It was everyone I thought of as family.
Dana’s gaze went to the swords on the wall. “Badass! Jeffrey, we need to hire his decorator.”
“No one mentioned we were fighting Pan’s Shadow,” said Tucker, shocking me by being there. My guess was that it was against Poppy’s wishes. “But I’m in. Because no one messes with my Aunt Marcy!”
I put myself in front of the dark entity. “No hurting him. He’s a friendly.”
Maria smiled at me. “Yes. He is.”
Brett, Jeffrey, and Tucker were the first to try to run at us only to bounce back off something I couldn’t see.
Jeffrey rubbed his forehead. “What in the hell?”
“Dark magik,” said Maria. “Harnessed from the Nightshade Clan of Fae. It’s stolen power and that always comes with a price.”
Brett pushed against the nothingness. “Uh, can the price be this getting out of our way?”
“Do something!” shouted Poppy.
“I’m trying, Poppy-seed,” he said tenderly.
Just then, the very same bat that had been flying around the front entrance upon our arrival darted past Dana’s head and came at me.
Dana grunted and swatted at the air. “I’m really tired of that thing.”
“That thing—” said Stratton, stepping out from behind everyone and taking a stance in front. “—alerted me to danger here. And that is how I was able to reach out to all of you. Now, let’s see what we can do about this dark magik warding. I sensed it building for days and was against Marcy being anywhere near it. No one listens to me.”
He stepped up next to Brett and Jeffrey. Reaching out, he touched the nothingness.
Brett walked past the point and glanced at Jeffrey. “It’s gone.”
“What in the hell are you?” asked Jeffrey, staring wide-eyed at Stratton.
My heart warmed at the sight of them all. “A friend.”
Stratton inclined his head a second before his eyes widened. “Marcy!”
I was ripped around instantly by Donald. He jerked me against his body hard, using me as a shield from Bram and the others.
“Stay back!” he shouted.
Bram’s eyes were fully black as he spoke. “Release our wife or we will tear your heart out—slowly.”
Donald laughed maniacally. “Not if I tear hers out first.”
“Listen, douchebag,” said Dana as she and Poppy came as far as Stratton was apparently going to let them get since he had them both restrained, which looked to be taking some doing on his part. “I warned you about touching her again.”
“Bitch,” said Donald.
Bram’s gaze managed to darken.
“Don’t call my friend a bitch!” Years’ worth of fear and anger bubbled up and out of me. Static energy broke free from me and slammed into him, knocking him back from me. It lifted him and flung him at the moss-covered wall.
Right at the remaining mounted swords.
I closed my eyes a second and when I opened them again, I found Donald’s shocked expression on me before he glanced down at the sword protruding from his chest. One moment he was there and the next, flames engulfed him, and he burned away to nothing more than a pile of ash on the floor.
I simply stood there, soaking in the sight of it all before a snort came from me. “Huh, it looks like dirtbag ex-husbands go poof too.”
Strong arms wrapped around me and I found myself being turned quickly. Bram was there, worry etched on his brow. He began checking me over and it wasn’t until he was satisfied with whatever he had or hadn’t found that he stopped and cupped my face.
He continued to shake as he bent, and I went to my tiptoes. Our lips met and he kissed me with so much passion and need that it left the two of us moaning.
“I’m gonna barf,” said Dana, tossing her version of cold water on the moment. “When I left, they were barely making eye contact with each other. I come back a few hours later and they’re making out like teenagers.”
Maria laughed. “That’s the way of things with fated mates. You either act on it quickly or live a life of regret.”
“Truth,” said Brett with a snort.
Poppy went to him.
He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her temple.
It took me a second to realize I didn’t see Rip-Van-Creepy anywhere. “Did The Ripper go poof too? Add that to the list.”
“The Ripper?” asked Stratton.
I nodded.
Tucker stared harder at me. “As in Jack the Ripper?”
“Pretty sure,” I responded. “Elis? Austin?”
Worry for them went through me.
Bram drew me against his chest. “They’re fine. I can see them over everyone else’s heads.”
I groaned. “Must be nice to be that tall.”
“Makes it hard to kiss you with ease,” he said with a half-laugh.
“And we’re going to thank the height gods for that,” said Dana, still sounding like she might really be sick.
“Legs, your father and Marcy are mates,” said Jeffrey.
“Yes. I caught on to that but thanks for mansplaining for me,” said Dana. “Whatever would I do without a big strong alpha male there to break it down for me?”
He chuckled. “I love you, Legs. Let’s talk baby names.”
“Brett, I might be forced to kill your pack alpha,” she said.
Bram stood up straighter.
I patted his chest. “No. You’re not allowed to kill him.”
He sighed. “Fine.”
“Where is The Ripper?” I asked.
Elis pushed through the crowd of people. “He vanished. Literally. Just vanished.”
Maria let out a long, slow breath. “I’m afraid we haven’t seen the last of him.”
“What about the dark—”
Before I had the words out of my mouth, the dark entity was there.
Everyone backed away from it except Maria, Bram, and me.
Maria motioned for Stratton, who was standing off to the side, observing everything happening. “Is this something you can fix?”
He came closer. “Not alone. A life was taken and with it, the full extent of their power was drained to make this be a reality. To counter that big of a death spell requires more than one Fae.”
Jeffrey threw his hands in the air. “Ah-ha! Fae!”
Stratton ignored the outburst and put a hand out to me. “Marcy, with your help, we might be able to break the curse.”
“Curse?” I asked, reaching for his hand.
Bram pulled my arm back gently. “Will this harm her or drain her in any way?”
Stratton shook his head. “No. It will probably make her want sexual energy to refill her powerbase.”
“As in if-the-van-is-a-rockin’-don’t-come-a-knockin’?” asked Austin.
Stratton nodded.
Dana touched her forehead. “For real, people. I did not need to hear that.”
“Hear what?” asked a familiar voice from the back of the hall.
Dana’s jaw dropped. “Nonna?”
Her grandmother pushed through the group of people and came to a stop near Bram and me.
Bram sighed. “Hello, Wilma. So glad you could join us. The night hasn’t been interesting enough as it was.”
She shot him a sideways look and then focused on me, smiling wide. “Congratulations. I’m sorry your mate is him, but he will be good to you. I can feel it. He’s learned from his past missteps and if he hasn’t, I’ll be right here ready to hex him.”
“Oh, I’m sure you will,” said Bram with a deep laugh.
“Marcy,” said Stratton. “Your hand.”
I gave it to him and the minute we touched the static energy returned but this time it was tenfold. The power burst free from us and went right at the dark entity.
One second a shadow man was there, and the next Jack was standing in its place, his eyes moist.
Gasping, I ran at him, shoving Austin out of the way as I did. I threw my arms around Ja
ck’s neck and he lifted me, hugging me tight.
“Marcy, I’m so sorry. I wanted to tell you the truth but whatever he’d done to me prevented me from disclosing too much,” he said, sounding as if he was crying.
Confused, I shook my head as we hugged. “I don’t understand. In the bathroom in New York, you were attacked by the dark entity.”
He continued to hold me. “I was attacked by one, yes. There are a lot of them. Some gave their souls willingly to the cause. Others, like me, didn’t. The Order pulls all their strings.”
“The Order sound like dicks,” said Dana.
“They are,” said Jack, Bram, and Stratton at the same time.
“Who is the hot guy?” asked Dana.
Jeffrey groaned. “Just ignore me, Legs.”
“I always do,” Dana responded.
I glanced at Dana. “This is Jack. You know, from your bathroom.”
Her brows lifted. “Wow. My ghost does have a nice ass.”
“Woman, don’t make me kiss you to get you to stop,” said Jeffrey with a laugh.
Jack held me tighter. “I tried so hard to warn you. When I came to you in your dreams, I was trying to tell you and Bram that Ager was coming for you both. Bram doesn’t listen worth a damn when he’s having a sex dream about you.”
“Oh, come on!” shouted Dana. “Formally-A-Shadow-Dude, have mercy on me.”
I laughed through my pending tears of joy at having my friend back. I wiggled to get down and then patted him all over. He was solid. “You’re really here? How? I didn’t know spirits could be brought back to life?”
“He wasn’t a spirit in the true sense of the word,” said Stratton. “He was something stuck between life and death. His supernatural side played into it all. The demon in him—his vampire side—was old enough to withstand being fully under the thumb of a necromancer’s compulsion.”
Jack held me to him and stared past me at Stratton. “Thank you.”
“Least I could do since someone from my clan obviously broke the rules and gifted the necromancer that much power,” said Stratton. “Besides, I have my own reasons for helping. They’re a little self-serving, but we’ll cross that bridge later. For now, we’ll just be happy you’re no longer under The Order’s control.”
“You are of Marcy’s line of Fae?” asked Bram, surprising me.
Stratton nodded. “And before anyone asks, no, that does not make us related. That would be like saying all slayers are related.”
“Uh, I’m pretty sure all the ones present are related,” Austin said with a laugh.
“Fine,” said Stratton. “Are all the wolf-shifters here blood-related?”
“No,” said Jeffrey.
“It’s the same for the Fae. There are countless clans. Some friends. Some enemies. Some light. Some dark. Marcy and I are of the Nightshade Clan. Death magiks are our area of expertise, but we are also the curators of nature as are all Fae.”
Brett tipped his head. “I had no idea.”
Maria smiled at Stratton. “By design. When people hear Nightshade Clan, they assume evil.”
“Most are evil,” said Stratton. “But not all. Thank you, Maria, for stepping in when Marcy was born and whisking her away before her mother could do as she planned. Fiona wasn’t a good person.”
“I did what Marcy’s father asked me to do,” said Maria. “At the end, he saw the light. He broke the spell Fiona had cast over him. He asked if anything should happen to him that she be sent to safety. And that when the time was right, she’d find her way back to Grimm Cove—to her mate. And as much as I wanted to tell Marcy it was Bram, Fate had to work its magik.”
“He knew?” asked Bram. “Arthur already knew who his daughter was to me?”
Maria nodded. “Yes, because I told him when I helped to deliver her.”
“Why send Marcy away at all?” asked Austin.
Maria offered a slight smile. “It was important I get her far from here. In Grimm Cove, her power can be sensed by another of her kind.”
Stratton grinned. “Yes. It can.”
Jack kept hugging me and we both focused on Bram, who was standing there with his arms crossed. “Bram,” said Jack.
“Seward, stop hanging on my wife,” said Bram before smiling wide. He then stepped closer and gave Jack a partial hug before backing up a tad. “I am pleased to see you aren’t dead.”
“Kind of,” I said before going to Bram and hugging him.
“You two look as though you’ve gotten on the same page,” said Jack with a wink.
Maria beamed. “No one is allowed to tease the newlyweds. A few of you here are mated now. You know what it’s like—the instant pull, the inability to be without your mate, the instant love.”
Brett and Jeffrey nodded.
“Legs, don’t you feel better knowing your father isn’t just boning your best friend? He loves her,” said Jeffrey, gaining him a laugh from everyone except his wife.
Poppy did her best to stop chuckling. “Brett, I think Jeffrey might be sleeping in the guest room tonight.”
“Oh, I know he will be,” stressed Dana.
I hugged Bram. “Dana.”
“Yes?” she asked.
“I love him too,” I said.
She met my gaze and winked. “Good.”
Bram took my hand in his. “I need to tend to your hand. On the way up, how about I show you a portrait of your father.”
I thought of the portrait of the random blond man that was missing a nameplate and laughed. “I’m pretty sure I know which one you’re talking about. By any chance did he like jogging?”
Bram’s brow furrowed. “How do you know that?”
I smiled. “How do I know anything that I know?”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Bram
One month later…
“This is nice,” Marcy said as she leaned against Bram’s chest in the large soaking tub. Bubbles fell over the side and onto the floor.
Never had Bram been happier that he’d had the master bathroom updated several years back. While the renovation still matched the home’s style, it had all the modern extra bells and whistles. A tub large enough to fit at least six adults was one of those added features.
He had to admit; it was nice, especially the part that left Marcy sitting between his legs, her back to his front, her bottom to his groin.
Although it was difficult to hide just how much he was enjoying it.
All the woman had to do was to be present, and his body reacted.
She’d had her sexy bottom pressed against his groin for the greater part of twenty minutes. She began to move slightly in the tub to the beat of the music playing through the bathroom’s built-in sound system.
The song was one that Marcy had selected after a rather long argument with herself on it not being the artist’s month, and that it was rude to go out of order.
Interestingly enough, she’d then taken the opposite position in the argument with herself, listing all the reasons why the artist and their music should be permitted to jump ahead of someone named Duran Duran.
Bram wasn’t sure who sang the one currently playing or why Marcy liked it so much since it sounded like it was a sad one. Oddly, it made her happy hearing someone sing about Mondays and rainy days. Before that the person had been singing about being closer to someone. His wife had enjoyed that one as well.
While it wasn’t what he’d have picked, seeing the joy on her face made it all worth it. He loved it when she smiled.
Marcy hadn’t been joking when she’d said she liked bubbles. They’d been together a month, and he’d lost track of the number of bubble baths she’d taken. This was the first he’d been able to join her because work had been so demanding. Having a free day was a rare treat and he intended to make the most of it.
The Order had been busy, launching attacks around the world, keeping the Van Helsing slayers on their toes, all while forcing them to work with others. Some were questionable allies, but assisting
all the same. Thankfully, Bram was able to coordinate everything from Grimm Cove, allowing him to spend more time with his new bride.
It had also given him the opportunity to build on his relationship with his daughter. Dana spent a chunk of the month running to the restroom to relieve her bladder. Jeffrey had spent equally as long trying to be of help to her, only to aggravate her more. The alpha-shifter was becoming something of a permanent fixture at the Van Helsing estate with the number of times he put his foot in his mouth.
The estate had gone from having a few Van Helsing family members in it to what seemed like a revolving door of guests. Maria and her coven paid them frequent visits. Poppy and Brett dropped in a lot. Poppy’s twins were in and out all hours. Tucker was close to Marcy and seemed to seek her out when he needed to talk to someone.
It was no surprise.
Marcy had a gentle nature about her that soothed others. For as evil as her mother had been, Marcy was pure goodness. She was what people should strive harder to be—kind, caring, nurturing, accepting, and if she had her vote, very into hugs.
Seward was living at the estate for the time being. All involved thought it was the safest option since Seward still had no idea how he’d become trapped on another plane by The Order to start with, or if it might happen again.
It seemed as if the more time that passed since he’d been brought back by Marcy and Stratton, the more he began to forget details of his stretch under The Order’s thumb.
Maria suspected the dark magik used to bind Seward to The Order included memory loss as a preventative measure should anyone gain their freedom. That meant Seward more than likely wasn’t the first to break the curse.
Someone out there had more answers.
Seward didn’t know, as of yet, how to find them.
What he did know was that there were many others like him. Others who were victims of The Order—forced to do their bidding. Ones that were still trapped on the other plane.
He’d made it his mission to dig into the research vaults for any leads that might help free the rest of them and stop The Order.
The Ripper, who had been something of a prison warden of Seward when he’d been stuck on the other plane, had taken to taunting the man from afar.
Spellcasting with a Chance of Spirits: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Romance Novel (Grimm Cove Book 3) Page 25