by E. M. Moore
Liam lifted a worried glance toward me, but I just winked at him. “He’s thorough. I like it.”
I mean, anyone who could screw me like last night got an A plus in my book. Shy, quiet, bookish or not, he was sexy as fuck.
Realizing his attempt at humor had backfired, the sexy Brit sat down next to me and started thumbing through a book.
“Just read through and mark anything you think we might need to take a second look at when Travis comes back with the extra information.”
We stayed that way for a long time. I’d gone through several books, most with indexes, thank God, and picked out everything I could about dead bodies. Some books were on The Order itself, its past cases, while some were just run-of-the-mill paranormal books that talked about certain kinds of demons, or paranormal activity. I got caught up reading one about angel and demons for far too long that Liam had to nudge me and help me to move onto something else. I smiled apologetically at him, but he just shook his head. He was probably delighted to have found someone else who actually liked this tedious task. I certainly didn’t think that person would be me. Gabe didn’t have the patience for it at all. He did nothing but sigh and get antsy the entire time. It was beyond annoying, but Liam had the patience of a saint. He kept throwing different books at Gabe and asking him to look through them even though with each one, he went back through it himself to make sure Gabe hadn’t missed anything.
The kickass soccer player had just gotten up to ‘stretch his legs’, as he put it, when the room vibrated a tad. I stared at Liam and placed my hands palm down on the stone near my bottom.
“It’s okay,” he said. “Someone else is coming in. Travis, probably.”
He didn’t wait to see who it was. He went right back to skimming through the old, leather-bound book he had perched in his lap.
I blinked, trying to get the haziness out of my eyes as I stared up the steps. It was Travis.
He came down, his steps sure against the hard stone before peering at us in front of him.
“Well?” Gabe asked. “Anything?”
“I’ve made a new friend at the coroner’s office. She likes me,” he said, his smile teasing and cunning all at the same time.
The familiar shot of jealousy steeled my veins. I closed my eyes briefly to tamper it, but my hands fisted at my sides.
“And?” Gabe asked.
“Cause of death—asphyxiation.”
“Strangling?” I asked, trying to remember if I’d seen any marks on the woman’s throat. I’d tried not to look at her too closely, but I would’ve thought something like that would’ve jumped out at me. Especially if someone was strangled enough to die from it.
“That’s the weird part,” he said. “She couldn’t tell me too much since she hadn’t done the full autopsy yet, but there doesn’t appear to be any strangulation marks. She suggested it could’ve been a pillow…”
“But with evil magic involved,” Liam said, “that’s unlikely.”
“Exactly. It’s not like someone would’ve spelled the pillow on top of the person to kill them. That’s just nonsense and ordinary people bullshit.”
“Right. An evil witch would’ve just collapsed their throat without touching them if they wanted to,” Liam said.
Wait. What? “We can do that?”
“No,” Travis said, his gaze turning hard. “We can’t.”
I blinked up at the sudden turn in his countenance. “I didn’t mean we should do that. I just didn’t know we could actually do something like that theoretically. Granny never used her powers for anything but good, and she never liked to talk about the other side, either.” Asshole, I wanted to add. Like I’d actually do something like that. He should have a little faith.
“I don’t think Travis was implying that you were thinking that.”
I gave Liam a doubtful look before standing up and dusting off the backside of my pants. Travis watched my every move, his gaze narrowing as I placed the book down on the floor and stepped away. The room, which had been fine before Travis came down, now felt as if it was suffocating me. It wasn’t the room though, I reminded myself. It was Travis himself.
Liam, again, completely oblivious to things going around him, or maybe he was just too stuck on his mission, said, “Now we can narrow it down to things that kill with asphyxiation.”
Oh, goody. Just how I wanted to spend my day.
10
I left the guys at the headquarters and decided to take a walk. Perhaps Gabe had the right idea. Stretching my legs sounded like a good plan even if it was only an excuse to get away from Travis. I’d never had someone dislike me so vehemently so quickly. And every time it felt like we took a step forward, we took two steps right the hell back, completely obliterating any headway that may have actually occurred.
I closed the door to the headquarters behind me, watching as it shimmered out of existence before turning away and walking through the woods toward a stream of sunlight. It was dark down there, and with nothing but the legit torchlight to read by, my vision had blurred and strained to see the words. Even with the sun low on the horizon, it felt like midday out here in the forest compared to the little light there was down below.
I leaned against the other side of a large-trunked tree and watched as the sky turned from orange to pink. Hopefully, the same magic that drew me to the headquarters would still be there because if it got any darker, it was doubtful I’d remember exactly where the door was just by sight.
A minute or so later, though, a voice called out to me. “Norah?”
I turned, spotting Gabe peering through the tangle of trees. I waved out to him. “Here.”
He smiled as soon as he saw me and jogged forward. “What’cha doing?”
“Just staring at the sky, I guess. Did they find anything yet?”
Gabe shook his head. “Not yet. We probably won’t figure much else out tonight. Randy called. He had to stay at the shop because the next guy called in. So, to make up for being late, he volunteered to stay and cover the shift.”
“It’s a wonder any of you can keep jobs, or school,” I said, remembering how the feeling had interrupted what Randy and I had been about to do.
“They’re pretty cool with him at the tattoo shop. The gym doesn’t give him as much leeway, so if we can, we fill in for him on Order jobs. It goes the other way around, too. When I’m at practice, or at class, someone else who’s not doing anything tends to go when we get the pull. We all work together to make sure we have some semblance to normal lives.”
“But not today, though,” I ventured. “Everyone thought we should go together today.”
“Only because of the recent happenings,” Gabe answered. “Things will calm down eventually and everything will go back to normal.”
“If things go back to normal. Travis still acts like I fucked everything up for you guys.”
“Travis is bonkers, Love. Sooner or later he’ll realize what’s really going on and have to grovel at your feet.”
I chuckled at that picture. No way would that be happening any time soon, or ever.
“What were you doing when we got the call, anyway?” I asked. “I mean, when Liam called you?”
“I was just getting out of class.”
“Did you have another one? Another class after that?”
Gabe nodded.
“Your professors don’t ding you?”
“Well, I have a sick mother, you see, and sometimes I have to be away from class.” He smirked at me. “As long as I get the work done, they don’t really care. I wouldn’t even really bother with university except that I wanted to keep playing football. I mean, my life’s going to be The Order, anyway. I might as well have some fun while I still can.”
“Like your Grandpa,” I said, smiling. We were alike in that instance. We both had focused magical ancestry.
Gabe grinned at that, too. “Just like Grandpa.”
My good mood doused with a reality check. “Speaking of,” I said, “we can’t k
eep what your grandfather said from the others for too much longer. I think Liam already suspects something, Gabe. The longer we keep it to ourselves, the more of a betrayal it’s going to be.”
“But we don’t know if it’s founded yet,” he said, looking away from me. “I’d rather not bring something like that up to give Travis another excuse to not want you around. Our magic’s already not working as well.”
It felt like he’d punched me in the gut. “And you think that’s me, too?”
“Not you, personally, Love. It all has to be tied together, somehow, though.” He grabbed my hands and encapsulated them in his own. “What else could it be realistically? This is all in correlation to you being here, we just have to figure the puzzle out and piece together what it means.”
“Yeah, and we’ve effectively taken the one person who’s the smartest out of all of us out of the equation by not telling him.”
Gabe swallowed.
I turned his chin back to face me. “You feel it too, right? The guilt? I know you’re not sleeping with them like I am, but it feels like a betrayal every time they bring it up and we know something they don’t.”
Gabe clamped his mouth shut. “Yes, I feel it too. I just don’t know what to do here, Norah. I’m bloody scared that…that…I’m not going to be able to keep you.”
A douse of understanding chilled me. Gabe wasn’t worried that I’d ruined their magic. He worried about what it meant to other people if I had. I wrapped my hands around his neck and placed my forehead on his. “That’s not going to happen. No matter what, we can still be together if you still want me. If The Order says I can’t stay, that doesn’t mean we have to break this part up. You are allowed to have other parts to your life, aren’t you? A family?”
He closed his eyes and breathed out. His arms snaked around me and I put my head on his shoulder and held on to him.
He kissed my neck, sending a shiver down my spine. “I’ll still want you no matter what, Norah. I still want to figure this whole thing out though. I take it you haven’t heard from Granny yet either?”
I trailed my hand down his neck. “Not yet. I’ll keep trying.”
He nodded into me. “Tomorrow, then. We’ll tell them tomorrow. Too much happened today already. No sense in loading it all on.”
Relief swept over me and I pulled Gabe tighter to me. I didn’t know what we were thinking trying to keep this from them. Weren’t we stronger together? Wasn’t that exactly the reason why witches were a part of covens? To pool their magic? Not telling the rest of them what Gabe’s grandfather said was like cutting off some very useful limbs. I understood fear though. It made you do crazy things.
Especially when you were finally complete. Well, three-fourths of the way complete. For me.
The ground vibrated at our feet and Gabe and I stepped away from one another. We peeked behind the tree to find Liam carrying a stack of books toward the Jeep with Travis right on his heels. He eyed both of us, frowning. “We’re heading back to the house…with these.”
Thank God we were telling them soon. Liam was way too observant to keep anything from. Then again, it could’ve been my guilty conscience only thinking he was looking at me weird a couple times in the past few days.
Maybe.
Travis
I was being a prick, and I didn’t even give two fucks. I couldn’t tell if Norah was actually as oblivious as she tried to make herself out to be or if she was just playing with us.
That wasn’t true. She was being straight forward. I wasn’t giving her enough credit. It was this whole Jax thing. Anytime someone brought up doing bad magic, even as a joke, I took that shit seriously. We were not getting into that position again. I wouldn’t let it happen. Not on my watch.
I’d failed Jax, and my sister, but turning evil would never threaten another one of my coven members again.
Yes, we could do a whole hell of a lot with our powers. More than we’d even scratched the surface of. That didn’t mean that muscle should be worked. Jax was always about trying to find more, do more, explore more, and look where it had gotten him. With what I’d seen of Norah boosting their powers, I was afraid to even go there. If power could turn someone like Jax, what chance did the rest of us have? And Jennie? I couldn’t even think about that. Magic was pure manipulation in its rawest form. Give a little, give a little more, and then it took. It took a lot.
I opened the back of the Jeep and laid out the books Liam had wanted me to take in the cargo net. Liam gave me a quick nod after he’d also placed his whole stack in there and then I closed it back up again. His face was stretched with worry, and I wondered what bothered him. Was it Norah and Gabe? Didn’t he have a problem seeing the girl he liked be with someone else? What would that do to a person like Liam?
I hated to even think it.
But that’s where my mind always went. I was done thinking it would never happen to any one of us. Now, everywhere I looked I searched for something that could turn the rest of these guys, including me. So far, the only thing that worried me was a beautiful girl with her hooks into all of us. Maybe if Jax hadn’t happened, I’d be more open about all this. Maybe. But Jax had happened, and I’d learned my lesson to be more cautious. Of everything.
11
On the way home, Randy sent me a text: Meet me in your room so we can finish what we started earlier.
Was he crazy? Weren’t they going to want to discuss things?
Once I thought about it, though, it was only fair we try to pick up where we left off. The coven had already interrupted my sexy times, so we could interrupt coven times with some sexy times. Heat flowed through me as I thought about the moment we had in the backroom. How he had me pressed against the desk, legs spread wide open just waiting for him. And Randy’s cock. Damn. It was truly something to behold along the backdrop of his chiseled muscles and intricate tattoos.
From where I was seated in the back, I squeezed my knees together and tried to calm myself. I couldn’t wait to get back to Ipswich and climb those stairs two at a time to get to Randy, but that didn’t mean everyone in the Jeep had to be aware of what was running through my head.
The guys talked amongst one another intermittently on the way back to the house. Nothing of too much importance. Maybe we were all too tired to go into in-depth conversations tonight, which would work out well for Randy and I. Really well.
We took the familiar right turn onto the road Liam’s parents’ house was on, and then the ninety-degree turn into the gated driveway. My foot bounced up and down as we rounded the bend and pulled up in front of the house. It was just as beautiful as I remembered thinking it was from the first time I saw it. I glanced at Liam and hated the perplexed look he always gave this place. The pleasure I felt in it soured my stomach. Guilty spooled out and hang heavy in the air between us.
Gabe scooted out of the car as soon as Travis pulled up, and I was right up and after him. Since Randy’s bike was already in the driveway, I pounced right up the steps and was inside the front vestibule before most of them were even out of the vehicle yet.
The man I couldn’t wait to see stood in the kitchen. Leaned over the kitchen island, his forearms looked huge against the marble. I smiled. “What are you doing down here?”
“I didn’t expect you guys so soon.”
I bit my lip and glanced toward the stairs.
He smirked. “You’re just as horny as I am, aren’t you?”
“Probably more,” I told him. “You don’t have to look at you all day.”
He chuckled and came around into the main room. He still had on the same black athletic pants from earlier and the white sleeveless tanktop. He grabbed me around the waist and gave my ass a little spank. “I’ll just say hey to the guys, and then we can head up. Did you find anything out?”
My shoulders sagged. “Please don’t ask them. Sex now, talk later.”
At that moment, the guys came in, Liam kicking the door open because of his full arms. Randy squeezed my hand and then
went forward, grabbing some books from Liam’s tall stack and taking them to the kitchen counter. Liam dropped his head to the side and stared at me, his eyebrows raised. A knot formed in my stomach. I could’ve at least helped him with the books before zeroing in on Randy and what he’d promised. Oh, damn. That part I couldn’t wait for though. And Randy had called me a tease. He’d been the one teasing.
“Sorry about that,” I said.
“Um, Randy?”
That from Travis. There was just something about the way he said it that didn’t sit right. Liam continued to the living room with the amazing view of the ocean before turning back around. Gabe had stilled, too.
“Yeah?” Randy called from the kitchen. He was loading his hands up with granola bars and a couple bottles of water like he was gearing up for something. I knew what, but Travis’s heavy voice grounded me. Something was wrong.
“I stopped by the apartment, and dude, there was something there for you.”
Randy blinked. I looked back and forth between the two of them and watched as Travis took an envelope from his jacket and held it out. Randy calmly set his snack stash down on the counter and walked forward, taking the envelope from Travis’s hands.
“I didn’t know whether to just throw it away, or…”
Randy tore the blue envelope open and took out a card. A birthday card from the look of the balloons on the facing page.
The blue envelope wafted toward the floor before Randy stilled from head to toe. His muscles bunched and then relaxed before bunching again. The tension in the house skyrocketed, and I walked forward, my hands outstretched toward his forearms. “What’s wrong?”
He pulled away from me, and a deep cut of rejection seeped into my soul.
Gabe caught my eye and shook his head.
“I’m sorry, man,” Travis said, his weight shifting from one foot to the other. “I wasn’t sure what to do.”