by S. A. Ravel
"What makes you think she kept to the old traditions?" Ward asked.
Parker pointed toward the porch. There was no welcome mat at the front door. Instead, there was a thick line of white powder.
"Salt has natural purifying properties. If she didn't keep them, someone in that house does. Someone who would have been responsible for her burial."
Being questioned by a measly town sheriff rankled Parker's bear, but he kept the animal in check.
Ward looked Parker up and down, sucking his teeth. "People around here are pretty shook up about Melora. She was really popular in town."
"I saw the memorial on the way here. It looked like she was a damn sight more than popular."
"Her and Branden were gonna do great things for this Coast. Their marriage could have diffused a three-generation time bomb. Now...I'm just trying to make sure things don't get worse.
Parker folded his arms across his chest. "I know the stakes, Sheriff Ward, I read the file."
"Then you know Melora's death was probably an accident," he said. "And you won't have a problem going easy on my town. These people have been through enough."
It wasn't the first time a local cop tried to pull rank on an agent. It sure as hell wasn't the first-time Parker had to get in a pissing contest with one. For all their bravado, most of them just wanted assurances that their jurisdiction wouldn't land on the agency's radar.
"You're right. Chances are Melora Harper had a tragic accident," Parker said. "Until I learn different, my job isn't to investigate her death. My job is to make sure the treaty between the Cove and the Mountain stays intact."
Ward raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think it's breaking down?"
"Didn't say I did. But the Coast is too close to the human population of the area for the Agency to take that chance."
"You being here isn't gonna keep this thing from blowing open. Hell, it'll probably do the opposite."
"Then let me get the information I need to send in a good report, and I'll be out of your hair."
Ward chewed on his lip for a few seconds. Parker knew he was making a show of considering his request. The truth was, if the Arcane Affairs wanted an agent in town, there wasn't a damn thing Ward or anyone else could do about it.
"Alright," the Sheriff said. "But if you start drumming up trouble I'm putting in the call to your superiors."
"Understood." Parker headed for the front door of the Harper residence, Ward on his heels.
As he walked up the steps to the ranch-style house, Parker realized something was off. His bear was anxious, but he couldn't put his finger on why. It wasn't Ward's presence and it wasn't lingering annoyance at being kicked out of the alpha house. Something else had the animal on edge, but the man kept himself in check long enough to knock on the door.
His heart fell to his stomach and rebounded up into his throat when she opened the door.
Lia.
The love of his life, his would be mate, until she unceremoniously dumped his ass. Actually, saying she dumped him implied a conversation had occurred. It hadn't.
Parker hadn't seen her in three years. Her curly red hair, her luscious curves, her creamy skin, all of it was the same except the dark circles under her eyes. She even wore the same honeysuckle and lavender perfume.
The anxiety of his bear morphed into excitement. Every cell in his body from his brain to his dick pulled him toward her, but he kept his feet planted in place.
Her green eyes met his, recognition flashing in them as her body froze. She looked from him to the Sheriff and back.
"What are you--"
"Miss Harper, I'm Agent Kane from the Arcane Affairs Agency. I wonder if I could have a moment of your time?"
He widened his eyes and hoped that she took the hint. If Ward found out they knew each other--let alone that they had been a couple--he could have Parker taken off the case.
Lia's eyes narrowed. Even Sheriff Ward raised an eyebrow. Parker realized that in his rush to get to Blackthorn and help his brother, he'd forgotten that they shared the same fucking last name.
"I know, helluva coincidence," he said. A flicker in Lia's eyes let Parker know that she understood what he was doing. The question was, would she go along with it?
"It's a little late for a social call, isn't it?" she asked.
Ward slid the brimmed hat off his head and tucked it beneath his arm. "Lia, the sooner he gets what he needs, the faster things can get back to normal."
Lia stared at Parker for a moment before she nodded and stepped away from the door. "Fine. Can I get you boys some coffee?"
Ward opened his mouth to speak, but Parker cut him off. "Thank you, Ma'am, but that's not necessary. I just have a few questions to ask and I'll be on my way."
The smell of incense which hung in the air as she led them inside, giving the room a pungent, earthy aroma. Lia grabbed a satin cloth from the table and spread it over her crystal ball. Parker put his cell phone on the table beside the ball and pressed record.
"What's that for?" she asked.
"It's easier to write my report for Headquarters if I can listen back later. Sometimes things get missed in the initial investigation. "
His bear roared in his brain, urging him to take Lia into his arms and claim her lips. To strip her, run his hands along her soft skin and make up for the years he'd been apart. But that would definitely raise questions for Ward.
She motioned toward the couch in the room as she sat in an armchair near the fire. “What do you want to know about Mel?"
"Did she have any enemies?" he asked.
Ward cut in, tutting softly. "Come on, man. Do we have to start there?"
Parker leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees and waiting for Lia to answer and trying to keep his eyes off the curve of her breasts in her tank top.
A look of confusion marred Lia's beautiful face. "Not that I knew about, but she might not have told me if she had."
"And why is that?" he asked.
"Because she knew I would punch anyone who tried to get mouthy with her. Assuming I didn't hex their asses into oblivion."
"She doesn't mean that, Agent," Ward said.
Lia mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "the hell I don't," which sounded more like the Lia he knew. That fire in her belly, which flamed as brightly as her hair, was one of the things he'd love most about her.
"So you two were close," he said.
"Very," she said as she leaned back in the chair.
"What about her fiancé?" he asked. "Are you close to him?"
She shrugged. "Not really. Having a shifter in town made people nervous, so she mostly went up to the Mountain to see him. I wasn't allowed."
"Did Melora ever complain about her time on the mountain? Did she ever talk about how the clans and crews reacted to her?"
"A little, at first. People up there weren't real warm in the beginning, but that didn't last long," she crossed her legs, exposing the curve of her calf beneath her skirt. "Most people were in favor of the mating."
He nodded, but his mind was split in two. The part that belonged to Parker Kane, rising star of the Agency, focused on the right combination of questions to get Lia to let her guard down. The part that was a red-blooded animal sitting in the room with the only woman he'd ever loved wanted to strip her naked right there in her sitting room.
"How has the community been coping with her death?"
At the word "death" Lia looked away, but Parker still saw the unshed tears in her eyes. "Mel always dealt with the politics. She held our Council seat after my Aunt died. I don't much get involved with the community."
"I can answer," Ward said, clearing his throat. "Most people are devastated. Like I said, Melora was very popular. "
Parker looked at Lia, but she didn't meet his eyes. Her gaze focused on the coffee table, which held a crystal ball and makeshift altar.
She swallowed and cleared her throat. "My sister was...deeply committed to this community and its survival, b
ut that's not why she was marrying Branden. She loved him."
The pain in her eyes was more than he could stand. Every part of him wanted to go to her, to hold and comfort her, but he didn't dare. Even if she would accept his affection--and likely as not she wouldn't--the upstanding Sheriff would report him to HQ.
Besides, when it came to a relationship between them, Lia had made her opinion clear years ago. No way; no how.
The fact that she was his mate didn't matter, in no small part because he'd never told her. He'd never even had the balls to tell her he was a shifter. Their bond had never been sealed. It would be better for both of them if he wrapped the case quickly, climbed back in his rental car and got the hell off the coast.
Parker rose to his feet and grabbed his cell phone. "I think I have everything I need, Miss Harper."
"Will you be in town long?" she asked.
As much as he wanted to read into the question, Parker knew better than to think Lia wanted him around. "Just a day to monitor the situation."
She nodded. "Good, the last thing this town needs is an Agent making everybody nervous. Close the door on your way out."
Amelia left the room without looking back. His bear raging inside of him, demanding that he go after her and claim her. Fortunately, he had good control over the animal.
Outside by the cars, Parker took a deep breath to clear Lia's perfume from his senses.
"Still think you're needed around here?" Ward asked.
No, he was almost certain that his brother and mate didn't need or want him around, but he had a job to do nonetheless.
He turned to the Sheriff, forcing a sheepish smile to his face. "It sure as hell looks like things are under control here. By policy I have to stay 48 hours, but I don't see why we can't count today as day one."
Ward opened his mouth to speak, but his ringing cell phone interrupted his train of thought.
He held up a finger to Parker and answered. "Ward. Yeah, I'm with him now. Both of us? Okay, we're on the way."
Parker raised an eyebrow. "On the way where?"
"That was Dr. Craven, our medical examiner. Said he needs to talk to both of us about Melora Harper."
3
"Piece of shit," Lia mumbled, scowling at the shining electric tea kettle. "I'll strip you down to circuits if you don't start beeping"
Late night infomercials had been a guilty pleasure for Janice Harper, one that she had passed on to and shared with her oldest daughter, Melora. Most people on the Lost Coast were frugal out of necessity, and the Harpers were no exception. That instinctive pull toward penny pinching was the only thing that kept the women in check.
Of course, it didn't stop them from falling for the latest offering, which invariably promised to take the margin of error and guesswork out of cooking. Lia, who had never fallen prey to the infomercials charms, would dutifully complement their latest purchases, while secretly marveling at the fact the products made things harder more often than they made things easier.
Now that both women were gone, there was no reason why Lia couldn't throw out the assorted kitchen aids that took up valuable counter space and one crowded shelf in the pantry. Yet she kept them all and fought with several of them regularly in a vain attempt to coax them into working as advertised. She was 0 for 3 so far. The latest object of her wrath was an electric tea kettle.
It was supposed to beep when the water boiled. Instead it sat on the counter, water boiling and ready to make a cup of salvation, while Lia sat feet away reading or looking at the sky or doing whatever had distracted her from remembering tea kettles.
That night it was Parker Kane, the last person she expected to see on her doorstep. For a second she thought that Parker had come to give condolences about Melora, and it shocked her how badly she wanted to run into his arms. Then she remembered that she had never told him about her family. And if he came to give condolences why would Sheriff Ward be with him? It wasn't until he introduced himself in the cold manner of a bureaucrat that she realized why he was really there.
She wasn't sure which was worse, her ex-boyfriend showing up unannounced, the fact that he wasn't there for her, or the fact that he had lied to her. Nobody knew much about Arcane Affairs, but everybody knew they recruited among the paranormal communities. Somehow, in nearly a year of dating, Parker had forgotten to mention that he wasn't human.
To be fair, she had been equally forgetful when it came to her being a witch. That left her in the awkward position of being mad, but knowing she didn't have a leg to stand on. It stung in a way few things had since Melora died. Maybe feeling something, even anger and guilt, was better than nothing at all.
Except the anger and guilt came with a side helping of worry. She hadn't told Parker the truth before. It wasn't just shifters that unnerved the residents of Belmont Cove, it was outsiders in general. In general, witches were slow to trust each other, let alone outsiders. Places like Salem and Andover left a sour taste in their mouths. A witch or warlock only trusted their coven.
As far as she knew, shifters were the same way. At least that was what Melora told her, when she vented her frustrations about not being able to have Branden stay over.
Arcane Affairs Agents had the double strike of being outsiders who thought they ran things. When people found out an agent was in town, rumors would start. Paranoia would follow, and there was nothing more insufferable to her than a small town with a slow growing case of mass hysteria.
It was better for everyone if he left sooner rather than later. Even if it meant she didn't get to tell him off for lying to her.
A voice called for her from the living room. "Yoo-hoo? You home, Lia?"
Lia rolled her eyes. Nora Goode, a witch like everyone else in town, and an all-around sweet woman, sickeningly so. Nora came to see Melora two or three times a week with a plate of cookies or brownies and a bit of gossip. Lia couldn't stand her.
"Back here, Nora," she called.
Nora sashayed into the kitchen with a casserole dish in her hands, a fabric shopping bag dangling from her arm, and a 1950's style skirt taking up three inches of space all around her. Lia was pretty sure that women didn't use such flashy clothes for everyday wear back then, but she was just as sure that Nora wouldn't let that stop her from using the style.
"How're you holding up, hon? Oh! I brought a little something for you to nosh." Nora set the glass dish on the counter and put her hands on her hips.
Lia shrugged and pressed the power button on the kettle again. "Losing a battle of wills with a tea kettle, apparently, but fine otherwise."
Nora seemed confused by Lia's answer, but she covered it with a smile. She always covered nasty feelings with a smile. "Well, I thought you might like to talk. Or just hear another person in the house. When Andre died..."
A flush of shame came to Lia's cheeks as Nora's voice trailed off, a faraway look settling over her eyes. Andre, Nora's husband, died in a car accident just before Lia moved to Belmont. So far, she hadn't jumped back into the dating pool, and Melora hadn't thought she ever would. Lia reached out and patted Nora on the shoulder, trying to offer some comfort to make up for being an asshole.
"Anyway, I know how horrible a suddenly empty house can be," Nora said, a half-hearted smile spreading across her lips. "That's how Mel and I got to be friends. She came by one day with a tuna casserole and a bottle of wine."
"That sounds like her. Except she hated tuna casserole." Lia hated them too, but it seemed rude to point that out.
"Who says we ate it?" Nora winked and reached into her shopping bag and pulled out a bottle of wine. "There's something to be said for tradition."
"Now you're talking my language." Lia laughed and went to the cabinet, pulling out two wine glasses.
Nora grabbed two plates and dished up the casserole; chicken and mushroom, mercifully, instead of tuna. "I mean it, hon. How are you holding up?"
Lia considered the question as they sat down at the kitchen table. "I guess I haven't thought about it." She'd
been too busy trying to contact Melora, but she wasn't ready to admit to that yet. "You're right though. It's just...really quiet."
Nora hesitated. "I wish I could tell you it ever gets easy. But it gets better, if that helps."
"Has anybody heard anything about Branden?"
"Not that I've heard, but you know the Blackthorns. They have their ways and we have ours and that's good enough."
"So that's it? Melora's gone and the truce goes with her?" Lia couldn't put her finger on why it disturbed her. The truce probably wouldn't have outlived Melora or Branden anyway.
A year and a half before her death, Melora had come home from a trip to Monterey blushing and giggling like a school girl. Two days passed before she finally told Lia that she had met a man. Three more passed before she admitted that he was a bear shifter from Blackthorn.
"Cora's in favor of it standing," Nora said. "She thinks it would be good for both towns to ally. Branden imprinting--or whatever they call it--on Mel doesn't change that."
Lia frowned. "Soulmates, at least that's the way she always explained it."
"You didn't believe her?"
"You did?"
Nora shrugged. "I don't know. Head-over-heels for a man she never met? Doesn't sound like the Mel I knew. There must have been something special about Branden."
No, it didn't sound like Mel at all, and when she came home, breathless with excitement over Branden Kane, Lia almost didn't believe her. But she remembered what it was like to fall for a man she hardly knew, and she couldn't deny her sister a chance at that happiness.
That was before death separated Mel and Branden forever. Now, Lia had a hard time reconciling true love with hard truths.
"I think Mel and Branden were two good people who'd have done anything to keep their people safe. Including getting married."
Nora sucked her teeth. "So cynical. I wonder how he's holding up."
"He's got his family and clan around him. I'm sure he'll be fine." Lia downed her wine in four gulps and set the glass aside. She was bordering on petulant, but her gut wrenched every time she thought about her would-be brother-in-law, and the wedding day that would never come.