetch Willow, will ya?” Nan said.
After another worried glance at me, Aunt Jowelle walked away, leaving me wondering who the hell Willow was and what she could do to help. Was she some doctor? Because I doubted even a doctor in a village filled with the bizarre would be ready for what had happened to me.
“What’s going on?”
At hearing Macy’s voice, I forced myself to focus and take in the extent of my surroundings. Twenty or thirty townsfolk had gathered behind my family, all trying to get a look at me. We were still on the other side of Moonshine Park, where we’d trapped the leprechaun.
The little dude ... I wanted to strangle him! Just as soon as I could move, of course.
He should still be trapped in the tree behind me, but I couldn’t turn to check, not just yet.
“What’s happening?” Macy asked Nan as she slid into place beside her. Then she noticed me. “Mom? Mom! Nan, what’s going on?”
My calm and collected daughter had accelerated to full-out panic in seconds.
“Shhh, honey,” Nan said, patting her on the back. “She’s gonna be all right.”
I offered Macy a weak smile, hoping it would be reassuring, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. She spun to look behind her, frantic almost, making me wonder what the heck she was doing—until Clyde emerged from the crowd.
His eyes bulged with instant worry.
“I’m ‘kay,” I mumbled, trying to sit up. I managed it, wobbled, becoming instantly dizzy before leaning back into Quade, and into the puke that covered him.
“This is why the bus brought us here?” Clyde asked. “What the hell happened?”
“Yeah, what?” Macy parroted.
“Your mom touched a spelled artifact,” Aunt Shawna said, “and it yanked her out of her body. She’s back now.”
Eyes so wide I could make out the whites on all sides, Macy asked, “How long was she … out of her body?”
“A couple of hours,” Quade said, and I sucked in a sharp breath.
No wonder he’d been panicked!
“I found Willow,” Aunt Jowelle called out as she and a young woman with rich chocolate skin and an awesome afro rushed over to us.
Willow knelt next to me, right in the slop of Aunt Jowelle’s leftovers. I winced and went to try to warn her, but her smile was so warm and bright, I didn’t bother, conserving my energy. She was mesmerizing.
Within moments, the yuck began dissolving. Her magic continued until it had completely vanished and Quade smelled as fresh as he always did, like a crisp forest.
My astonishment must have been apparent, because she smiled at me some more before saying, “My magic can clean anything.”
“Wow, thank you. Will you come over to my house?” I laughed, all of a sudden realizing I was once more cogent and able to speak. And then I remembered I now lived in Gawama Mama House, which meant the cleaning wasn’t all on me anymore, and the house mostly cleaned itself—courtesy once more of Great-Great Granny Jemima.
Willow laughed graciously just the same, surely as in the know of my new circumstances as the rest of the townsfolk. She squeezed my shoulder. “Glad I could help. It’s not often my magic gets to be the center of attention.”
Her energy was awesome; I instantly wanted to be her best friend. She turned and walked off into the growing crowd and disappeared without another word.
Clean and refreshed, and with the disorienting spin of vertigo over, I was ready to assure my family that I was feeling better.
Perhaps before I was fully ready for it, I disengaged from Quade and sat, hugging my knees and plastering a reassuring smile on my face.
Macy and Clyde grew more worried, their brows drawing lower, telling me I hadn’t been convincing. They walked toward me, settling on the ground to either side of me.
“What happened?” Macy asked again.
I patted her hand. “I’ll tell you all about it later—promise. First, I have a leprechaun to murder.”
But when I turned—incredibly slowly—to find the little twerp with the Irish brogue, he was no
where to be found. Carefully, I swiveled back around to face Quade, unwilling to upset my tenuous equilibrium despite my shock.
“Where is he?” I asked. While I was facing the other way, Harlow had appeared at her dad’s side. She rested her hand on his shoulder in quiet support, sparking a pang of regret in me. To think Quade could have been my children’s father instead of Devin. Of course, Macy and Clyde wouldn’t have been the same, and I wouldn’t change them for the world—well, maybe I’d tidy up some of their more annoying traits if given a fairy wand that preserved the rest of them. Still, knowing Quade would never be the father of my children was a hard pill to swallow. He was so much better at it, so much more loving and caring, than Devin could ever be.
“When your body went limp,” Quade answered, “and I could tell you were … gone, I lost my focus. I stopped communicating with the tree that held the guy.” He shrugged. “The tree released him at some point. I don’t know when. I was too worried about you.”
“Dammit,” I grumbled.
Quade shrugged again. “I don’t care. We’ll find him. I’m just glad you’re back. It didn’t look like you were coming back for a while there.”
Quade vibrated with the intensity of what he’d suffered. Whatever tension I’d held on to released. He’d gone through hell and back too. Reaching for him, I took his hand and squeezed. He squeezed back, his eyes boring into mine, blazing with a need that only I could satisfy.
I couldn’t believe I’d left him. I must have been out of my mind.
When I tried to stand, Macy and Clyde jumped up to help me, and a sharp reflection drew my attention.
The blade.
There it was. Abandoned on the ground behind me.
“Don’t worry about that,” Nan said. “Dottie’s on her way to get it.”
“Well, tell her not to let it out of her sight,” I grumbled. “The thing almost killed me.”
Though of course it hadn’t. What it had almost done would have been much worse than death. Lost to a void without a body, without the ability to return…
I shivered, casting the thought from my mind. The worst hadn’t happened. I was back. No need to suffer needlessly anymore. The ordeal was over.
Leaning heavily into my children, who were around my height now, I studied the crowd. Sure, what had happened to me would fuel the gossip train for days. But I saw more concern than greedy curiosity. The people of Gales Haven cared what happened to me. I’d traded the anonymity of a medium-sized city like so many across the world for a small town where everyone was invested in what happened to the members of its community.
I was really home.
“Did Irma come see you?” I asked Nan, aware that everyone was listening in on our conversation.
Nan nodded, though she still appeared shaken from what happened to me. “She found me to tell me you were supposed to come back with her but didn’t. And then the big tree outside the kitchen at Gawama Mama House started knocking on the window until I came outside. It took a while, but I finally understood Quade’s message.”
Facing him, my brows rose into my hairline. “You can talk through the trees?”
“I didn’t know I could, but I had to try something. I couldn’t just sit here, helpless, watching the life leave your body.”
I wanted to whisper kisses across his naked body, easing the pain still etched across his beautiful face. I wanted him to do the same to me.
“Come on, Mom,” Macy said. “Let’s get you home.”
I was all for that, allowing her and Clyde to lead me toward the crowd, Quade and Harlow right behind us.
I paused by Nan. “Did Irma make it back okay? With Delise and Maguire? She has them both?”
Nan smiled a bit viciously, surprising me. “She has them both, all right. And Tessa just showed back up too. She’s on guard duty at Town Hall, just itching to zap them if they try anything.”
I sighed, relief settling into my bones along with a deep, overwhelming exhaustion. As if Nan read my mind, she said, “We can talk about everything else later. We’ve got it handled. Go get some rest.”
“Yeah, sounds good.” With the baton of problem solving passed, my eyelids drooped heavily.
Macy and Clyde started to lead me away, but not before I heard Nan.
“Quade, you’ll stay with her, won’t you?”
“Of course,” he answered immediately.
“Go on into her bedroom,” my pimping grandma added. “I’ve already told the house not to throw you out for breaking the not-married no hanky-panky rule.”
I would have rolled my eyes, but I didn’t have the energy. Numbly, I placed one foot in front of the other until a hand shot out to grab my arm.
I looked up into Wanda’s big eyes. “Ohmygawd, Marla. Are you okay?”
“Mm-hmm.” I offered her what I hoped was a reassuring smile, but was probably more like a twitch of the lips. It was all I had. “Fill ya in later, ‘kay?”
“Of course, of course.” She squeezed my arm before releasing it.
As my kids swept me out of the crowd and up the sidewalk—toward my car, I supposed—I heard Wanda asking my Nan what she could do to help.
Even as we put distance between us and the townspeople, stares followed us as we went. When we reached my car, Clyde fished the keys out of my pocket, tossed them to Macy, and tucked me into the passenger seat. Before Macy had even turned the car over, I was fast asleep.
Safe. Back in my body. Loved.
Home.
Chapter Nineteen
I jostled awake as Quade settled me onto my bed and turned to remove my shoes.
“Mmm,” I murmured groggily, and he faced me.
“You’re awake.” He dropped my shoes to the floor and sat at my side on the bed. Leaning over me, he ran a tender hand through my hair, skimming its surface—probably because there was no way his fingers could run through it. Willow’s magic had gotten me squeaky clean, but it hadn’t performed miracles, which was what hair like mine required in order to be smooth and tangle free.
“How are you feeling now?” he asked.
“Better. Really tired. Crazy relieved.”
“Yeah, me too. You have no idea how relieved I am. You really freaked me out.”
I nodded in understanding, too exhausted to get into it. I had no idea if I would have managed to return to my body if not for my aunts’ intervention. Being outside of my body like that, trapped without a way back? Yeah, so not my wheelhouse.
Because of how dire the situation could have been, I wasn’t going to focus too much on the what-ifs. They were scary as shit. The sooner I forgot about my unplanned field trip, courtesy of Dottie’s blade, the better.
I made it back. That was all that mattered now.
That, and the hunk-o-man in my bedroom.
Staring into his eyes, visibly brimming with relief, I suddenly discovered myself far less tired.
“What?” he asked.
I smiled provocatively.
“Are you hurting?” he said.
So not that provocative…
I reached a lazy hand up to trace his upper arm, feeling the tense lines of his bicep beneath his shirt. Quade might be relieved, but tension still rode his body.
Speaking of riding his body…
He narrowed his eyes at me, the skin crinkling at the corners. “What are you thinking right now?”
“Why do you ask?” I said, again provocatively—maybe.
He studied me for a few beats, his gaze trailing my face and dipping across my collarbones, then farther down, skimming the swells of my ample breasts. Everywhere his attention went, it left tingles in its wake. My body was waking up.
“Because I’m wondering if you’re thinking what I’m thinking,” he finally said.
“I guess that all depends on what you’re thinking.”
“I’m thinking that Bessie told Gawama Mama House not to throw me out or otherwise interfere … no matter what we do. Which means I don’t need to worry about it thr
owing me out the window like it used to when we were dating.”
I winced at the memories. Growing up, my bedroom had been on the ground floor, which was the only reason Quade had survived all the house’s expulsions without severe injury. Though there had been that one time he got a concussion when the house threw him through the closed window, breaking the glass and all but cracking his skull wide open. From there on out, whenever Quade snuck in, we’d leave the windows fully open, even in the winter. The problem was that the Gawama women, particularly Aunt Jowelle, figured out what we were up to, and whatever hanky-panky we would have gotten up to without their interference was seriously curbed.
“Where is everyone?” I asked. “Where are my kids?”
“Once they were sure you were all right, I convinced them to go with Harlow to hang out at my house. I told them you needed the peace and quiet to rest.”
“Why, how perfectly manipulative of you.”
He shrugged with an adorable smile that made him look like the teenage boy I’d first fallen for.
“Does that mean Nan and my aunts are gone too?” I asked.
“Yep. They went straight to the town hall to deal with my mom and dad.” At that, he drew back, withdrawing the hand that had been trailing across my bare collarbones and up along the side of my neck. His hands plopped heavily onto his lap.
I propped up onto an elbow and took one of them. “I’m sorry, Quade. I really am.”
He shrugged in defeat. Though we hadn’t dated in a long time, I understood some of what he felt. His relationship with his mother had always been turbulent, and I had no doubt he struggled with his father’s meekness.
“It was a long time coming,” he eventually said, visibly trying to shake off the burden of his parents’ choices. “Here, lean on your pillows so you aren’t straining yourself.” He gathered my pillows beneath my back, helping me scoot up the bed to rest against them. So thoughtful.
When I’d been pregnant with Macy, I’d made Devin go with me to a class that prepared us for labor. The teacher had demonstrated massage techniques to relieve the pain of contractions. Devin had somehow convinced me to practice on him—so he could learn properly—and I’d never once experienced the fruit of that class. He’d gotten a massage, and pregnant me hadn’t. It was a perfect microcosmic example of how our marriage had gone. And of course, massage wouldn’t have done a thing to help me during contractions anyway. Contractions were hell’s dominatrix come to make us suffer.