Unmarked Graves

by Christine Pope

  “Are you sure?” she said. “What if he tries to follow us?”

  “And leave a house full of party guests?”

  She planted her hands on the hips of her pretty, lacy gown — although he noticed she still had her evening bag clenched under one arm — and shot him a disbelieving look. “Do you really think Daniel Lockwood is going to care about his guests when someone’s just walked off with the hard drive he worked so hard to steal?”

  While Will had to admit she had a point, he still thought they should be safe…for the moment, anyway. “He cared enough to put that shield or whatever it was around us when he tried to stop us from leaving. He didn’t want anyone to hear what he was saying.”

  Rosemary gave a reluctant nod. “I suppose that’s true. I know his wife still doesn’t know what he truly is.”

  “How do you know that?” Will asked. Inwardly, though, he wasn’t all that surprised. Daniel Lockwood had worked very hard to present a perfect image to the people of Greencastle, a flawless façade that had them believing exactly what he wanted them to believe. It didn’t seem too strange that he would have handed the same lie to his wife that he’d told everyone else.

  “Because she found me getting the hard drive out of her dresser” — she paused there, as if noticing Will’s flare of alarm, and spoke quickly — “and I put kind of a whammy on her or something to stop her from calling out for help.”

  “A whammy?” Will repeated, a little amused by her use of the word, although he certainly didn’t like the idea of her getting caught in the act.

  “A hex, a spell, an enchantment…whatever you want to call what it is I can do.” Rosemary shrugged, then went on, “Anyway, she seemed open to confessions, and so I asked her about Daniel Lockwood, whether she knew what he was.”

  “And she said no.”

  “Yes.” She was silent for a moment, then said, “It just seems so strange that she could be with him for all those years and never notice anything strange about him, but….”

  At first glance, it did seem odd, but there were extenuating circumstances involved. Will went to Rosemary and took her by the hand, led her over to the couch. “You have to remember that Daniel Lockwood is half-demon, but he was born in this world and grew up here just like any normal human, so of course he’s going to have an easier time fitting in than a full-blood demon like his father might have.”

  “I suppose you’re right.” She glanced around the living room, tension obvious in every line of her slender body. “I still keep thinking he’s going to bust in here at any moment.”

  Will threaded his fingers through hers and squeezed them gently. “Even leaving aside the question of running out on a hundred-plus guests who paid for the honor of attending his party…you warded this house, remember? It’s guarded by your super-duper angel energy.”

  He’d said those words halfway as a joke, but Rosemary didn’t seem inclined to smile. She looked over at the front door and then at the windows, which were mostly shielded by the curtains but let in an odd beam of light here and there. “Yes, that energy,” she said. Her voice sounded almost defeated, not like the tone of a woman who’d succeeded against all odds in stealing back the much-desired Project Demon Hunters footage. “I’m still not sure what I’m supposed to do about that.”

  “Don’t do anything,” he told her. “At least, you don’t have to do anything right away. Give yourself some time to absorb everything your father told you.”

  Rosemary let out a breath, and her shoulders hunched. “My father.” A pause, and then she added, “I have absolutely no idea what to say to my mother about that.”

  Yes, that was one piece of information she really couldn’t keep a secret. Glynis McGuire deserved to know the truth about her ex-husband, if nothing else. Isabel and Celeste needed to know that their father was still alive…and very much more than a mere mortal.

  “You can figure that out later. Not too much later,” he said quickly, when it looked as though Rosemary was about to open her mouth to protest. “But still, they’re not even expecting you back from Indiana until late tomorrow at the very earliest. Take the rest of this evening to decompress, to relax — and congratulate yourself.”

  “For what?” she asked, looking confused.

  “That,” he said, and pointed at her evening bag, which she’d finally set down on the coffee table. A corner of the hard drive protruded from the flimsy beaded purse, looking very out of place. “We got the footage, Rosemary. Or rather, you got it. That’s something to be proud of.”

  A tired smile touched her lips. “I guess we did go into the lion’s den and make it back out alive.”

  “Exactly. So give yourself a little time. What would you like to do?”

  Her head tilted slightly to one side as she considered the question. “Get out of this dress and into something more comfortable,” she said.

  That sounded like a very good idea. And even though he was used to wearing the equivalent of a suit for most of his working days, he thought that trading it now for a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans would make him feel much better about life. “We definitely need to do that. What else?”

  Once again, she smiled, although her expression now had much more life to it, and the smile was a genuine one. “Well, we went to that damn party with all that great food, and I didn’t get to have a single bite. So…let’s order some food in, and I hope you have a bottle of wine we can crack open.”

  “I can manage that.” Will got up from the couch, then extended a hand to Rosemary so he could help her up as well. “And after that, we can call Michael and give him the good news.”

  Rosemary sat at the large dining room table and watched her mother carefully. Since she really had no idea how best to tell Glynis the truth about the man she’d married, she’d basically just blurted it out, then waited in tense silence as her mother sat there, fingers clenched on the tabletop. It was just the two of them; Rosemary had wanted to tell her mother about John McGuire first, if for no other reason than they could then decide how best to break the news to Isabel and Celeste.

  At last, her mother lifted her hands from the table and folded them in her lap. She looked very tired, but also in a way at peace, as if the news that her husband had left her because outside forces had compelled him to do so rather than because he didn’t love her anymore had put to rest an inner torment she’d carried with her for years. When she spoke, she asked a question Rosemary hadn’t been expecting.

  “How did he look?”

  After staring at her mother in surprise for a second or two, she found her voice. “Good,” she managed. “Older. But still very much like himself.”

  Her mother’s mouth curved slightly. “I’m surprised an angel would allow himself to age.”

  Rosemary had wondered about that as well. However, she’d thought of one possible explanation. “Well, if he’s here pretending to blend in, then I guess I could see how he would have to age like any normal person would. I mean, he aged while you were married, didn’t he?”

  “Yes, but it’s generally not as obvious when you’re talking about someone aging from their mid-twenties into their mid-thirties.” She sighed and reached for the mug of herbal tea that had been sitting in front of her, then took a sip. “So, he went back to Indianapolis.”

  “That’s where you met?” That was another thing she’d always wondered about. Her mother had always said she’d met John McGuire at an education conference — she’d taught high school history before taking early retirement at the time of her mother’s death — but she’d never provided any details about where that conference had taken place. In the past, Rosemary had always assumed it was because her mother was too bitter about the breakup to want to revisit a time when she and her former husband had been young and in love, but now the thought crossed her mind that possibly Rosemary’s father hadn’t wanted her to provide that information.

  “Yes. At the airport, of all places.” Another smile, one that awoke a spark of happiness in
her blue eyes. “I missed my flight…and the rest is history, I suppose.”

  There were so many questions Rosemary wanted to ask, and yet she sensed this wasn’t the time. Her mother needed a chance to absorb this new and strange information, to come to terms with the realization that so many things she’d taken as the truth had been built on false foundations.

  “But,” Glynis went on, her tone now brisk, “I have to believe that if he came forward to help you, then maybe at some point he’ll be able to be a part of our lives again.”

  This seemed like an overly optimistic view of the situation — after all, her father hadn’t said anything along those lines, had made it sound as though he could only help out up to a point. Tears stung her eyes, and she didn’t know for sure whether they were for her mother, or for herself. Somehow, Rosemary managed to say, “I suppose that could happen. In the meantime, we have Daniel Lockwood and his half-demon buddies to worry about.”

  “I thought you said you were safe,” her mother responded, now looking worried. “You’ve protected Will’s house, haven’t you?”

  “Yes,” Rosemary said, relieved to have the conversation shift to more practical concerns. “And his car, and Michael’s house, and my place in Glendora, even though I don’t plan to be staying there any time soon.” After she and Will had eaten and allowed themselves a night to merely sleep, she’d gotten up the next morning and warded the hell out of anything she thought needed protecting. She’d even slipped over to the store long before either Celeste or Isabel would be there to open up, and had cast wards on the entire building before heading over to their houses as well to do the same thing there. And before she’d rung the doorbell at her mother’s house, she’d warded her home as well. With all that handled, Rosemary thought she’d protected the people and places she cared about as best she could, but she still didn’t know for sure whether it would be enough.

  “And have you seen or heard anything from this Daniel Lockwood?”

  “No.” Everything had been oddly quiet since their return from Indiana, which hadn’t reassured her at all. Will had called Michael to let him know the hard drive was safely back in their possession, and Michael was apparently hatching some sort of plan to get himself and Audrey away from Tucson so they could come upload the footage themselves, but none of those schemes had solidified just yet. Rosemary felt as though the situation was in an odd holding pattern, although she wasn’t quite sure what they were holding for.

  The next shoe to drop, probably.

  “Well, then, it sounds as if you’ve won this round.” Her mother smiled again before sipping at her tea once more. Rosemary realized she’d been neglecting her own cup, and lifted it to take a swallow. “And I’ll talk to Isabel and Celeste. I know this has been hard for you, and maybe it will be easier for them if they hear it from me.”

  “You’re sure?” Rosemary asked as relief crept through her. Yes, maybe it was cowardly to have her mother make that particular revelation to her sisters, but she knew they would be full of questions…and she just didn’t have any real answers to give them.

  “Yes.” Her mother got up from her seat and came around to where Rosemary was sitting, and laid a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “It’s all right. You take care of yourself and Will. I like that man.”

  “I do, too.” That was about all she would allow herself to say. Of course, her feelings for Will had gone far beyond “like,” but she thought her mother understood.

  After that meeting, Rosemary drove back to Will’s house. Earlier that day, they’d retrieved her car from the garage at Michael’s house, and she knew she’d be going back soon to pack more of her things. Although no formal agreement had been made, they’d both held the assumption that she’d be staying with Will for the foreseeable future. What exactly would happen with Michael’s place, she wasn’t sure — she felt a little guilty for backing out of her agreement to act as caretaker while Michael and Audrey were living in Tucson — but in the interim, she would do her best to go by every day and check on the property to make sure all was well.

  Will wasn’t home when she got there, but she’d been expecting that; he was well enough to drive, after all, and that meant he needed to get back to at least some of his duties at the church. However, Rosemary wasn’t too put off by the solitude that greeted her, because she could tell that her wards were working — for the moment, anyway — and besides, he’d said he should be home by five-thirty at the latest. That was less than an hour off.

  So she busied herself with putting away some more of her personal belongings in the drawers Will had cleared for her, and then went into the kitchen to take an inventory of the items in the refrigerator. He’d offered to take her out for dinner, but she knew they couldn’t go out to eat or order takeout indefinitely. At some point, they’d need to start making their meals here.

  Which was fine. She actually liked the idea of getting all domestic with him, of making a home together here. Maybe they were jumping the gun, but this felt right, felt better than any other relationship she’d had in the past. Just that morning, she’d met his next-door neighbor, an older woman named Lucille who had a pair of adorable little terrier-mix dogs, and both Lucille and the dogs had taken to her right away, making Rosemary feel as if she already belonged here in a way she never quite had in her house back in Glendora.

  A quick inspection told her there wasn’t much in the fridge except some frozen Mexican food from Trader Joe’s. They could still cobble together a meal from those odds and ends, but it would probably be better if they went to the store instead. Well, she’d sit down and make a list while she was waiting for Will to come home.

  She’d just settled herself on the couch with her phone to start putting together a shopping list when someone knocked at the front door. Almost at once, her heart leapt into her throat, but she told herself not to be silly — if Daniel Lockwood was going to show up with revenge in his heart and mayhem in his mind, he sure as hell wouldn’t knock politely and wait for someone to answer the door. Anyway, as she’d headed out to her mother’s earlier, she’d seen a couple of high school–age kids making the rounds of the neighborhood with a box of those fundraising chocolate bars, and so she just assumed it must be the two of them finally showing up at Will’s house.

  Anyway, the place was warded. Daniel Lockwood couldn’t even make it past the boundaries of the property, let alone walk up the porch steps.

  Rosemary set down her phone and went over to the door. As she opened it, her breath caught. Malicious dark eyes laughed down at her.

  “Hi, Rosemary,” Caleb Lockwood said. “Miss me?”

  Project Demon Hunters concludes with Unbroken Vows.

  Also by Christine Pope

  THE WITCHES OF WHEELER PARK

  (Paranormal romance)

  Storm Born

  Thunder Road (June 2020)

  Winds of Change (July 2020)

  PROJECT DEMON HUNTERS

  (Paranormal Romance)

  Unquiet Souls

  Unbound Spirits

  Unholy Ground

  Unseen Voices

  Unmarked Graves

  Unbroken Vows

  THE DEVIL YOU KNOW

  (Paranormal Romance)

  Sympathy for the Devil

  Charmed, I’m Sure

  A Wing and a Prayer

  THE WITCHES OF CANYON ROAD*

  (Paranormal Romance)

  Hidden Gifts

  Darker Paths

  Mysterious Ways

  A Canyon Road Christmas

  Demon Born

  An Ill Wind

  Higher Ground

  Haunted Hearts

  Books 1-3 of this series are also available in an omnibus edition at a special boxed set price!

  THE WITCHES OF CLEOPATRA HILL*

  (Paranormal Romance)

  Darkangel

  Darknight

  Darkmoon

  Sympathetic Magic

  Protector

  Spellbound />
  A Cleopatra Hill Christmas

  Impractical Magic

  Strange Magic

  The Arrangement

  Defender

  Bad Blood

  Deep Magic

  Darktide

  Books 1-3 and Books 4-6 of this series are also available in two separate omnibus editions at special boxed set prices. Chronicles of Cleopatra Hill includes the series’ two “back in time” novellas, Bad Blood and The Arrangement.

  Or get the entire series in one enormous, specially priced boxed set! (Not available on Amazon.)

  THE DJINN WARS*

  (Paranormal Romance)

  Chosen

  Taken

  Fallen

  Broken

  Forsaken

  Forbidden

  Awoken

  Illuminated

  Stolen

  Forgotten

  Driven

  Unspoken

  Books 1-3 and Books 4-6 of this series are also available in two separate omnibus editions at special boxed set prices!

  THE WATCHERS TRILOGY*

  (Paranormal Romance)

  Falling Dark

  Dead of Night

  Rising Dawn

  The Watchers Trilogy is also available in a specially priced boxed set!

  THE SEDONA FILES*

  (Paranormal Romance)

  Bad Vibrations

  Desert Hearts

  Angel Fire

  Star Crossed

  Falling Angels

  Enemy Mine

  Get the first three books of this series in an omnibus edition, or read the complete six-book series in one super-low-priced boxed set!

  TALES OF THE LATTER KINGDOMS*

  (Fantasy Romance)

  All Fall Down

  Dragon Rose

  Binding Spell

  Ashes of Roses

  One Thousand Nights