“That’s good,” Nick said. He sank back against the seat and his head slid over to land on my shoulder. “That’s really good.”
He fell back asleep and we didn’t wake him until we got to the manor. Adam helped me get him inside and we put him on the couch in the living room and covered him with a thick flannel blanket before we all went to the kitchen. Lacey was already there, drinking straight from the bottle of faux blood. “Is he all right?” she asked as we all walked in, slack-faced and exhausted.
I nodded. “He’s asleep. He’s fuzzy on the details but thinks it was an FBI raid. So I guess we’re safe.”
Adam glanced at Lacey on his way to his snack cupboard. “So keep those fangs to yourself there, princess.”
She glared at him and then took another swig.
I started making a cup of tea even though I doubted I’d get halfway through it before succumbing to exhaustion. It felt like I hadn’t slept in days. “Thanks for your help tonight,” I started. “All of you.”
“Of course, Holly,” Evangeline said from her place at the kitchen table. “Friends don’t let friends take on ancient vampire houses all alone.”
I laughed. “Thank the stars for that.”
Posy shimmered into sight through the kitchen door. “What’s all the excitement about. And who is that on the couch out there?”
“It’s a long story, Posy,” I said, my voice tired and deflated. Steam poured off the water in the kettle and I poured a generous amount into my waiting mug.
“You know Holly,” Adam told her as he crossed the kitchen, his arms full of snack foods. “Storming the castle and taking on the bad guys all in a fell swoop.”
Posy raised her thick eyebrows. “Do I want to know?”
“Probably not,” I said.
“Well, I do have some good news for the hero of the day,” Adam said. “My parents have decided to leave a bit early. After all the excitement tonight, a goodbye brunch with them tomorrow should be no problem. Right, gorgeous?”
My spirits lifted considerably at that bit of news. I knew that something would have to give eventually, but I was glad that it was going to be off my plate for now. Still, I groaned and sank into my seat at the end of the table at the thought of even one more excruciating meal with them. “Truthfully, I’d rather deal with power-hungry vamps.”
A chorus of laughter echoed around the room and then we all took turns giving Posy the rundown on the crazy night.
****
The following morning, I woke up and found the two guys eating cereal in the kitchen. Adam must have been coming around on Nick. After all, he didn’t share his chocolate cereal with just anyone. The two of them looked comically relieved when I walked in. Adam jumped up and hurried to the cupboard. “You want a bowl, gorgeous?”
“What happened to brunch with your parents?” I asked, taking a seat at the table.
Nick smiled at me. “Oh, you haven’t managed to scare them off yet?”
I laughed. “Someone’s feeling better. And no. We’re going to brunch in a bit. I thought,” I added, looking at Adam’s near-overflowing bowl. Then again, he’d be hungry again in ten minutes regardless.
“I’m feeling much better,” Nick replied. “Thanks for taking care of me last night. Adam told me I had a little—okay, a lot—too much to drink.”
I flapped a hand. “Don’t mention it. It happens to all of us from time to time.”
He chuckled and then shoveled in another bite of cereal—something chocolatey and named after a vampire from the looks of it. The irony struck me and I smiled across the kitchen at Adam. He shook the box at me and grinned mischievously back.
“It’s weird how I don’t remember any of it,” Nick continued, his tone still dazed sounding. “It’s not like me to drink heavily. I haven’t gotten drunk since college.”
I smiled sweetly at him and patted the back of his hand. “Well you’re not as young as you once were.”
Nick nodded but a conflicted look crossed his face. “I just wish I could remember. You ever have that feeling like you’re forgetting something important?”
I held my breath. I didn’t know much about how memory spells worked. Obviously the SPA knew what they were doing—they were a staple spell for their agents—but what if Nick was somehow fighting the spell?
“What’s the last thing you remember?” Adam ventured.
“It’s the weirdest thing, but I remember Georgia Banks called me—“
“She did?” My heart rocketed into my throat.
Adam shot me a play-it-cool look and I forced myself to swallow. “What—uh—what did she have to say?”
Nick struggled. “I don’t—I can’t remember. But if anyone could drive me to drink, it’d be her. I wish I could remember what she wanted …”
He gave a frustrated grunt and went back to eating his cereal. Adam and I exchanged a dark look over his head. Had Georgia called Nick and told him about Raven? I’d lost track of her in the crowd. She knew Nick and I worked together. Had she called him to warn him that I was in trouble? My heart squeezed at the thought. I made a mental note to call her and thank her for intervening, even though she’d inadvertently put Nick in danger.
“Man,” Nick exclaimed. “It’s like it’s right there under the surface…”
I brushed my hand over his arm. “It’s okay, Nick. Just let it go. I’m just glad we found you—“ I looked up at Adam, waiting for him to fill in the half of the story he’d fed Nick.
“Outside your office,” he supplied.
Right. I laughed. “You might have sent some pretty colorful emails in that state of mind.”
Nick smiled over at me. “How do you always know what’s going on around this town, Holly? You must have some kind of magic radar.”
Adam and I froze in place, sharing identical looks of horror.
Nick glanced between us, a puzzled look on his face. “What? Come on, guys. It was just a joke.”
A nervous laugh slipped from my lips and I jumped up from the table. “Well duh. Obviously you’re joking.”
Adam carried the box of cereal to the table as I reached into the cabinet for a bowl. “Holly certainly has a knack for spotting trouble. I wouldn’t necessarily call it magical though,” he added.
I elbowed him in the ribs and stole the box from his hand. “Be nice or I’ll make you go to brunch by yourself, then turn you into a dog.”
Adam almost spewed a mouthful of cereal.
Nick chuckled at my joke as he polished off the rest of his breakfast. When his bowl was empty, I took it from him and deposited it into the sink.
“Thanks for breakfast,” Nick said. “I should probably get home to shower and change. Let you get to your brunch,” he added, giving me a knowing smile.
Evangeline breezed into the kitchen. “Oh, Nick! You’re awake! How are you?”
“I’m doing good. Thanks.”
“Hey, Evie, you mind if I snag your keys so we can drop Nick back at home?” Adam asked.
She nodded. “Sure. Or, I can take him. I think your parents are—” She paused as the door flapped open and Mort and Bella waltzed into the kitchen. “Awake.”
Bats! So close …
“Morning guys,” Adam said to his parents.
Evangeline backed toward the door. “Come on, Nick. I’ll drive you home.”
“Okay. Thanks again, guys. See you later.”
Adam and I waved at him as he followed Evangeline out of the kitchen.
“You guys ready for brunch?” Adam asked, regardless of the fact that he’d just got done eating a serving bowl full of cereal.
Mort pocketed his hands. “Actually, son, we got an earlier flight so we’re going to go ahead and take off early. A cab’s already on the way.”
I moved to the sink to wash up the dishes—and hide my dramatic eye roll. Of course they were leaving earlier. It was ironic how moments before, I’d been dreading brunch but now, since they were actively opting out of it, I was offended.
A ringtone interrupted Adam’s question. Mort fished into his back pocket and retrieved a phone. “The cab’s here.”
I blinked. Wow. That was fast. They must really be in a hurry to get as far away from me as possible. Although, if I was being honest, I was just as eager for them to be gone. A surge of guilt swept through me at the thought and was quickly followed by a swell of sadness. I’d wanted Adam’s parents to like me and approve of our relationship but it seemed that, at least for the time being, a general acknowledgment was about all I could expect.
Adam sighed and I craned around to see the frustrated look on his face as he said, “All right, well I guess so much for brunch.”
Bella patted him on the shoulder. “It was just bad timing, honey. You obviously have a lot going on here.” She looked over at me and I nearly lost my grip on the soapy bowl in my hands. “We’ll try again next year.”
Was that code for: you’ll have found someone more suitable by then? I frowned into the sink full of dishes.
“Come on, I’ll walk you out,” Adam said.
I rinsed my hands and dried them on a dishtowel as I followed behind. Mort and Bella had their luggage neatly arranged by the front door and when Adam offered to help carry it to the cab, his dad waved him off. “Holly it was lovely to meet you,” Mort said, giving me a slight nod.
Bella nodded in agreement, although her stony expression didn’t quite match up with the sentiment.
“You too,” I said, forcing a smile. “I’m sorry I was so busy while you were here.”
Mort reached for the luggage and Adam got the door. While Adam said goodbye to his parents, I retreated back to the kitchen and finished rinsing off the dishes in the sink. When I finished, I went back to the living room and joined Adam at the large picture window as he waved goodbye to his parents. I looped my arm around him and dropped my head against his chest. “Well I don’t know about you, but I’ll tell you, I’m already really looking forward to next Thanksgiving.”
Adam chuckled and wrapped an arm around my waist. “You know, I was thinking that maybe next year we should spend the holidays somewhere warm. Like Fiji.”
I glanced up at him. “You’re a genius.”
“Fiji it is.” He said and then pressed a kiss to my forehead. The cab pulled away from the curb and turned around in the cul-de-sac before speeding off down the street. We each breathed a deep sigh and then moved away from the window and collapsed onto the couch.
“See,” I started, wiggling to get comfortable. “If this was Fiji we’d be in a hammock right now, sipping some delicious cocktails with little pink umbrellas, and listening to the ocean.”
Adam chuckled. “I think you’d get bored.”
“Really?”
He smiled down at me and took my hand. “I’m pretty sure that if you go a few weeks without stumbling into a crime scene, getting threatened with the possibility of being arrested, or being attacked by some undead creature, you’d go crazy.”
I elbowed him playfully in the ribs. “Or, you could look at it this way: I just saved the entire haven system, and the planet in general, from a bunch of day-walking vampires with nearly unlimited resources and no regard for human life.”
Adam laughed. “I suppose that’s one way of looking at it. I guess I just didn’t realize I was dating Wonder Woman.”
“You think I need a theme song?” I asked, craning up to look at him.
“We’ll work on it.” He dropped a kiss to my forehead. “We’ve got time.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“You’re sure you don’t want me to come with you?”
I smiled at Adam’s question—one he’d asked in one variation or another half a dozen times over the weeks leading up to the hearing date. “I’m sure. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone and I don’t want you to miss out on any business.”
He nodded understandingly, but the look on his face was still solemn. “What did you tell Cassie?”
“That I needed to use some of my vacation time to go back home and visit. She didn’t ask a lot of questions.”
He pocketed his hands and shifted his weight between his feet.
“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” I teased.
“Just antsy I guess.”
I knelt on the floor and flicked my hand in the direction of my tried and true suitcase. It slithered out from under the bed and with another flick of my wrist, it floated up and landed on the bed with a soft plop. The arrangements were all in place. I had a hotel room at a swanky hotel in the heart of the Seattle haven. It would be my first trip back in over a year and I was flooded with different emotions. If Adam thought he was antsy, he needed to take a tour through my crowded mind. Teddy’s petition to the Haven Council had worked and, with any luck, I would be leaving the haven with my master potion license.
I smiled up at Adam as I unzipped the suitcase. “It’ll all work out. At least that’s what Teddy says. Evangeline says he’s a real shark and has a near perfect record when it comes to cases before the Council. He doesn’t see any reason they could block my request. After all, I wasn’t the one who was convicted in that whole mess with Gabriel.”
Adam nodded. “I’m sure he knows what he’s talking about,” he agreed. “He seems very competent.”
I grinned at Adam’s odd compliment. Teddy was about as polar opposite from Adam as I could imagine. During his brief visit to the manor, they’d struggled to find much to talk about besides the weather. Adam didn’t have an appreciation of designer suits and expensive loafers and premium hair products, and Teddy didn’t have the first clue to the rules of a football game or why anyone would wear black leather.
“The only thing that matters is that I get my license and can start my business back up again. You wouldn’t believe the amount of phone calls I’ve been getting lately! Everyone is panicking and asking for recommendations on where else to go. I can’t wait to get back and make the rounds to let everyone know I’m back!”
Adam chuckled. “I’m happy for you, Holly.”
“Thanks.” I went to the dresser and started gathering stacks of clothing. Teddy hadn’t been able to tell me exactly how long the proceedings would take so I was planning ahead with at least a week’s worth of clothing. Worst case scenario, I could jet back to the manor the following weekend or maybe beg something off my friend Anastasia Winters. We’d already made plans to get lunch together once I was in the city.
I smiled to myself as I grabbed up different outfits. Amid the fear that things wouldn’t go as buttercream-smooth as Teddy predicted was the tiny ball of hope that I was about to be handed back the keys to my freedom. My life.
“So I guess in addition to getting your license, you won’t be banished anymore, huh?”
I straightened, a t-shirt dangling from my hands. “I hadn’t really thought of that, but yeah. I guess you’re right. The only reason Harvey forced me out of the Seattle haven in the first place was to keep me from getting tossed back in jail for running my underground potion business.”
“It’s cute how you use the term underground instead of illegal,” Adam teased.
I laughed as I crossed back to the bed and tucked the t-shirt into my suitcase. “Hardy har.”
Adam pocketed his hands. “So then what’s the plan? You’ll still come back here, won’t you?”
I stopped packing and met his eyes. “Of course, Adam. Why would you even ask that?”
He shrugged and lowered onto the side of the bed. “Your dream has always been to have your own potion shop. That can’t happen here in Beechwood Harbor.”
“Well no, not in the traditional sense, I suppose.” I pulled my hair back into a low ponytail and secured it with an elastic band. “But I can go back to how it was before Harvey showed up. Except without the constant paranoia of an SPA raid.”
Adam chuckled. “I guess so. But Holly, are you sure that’s gonna be enough for you?”
“What�
��s this really about, Adam? I get this feeling that you’re not asking me the real question here.”
He reached for me and I rounded the bed to sit beside him. “I know the whole visit with my parents was more interrogation and interview than peaceful family reunion. And for that, I’m truly sorry. I guess that ever since they showed up, things between us have been a little weird and now you’re leaving, and I guess I’m just a little concerned.”
“Wait a second, the infamous lady killer Adam St. James is feeling insecure?” I teased gently.
Adam chuckled. “I suppose it was bound to happen eventually. You must be pretty damned special, Holly Boldt.”
I squeezed his hand and told him truthfully, “I feel pretty special.”
Adam cupped the side of my face and for a long moment, neither of us said a word. When he broke the silence, his voice was low and hoarse. “I love you, Holly. I don’t want to lose you.”
“I love you, too, Adam. You’re not going to lose me. I’m coming right back as soon as the hearing is over. I promise. It’s going to take a lot more than Mort and Bella to scare me off.”
Adam shook his head in disbelief. “How did I get so lucky?”
I scoffed.
“No, I’m serious, Holly. After all my parents’ bad behavior, most women would have run for the hills.”
“Most sane women, you mean.”
He laughed and dropped a kiss to my lips. Gentle and sweet. My lashes fluttered against my cheeks as I closed my eyes and let myself get lost in the moment. “I’ve never been happier to have nabbed a crazy one then.”
“How romantic. You should put that on my Valentine’s Day card.”
Adam kissed me again, his smile pressed to mine. “I’ll think about it.”
“Good.” We lingered there on the bed, side by side, and the longer we stared at each other, the more my heart twisted inside my chest. I was only going to be gone for a week. Two at the most. Why was I so torn up over the idea of leaving Adam? The answer echoed back almost immediately. I was afraid that as soon as I got back to the Seattle haven, I would be homesick all over again and want to stay.
Witch Slapped: A Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery (Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries Book 3) Page 18