by Pamela Labud
“I get that. So, why do you care?”
“Who said I did?”
Matty gave the bounty hunter his best harsh stare. “You obviously do, sticking your snout into my relationship with Fiona. Again, why do you care?”
The other man didn’t flinch. “I think she’s a nice lady, for starters. She’s eons way too good for you.”
It was said as a challenge, and Matty finally saw what had been right in front of him since this miserable creature stepped into his life.
“Your moving in on my girlfriend.”
Hawke stepped back as if he’d been shot. “I wouldn’t do such a thing,” he said at last.
“Why not? She’s not good enough for you?”
“Hardly that. First of all, she’s way better than either of us deserve. If I didn’t have so many complications in my life right now…”
“You’d what?”
It was at that moment, Matty sensed the man was about to reveal something, and if his suspicions were right, it was something huge. If he was lucky enough, Matty knew he could use it to his own advantage.”
“Never mind. Like I said, it’s complicated. Whatever else I am, I respect women and despise anyone who would mistreat one.”
“Is that a threat?”
In spite of all of his male posturing, Matty was pretty sure that there wasn’t really that much different between the two of them. Although he didn’t show it, he literally worshipped the ground that Fiona tread upon. He would die a thousand times to protect her, in fact.
Hawke, true to form, leaned in closer so that there was but inches between them.
“It’s a promise.”
“Right,” Matty mumbled as the man grabbed a jacket off of the end of the bed and turned toward the door.”
“Come down or don’t. I don’t care. Just so you know it, I’ve put a tracer spell on you and if you try to leave, it’ll knock you to the ground for twenty minutes and you’ll have the worst headache you’ve ever had.”
With that, he left the room and slammed the door shut behind him.
Matty stared at the empty space. “Wait…a spell?” What in the heck was this guy? Werewolf and Warlock?
That’s when he realized how much trouble he was really in. His Snuggle-bunny was none other than one of the most powerful mages of all magics—a hybrid.
Not born, but created, the old books revealed. They tended to be loners, avoiding wolf packs and other magical beings. Not because they were antisocial, but because their magic was so strong it could literally level a small city if he didn’t control it.
“Oh man,” Matty said, as he started to pace the length of the room. “This is bad. Really, really bad.”
He had to find Fiona and warn her what she was up against.
As bad as it was for him, for her it could be fatal. Rumor had it, when a hybrid got you in his sights, it never ended well.
So, not only did he have to save himself from his own bounty, but now he had to save Fiona, too. ˙Her life depended on it.
Just then there was a light tapping at the door.
“Yes?” he called out.
He opened the door to find a petite apparition hovering outside, waiting patiently in the hall. Wearing her maid’s uniform, she was impeccably dressed even for someone no longer alive.
“Beg pardon, sir, but you have a visitor.”
“A visitor?”
“Yes. Your brother is awaiting your audience in the parlor.”
Matty thanked the specter and watched as she floated down the hall and then disappeared in a pop of otherworldly magic.
“Great,” he said. “Just, great.”
Matty let out a breath. By now, his brother likely knew the full extent of the trouble he was in. And while his uptight, anal retentive, older by only a few minutes brother would move mountains to save his life, he also would likely chew Matty up and spit him out over this newest wrinkle.
Max loved calm and order.
Matty thrived on chaos and confusion.
They were definitely two sides of the same coin and had long had a love-hate relationship. They loved to hate each other.
Except when it really mattered.
It always took them awhile to get over their own egos and get down to the business of brotherhood. He expected now would be no different than any other time.
Time to take the beating, he thought. Keeping Max waiting was only putting off the inevitable. Plus, Matty didn’t have time to waste, either.
Too much was at stake.
“What the devil’s taking you so long?”
Matty sighed. For a guy that lived such a long time, he was always in a rush. Another way that he and Max were diametrically opposed.
“I’m on my way big brother.”
When he made it to the parlor and saw Max standing by the fireplace, arms crossed and tapping his foot, it was clear they were about to go into round three-hundred-twenty-two in the Hyland Family Feud.
It wasn’t anger he saw in his brother’s expression. Not the usual expected ire and disappointment either.
“What’s going on?” Matty muttered.
Max’s expression was one of a man about to walk in front of a firing squad and it sent an icy stone right to the bottom of Matty’s stomach.
“We’ve got problems, Matty. Huge problems…”
Chapter Seven
Fiona looked down at the Eggs Benedict and croissants on her plate. For a werewolf who was always ravenous when it came to the first meal of the day, she had no appetite. The food was expertly prepared, aromatic and any normal person-magical or not-would be enjoying a meal like this.
But not Fiona and not this morning. She was heartsick over Matty, but it was more than that. No matter how hard they tried, it just wasn’t meant to be. They were never going to be together. She was never going to change him and maybe it had been selfish of her to think so.
“Hey, Fi!” A cheerful voice said from the door.
Fiona looked up to see her friend and Matty’s sister-in-law, Holly.
“Hey, Reaper Girl, how are you?”
“Still getting through. How about you.”
Fiona let out a breath. “Same old, same old. Irresponsible boyfriend, me-trying too hard to make it work. Dismal failure,” she chuckled but even to her own ears she sounded pathetic.
“Matty’s a tough one, but if anyone can set him right, it’s you.”
“Thanks. Have you eaten? You can join me if you want.”
The petite red-head held up her hand. “I’d love to, but doctor’s orders. Max and I are working on starting a family. Evidently, my blood pressure is up a little. So, I need to be on top of my game. No extra pounds for me.”
“Are you sure, it’s just a few bites.”
“I’m good. Anyway, you should eat. You look like you’ve lost some weight.”
Fiona looked down at her plate. It was true. All of the upset with Matty lately hadn’t left her with any appetite. Lately, most food tasted too bland.
Sipping her tea, Fiona considered her friend. “Not that I don’t love seeing you, but how did you find this place and, more importantly, why are you here?”
Holly crossed her arms and set back, her expression changing to one of uncertainty.
“To be honest, I’m not really sure. Max pulled me out of bed this morning and said he had to find Matty as soon as possible and that things weren’t safe, so I should come with him.”
“Wow.”
“Wow is right. I’m the one with magical power, you know. Nobody is going to mess with a Reaper.”
“You wouldn’t think so.”
Still, Fiona had that uneasy feeling again, coiling around her spine, hissing in her thoughts. Trouble is coming…
“I don’t like this,” she told her friend. “Feels wrong.”
Just then the dining room door opened, and Hawke stepped in. “Um, ladies,” he bobbed his head. “If I’m int
errupting…”
Fiona started to say no, but happened to glance at Holly, who wore an odd expression. Reaching out her hand she lightly touched Fiona’s arm.
“I’m sorry, but we need some privacy. If you don’t mind…” her voice trailed off and Fiona sensed something wasn’t right in the room.
The two stared at each other for a moment, both seemingly caught in a vortex of unease.
“Of course,” he said at last, bowed once and turned toward the door. “Please, forgive me.”
Holly let out a breath. “Nothing to forgive, sir. We just need a bit of privacy. Girl talk, and all that.”
He said nothing further, only pausing for a few seconds, grasping the door knob. Then, as if he’d made his mind up about something, he pulled the door open and disappeared into the hall outside.
“What was that about?” Fiona asked, turning to her friend. “Major weirdness.”
Holly said nothing for a moment, instead, closing her eyes and furrowing her brow. Deep in some sort of concentration, perhaps, Fiona thought as fine sheet of sweat broke out on her forehead.
“Wow,” she said at last. Grabbing her napkin from the table she started vigorously fanning herself. “That was not good.”
Fiona’s suspicions grew. “What was not good?”
“How well do you know that guy?”
For some reason, Holly sounded more like the mother of a wild teenager than a best friend.
“We just met yesterday. Why?”
“You need to stay away from him,” Holly said, in an authoritative tone.
Holly had grown into her role, now serving on her Reaper’s Guild council and probably having enough magical power to thwart a throng of mischievous blighter elves, another scourge from Underworld City that were both dangerous and annoying.
“Okay, now you’re scaring me. What the blazes is going on?”
Holly shook her head. “I’m not sure. If it’s what I think it is, there’s going to be trouble and lots of it.”
“Can’t you explain more than that?”
Holly bit her lip. “It’s hard, Fi, because I don’t have all the facts.”
“When has that ever stopped you? Sorry. For heaven’s sake, tell me something.”
“I’ll try. My guild has been investigating some strange power surges. They think it’s from one of those hybrid beings—you know half werewolf-half witch or warlock. If I’m not mistaken, that guy is off the charts. He’s got his eye on you.”
Fiona shrugged. “I guess so. I can’t even think of another guy until I resolve things with Matty.”
Holly put up her hands. “That’s not what I mean. I don’t know exactly what he is…”
“He’s a werewolf.”
“Well, yes, and no.”
“Yes and no? What does that mean?”
“It means, he’s trouble, and you need to stay as far away from him as you can. Get Matty and leave this place. Go back to Underworld City. Go to the moon if you want. But get out of Nocturne Falls.”
“Why? What’s he going to do?”
“To Nocturne Falls? Nothing. But, to people in it, people who get in his path…” She shivered. “Like I said, it doesn’t bode well. Take Matty and get out.”
Fiona crossed her arms. “I wish I could. The problem is, that guy is a bounty hunter and our boy Matty is his bounty. He’s got a restraint on Matty. We had little trouble getting him out of it the first time, but I’m sure Mr. Hawke has it modified by now.”
“Oh.” Holly crossed her arms. “I need to talk to Max. We need to do some research.”
“On whatever it is you don’t know about?”
“Exactly. You and Matty keep your heads down, which is exactly what my husband should be telling your boyfriend right now.”
Holly stood up and Fiona did likewise, and both exchanged a quick hug. “Do your best to not get killed,” Holly said.
And like that, she bounded out the door. Fiona stood, once again alone in the dining room and stared at the after.
What else could go wrong?
#
“What is wrong with you?” Matty stood, arms crossed, demanding his brother come clean. “You don’t come in here spouting stuff like that without explaining yourself.”
He watched his brother ball his fists and start pacing, his long strides making it across the room after three steps and then spinning around to repeat the process.
“I’ve heard some rumors, little brother. People are saying that you’ve gotten into some trouble and there’s a bounty out on you.”
“Wow. Stuff gets around fast in this town.” He shrugged. “I’m dealing with it.”
“How?”
Not knowing what else to do, Matty told him of all the events that had happened since he’d left him the previous day at Fiona’s.
“So, we’re hiding out here for the time being, until I can get stuff figured out.”
“That’s great.” Max walked to the window and peered out. “Is this the guy?”
Matty moved to the window where Hawke was walking down the sidewalk toward the House’s other wing. “That’s him.”
“You’re sure?” Max asked.
“Yes. He’s a bounty hunter. Hawke’s his name.”
“I know of him. He’s a hybrid—mixture of two magics and one of them is a warlock.” Max let the drape fall back into place. “He’s bad, bad magic, my brother.”
“He doesn’t seem that bad.” Matty said.
“Aren’t you the least bit concerned? When it comes to those guys, you’ve got two choices—get out of their way or die.”
“I’m Immortal.”
“That’s mostly true. Didn’t our last bout with bad magic prove that? You remember, crazy Reaper guy”
“I can’t get out of his way. I’m his bounty.”
“What about Fiona? Has he expressed any interest in her?”
“He said he likes Fi but wouldn’t ask her out.”
Max shot him a ‘really’ expression. “And you believe him?”
“It’s complicated. At least that’s what he says.”
“I don’t think he’s going to lose interest in her. Hybrids set their sights on someone, and it’s said that they don’t do relationships well.”
“Fiona can take care of herself.”
“I hope so. What are you going to do about your bounty? Can you pay them off?”
Matty shook his head. “Fi already offered him her house and business. He said no.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Basically, I’ve decided that whatever his plans are, I’m not going.”
“Right. Well, then, we’re done here. Have a happy life.”
Matty sighed. “I know. It’s a bad plan. What can I do?”
Max gave him a hard look. “Do you even know what bondsman has a bounty on you or why?”
“Not a clue.”
“Really?” Max said. “I find that hard to believe.”
“Look. I’ve been squeaky clean. I haven’t even been in a bar for months. To be honest, I can barely remember the last time I was drunk. I sorta blacked out and it kinda scared me.”
“How long ago and which bar?”
Matty shrugged. I don’t remember. “A couple of months ago, maybe. I don’t recall the name of the bar.”
“It wasn’t at Howler’s I take it?”
Howler’s was his usual hangout, as it was for many who lived in Nocturne Falls. “No, it wasn’t. Somewhere outside of town.”
“That leaves only one place I can think of. Rattlers, right?”
If there were a place that had a sign out front advertising for murderers, thieves and con artists, well, Rattlers would be that place. A gathering of all those outside of mainstream, in fact. Even rough, tough crowd steered clear of that place.
“I think so.” Matty rubbed his eyes. A headache was beginning to brew inside of his brain. Going to be a tough day, for s
ure.
“I know you can handle the booze and you don’t use any other recreational drugs. What were you thinking being in a place like that?”
“Wood sprites.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Jerimiah Bellows and his gang owed me some money on a gambling debt. I was trying to collect what they owed me. There’s this beautiful diamond necklace I want to get for Fiona and I was bit low on cash. We were on the outs, and I thought it would help my case…”
“You’re broke? What happened to the investment portfolio I set up for you? Oh, wait, never mind. I don’t have the energy for this right now nor do we have the time. Go on.”
“As I said, I was lifting a pint with some guys, and…”
“Get on with it.”
“I don’t know. The next thing I remember I was outside of Fiona’s place, sleeping on her back porch…”
“That’s it?” Max had clearly gone beyond the limits of his patients.
Matty closed his eyes for a moment, trying to remember. “There were two guys wearing robes and they bought me a couple more pints. Oh yeah, Drax Remmington was there.”
“That’s it?”
Matty shook his head. I don’t remember. I think so.”
“And yet, here you are with a price on your head and a Hybrid bounty hunter getting ready to take you in.”
“I swear, I don’t know anything about this.”
Max rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Whatever you’ve done to get into this mess, if that guy unleashes his powers, we are all going to be in a world of hurt. There’d been a report of some major magical disturbances going on. Holly said her council has sent out investigators, three of them, actually. They left about a month ago and none of them have come back. One ended up being turned into some oily substance and the other two are still missing.”
“That does not sound good. You think my bounty hunter is part of it?”
Max shrugged. “He might be, or he might be just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Either way, it’s enough to cause a ripple. There was a second disturbance reported yesterday.”
“Grogan,” Matty whispered.
Max must have picked up his comment. “Wait, you know the guy?”
“I never actually met him. He was Hawke’s cohort, although I’m thinking it was a forced thing and there’s no love lost between them. Anyway, we saw the damage yesterday on the way here. It upset him pretty bad. That’s why he let us come here.”