Burned

by Kensie King

  “…we couldn’t get out…”

  When his voice faded a little, like he’d walked into a different room, I opened the door and moved into the hallway. He was probably on the phone, but if not I wanted to know who was here.

  “…couldn’t do anything… Don’t you think I know that? Hell, Grace—”

  Grace? It sounded like he was arguing with her and she definitely wasn’t here. The only voice I could hear was Dylan’s strong, sure one that was more than irritated right now.

  “We’re all in this together,” he said firmly after a moment of listening. “There’s not much I can do about that now… Yes, he’s here.” He was quiet for another moment and then he released a heavy sigh. “Right. Okay, yeah. Soon.”

  He ended the call and came around the corner, pausing when he saw me at the top of the stairs. He shoved a hand through his hair. “Hey, sorry. I was trying to keep it down, but Grace always brings out that side of me.”

  “If I’m causing a problem between you two—”

  “Problem? Me and Grace?” He angled his head at me and then the words seemed to sink in. He gave a rough laugh. “No. No, we’re not—there’s no me and Grace. That’s not the way I—” He shook his head and offered an almost crooked smile. He was making it clear that Grace—no, females in general—weren’t his thing. “There isn’t a problem. She’s just upset. She’s from one of the original families so this was hard for her to hear.”

  Which meant I’d let someone else down. Grace had actually started to warm up to me. But Dylan was right. We were all in this together now.

  Dylan started up the steps. “Listen, Lincoln. This isn’t—it’s not something you need to worry about tonight. After what you went through…just take it easy. We’ll figure it out tomorrow.”

  I turned back to the bedroom and heard his footsteps behind me. The bed looked warm and inviting, and suddenly I could barely stand anymore. Dylan was right. There wasn’t anything else we could do tonight anyway.

  But I still glanced to the window. “Do you think he’ll come here?”

  A muscle flexed in Dylan’s jaw. “I don’t know.”

  Shit. That was the last thing we needed. But Gage said he wouldn’t hurt me. Of course, that was before I’d stabbed him with a letter opener. Now, who knew what he might do?

  “Can I get you anything else?” Dylan asked.

  “I’m good. Thanks.” I sat on the bed, all the energy draining out of me at once. Fortunately, I was so tired I didn’t even think worry would keep me awake tonight.

  “Really, Lincoln.” Dylan stepped up to the side of the bed where I sat and crouched in front of me. “What do you need?”

  Emotion tickled my throat. What did I need? A miracle? A hug? I wasn’t sure right now. But Dylan seemed to sense that physical contact would help, so he leaned in. I met him halfway and wrapped my arms around him, leaning my cheek on his shoulder.

  “Can you just…” I blew out a humorless laugh. “Stay for a bit?”

  To my surprise, he not only nodded, but got onto the bed next to me, his back against the headboard. He held out one arm to pull me close, and I rested against his chest. Dylan was solid and warm. For being so independent, I wasn’t hesitating at all to rely on him right now. I was in deep and I really had no clue what I was dealing with.

  Even though Dylan said he needed me before, I figured I needed him more right now.

  I closed my eyes and listened to his breathing. The slow steadiness of it relaxed me even further, and when I spoke again, my voice came out slurred.

  “Please tell me you’re not a vampire.”

  His laughter rumbled against my ear. “I’m not a vampire.”

  “Good,” I told him.

  And then I fell asleep.

  CHAPTER 14

  The next morning, I woke alone in Dylan’s bed with an ache in my neck that told me I’d slept so hard last night, I hadn’t even moved. I heard a noise downstairs, so I walked barefoot down the flight of stairs, pleased that my ankle barely hurt now, and made my way to the kitchen.

  Dylan stood at the sink, but Grace was also there. She glanced over with a grin. “Hi, sleepyhead. Guess who’s your babysitter today?”

  It would have been irritating except that she seemed to be in a decent mood, so that was a better start than I thought today might get off to.

  I looked at Dylan when he frowned. “Sorry,” he said. “I have to work. It’s crap, I know.” He shoved a hand through his hair, looking guilty as hell. “I have to be an adult and all this other shit is going on, but it is what it is.”

  I nodded. “I get it. You have a life to live.”

  The words came out harsh when I didn’t intend them to be. But the reality of the situation was that he did still have a life here. But for me, it was…what? I was stuck. I wasn’t home, wherever home was. Either way, this wasn’t my life. It was something that was forced on me.

  Dylan set down a mug of coffee. “I’ll stay a little longer—”

  “No.” Grace waved him toward the door. “You go. We’ll stay.”

  “I don’t need a babysitter,” I informed both of them, though saying it out loud made it seem like I did.

  Grace smiled and started making toast. “Sure you don’t.”

  I rolled my eyes at her placating attitude. I mean, I had taken on a vampire yesterday. And won. Although I had no clue in hell what I’d do if he came around today.

  Dylan angled his head to the hallway, so I followed him and perched my shoulder against the wall.

  “I just asked her over so you wouldn’t have to be alone,” Dylan said.

  I glanced to the front door. “But as long as I stay inside your house, I’m safe, right?”

  “Right.” He nodded. “Gage can’t come in here.”

  It provided me a measure of comfort, but I knew I couldn’t stay in here forever. “I need to know everything.”

  “Grace can fill you in and I won’t be gone long.” He reached out, as though to touch my arm, and then pulled back. He sighed. “We’ll figure it out, one way or another. In the meantime, lay low for today until I get back, okay?”

  I nodded. What else was I supposed to do? Starting up my research again didn’t seem that important in the grand scheme of things. Of course, I had a member of the town’s original family in the house with me so that was a good place to start.

  Dylan looked at me for another long moment, as though he wasn’t sure he was making the best decision. Then he gave a curt nod. “All right. I’ll see you soon.”

  He left through the front door. I didn’t miss the look he cast around the area before he closed the door behind him. My stomach clenched with worry. What if Gage came after Dylan? Or Grace?

  I didn’t owe either of them anything but at the same time, I didn’t want to see them hurt. No, it was more than that. I didn’t want to see them become victims of whatever it meant when this curse was broken.

  “Breakfast is ready!” Grace called.

  I returned to the kitchen to find her setting a plate of scrambled eggs and toast at the table.

  “Have a seat,” she said.

  I couldn’t help but remember that Gage made me breakfast yesterday. That he’d been kind when he hadn’t been demanding. And why the hell was I thinking about him?

  To prove I could put him out of my mind, I started buttering my toast. “I really am fine here,” I told Grace. “You can go to work or wherever you need to be.”

  She flashed a smile. “Not necessary. I have a part-timer. She loves those morning shifts, so I don’t have to be in until later. Perks of being the boss.” She angled her head at me. “Are you doing okay?”

  “Can’t complain.”

  She gave a short laugh. “Right. I mean, getting kidnapped by a vampire who wants you to break a spell probably comes with the territory with your kind of job.”

  I had to smile at that. “Some days are a little less adventurous.”

  “No doubt. What did that fucker do to you?�
��

  My eyes flashed to hers at the venom in her tone. “He didn’t hurt me.”

  Her eyebrows lifted slightly.

  I shrugged. Defending Gage was insane. But so was lying. I wasn’t part of this—not really—so picking sides in a feud against paranormals wasn’t going to get me anywhere.

  “He wasn’t a douche for the most part,” I said.

  “For the most part. Hmm. I can’t decide whether you’re defending him or just playing down the situation.”

  “Neither.” I took a bite of my toast. “I’m neutral.”

  “Hah! You’d better bet your ass I wouldn’t be neutral if a vampire put his hands on me.”

  “Well…” I watched as she got up to grab the pot of coffee and fill both our cups. “I guess that’s where we’re different. I don’t know which side of this war I’m supposed to be on because I don’t know anything.”

  She nodded. “Fair enough. You want details.” I nodded. “Right now?”

  “As good a time as any, right? I’m stuck here now so I need to figure out what the next step is. No offense, but I don’t want to be here forever.”

  She shrugged. “All right. But Knob Creek isn’t all that bad. I’ve been stuck here since my dad died when I was fifteen. Dylan’s been here his whole life.”

  “Really? He’s never left Knob Creek?”

  “Not even once. He was born here. And once you’re inside the border of Knob Creek—or at least one member of the family bloodline—you’re stuck. Except for witches, of course.” A dimple appeared in her cheek when she smiled at me. “Lucky you.”

  “But you said you didn’t get here until you were fifteen? Did you know about the spell?”

  She sipped her coffee. “I knew about it. But my family grew up here. My dad came back because his mom was sick and in the hospital. He…got in a car accident driving to see her. I couldn’t—” She looked away, shoulders tight. “I couldn’t not come back. He was on life support. I had to say goodbye.”

  My heart went out to her. She’d had no choice, and now she had to deal with the fallout of that choice.

  “So.” Grace smiled again. “Here we are. I know how it feels to be stuck somewhere you don’t want to be.”

  “Does that mean I’m stuck here forever? I mean, there is something we can do, right?”

  She tapped her fingers against the side of her mug. “From what my research has told me, the spell has to be renewed. So, basically, put back into place just like it was before when the original families made the spell, then it’ll go back to normal. At least, our kind of normal. Meaning, no superhuman paranormals walking around. And you’ll be able to leave Knob Creek.”

  “So we need to do a spell to put it back into place?”

  “Sounds about right.”

  “Can we do that soon?” I asked, looking around like I might find the magical ingredient to do this spell even though I had no clue how to do a spell at all. “Like…today?”

  “Impressive,” she said with a nod. “I like that you want to try, but I think it has to be done the same way it was done originally.”

  “Which means?”

  “It has to be a full moon.”

  “But…that’s a whole month away,” I said, deflating.

  “True. But you’re here and you can’t leave, so at least that gives you something to do in the meantime. Figure out how to be a witch.”

  The whole reason I came here in the first place. I wanted to learn about my roots. I wanted to discover where this power came from and see if I had any kind of control over it. I guess I was going to get a good lesson.

  “What about everything else?” I asked her. “The spell Gage wanted me to do? It’s not the same thing?”

  “The first step was having a member of the four original families in town. It opened the gates, so to speak, for the original spell to be broken. Now that we’re all here and can’t leave, I’m sure Gage figured that would give you time to work on a spell to reverse the curse entirely.”

  “And reversing the curse brings back all your…powers?”

  She arched one eyebrow. “All our powers.”

  “The ones you don’t want.”

  “Exactly. Werewolf? No thanks. At least when it’s not in full effect, I can choose if I want to shift to my wolf form. Or not. Ever. But when the curse is broken, none of us will be immune to all the rules that come with it. I’ll have to shift on a full moon. And vampires?” She gave an exaggerated shudder. “Just imagine what kind of mess that would be.”

  I didn’t want to imagine. I didn’t know what kinds of things real vampires did or didn’t do, but it could be bad. I already knew that Gage was stronger than normal, and he wasn’t even a full vampire. What would he be able to do if all of his power was returned?

  “What about Dylan? Is he…I mean, what would that mean for him?”

  She smiled, a secretive sort of smile. “He hasn’t told you yet?”

  He hadn’t. “Is it a secret?”

  Grace stood, collecting dishes. “Not really, but he doesn’t like to talk about it. He refuses to accept or use his ability. And unless the curse is broken, he has that option.”

  “Which means…”

  She turned at the sink, her nose wrinkled. “He’s a shapeshifter.”

  My hands froze while I was lifting my mug to my mouth. “A shapeshifter?”

  Images flashed through my mind of wild animals. Bear, lion, dog—which one suited Dylan the best? Or did he get to choose?

  “Dylan never learned how to control his ability before—never wanted to,” Grace continued. “But now that the first step toward breaking the curse happened, he’s going to have to start to deal with it.” When I stared at her, she frowned. “His power is sort of like yours. Unpredictable. And it can be dangerous.”

  I had a thousand questions, but my biggest concern was fixing it. “We can do something, right? I mean, I can do something. Fix the spell. Right?”

  “We can try.”

  I blew out a breath and then looked down at my outfit. Dylan’s clothes. I didn’t even have any of my stuff.

  “You can borrow whatever you want from Dylan’s closet,” Grace said. “I know he won’t mind. Why don’t we go up and look?”

  I shrugged and followed her up the stairs. Better to have her rifling through Dylan’s closet than me. I barely even knew the guy. But at the same time, I trusted him with my life.

  “Gage took my car somewhere, too,” I told her, making small talk.

  “What an asshole.”

  She started going through Dylan’s closet and tossed a few items on the bed. I lifted a shirt that smelled like Dylan. At least I had jeans and my shoes.

  After I changed, I walked back downstairs to find Grace on her cell phone. She finished up the conversation.

  “Do you have a work emergency?” I asked, catching the gist of the conversation.

  She laughed. “No. We just got a new computer system and Leslie couldn’t figure something out. It isn’t as easy to explain over the phone.”

  I nodded to the door. “Why don’t you go in?”

  She frowned. “I’m not sure. Dylan didn’t want me to leave you alone.”

  But it was what I needed. Some time to be by myself, which was what I was used to. And some time to think. After a moment, I told Grace as much.

  She considered this, looking doubtful, but I nudged her to the door. “Go on. You deal with what you need to deal with, I’ll take some time and by then Dylan will be back soon and we can make a plan.”

  “You sure?”

  I nodded and walked with her to the door. “Yes. But wait—is it okay for you to be…out there by yourself? I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  She gave a rueful smile. “Not going to happen. Gage tries anything, he’s going to get a fight. He might be more powerful but so am I.”

  I appreciated her confidence. “All right. I’ll see you in a bit.”

  When she left, I watched her through the win
dow in the door to make sure she got into her car okay. Once she drove off, I marched upstairs and grabbed a sweatshirt from Dylan’s closet. An extra layer of protection, though I doubted clothes would help if Gage came around.

  Then I walked back to the front door and paused with my hand on the knob. I couldn’t stay in here all day. It wouldn’t get me anywhere.

  Gage was around still, I knew that, but he needed me. Which meant he wouldn’t hurt me. Every small step I took to figure out this spell and what I was capable of could help. Which meant I needed more information.

  I took a breath and opened the door. My mom’s house was a short jog away, close enough nothing could happen, right? If I was going to find information, that was the best place to look. Spell books, or maybe even wooden stakes to kill vampires with? Unless that didn’t work?

  I had no clue, but it was time I found out.

  With my foot out the door, I froze and then reached in my pocket. The necklace was still there. Good. I put it around my neck. One more layer of protection.

  Then I darted outside. The air was warming from a chilly morning, but I didn’t have time to enjoy it. Just twenty more feet. Ten. Five. I almost tripped going up the steps but caught myself before I fell.

  And then I was at the door. It raced through my mind that the door might be locked, but when I tried it, it was open.

  I locked myself inside, sagging against the door with my breath coming in rough pants.

  I hadn’t seen any sign of Gage. Maybe now that his powers were stronger, sunlight bothered him a little more. Or maybe he was really hurt. I’d stabbed him before the first part of the curse was broken. Was he weak enough that I’d really injured him?

  I had no clue. But it wasn’t something I could worry about right now. I needed answers.

  The bookshelves on the far wall of the living room were my first stop. She had fiction and memoirs and all sorts of things that wouldn’t do me any good in my current situation. But then I found a journal. I opened the cover and found family names in there, one of them Savannah’s. That had to be important. I continued to look and found several other unmarked books that contained general spells. Simple ones with harmless herbs. Still, they might be useful.