York glanced at the clock on her wall. “It’s been three hours since they sent us up here. I haven’t heard a peep. If this was a trick, I’m going to tear every one of them into tiny pieces. Then I’m gonna eat them all.”
Morgan sat on the edge of her bed, fully dressed once more. She simply stared at her husband. “It will be fine. Right?”
He came to her quickly and bent before her, cupping her face in the process. “I love you, darlin’. I will not lose you. Understand?”
“I do,” she returned. “And I love you. Can you sit down? All the pacing is making me nuts.”
“Sorry, darlin’,” he said softly. “I’m raring to go.”
“I noticed.”
There was a knock on the door a second before it blew inward in a dramatic fashion.
York threw himself over Morgan, protecting her from impact. When everything cleared, two men she didn’t know were there, grinning in a lecherous manner. They had their hands out, and each had long dagger-like fingernails. They flashed fangs next.
Morgan froze.
“Oh good. The spell worked,” said one of the men. “Get her!”
York spun around and stood tall, looking fine despite taking a door to the back only seconds prior. He snarled.
The men attempted to charge into her room but bounced off an unseen force. They struck the hallway wall with such vigor they left body indentations.
Morgan moved to her feet and gasped. Was that the spell her mother talked about? The warding?
One of the men was quicker than the other to get up and tried to gain access to her room again. It ended the same way.
York twisted to face her. “I’m going out there. You are to remain here. Am I clear?”
“Yes,” she said.
He rushed out and into the excitement, tackling both men at once. Her husband was a force all unto himself, making short work of the enemy. When he was finished with them, he glanced into the room and put a hand out, running it back and forth at the threshold of the room. He grinned. “Heck of a warding. Momma would be envious of it even. Stay here, darlin’. I’m gonna see a man about a contract.”
With that, he raced away, leaving her in her room, standing there, looking out at two very immobile Collective members. When she was convinced they were dead and gone and no longer a threat, Morgan eased closer to the doorway. She stood there, debating on leaving the safety of the room.
A giant explosion rocked the house, and then there was simply silence that followed.
Concerned for York and the others, Morgan sprinted from the room and into the hallway. The minute she cleared the doorway and the wards of her room, she heard chaos from the lower level. She understood then that the wards had blocked it all.
“Got ya!” shouted a man with a shaved head as he grabbed hold of her and yanked her backward.
He hadn’t been there only moments prior.
“You’re coming with me,” he said, his hot breath skating over her cheek. “Your father wants a word with you.”
Morgan elbowed him in the ribs, and the moment he lessened his hold on her, she broke free and ran for the stairs. Right before she reached the top of the stairs, the burning need to get down came over her, and she listened to her gut. She dropped to the floor, and the man stumbled over her back, falling down the long, long master staircase. It looked as if it hurt.
A lot.
When he came to rest at the base of the stairs, he didn’t move.
Morgan hesitated momentarily before rushing down the stairs. She leaped over the man’s body and then ran in the direction of her father’s home office.
As she came around the corner, she found Spike and Booker engaged in battle with multiple Collective members in the center of the formal living room. Morgan’s mother was fighting with three men at once.
For a second, all Morgan could do was stare in wonder at her mother, who had always seemed above getting a hair out of place. Now here Muffy was throwing a grown man through the air as if he weighed nothing. Muffy hissed at one of the men and defied gravity, going at him.
Two other men came from the other direction and charged Muffy.
Morgan reacted without thinking. She went at them and hit one head on. The impact rattled her to her core but did far worse to the other guy. He went flying backward as if he’d hit a concrete wall.
There wasn’t time to think about it more.
Morgan ducked as the other man took a swing at her. She came up and punched him right in the gut, causing him to bend forward. When he did, she pushed him hard, and he toppled over the coffee table.
There was another massive boom, and she turned just in time to see a man come hurtling through the wall. He landed on the floor near Morgan’s feet. She stared at the hole in the wall to find her mate on the other side, looking less than pleased. His gaze was locked on her.
“Darlin’, I told you to stay in your room!” shouted York.
She opened her mouth to defend her actions, and York’s body launched into the air. She knew it wasn’t his doing. Everything in her shut off as she watched him flying upward. There was a faint buzzing around her that she ignored as she moved with a speed that stunned even her. She reached York in no time flat.
She put her hands in the air a second before the buzzing returned. It suddenly felt as though static energy was coursing through her veins. As she looked to the left, she saw her father there, his arms outstretched in York’s direction. She knew he’d done something with magic to harm her mate, and that didn’t work for her.
Not one bit.
Morgan let go of the feeling of static. Raw power shot forth from her. There was so much of it that it could be seen as clear as day. The power went right at her father and knocked him over onto the floor.
He came up snarling, his eyes narrow with anger. “You’re supposed to be dead.”
“Been there,” she said with a shrug. “Done that.”
His jaw tightened. “I see you inherited something from me after all. But you’re new to using your magic. No real match for me.”
“M-Morgan,” said York, sounding pained. “Run!”
She didn’t feel like running. She felt like knocking some sense into the man who’d created her. The man who should have been a true father to her. As her anger built, so did the knowledge that she came from his bloodline. If she dared to let herself take the path of hate, she’d be no better than him.
Instead, she squared her shoulders and stood tall. “I want the contract. Where is it?”
York grunted but pushed to his feet, looking slightly banged up as he did.
Her mother threw another man and came to stand near Morgan. “I got it and York has it now.”
Just then, York reached into his back pocket and withdrew a piece of paper. “Here. I got down just in time to see she’d gotten it. Then from what I can gather, all hell broke loose.”
Her father looked past her. “Muffy, you are weak! How could you side with them? You know what will happen to us if we don’t honor the contract. We’ll spend eternity locked in hell being tortured.”
“It’s what we deserve,” said Muffy. She moved up beside Morgan and put her arm around her. “She’s our daughter. Our baby girl. To bargain with her life and her soul was wrong, Barton.”
“She is a means to an end,” snapped Morgan’s father.
Morgan took a calming breath and then shook her head. “I’d take offense that my father thinks that of me, but he doesn’t. My father loves me.”
That earned her a few questionable looks. Even the man who’d had a hand in her creation appeared baffled. Morgan cleared her throat. “Luc. He’s been like a father to me ever since I can remember. And for thirty years, he’s been that and my friend. My father is the devil, and yet he’s still a better guy than you will ever be, Barton.”
Millie walked up behind Barton slowly, making no sound as she did.
York lifted the contract higher and said something in Latin. She really wished she’d pa
id more attention when Luc had attempted to teach her the dead language.
Whatever he said made Barton flip out and begin to beg and shout for York to stop.
One second the contract was there, and the next, it was up in flames. It burned away to ash in seconds.
Muffy turned Morgan to face her. She hugged her. “I love you, and I’m sorry.”
Morgan returned the embrace just as Millie slashed out at Barton with an insanely long arm. She caught the man by the scruff of the neck and flung him like a rag doll at the wall. He hit with a sickening thud and then fell to the floor, no longer moving.
Millie eased forward more. “He lives. I need to get him to a holding cell in hell. Luc will be expecting him now that the contract has been broken. Muffy.”
Muffy nodded and released Morgan. “I know I have to go with you to serve my time.”
“Wait,” said Morgan quickly, grabbing her mother’s hand. “No. It’s over. You helped me. You protected me.”
Millie sighed. “Child, she has to do her penance. She knew that from the start.”
“Her penance?” asked Morgan, shaking her head as York came for her.
Millie glanced off to the right, looking at something Morgan couldn’t see. “Don’t worry, Morgan. Luc will go easy on her. I’m thinking she’ll serve a term of about thirty years in what we’d consider minimum security. Unlike Barton. He’ll have eternity. Now, you and your husband have something to do before you head back to your time.”
Muffy winked at Morgan. “I love you, honey. Be safe, and I’ll see you soon. I promise.”
Booker and Spike came closer as well. They hugged her between them and then stepped back.
“Take care, kid,” said Spike. “I’ll escort your mom to hell and watch over her. Okay?”
“T-thank you,” managed Morgan, tearing up.
Booker kissed the top of her head. “I will get you and your mate to the concert. I’m told you need to be there. And from there, the coin in your pocket can get you both home. Normally, between it and the brooch, there would be enough magic to move one of you, but since you’re mated, it’ll take you both. Two-for-one kind of special.”
Chapter Fourteen
Present Day
Morgan landed on the floor of the antiques shop, and York was close behind. He ended up on top of her, and she groaned. The man was hardly small. In fact, he felt a lot like a house had landed on her. Suddenly, Morgan was sympathetic to the witch from The Wizard of Oz.
“Ouch,” she said in a hushed whisper.
“Sorry, darlin’.” He rolled off her fast and ended up entangled in creepy dolls and wood body parts. He shot up fast and jumped to the side, doing the heebie-jeebies dance as if the dolls might get him. “Are they off me?”
She laughed. “Yes. You are safe from the childhood play items and fake body parts.”
He stared down at her with wide eyes. “One of them was like a demon portal or something.”
She stared at the blonde-haired, blue-eyed one next to her. “Was it this one? Seems the type.”
He gave it a look that said he wasn’t sure if it was a portal to something nasty or not.
“You took on the Collective and my father, but a doll scares you?” she questioned.
“I know where to place my fear,” returned her husband.
They’d gotten to the concert, and even though York had wanted to save her from her fate, he’d let it happen, knowing if he dared stop her death, they might not end up a couple. He’d gone into the venue and spoken to the Morgan of the past, and he’d even killed four of the five assassins who had been sent to the concert for her on that night. She’d had to practically sit on him to keep him from ending the one who actually did kill her.
She hadn’t been sure the coin and the brooch had enough power to get either of them back to the present. As much as she’d enjoyed the ’80s, she did not want to be stuck there.
Morgan rolled onto her side to find Betty, Louis, Petey, and Luc all standing there, staring at her and York.
Louis had one hand on the phone receiver and Betty was near him, her hand on top of his. His jaw hung open. “You’re back? You just left.”
York helped her to her feet and slid an arm around her waist. “Just left? We’ve been gone nearly a full day.”
Luc shook his head. “No. By our time, you’ve been gone about ten seconds.”
“I’m never going to get used to this time thing,” said York.
Betty grinned. “Dear, it gets better with practice. Then again, there are days I don’t quite recall my name, so maybe you are onto something.”
Morgan made a move to retrieve Betty’s brooch from her skirt pocket only to discover it, along with the coin, was missing. She gasped. “Oh Betty! Your brooch! I lost it. I’m so sorry.”
Betty took her hand from Louis’s and moved slowly toward Morgan. She reached out and patted Morgan’s cheek gently. “No worries. It’s on its way back to me as we speak.”
“It is?” asked Morgan, unsure how that was possible since it was more than likely lost back in the ’80s. She bent and gave the older woman a hug. “Thank you for making sure I saw the truth about my mother.”
Betty gave a curt nod and then stepped back, motioning to Luc as she did. “He’s had a lot of secrets he’s had to hold tight to for years now. Even removed himself from the equation to avoid learning something he shouldn’t about your future.”
Morgan met Luc’s gaze and then ran to him, tossing her arms around his neck and hugging him tight.
He lifted her off her feet and held her for a moment.
She whispered to him, “Thank you for being the father that mine should have been.”
He set her down and looked up, blinking a good deal.
“Uh, is the devil about to cry?” asked Louis, sounding shocked.
“He’s a big softy,” said Petey, as he withdrew a red handkerchief from his pocket and proceeded to blow his nose on it, tearing up as well. He held it out to Luc.
Luc declined with a wave of his hand.
Smart.
“Nobody cries alone in my presence,” said Petey with a nod. “Made that a rule long ago. Speaking of rules, anyone else sensing something is different with York and Morgan? Are they mated?”
“W-what?” asked Louis, paling considerably. “Brother? You claimed her in ten seconds?”
Morgan laughed.
York sighed. “And they say you got the brains in the womb. And yes, I did claim her.”
Petey’s tears gave way to a huge smile that lit the man’s face. He looked between Morgan and York. “By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you were-shark and ghost.”
York was to her in a heartbeat, taking her hand in his and kissing her knuckles. “About that ghost thing.”
Petey sniffed the air and then his eyes widened. “Great jumpin’ jitterbugs! She’s not a ghost anymore.”
York increased his hold on her hand. “No. She’s not one any longer.”
Betty lifted her shoulders, the smallest of giggles coming from her. “Of course she’s not. When I put a body back with its soul, it stays that way. Who do you think you’re dealing with here? Some entry-level demon?”
“I have to hand it to you, Betty,” said Luc, pride in his voice. “You’ve still got it.”
“Never lost it,” she corrected.
Just then, the door to the shop opened and Morgan glanced over to find her mother standing there, the light of the day at her back. Muffy’s hair was longer now and it wasn’t done in an ’80s style. It looked current, and her mother barely looked to be in her thirties. She had on a cream-colored sweater that hung to her knees, brown leggings, and matching brown boots. A red scarf was around her neck.
“Mom?” asked Morgan. “What? How? You’re out in the daylight?”
Muffy motioned to Luc. “He might have had a little something to do with it all.”
“You’re not trapped in hell?” asked Morgan, relief rushing through her as she went t
o her mother quickly and hugged her.
Muffy embraced her back. “No. I was on guard duty for your body for the duration it was there. When it vanished, I knew the time had come. I gathered some old friends and we headed this way.”
With that, she stepped back, and Morgan saw Millie there behind her. Millie had a hedgehog in one arm and was holding what looked to be a cage with a blanket over it in the other.
“Millie!” exclaimed Morgan. “You’re here! And you brought Spike.”
“Oh, yay. Spike,” said York, sounding anything but excited.
Muffy took Spike from Millie and handed him off to Luc. “Can you please lift the curse that keeps returning him to this form? He’s sorry he beat you at chess.”
Luc stared down at the hedgehog. “No he’s not. He’s thinking about how he’s going to challenge me again the second he can.”
“Luc,” said Muffy with a stern note to her voice.
“Fine,” returned Luc.
“Hey, let’s not return him to human form right this second,” said York, moving forward quickly. “I don’t want to see his junk. If you catch my drift.”
“I don’t blame you,” said Betty. “Human man-parts are not very impressive.”
Millie nodded in agreement. “That’s what I said.”
Luc groaned. “Oh goodie. The Sisters Six are nearly complete once again. Can’t wait to see what plagues they bring about.”
“We can do that again?” asked Betty with nothing short of pure elation on her face.
“No,” said Luc in a deep voice.
Millie and Betty both began to pout.
Louis hurried to Millie. “Hi. I’m Louis. Nice to meet you, Mildred. We’ve heard a lot about you from Betty. What do you have here?”
He eased the cage from her grasp and went to remove the cover.
Millie caught his wrist. “Hold on. Are your windows UV-treated for vampires?”
“They are,” said Louis.
York groaned louder this time. “Wonderful. Mr. Haughty, I presume?”
Muffy laughed. “Yes. Booker is with us. His curse runs out today as well. He’ll be a free man.”
Morgan tensed. “You’ve all suffered another thirty years because of me?”
Do You Really Want to Haunt Me: A Happily Everlasting World Novel (Bewitchingly Ever After Book 3) Page 12