Her eyes bounced up. “I watched a big dog maul a man when I was little. And even though I learned the truth later, I still can’t get that image out of my head. Big dogs scare me.”
“What’s the truth?” he asked.
“The man violated another man’s little girl. He happened to be a werewolf. The bastard got what was coming, but I didn’t learn that for ten years.”
“Yeah, I’d say he got what he deserved, but I can understand why you’d be scared.”
She sighed. “It was in a park, broad daylight. Anyway, why do you ask?”
“Always loved dogs.”
“Do you know the one that wanders around here?” she asked.
One corner of his mouth tipped up. “What dog is that?”
She sighed. “Looks like a wolf/husky hybrid. The first dog I don’t mind being around.
He smiled. “I’ve seen him.”
Jacinda dealt the cards. “Do you like all animals?”
“Mostly.”
Chapter 26
Maxine sat in the back of the Lexus. She’d greeted Josephine with such happiness, but that faded during the long drive back. Mason kept looking at Josephine to do something to help with that.
Josephine seemed to relish Maxine’s discomfort.
And Mason started to feel like maybe he was in the middle of some sick game.
“You certainly seem cozy with my husband,” Maxine prompted.
Josephine laughed. “We’ve been friends for ages. Remember, I introduced you to your husband.”
“True, but you still make me nervous,” Maxine admitted.
She turned in her seat. “Afraid I’ll try to steal Orlando?”
“Maybe,” Maxine whispered, looking out the window.
“Don’t worry. I’m happy with Mason. And if I’d been interested in Orlando, I would have taken him instead of introducing you two.”
She nodded.
Mason continued driving without a word.
Orlando spoke up, “Darling, you’re my only love.” He took Maxine’s hands and placed a kiss on both. “Relax. We came to visit your family. Remember? Josephine is like a sister. Never a lover.”
Mason caught Maxine’s smile from the rearview mirror. “You’re keeping Josephine happy?”
“Doing my best.” He pulled into Josephine’s driveway. She had taken over the ranch house her mother’s family had owned. It was nicer than any place he’d ever lived, but her family was old and had money. His family, well, they had been in Saint Morton nearly as long, but the Shiringtons had always been working class.
“We’re here.” He climbed out and went around to open the door for Josephine before going to the trunk to get her guests’ bags.
Josephine whispered in his ear, “Soon, you’ll have your magic, and no one will have to deal with that stuck-up bitch.”
He hadn’t seen anything to believe she was conceited. Just paranoid. But maybe there was a side he hadn’t seen yet.
Besides, this would bind him closer to Josephine.
* * * *
Poor Mason. He’d gone from the perfect companion, to leery of Maxine’s impending doom. He hadn’t said as much, but if he didn’t get back on board, Josephine would have to get rid of him and move on to grooming Butch.
A shame. Mason had really grown on Josephine. And maybe the moment they got inside, Maxine’s snotty side would come out full force.
“Here’s your room. Get settled,” Josephine murmured before going downstairs.
Mason smiled as she entered the living room. “I see why you can’t stand her.”
“You do?” she purred, walking closer. She hoped so, she truly did.
“Her jealousy over your friendship with her husband. I can imagine that coming out even worse when you two talk privately.”
“Oh, it can be. I’ve never wanted Orlando for myself. But I was in love with another man when I met him. The one who brought me back to life after my unfortunate death.”
“You’ve told me of Coltrain many times. And how you grew to hate him. And I’m not worried about Orlando.”
She moved closer, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Good man.” Then she kissed him.
“You want them to see?” he murmured against her lips.
Her lips moved to his ear. “No. It’s time to make you more.”
“Want me to take her to the barn?”
“I do.”
Slipping from her arms, he hurried up the stairs and knocked on the door.
Maxine opened it, her eyes narrowed, all pretense of happiness gone. “You’re her pet, aren’t you? A mindless drone who does everything she commands?”
“I’m not a drone. She’s pumping life into this town. She’s shown me love.”
“Oh, you’re such a fool. She doesn’t love anyone but herself. She’s using you, just like she uses everyone. Only you’re too stupid too stupid to realize you’re nothing more than a puppet.”
Mason shook his head slowly, his hands clenching into fists as anger flowing through him. Sure, she commanded the other men, but there was something more between Josephine and him.
“Quiet, love,” Orlando murmured, placing his hands on her shoulders. She fell forward and Mason scooped her over his shoulder and started for the stairs.
Josephine opened the door. “Ready to finally be rid of her, Orlando?”
“You have no idea,” Orlando stated. “I truly did love her. However, she’s too pure of heart. She wants everyone to be a saint. She doesn’t realize what an elitist bitch she can be.”
“No one is a saint,” Mason answered.
“She isn’t either. She hates homeless people, anyone of any ethnicity other than her own, people with too much power, and she always assumes the worst about everyone. She decided you were just another of Josie’s drones. But you see things on a different level. You pay attention,” Orlando explained. “You wondered if Maxine was as bad as she is. You only caught a glimpse, yet the doubt is gone.”
Mason nodded and carried the woman to the barn. He didn’t like Orlando. The guy made his skin crawl, but not nearly as much as Maxine.
Just having physical contact with her made his bones vibrate. And he was going to have some of her power. He almost asked what he could expect. Didn’t matter, this would please Josephine, and he craved her approval more than to understand what he was getting into.
Mason got inside the barn and strapped Maxine down to the chair in the center of the room. He turned to Josephine with a calm expression. Whatever would happen would.
“Are you ready, darling?” Josephine asked.
He nodded. “Tell me what you want me to do.”
“You’ve watched me so many times, Mason. You know what to do. Just repeat after me as you cut into her flesh. The magic will come.” She handed him the blade.
She started the spell and he repeated as he pressed the blade into Maxine’s pale flesh. Blood welled up. With it a pale blue essence flowed from the wound, up the blade, around his arm, and up his body, into his mouth. Her magic flowed into Mason, taking his breath away.
As his senses burst with colors and elements, his vision went dark as he fell.
* * * *
Josephine grabbed the blade as Mason fell to the ground. The colors in the barn brightened, muted, then flared back to bright tones. He’d gain her power to manipulate his reality.
Smiling, she continued to slice into Maxine as Orlando dragged Mason out of the way.
“Think that was wise?” Orlando asked. “If the magic doesn’t bond to him, he’ll have to do this every time you feed.”
She lifted a shoulder, continuing to chant.
“You may have written his death certificate.”
Josephine stopped the cutting and the spell. “Well, he wants to please me. He needs to find this girl who got away. Her magic felt like nothing I’ve ever felt. She’s like a beacon of light I could see from miles and miles away. I need her power.”
Orlando nodded. “She’ll be yo
ur last if this works. Hopefully he gained enough magic to track her down.”
She smiled. “I’m sure he has. And if not, I have another plan. I’m going to send him to take the young man we believe is protecting her.”
“Thought you said the whole reservation is protecting her.”
“Well, yes, but it’s one man in particular who was seen with her. And he has more magic than he realizes. I plan to unlock it and take it for myself.”
“What is he?”
“Druid and shaman.”
“Interesting. Druids can sometimes bridge the gap of broken magic. Maybe it can fuse magic to you permanently, breaking the need to drain others.”
Maxine woke up with a whimper, then a scream as her own blood dripped onto her chin from the blade. She struggled in her binds. “Let me go,” she screamed.
“Oh no. I’m afraid you’ve been a thorn in my side for far too long, love,” Orlando said sweetly. “You have doubted my love for far too long.”
“You wouldn’t need me to change if that love was pure,” she hissed.
“Oh, you want me to be just like you. You berate me, accuse me, punish me for things I’ve never done. You are the evil one.”
Josephine would have to give Mason this memory if ever he questioned Maxine’s innocence. Her darkness came in another form from Josephine’s or Orlando’s.
“Sorry, Maxi, but no one wants you anymore.” Josephine pulled Maxine’s mouth open and cut out her tongue before starting the spell anew. She wouldn’t stop until she’d taken every last ounce of her remaining magic.
Chapter 27
Around one, Jacinda climbed from the couch and nodded to the door. “I really should get some sleep.”
Chatan followed her as she moved around the counter, to the door. “Wish I wasn’t working. I’d rather hold you all night, make love to you again.”
“Same here, but you’re working, and I’m tired. After working at the nursery tomorrow, you should really get some sleep.”
“Only if I can be near you,” he answered.
“I’d like that.”
“You going to take a nap?”
“Maybe just enjoy your warmth. Good night, Chatan.”
He took a quick kiss. “Sweet dreams, Jace.”
She slipped out the door before he could talk her into staying longer, and she put illusions over the windows in the living room to ensure anyone looking in only saw a dark room, not her going through the journal.
By the time she got comfortable on the couch with the journal, she missed Chatan. Staying curled up with Chatan in the office would have been better, even if he’d asked a million questions. The last hour she’d been in there, he simply held her, and that had been perfect.
She shook her head and focused. First, she needed to find a way to deal with Thanatos, since everyone in Wanatoga would freak out if she went to deal with Josephine herself. Though, if she heard about one more person being taken, she’d have to deal with the woman behind it.
Not to mention Mason, the one who’d tried to take her away. There was something broken and wrong in him.
She pushed that aside and focused on reading the parts with the new bits Chatan had given her. And the more she read, the more the riddles fit with the story Chatan gave her about Dove and Hawk. And with the bracelet, it was hard to deny they may be linked.
What did her father know about old Native American legends? Did her mother know that part? If so, why not tell her?
Jacinda pushed back on the couch, laying her head on the arm. She read the journal, finally understanding the pieces of Dove and Hawk. Well, mostly. There were parts of that she had a hard time wrapping her head around. They had a human form, but maybe lost it over time.
A truck pulled up to the motel.
She snapped her fingers and the lights went off as she scooted to the blinds to look out.
A van. The assholes from Saint Morton climbed out. No Mason in sight, but Butch had become a familiar face. She vaguely recognized two of the other three men.
Chatan was going to freak. She needed to get out of there.
Pulling the shadows around her, she slipped between the couch and the chair and crouched down, waiting. She hoped no one touched her. If the spell failed, she’d have to defend herself against a bunch of asshole humans which would draw the Silver Council’s attention. That was the last thing she needed.
The window shattered over the dining room table, raining glass. Her breath caught as she noticed her shoes. She swept her hand and pushed them under the couch with magic. Then watched as Butch tore the blinds down and climbed through the window.
“Still smell her scent. Even if she’s not here now, she’s been here.”
Her heart thundered in her chest as three more men climbed inside the room.
Holding her breath, she watched as the men went to the bathroom and the bedroom. She slipped past the furniture, toward the door. Chatan stood there, phone to his ear as his gaze swept through the room.
He didn’t see her. He looked worried.
Glass pierced her foot as she stepped down. She gasped as someone came storming back. Jacinda slipped past Chatan and he sniffed, his shoulders relaxing slightly as she managed to limp past him, around the building, where no one would find her.
Rage rolled off Chatan. She could feel it slipping through her veins. The fear he’d felt was gone, replaced with the need to hurt someone. And she knew it wasn’t her. No, he wanted to go after the bastards who tried to take her.
They were bound. She didn’t know how. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Now, more than ever, she wanted to talk to her mother. Not that she could yet.
Instead, she climbed the tree with low branches and climbed far enough she could lean against the trunk and prop her foot up.
* * * *
Chatan heard the vehicle pull up, this one quieter. Loretta didn’t tell him to expect anyone, and it was rare for anyone to come to the motel without visiting family or friends.
That left the asshole brigade from Saint Morton.
And his heart damn nearly stopped when he rushed outside to watch some asshole smash Jacinda’s window in with a brick. He grabbed his phone and dialed Joe.
The cop answered in record time. “Where are they?”
Chatan replied, “Wanatoga Motel. Hurry. They just broke a window.”
“Her room?”
“Yup.”
She could handle herself. He hoped. That was five guys going after her. Pocketing his phone, he charged over and shoved into the open door.
“That’s vandalism, breaking and entering. What else are you planning? Abducting a woman who doesn’t exist except in your damned mind? You want to spend your life in jail, don’t you?”
“Fuck you.” Butch charged out of the bedroom and swung at Chatan.
Chatan ducked and slammed a fist into Butch’s gut.
Butch grunted. “You’re just afraid I’ll find her and take away the only girl stupid enough to want a lowlife like you. Only she’s evil. She needs to die.”
“There’s no Wendy,” Chatan snarled.
Jacinda sucked in a breath, and he glanced over. He couldn’t see her, but he could sense her.
Butch’s eyes followed. “I smell her.” An evil grin spread as he moved toward where Chatan sensed Jacinda.
The guys charged out, looking around as Chatan shoved Butch into the wall. Butch came back swinging and Chatan took a hit on the cheek, but punched him square in the jaw.
Butch went down like a sack of bricks.
Joe pulled in, sirens blaring.
At least Jacinda managed to get away. And he could see every last asshole, and he planned to keep them all in sight.
Joe wasted no time reading their rights.
Chatan took pleasure in helping cuff the assholes. Then he had to sit around and wait while they called Loval and the other deputy to take the clowns in.
There was only one question on Chatan’s mind. Where the fuck was Mason?
Chapter 28
Josephine paced the barn. Butch was a liability. The damned fool was so eager to please he was acting without permission. That shit needed to end.
Maybe a few days in jail would set him straight.
“You don’t want them out?” Orlando murmured, still watching Mason.
She snorted. “The fool called me, after ignoring my orders. Yes, I want to leave them. None of them are smart enough to realize they’ve been manipulated. And like I said, I never told the fools to go after the girl in her motel room, let alone break a window and start a fight.
“Besides, with them in jail, they may let their guard down. And in a day or two, Mason can slip into Wanatoga and take Chatan, which if the girl is there, will bring her out.”
Orlando smirked. “Always scheming.”
She couldn’t help thinking three steps ahead. “Honestly, I don’t think this could have worked out better. And it gives me time to train Mason. Show him what to do to break poor little Chatan’s mind and get him to follow.”
His brow arched. “Really think you can teach a mundane that easily to use such powerful magic? It’s complicated. That was one of the reasons Maxine claimed she didn’t use it more.”
“I will find a way.”
* * * *
Once Joe and Loval finally left, Chatan went around the building. He followed his senses to the large tree behind the bench. “Jace, they’re gone. Come out, please.”
She appeared in the tree, holding her bloody foot.
“Stepped on glass?” he asked.
Nodding, she started down. When she slipped, he caught her. “Careful, you lost a good deal of blood.”
“Yeah, so I noticed. But they didn’t find me, and it seems I need to thank Joe, again.”
“I called him. Do I get thanks?” he teased.
“Depends. What happens now?”
He prayed this was the right choice. It was the only way he imagined she’d stay with him. “I beg you to help me deal with my past and stay with me at my mother’s house. It’s mine. I just haven’t stayed there in a long time.”
Finding Hawk (Branches of Emrys Book 3) Page 18