Maybe sharing a hot tub with her while under a love spell wasn’t such a hot idea. No pun intended.
But here they were.
He dropped the towels on one of the deck chairs, then held a beer out to her.
She took it, clinked the bottom of the bottle against his, then wrenched the top off and took a long sip. She closed her eyes as she swallowed. “That’s better.”
He set his beer on the edge of the tub and climbed in. The heat was perfect, sinking into his muscles and instantly relaxing him. He sighed with pleasure as he settled onto the molded seat. “Come on in, feels great.”
She sat on the edge, swung her legs around, and slid in. “Oh! Hotter than I expected.”
“Too hot?” He cranked the cap off his beer and tried it. Not bad. A lot more complex than the stuff he usually drank. He could see it growing on him. “I can turn it down.”
“No.” She exhaled and slipped farther into the water, finding a seat of her own while holding her beer above the churning surface. She found a spot for the bottle on the edge, then tipped her head back. The sky was filled with stars now that it was completely dark. “This is really nice.”
“It is. I like the Warhammer too. The flavor’s a lot more layered than the beer I usually drink. It’s good.”
She smiled. “I’m glad.”
They settled into a comfortable silence, enjoying the moment despite having not yet discussed the evening’s earlier event.
Then one of her feet brushed his leg, sending a current of sensation through him that had nothing to do with the bubbles or the water or the heat. It made him think about those electric blue toenails. It made him want to kiss her. Even so, he ignored it and held still. She hadn’t meant to do that, he was pretty sure.
To keep himself from drifting into the clutches of the love spell, he went right to the thing most likely to kill that mood. The elephant in the room. “That dark, shadowy thing in the woods? I’ve seen it before.”
She stopped staring at the sky to look at him, new tension bracketing her mouth. “You have?”
The skepticism in her voice was interesting. Why would she doubt him? “Yes. At the house. In the attic.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s what you saw?”
He nodded. “After the bomb went off. When we were lying on the attic floor. You were already passed out. It came for you. Out of the shadows. Reached for you like it did in the woods.”
Fear entered her gaze. She sat up taller, causing the water to slosh. “Why are you only telling me about this now?”
“I thought it was a hallucination. And I did sort of bring it up. I asked you if you’d seen anything when we were in the attic. You said no.”
She frowned. “I didn’t. But I certainly didn’t think you meant a wraith.”
He frowned back. “A wraith? You’ve seen one before?”
She sighed, took a long, long drink from her beer, then looked at him. “I have.”
He took a pull off his bottle, set it back on the edge, and waited for her to elaborate.
After quite a few seconds, she spoke again. “They’re dangerous creatures with a lot to lose. They’re a little on the slow side, but they fight hard.”
“What is a wraith, exactly? How do you know so much about them?”
“A wraith in my world is the trapped soul of an undesirable who died but refused to be transported to their final resting place.”
“Undesirable?”
“In every sense of the word. There’s a reason they don’t want to go to that final resting place, if you get my drift.”
“I do. But what do you mean ‘refused to be transported’? Isn’t transporting souls kind of what valkyries do?”
She nodded. “That’s why I know so much about them. When I was in service, I was part of a task force assigned to hunting down wraiths and delivering them to where they belong. Didn’t happen all the time, but when one showed up, we were called in. We went in teams of two. A valkyrie and a seer. That’s what it took to eliminate one. Not a single wraith ever wanted to go either.”
“I can imagine. If they knew they were headed where I think they were.”
“They were. And they knew.” She picked up her bottle, holding it just above the surface of the bubbling water. “Battlefields are a prime breeding ground for them. Men who took advantage of whatever war they were in the middle of to further their own ends. Men who deserved death for one reason or another, but were too stubborn or too awful or too evil to allow death to take them. Men who considered war a game. A way to release their already murderous natures.” She grimaced. “We hunted them down, captured them, and disposed of their black souls.”
His lip curled in disgust. “That sounds like a terrible job.”
She took another drink and put her bottle down. “Valkyries in service don’t spend their time hosting tea parties and attending fashion shows. We work amongst the dead and dying. It wasn’t the worst assignment I’ve ever had.” She dipped down until her chin was half in the water. “But yes, some jobs are worse than others.”
“How do you not have PTSD?”
She looked up through her lashes at him. “Who says I don’t?” She went back to staring at the water. “I have nightmares sometimes. But for the most part, we’re built to handle the things we see. And we generally do handle it.”
“But seeing that wraith set something off in you.”
She nodded. “Like I said, they’re dangerous. They can’t be killed because they’re already dead. Also, a blade goes right through them without doing any damage. It’s like trying to stab smoke. At least in the early stages.”
He sat up. “So how do you kill a thing that’s already dead and can’t be hurt?”
“Two ways. One, you bring along a seer who knows the right incantation to hold the wraith in place and make it solid, or you wait for it to get strong enough that it becomes solid again on its own. That method generally leaves you with a much bigger threat that you do not want to go up against.”
“Well, how long before it goes from a little threat to a great big one?”
“Not sure. It’s different with every one.”
“Why was it reaching for you? What does it want from you?”
“It’s complicated.” She was quiet a moment.
“Why? What else aren’t you telling me?”
Her silence lasted awhile longer. “Sometimes valkyries create the wraiths. It’s not intentional, but on the battlefield, things happen. Hard choices are made. Sometimes, the soul becomes a wraith before we can transport it to its final end.”
That seemed a heavy burden to bear. “Do you think this is one of those? One that’s come after you?”
Her gaze turned sharp. “What makes you say that?”
“You brought it up.” He shrugged. Was that anger in her eyes? Or fear? The latter was such an unlikely emotion from her, and yet the topic seemed to bring it out in her. Maybe that hard gleam was a mix of both. “Just seems like a possibility after what you said.”
“It’s not,” she snapped.
“Hey,” he said softly. “If it is, it’s not like you’re to blame. No one, and I mean no one, would say it’s your fault that some undead baddie has tracked you down.”
She stared off into the night. “Yeah, right.”
“Jenna. Jenna.”
She finally looked at him. “What?”
“Anyone says a word to that effect, and they will answer to me.”
The brackets around her eyes softened, but her mouth was still a hard line. “Why would you do that? It’s not your job to—never mind, I know why. The spell is messing with your head, making you pay attention to ideas you’d dismiss otherwise.”
“So it’s wrong that I’d want to be your friend in this situation? What’s so crazy about one first responder wanting to help out another first responder?”
She stopped looking at him again.
That wasn’t going to shut him up. “I like you. And that’s not the spel
l talking either. Sure, I think you’re all kinds of annoying at times, but so is my sister, and I’m crazy about her.”
Jenna snorted. “You just want me to kiss you again.”
“I’d be lying if I said you were wrong.”
That got her attention. “Titus, don’t.”
He let out a long sigh. “Do you ever have any fun, or is your whole life just you being hard on yourself?”
“I have fun.”
“Really? When?”
“Tonight’s run was fun.”
“When did you last have fun on your own?”
She frowned at him. “I have fun,” she said again.
He wasn’t convinced. He wasn’t done talking either. There had to be a way to break through the walls she kept up. “Wouldn’t it be easier for us to deal with this spell if we were a team and not two opponents? We’re facing the same battle. Why not join forces?”
“We’re in this together whether we like it or not.”
“Exactly. So let’s be a team.”
She gave him a hard look. “Meaning?”
“Stop treating me like the enemy, for one thing.”
She took a breath before answering. “I’ll try.”
“Gee, thanks.” He looked off toward the woods. “What is it about me that you dislike so much?”
She tipped her bottle back, finishing it. “You really want to know?”
He glanced at her. “Yeah, I do.”
“You’re sure? Because if you want me to be truthful, you can’t get mad at the answer.”
He could. But he wouldn’t. Not for the sake of them moving forward in a meaningful way. “I won’t. Promise.”
She pointed the empty bottle at him. “You’re an oath breaker. And I don’t want anything to do with someone like that.”
Jenna knew the slight buzz from the Warhammer was partially to blame for her sudden impulse to tell Titus what she really thought of him. But hey, he’d asked.
He stared at her in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“You broke your engagement.” She shrugged and put the empty bottle down. Something inside her gave way to the anger she still felt toward Eric. Maybe all the magic influencing her was causing it, but there was no stopping what she wanted to say. “I know you had a fiancée and I know she left you and I know there are two sides to every story, so whatever the reason that arrangement dissolved, you still had a part in it. Which means you share the blame.”
An angry wolfen glow lit his eyes. “You don’t know anything about my engagement.”
“I know what I need to know.” He was getting mad. And mad seemed like a good way to shut down the effects of the love spell.
“No, you don’t.”
She rested her arms along the edge of the tub and leaned back. “So tell me.”
He swallowed, some of the angry light in his eyes fading until, a moment later, it was gone completely. But something new had taken its place. Sadness? Regret? Disappointment?
That wasn’t the response Jenna had expected. A pang of sympathy went through her. What had happened to Titus to make him feel that way? And why on earth had she asked? If she felt sympathetic toward him now, how was she going to feel after listening to his story?
She’d made him mad enough. There was no point in pushing this further. She held her finger up. “You know what? I changed my mind. You don’t have to tell me.”
“No, you asked. And you assumed. So I’m going to tell you, because you clearly have some false ideas about me.” His jaw was tense, making his words come out sharp. They matched the angry light that had crept back into his eyes.
She pulled her arms back into the water and tucked her hands under her legs. “Okay.”
“Zoe was…perfect in every way. She’s a schoolteacher. Great with kids. And they love her right back. She’s wolf, like me. And just a beautiful person, inside and out. She’s everything I wanted in a partner.” He hesitated, obviously a little lost in memories.
A moment later, he started again. “But it wasn’t meant to be. Her parents are older, and then her father fell and broke his hip. She’s an only child and felt obligated to move home and take care of them. So she went back to Oregon and her parents. I certainly can’t fault her for doing the right thing by them. In fact, her willingness to give up everything for them is an example of the person she is. The person I fell in love with.”
“Why didn’t you move with her?”
He shook his head. “I was already chief. I’d built this house for us. My brother and sister lived here, my parents not far away. My life is here.”
“But if you really loved her…”
He looked miserable. So much so, she felt bad about bringing up the subject. A vein in his forehead pulsed. “I guess I didn’t love her enough to give up everything I worked for. To leave my family behind for hers.” His words grew angrier as he spoke. “I’m as responsible for our breakup as she is. Or maybe you’re right, and it’s all my fault since I wasn’t willing to move.”
“So you’re admitting you were selfish?”
“Selfish?” The glow in his eyes was almost blinding, and his voice had a growl that hadn’t been there before. “You want the truth? Yes, her parents needed her, but she was already planning to leave because she hated my job. Thought it was too dangerous. Couldn’t stand the idea of worrying about whether or not I’d come home after every shift. So I let her go. Happy? Feel better now that you’ve gotten that out of me?”
Jenna sat there, mouth open, realizing how wrong she’d been about everything. About him especially.
He abruptly stood and climbed out of the hot tub, sending water splashing. Without another word, he went into the house, leaving her sitting alone.
She watched him go, the guilt at what she’d just done sinking in. Why on earth had she pushed him? It wasn’t his fault his engagement had been broken. She’d projected her own heartache onto him. Her own anger and disappointment. She was a terrible person.
Tessa was right. Titus wasn’t Eric. It wasn’t Titus’s fault that Eric had betrayed her and treated her heart like it was disposable.
Her throat ached, and her stomach felt worse. Neither one had anything to do with the spell they were under either.
She got out of the hot tub, dried herself off with the towel he’d kindly provided for her, and thought about how best to apologize. If he’d even talk to her.
And if he wouldn’t, well, she’d earned that.
She wrapped the towel around her body, went in through the sliders and down the hall to his door. She knocked softly. “Titus? I’m sorry. Please, can we talk?”
A whiny, grinding noise started up in the garage.
She tugged the towel a little tighter and headed in that direction. She opened the garage door.
Titus was in jeans, T-shirt, and safety goggles, sanding down a big hunk of wood, his back to her. Little bits of sawdust floated through the air, along with the scent of the wood he was working on.
She waited until he stopped sanding and she could be heard. “Titus?”
He straightened and slowly turned. He put the sander down and pushed the goggles onto his forehead. He didn’t say a word. Just stared at her, the weight of accusation heavy in his gaze.
But she already knew what she’d done. She hung her head. “I’m really sorry. For a lot of things. For saying you were to blame for your relationship ending. For saying you were selfish. For trying to make you mad on purpose. For making assumptions about you that I shouldn’t have. I was wrong about all of that. I don’t know why I…” She sighed. “That’s a lie. I know why.” She couldn’t bring herself to confess more. That part of her past hurt too much.
“You care to elaborate on that?”
She shook her head, unable to look at him as the knot returned to her throat. “I’m really sorry I was such a jerk to you. You’ve been nothing but nice to me. You didn’t deserve that.”
“Apology accepted.”
“Thank you.�
�� She really needed to go to bed. This day had been enough already.
“Why were you trying to make me mad?”
“So the love spell wouldn’t work.” With nothing left to say, she turned, and her hand went to the knob. Was it any wonder she didn’t have anyone in her life? Who would want to be around her? Eric certainly hadn’t considered her worthy of his loyalty or respect.
“Jenna?”
Her name on his lips wasn’t what stopped her from leaving. It was the sympathetic tone in his voice. A tone she didn’t deserve. Not even with her apology.
“What did he do to you?”
The question almost undid her. As it was, a momentary wash of numbness went through her. She wanted to snap back at him, tell him that no one did anything to her. But the lie would be obvious.
More than that, Titus deserved her honest response. And her respect. After all, they’d said they’d be civil to each other, and so far, she was failing at that.
Besides, lying to herself that she was fine wasn’t helping one bit. It was time to come clean. With Titus. And with herself.
She turned back around and sat on the step. “He broke my heart. Then ruined my life. And I’m still not over it.”
“Of course you’re not.” Titus came over and sat next to her. Close enough that she could feel the heat emanating off him. It was nice being close to someone who was warm. And handsome. And forgiving. “Who was he?”
“Eric Peerson.” Just saying his full name took something out of her. She inhaled, but her breath caught and sounded more like the beginning of a sob. She hated how weak that made her seem. How affected by that stupid, stupid man. How pathetic she felt considering she was a valkyrie.
“Who was he?”
“My commanding officer. And the man…I thought I was going to marry.”
Titus sucked in a breath. “That doesn’t sound good at all.”
She shook her head. There was sawdust on his jeans. Was the spell making her notice such things about him? “It wasn’t.” She expected Titus to ask next what Eric had done. That’s what people always did. Asked for details about the really painful stuff.
The Werewolf Dates The Deputy (Nocturne Falls Book 12) Page 9