He hugged her tight. “I know, Mom. We’re going to find the bastards who killed Edith and Edna. We’ll make them pay for what they did. And we’ll be sure they don’t hurt anyone else.”
He swayed a little as he hummed to comfort her. Her tears dampened his shirt. It took almost ten minutes for him to coax her back to the recliner. He searched for a tissue and dabbed at her tears. Then he stood to look at Littlefoot. “You’ll protect them?”
“I always do,” Littlefoot replied.
“But Cort and Rock have powers you can’t anticipate.”
Littlefoot smiled wide. “You underestimate what we’ve got, Josiah. We have a little magic of our own.”
“But can it stand up to vampires?”
“It already has. Edith and Edna weren’t their first target. I was.”
Momma let go a strangled gasp. Josiah nodded slowly. It felt like a knife pierced his heart. He lost his father. He almost lost the closest thing he had to a father now.
Micah’s voice was broken when he spoke. “Joe, we need to get some sleep.”
“Yeah,” Josiah agreed. He crossed the room and kissed his mother on the cheek. “Stay with Littlefoot, please. Don’t go anywhere without him. I’ll be back first thing in the morning to help you with the funeral plans. All right?”
“Of course,” Momma answered.
Josiah backed away to give Micah time with her. Once they said their goodbyes, they made their way to the door. Eve walked out with them to the Jeep.
Micah kissed her. “I’m not leaving until you’re back in the house.”
She smiled at him. “Mike, I’m safe. You heard Littlefoot.”
“Eve, you are my soul. My world. I’m not losing you to these sons of bitches.” He kissed her again. “I love you. Be safe. I’ll come in with Joe to see you. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
The final kiss they shared was a bit more passionate than the others. Josiah bit back a growl. There was that jealousy boiling up again. Eve waved as she strode up the sidewalk and stepped inside the house again. She turned and watched them from the closed screen door. The two men climbed into the Jeep.
Micah flipped the key in the ignition and fired it on. “Let’s go home and sleep, bro. We have a long night ahead.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Josiah replied.
Micah backed out of the drive. Both men gave Eve one last wave goodbye before they sped away.
»»•««
The chapel was crowded with folks dressed in their Sunday best. Splotches of color left by the sunlight streaming through the stained-glass windows dotted the worn burgundy carpet. There was the distinct smell of mothballs lingering in the air. Nowhere in his wildest dreams did Josiah think so many people cared for his bitter aunts. Or maybe they were here to celebrate their deaths. He could see it. They were hard to get along with. They beat and tortured him and his brothers on a regular basis when they were children. Momma fought with her sisters over their forms of punishment. Often, she stormed out of the sisters’ house with the boys in tow. Edith and Edna would remind her that they did it to save the brothers’ souls. And the truth was, the seven boys could be little hellions.
However, they all still had nightmares from their aunts’ abuse.
It didn’t stop him from missing them.
Josiah cut his sleep short each day of the full moon to help his mother plan the funeral. More than once during the night as he hunted he tried to lay down and take a nap. The maddening chaos in his mind brought on by the change that destroyed his focus didn’t let that happen most of the time. Being the beast left him feeling wired like he was on crack and a sugar rush all at the same time. But after the week he had, fatigue often won.
On top of it all, he felt a burn inside him deep in his core. It wrapped around his soul. It aroused him to the point of agony. He excused himself at least twice a day to lock himself in the bathroom and pleasure himself. It stole his breath. It possessed his mind. He was going insane.
He glanced around the chapel to survey the scene. His sisters-in-law, including the newest, Delilah, gathered around Momma to comfort her. Mother cuddled his niece, Ruby, to her chest. The baby was more soothing than all the adults put together. His brothers were scattered around the church checking their phones, pacing, or muttering to each other. The Hallows had a horrible tendency to be awkward around large groups unless they were in a cage.
That was, all but one Hallow. Samuel stood at the coffins. He looked like any other guest, dressed in a lavender dress shirt and black trousers. That was, except for the Mohawk. His spiked hair down the middle of his shaved head had nearly every person in the building staring at him. By the way his head twitched, he was glancing from one body to the other. It surprised Josiah. Samuel and Caleb were the ones Edith and Edna had picked on the most. No wonder they ended up the way they did.
What Josiah did know is that if they were going to take on the vampires, they had all better be on the same page. That included Sam. He huffed to himself and then strode to Samuel’s side beside the caskets. He noticed his younger sibling’s body stiffen as he approached.
“When are you going to get out of your snit?” Josiah demanded.
“You can fuck off,” Samuel responded.
“Grow up, Samuel.”
Samuel spun at him with his teeth gritted in rage. Josiah heard his mother gasp from across the room. Sam must have heard her too. He lowered his voice. “Me grow up? You need to get over yourself. Henry is my mate. I love him as much as I love Delilah. So you can keep your narrow-minded thoughts to yourself. I’m not giving him up.”
“Is that what you’re bent out of shape about? I don’t give a shit who you’re in love with. You’re in love with a man? Great. Fantastic. You have my full blessing to love whoever you want. I want you to be with whoever makes your sour ass happy. But Sam, we all heard Cort and Rock call him the Heka. And from what you told me, the combination of the Heka and Momma’s amulet can cause big trouble. It’s trouble that’s beyond us. It’ll impact innocent people.” Josiah motioned to the coffins. “It already has. We might not like them, but Edith and Edna were innocent of this. And there are too many coincidences pointing to Rock, Cort, the amulet, and the Heka. Something evil is brewing. Do we want the soul of it in our camp? Do you want the soul of it sharing your bed?”
Samuel swallowed hard as he looked away. Josiah followed his gaze to the door of the sanctuary. Sam’s two mates, Henry and Delilah, stood there hugging each other tight.
A force grabbed Josiah’s attention. It dragged it away from the couple to the other side of the doorway. A tall blonde, just a few inches smaller than his six-foot-three-inch frame, clenched a clutch purse to her as she studied the crowd. Her long hair cascaded around her shoulders. She wore a modest sleeveless dress that fell to her knees.
Josiah lost his breath. His body was on fire with a lust he never felt before. He wanted her. He needed her. He needed to be buried deep inside her with those long, perfect legs wrapped around his hips. He needed to taste her. He needed to hear her scream his name. He needed hours, no, an eternity of this.
Then he needed to hold her tight in his arms. He was prepared to die for her, and he didn’t even know her name.
He heard Sam suck in a deep breath. “We have to prove he has anything to do with this.”
He didn’t give his attention to his brother. He kept his gaze locked on the blonde. He was painfully aware of his thick cock pressed hard against the zipper of his trousers. He was standing in the front of a church next to his dead aunts with a throbbing erection. He didn’t know why he didn’t go up in flames right there.
“Joe?” Samuel asked.
Josiah shook his head to break himself of the hold that possessed him. It didn’t help. He cleared his throat. “Keep on your guard. All right? At least until we can figure out exactly what we’re dealing with.”
“Of course I will.”
“Okay, then. Excuse me.” Josiah gave him a qui
ck nod. Then he spun on his heel toward the door. She was still standing there, but now she was staring at him. Butterflies erupted in his belly. Had he ever been nervous to talk to a woman? Not that he could recall. He swallowed down the lump of fear in his throat and then nudged through the crowd to talk to her.
Chapter Two
Sarah ascended the cement steps that led to the modest Catholic church. She held her floral red clutch purse with gold accents a little tighter against her body. It was a sharp contrast to her black sleeveless dress. She heaved a sigh as she climbed closer to the door.
It was hard to believe Edith and Edna were dead. She had to be the last one to see them alive. She came to their house the morning they were murdered to pray with them. The sisters offered her a warm cup of stale tea, a rock hard Danish, and their hospitality. She spent an hour there, talking and singing and praying. Lots of praying. She hugged them both and wished a beautiful day to them before she left them to go to her classroom. It was summer. School break had started. But the students she tutored in summer school needed her.
Hours later, Edith and Edna’s little sister and a man she was acquainted with found them both on the floor lying in a pool of their own blood.
Now, she was at the church where she met them months ago, attending their funeral.
The two sisters weren’t very cordial when she first arrived in Bemidji to teach first grade at the private Christian academy associated with the church. They were cold when she introduced herself. That was, until they found her alone in the chapel praying. They invited her to their home for a devotion. One devotion led to two. Two led to whenever she was free from her work at the school. Sarah had made many friends in the northern Minnesota town. The two sisters had a special place in her heart.
They were especially accommodating that cursed morning a few days ago when she arrived on the doorstep of their little house and asked to pray with them. They never questioned it. Edith invited her in. Sarah didn’t want to impose, but something was happening inside her. She felt like she was burning. She was filled with a desire she couldn’t explain. Whatever it was claimed her for its own. It branded her with the fire of passion. She dreamed about sex with a man she didn’t know. He had long black hair, dark brown eyes, and was covered with tattoos. He wasn’t someone who would normally turn her head, but she couldn’t get enough of him. And the pleasure he gave her left her a trembling mess and craving more. She did things in her dreams she would never do, like having sex in front of strangers. Never. It would never happen. But it made her orgasm three times.
She woke up, showered, and tried to scrub the impure thoughts off her. But it still had her in its tight grip. A demon must have had control of her. The sisters could chant it away.
But they didn’t. It was stronger than ever, and they were dead.
Sarah stepped inside the church and exchanged pleasantries with those she passed. The narthex was far more crowded than she anticipated. Edith and Edna could be off-putting with their stuffy natures, but the parishioners appreciated all they did for the congregation.
She stopped in the doorway to the sanctuary and looked around. She recognized nearly everyone in here too. There were about a dozen faces she didn’t. She kept her gaze away from the caskets. Something inside of her didn’t want to believe they were dead. If she didn’t look at them, she could pretend they weren’t for a few moments more.
Her gaze fell on a rotund woman with graying black hair sitting in the middle of the room sobbing her eyes out. She held a baby in her arms. Sarah knew she had to be Evelyn, Edith and Edna’s younger sister.
Evelyn married a guy who Edith and Edna hated with a passion. Together they had seven sons before the husband passed on. Edith and Edna spoke lovingly of their sister even after they had a bitter falling out half a year ago. They didn’t care much for her husband and children. They often referred to the boys as deviants, miscreants, sinners, the seven beasts of Satan. They boasted of the strict discipline they put the boys through. It was the only time the sisters condoned violence. Sarah guessed it was because they didn’t see what they did as violent.
Three younger women flocked around Evelyn, one blonde, one with black hair, and a redhead. The redhead suddenly rose and hurried toward Sarah.
That was when Sarah noticed the handsome, bespectacled man standing beside her at the door. He was tall with thick dark hair and dressed in a shirt, tie, and slacks. By the care he put into his appearance, Sarah could tell he was a professional of some sort. He must have dressed like this most of the time. Normally he was the type of guy she found attractive. He was safe. He didn’t seem to harbor any strange quirks. He was vanilla pudding. She liked vanilla pudding.
But this guy didn’t spark one iota of interest in her. She needed, craved, something dangerous. She needed something more decadent than vanilla pudding. Which was probably good since the redhead wrapped him tight in her arms. They whispered to each other and then turned their attention to the caskets. Sarah took a deep breath and followed where they looked. This was it. Be brave.
Her breath caught in her throat. Her body ached with desire. She didn’t see Edith and Edna’s lifeless bodies in the black, glossy, chrome-lined caskets. She saw two men standing there talking to each other. By the bashful smile on the face of the guy with the Mohawk, he must have been associated with the couple beside her.
The other man was a couple inches taller than her. His wavy dark brown hair fell to his shoulders. She could see a hint of tattoos peeking from his collar and the cuffs of his long sleeve dress shirt. His chocolate brown eyes stared at her. She could feel it in her soul. This guy beside the casket looked eerily like the man in her dream, the one that made love to her for hours, the one who claimed her in ways she wouldn’t dream of others taking her. He was her decadent delight.
He said a few parting words to the guy with the Mohawk and then made his way through the crowded church. Sarah gasped as she tightened her grip on her clutch. He was headed her way. He must need to talk to the couple in the doorway. Except they were gone. They were walking hand in hand to the guy with the Mohawk. Maybe he had to use the restroom or…
He stopped just shy of her and cocked a grin at her that made her insides flame. “Hey. Never seen you before.”
She returned his smile with a subtle one of her. Her instincts demanded she run. First impressions warned her that he was trouble. But something she couldn’t explain rooted her there. Maybe it was the fantasy of licking him head to toe. Wait? Where did that come from? “I’ve never seen you either. Do you live in Bemidji?”
“No. I live out of town. Over an hour out of town actually.”
“Well then. That would explain it.”
“Do you?”
“Do I what?”
“Live in Bemidji?”
Sarah narrowed her eyes. Where was he going with this line of questioning? She studied his strong body. He looked like one of those ancient statues she had studied in Greece. Absentmindedly she wrapped a finger around a long, blonde lock of hair. “Yes. I teach first grade at the church school.”
“Interesting.”
Sarah frowned, confused, as he stepped closer and took her hand. What puzzled her more was her lack of resistance. Had she believed in magic or voodoo or mythical creatures like that, she would have thought he put her under a spell as he led her out into the foyer.
He continued. “So you knew Edith and Edna?”
Her mouth went dry when he stepped into the coatroom. He tugged her in with him. She licked her lips to wet them and then answered. “Yes. They were my friends. I would go to their house to pray or talk.”
His smile was more wicked than before. His gaze slowly wandered from her feet up her legs. It didn’t stop until his gaze met hers again. “So you’re a good church girl, I suppose?”
“I guess you could say that. I don’t know why…”
Her words were cut off with his mouth. His kiss was wild, sensual, and sinful, just like her dream. When he parted he
r lips with his tongue to search for hers, she surrendered. She wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders. If she didn’t, she was going to crumple to the ground.
“I should slap you for that,” she murmured as they parted.
He chuckled. “You should.”
“I don’t know you.”
“How well do you know Edith and Edna?”
“I spoke to them all the time.”
He kissed her again. Her heart stampeded in her chest at the feel of his breath, the taste on his tongue. He knotted his fingers in her hair and tugged her head to the side. His mouth wandered her neck as he spoke. “Did they tell you about Evelyn, their sister?”
She moaned at his touch. “Yes. She married a man they didn’t approve. Ran off with him. They had seven sons. Edith and Edna called the boys deviants and the seven beasts of Satan. They never explained why. How do you know Evelyn?”
The man stood straight and stared into her eyes. She whimpered. Was it from need? From fear? She didn’t know.
He kissed her again, this one soft and quick as he pulled his hand from her hair. “Evelyn is my mother.” He offered his hand to her to shake. “Hi. I’m Josiah Hallow. I’m the oldest of those seven beasts of Satan.”
Sarah swallowed hard as her eyes widened. Everything Edith and Edna said about the Hallows screamed in her head. It didn’t stop her from wanting him to take her there in the coatroom in her church no matter who saw. Sweet Virgin Mary, what was this man doing to her?
He cocked his head at her. “What’s wrong?”
Her answer was breathy. “Nothing.”
His impish smile faded. “What do you want…I’m sorry. I don’t know your name.”
“Sarah. Sarah Merit.”
“Well, then. What do you want from me, Sarah Merit?”
Her voice went from breathy to husky in a split second. Her demand shocked her. It sent a tremor through her core. “Kiss me.”
“As you wish.” Josiah gathered her in his arms. His lips on hers were feather-light as he teased her. She opened her mouth. She had to look like an eager baby bird begging for a worm. Not that he saw because his kiss descended on her with full force. His tongue traced her upper teeth before it tangled with hers. His fingers splayed across her back. The pinky of his lower hand pressed dangerously close to her ass. She wanted him to dip it farther down, to grab her and mold her tight against the erection she felt hard against her belly. She wanted it inside her, wanted him inside her.
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