Charmed Souls (Black Souls Book 1)

by Abbi Glines

  “She’s going to be sick,” Heath said, as we stopped just outside the tent. I turned to him and saw Mary was gone now. The danger must also be gone. That gave me a slight sense of ease.

  “Yep, but we did warn her,” I reminded him. I didn’t want to ask about Rathe and wished I could forget when he’d been with Leanne earlier, but I also needed to be sure he was safe. He was my friends’ guest. I had to protect them all. It was the right thing to do. Or that was what I was telling myself to feel better.

  “Where’s Rathe?” I asked.

  Heath frowned and glanced around. “Last I saw him he was with Leanne. They were going inside, I believe.”

  He wasn’t in danger from the stranger; however, there was another danger he was dipping his toes into. My sister. She was an evil most men couldn’t resist. It hadn’t taken her long at all to get his attention. I was sure she’d give me all the details I didn’t want to hear about their alone time together. He would be under her spell, literally, and she’d crush him because I doubted he was wealthy enough for her to do more than play with for a moment.

  “I’m sure they’re lost in the priceless editions of literature in my father’s library,” I suggested with sarcasm evident in my tone.

  “Uh, I’m gonna doubt that,” Heath said and started to laugh, but something in my expression stopped him. I needed to do a better job of showing I didn’t care about Rathe and Leanne. “I told him your sisters were… bad news. Sorry,” he added with an unsure tone in his voice. It was possible he was taking my concern the wrong way while I was, in fact, jealous about Rathe being with Leanne. I couldn’t be jealous. I knew better to entertain the idea of jealousy. I had known he would be drawn in by Leanne. I’d prepared myself for it. The sting it caused was a reminder that I had no rights where Rathe was concerned. He wasn’t an option for me. He never could be. No one could be an option, though the sting didn’t ease because of it.

  “You can warn them, but they all have to find out for themselves,” I said, forcing a smile and patting Heath’s arm as if there was nothing to be worried about.

  He didn’t look convinced.

  Ten

  The Serious Shit

  After the bride and groom left in the bride’s wedding gift from her new husband, a brand new Tesla, the guests began to thin out. The groom’s side were quick to leave, and I didn’t blame them. I’d have wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible too. This place didn’t feel welcoming to others, and it shouldn’t. It was not a happy home.

  My sister had what she wanted, and this would be the last time Miles Dartmore’s family would feel welcomed here if they ever did. My mother did her best to put on a show until the wedding was over. I had watched Mr. Dartmore gaze at her in fascination. He should be thankful he had a wife by his side who wasn’t a Kamlock. Soon, he and his wife would find they were no longer welcomed at their only son’s home. Their son would rarely come around after tonight, and they would never see their daughter-in-law. She’d make sure they didn’t see their son for the most part. Miles would ache to make her happy and never feel as if he could do enough. I’d seen my mother do it to my father. I’d seen my aunt do it to my many uncles over the years.

  “This was a great party,” Margo slurred as she leaned against my side. I was watching the guests leave from the front entrance and making sure everyone was getting in their vehicles safely. There was no need to disagree with Margo. She was too drunk to remember much of the party. I was sure her experience had been a pleasant one.

  “Is everything okay?” Leanne’s voice made me stiffen. I hadn’t seen her in over an hour. She and Rathe had returned to the party and danced, then Rathe had gone to stand with Heath while Leanne danced with other men. I would like to think I hadn’t cared that when I looked at Rathe he was watching Leanne, but I must have cared because I had stayed annoyed.

  I glanced back over my shoulder at my sister’s appearance in the foyer. She looked pleased. I was sure she was more than pleased with herself. He had no clue how devious she was, even when I had tried to warn him. He probably thought my comments had come from jealousy. He’d find out the hard way if he tried to pursue her after tonight.

  I went back to watching the guests leave. “Why wouldn’t it be?” I replied to Leanne coldly, not really wanting a response from her. Margo leaned on me more heavily. I didn’t need her passing out. She had to leave. Staying here over night was out of the question. This place was not safe. She’d never stayed here and she never would.

  “I don’t know any reason it shouldn’t be,” Leanne said slowly, as if she were thinking it through, “but the way you just glared at me like I was shit on the bottom of your new heels made me think something might be wrong.”

  I kept my focus on the people outside getting in their cars and leaving. I didn’t know how safe they were out there. “I’m waiting until things clear out some before taking her to the car and getting her home,” I said, nodding my head toward Margo.

  She didn’t say anything, and if I couldn’t still smell her Hermes perfume, I’d think she had walked away.

  “She is a bit of an embarrassment,” Leanne finally said, and the disgust in her tone infuriated me. Leanne was the embarrassment. My entire family was one huge embarrassment.

  “She’s drunk, which is better than being a whore,” I replied before I could stop myself. Taking Leanne’s bait was something I didn’t usually do. I knew better. Tonight, I was making several bad decisions. Not only was I doing a terrible job at not liking Rathe, but I was also lashing back at Leanne’s nastiness. Both were stupid things to allow myself to do.

  She cackled with delight and I hated that I’d given her pleasure. There would be no question what I was referring to, and she would just make it worse. It would be a waste of her time though. Rathe had never been an option for me anyway. “Jealous little sister?” She asked, with pure pleasure evident in her voice. That was what she wanted. She’d gotten it because I’d handed it to her, with my inability to ignore my attraction to Rathe.

  “There y’all are,” Heath said, appearing at the bottom of the steps in front of the entrance. I slipped an arm around Margo and moved outside onto the porch. Heath was the only man I knew who had never once been weakened by either of my sisters’ appearance or charm. They’d tried more than once when we were younger hoping to hurt me. They both thought my friendship with him was something more. Every attempt they had tried failed. Granted I’d cast a spell to protect him, but even before that, he’d never shown interest in them. Heath was the best guy I knew.

  “She’s about to pass out,” I told him, as she grew heavier in my arms.

  He shook his head in frustration then turned his attention to his left. “Rathe, I need a hand.”

  I sighed, figuring this was expected. Rathe came with them and he’d leave with them. Unless Leanne decided to keep him all night. She just might now that she knew it pissed me off. I kept my eyes on Heath and made sure not to look at Rathe. I hated that it was impossible not to see him even when you weren’t looking. His presence was frustratingly addicting, and he smelled so good.

  “I’ll go with y’all to the car,” I said, knowing I couldn’t let them go out there alone. Although the man from earlier did appear to be gone and everyone had left safely thus far, Margo and Heath were too important to me. I didn’t know who the man had been or what he wanted. If he did show back up, these two weren’t going to be in danger. I brought them into this place and I’d get them out safely. I always kept this world and them separate. Except tonight when I had no choice. My not inviting them would have crushed Margo who wanted to see the place and Heath’s feelings might have been hurt. I was never sure with him. Sometimes he was just a guy with typical guy reactions and other times he seemed to be very sensitive.

  I went on ahead of them and stayed alert. I didn’t have complete confidence that I could do anything to the warlock if he suddenl
y appeared in front of me, but I was better than nothing if the caster showed back up. They would have no protection at all without me.

  I noticed Duely was walking out toward the parking lot a few feet away. Relief that I had some backup close had me calling out to him.

  He heard me and turned, saw the situation, assessed it then he began to walk in our direction. That made me feel somewhat safer. Two casters were better than one. Duely had no idea what had happened tonight, but he probably thought we needed assistance with Margo. Whatever the reason, I was thankful he was headed our way.

  “Looks like the prosecco hit her hard,” Duely observed when he reached us with a grin of amusement.

  “Yes, she’s done. Are you leaving?” I asked him, hoping he wasn’t. I had no one in this family to talk to about the warlock but Duely. I just hoped he knew something I didn’t and could clear things up. There was a chance he had been a fling of Geneva’s at one point. She’d done the older man thing for a while last year. However, someone with his power would have been something she craved more than money. That kind of power was stronger than any monetary wealth. So, I was doubting it. So many different scenarios had gone through my mind since he’d vanished.

  “Not yet. I was headed out to check on something,” was his vague response. I studied him a moment and the unspoken explanation in his expression was clear. He couldn’t say anymore with the others here. I didn’t press him.

  “I’m walking out to their vehicle with them. I can go with you after I see them off,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant. He gave a small nod.

  “If the two of you need to go handle family things, I’m sure we can get to Heath’s Jeep without issue.” I glanced back at Rathe for the first time since he’d joined us. His suggestion had sounded sincere, but the tone in his voice hadn’t.

  “The Jeep is just ahead,” I stated the obvious and kept heading in its direction. The twinkling lights were behind us now and the large Live Oak trees blocked most of the moonlight as we went further from the house. Other guests were walking to their cars, getting in and every few minutes, headlights would give off enough light, so I could quickly scan the darkness.

  Just as headlights from a silver Mercedes faded away, we reached the Jeep. Margo was completely out now and both guys were having to support her dead weight. “Keys are in my left pocket,” Heath told me, and I went over to get them out and unlock the door.

  “I got her,” Rathe said, taking her from Heath and then picking her up as if she weighed nothing and laying her in the backseat. I would not be impressed with that feat. Rathe could not impress me. Forcing myself to stay focused on the issue at hand, I kept my eyes on our surroundings while Heath climbed in and buckled her up before she slumped back over again.

  “Thanks for inviting me. I had a nice time,” Rathe said, snapping my attention from the darkness back to him. I hadn’t invited him. He’d come with my friends. Instead of being rude and reminding him of that fact, I simply nodded.

  “I’ll see you at work tomorrow,” Heath said to me.

  “You’re covering my shift. Remember,” I reminded him. He’d asked me for the extra shift. He needed money for something, but I wasn’t sure what. He didn’t offer that information. I had wondered briefly if it had been to replace whatever money he’d spent from Rathe’s advanced rent so he could pay him back and move him out. Heath wouldn’t admit that if it was.

  Heath grinned “Oh yeah,” he said sheepishly then he gave Duely a nod, “Good to see you again.” Then with one last glance at me, he climbed into the driver’s seat.

  “Make her drink water if you can tonight. She’s going to feel that prosecco hard,” Duely told him.

  “Will do,” Heath replied.

  Rathe studied me for one long uncomfortable moment. I said nothing but held his gaze. All the anger I had tried to deny tonight about his being so entranced by my sister simmered there in my gaze, and I knew it. When I said nothing more, he went to the passenger side and climbed inside without attempting anymore small talk.

  With one last wave from Heath, the headlights lit up the night and they drove away.

  “Poor guy has been in love with you for so damn long it’s like a habit, and the new one, Rathe, well, he knows you’re attracted to him and that the Leanne thing pissed you off. I think he regrets it,” Duely said matter-of-factly.

  Frowning, confused by Duely’s rambling sentence, I stared at him instead of the departing Jeep. “What?”

  Duely lifted a singular eyebrow. “Heath is in love with you. He was the last time I saw him, and the first time I met him, and you have to fucking know that. Rathe knows you think he’s hot because, let’s be honest he’s gorgeous, and he regrets upsetting you with entertaining the slut we know as evil sister number two.”

  There was so much messed up with all he said, and I didn’t have time to consider that insanity. Duely often read too much into situations and people. I was used to it. I chose to ignore all of his words.

  “There was a man out here tonight,” I said instead. “When I came out here to get away, he was in the shadows on the other side of the gazebo. He couldn’t come any further. There was a protection that affected only him. He wasn’t just a man. He had to be a caster. A dark one. A really dark one.”

  Duely didn’t say anything right away. He looked around and frowned as if he were confused. Nothing seemed to ring a bell.

  “What were you coming out here to check on?” I asked wondering now if his mother had sent him to see if things were safe. The spell in place was too strong and dark for my sisters to have cast it alone. My mother and aunt had to know something. Which would make them want the place scanned for danger.

  “I was going to get a fucking doobie from my car and take the edge off,” he said with a shrug. “I don’t feel a protection spell of any kind around this place,” he added.

  I wasn’t surprised. For something so powerful it was very well hidden. Subtle seemed too weak of a word to describe it but somehow it was.

  “I didn’t either at first,” I explained. “But the man couldn’t cross it. He was amused by it and… and then he just vanished, teleported. Right in front of my eyes.”

  Duely’s eyebrows drew together in a deep frown. “He vanished?” If anyone else was telling Duely this, I doubted he’d believe them. The power to vanish was that of fairytales told to children.

  I nodded my head once and kept my eyes locked on his. Did he really not know anything about this man?

  “That’s serious shit,” Cat. “Are you sure you didn’t smoke my doobie?”

  Rolling my eyes, I let out a sigh of frustration. “I know what I saw and I know what I feel. There is a dark and very powerful protection around the house.”

  Duely looked around us slowly then shrugged. “You can ask your mother,” he suggested, it knowing I was battling that idea. “But she might not talk. If you’re not high… and my bet is you’re not, then there is some secret we don’t know and they don’t want us to.”

  “I’ll figure it out. He might have been someone who crossed my mother once and was coming back to get his revenge. Or possibly an ex of Geneva’s.” Both were ideas I’d toyed with but doubted them. Obviously, the man had left when he went up in a puff of smoke. The guests were almost gone now and all without an issue.

  “Did you ever think he was here to see you?” he paused and shifted his feet a little as if thinking through what else he was about to say. “You’re more than you realize. I’ve tried to tell you that already. I, uh, I don’t think you are who you think you are,” he stopped abruptly then just gave a shake of his head. “You don’t want to hear what I think. Just do me a favor and don’t underestimate your power. You may not agree, but my mother,” he said then pointed at me “and your mother… they are scared of you. There is something we don’t know. But I read people well, and those two are careful not to push you too hard. Whe
n you were younger they weren’t as careful around you but the closer you get to twenty-one, things are changing. There is a power shift and you’re so used to the way things have been all your life, you don’t see it.”

  This wasn’t the first time Duely had said something like this to me, but it was the first time he had mentioned things shifting the older I got. I still thought he was being dramatic and reading things into situations that weren’t there. I was done arguing that my mother, who had made my life hell from the moment my father died, was scared of me. She hated me. That was clear. She hated that I wouldn’t give her the power of three. She hated that I was stubborn and like my father. She possibly hated that I was half normal. But Persephone Kamlock was by no means scared of me. I let out a hard laugh. “It’s past time you let that theory go,” I told him.

  He lowered his eyebrows in a frown. The frustrated kind, not the angry kind. He wanted me to buy into this idea of me being powerful. I had a mortal as a father. That was impossible to consider.

  “Explain then why you feel a dark cast and I feel nothing? How do you know it’s dark? What is it you feel?” He was challenging me now. I didn’t have answers, of course. I was still trying to wrap my head around the disappearing act the caster had done.

  “You would have felt it too if you’d seen the man,” I said in way of explanation.

  “But I didn’t see him. No one did… but you,” he shot back.

  I opened my mouth to remind him that I’d been walking around by myself to get peace. There was no way the man knew he’d see me out there alone. He hadn’t been waiting on me. That was ridiculous. This was getting us nowhere. Duely was done with the evening and wanted to get stoned. He wasn’t going to do much to help me. I just shook my head and turned to walk back to the house. “Maybe I’m crazy!” I called out to him, as I walked, trying to break the tension that had unintentionally built.