Blue Moon

by J. A. Belfield

  He responded with a barked laugh.

  “Is that a no, then?” I asked.

  “Come on—up.” He got to his feet and scooped beneath my arms, hauling me up. He looked down at his brother with a grin. “Need help?”

  Sean shook his head and slowly pushed up. If he’d needed help, he’d never have admitted it, anyway.

  Ethan stepped forward as he straightened, gave Sean a manly slap on the shoulder but, as though realising nobody but the three of us would see, pulled him into an awkward embrace that lasted about twenty seconds. “Let’s get to work,” he said gruffly as he marched off.

  • • •

  After Ethan had explained the entire home situation to Sean, and the house and grounds had been cleansed, we headed off to dispose of the bodies. It took a while to find deserted woodlands in the unfamiliar territory, dig for and burn the bodies, and cover them back over. A few hours later, with the truck a few bodies lighter, we hit the road to home.

  Sean hogged the back seat to get some much needed rest, but I couldn’t help my constant visual checks.

  Ethan paused in his mumbled rant when I looked back again. “He’s not going anywhere, Jem.”

  I turned back to the windscreen.

  He ducked his head a little closer. “According to Jess, he was half dead when she left you,” he said, his voice low. “How—”

  “Pro Plus.”

  “Pro Plus?” he asked after a few beats, as though he hadn’t heard me right.

  I sighed, though my lips twitched. “Yup.”

  After a deep chuckle that sent his shoulders into a jig, he returned to his moaning.

  He went on about my ‘escapades’ and ‘underhanded search and rescue’. His wounded pride showed its face when he rambled on about being left behind. Didn’t I know he had plenty he wanted to do to the witches himself? That seemed to be the crux of his disgruntlement.

  I didn’t argue with him, just let him get it out of his system, thinking it better to preserve my argument for the ass slinging that would be awaiting me from Nathan.

  33

  Beth stood on the doorstep when Ethan pulled onto the drive at five thirty. Sean’s position had altered to sitting, thanks to the constant disturbance of Ethan’s drivel, and he scrambled from the truck before Ethan or I even reached for our handles. Beth had already folded him into her arms by the time our feet touched the ground.

  I paused by the pickup, allowing them some space. He needed it—Beth, too, no doubt—so I waited as they reunited after over ten years apart, and shed a tear or two.

  When Beth pulled back, she waved me forward. Her arms flew round me, crushing me to her chest. “You brought him home,” she murmured against my hair.

  Sean smiled down at the two of us until Beth tugged him into the embrace, too. His chuckle tickled the top of my head.

  “I’ll warn you,” Beth said as she took my hand. “Nathan’s waiting on you.”

  I blew out a sigh.

  “I’ve got you covered,” she whispered as she led me inside.

  Nathan ‘waited’ for me in the kitchen. The second I stepped into the room, he shot from his seat, fists clenched at his sides. “How dare you drug me, Jem!”

  I came to a halt as my mouth opened and closed.

  “I cannot believe your irresponsibility over this . . .”

  I wanted to disagree, thinking I’d done a good job, but stayed mute.

  A snarl ripped from him before he snapped out, “…plotting and scheming behind my back . . .”

  I had to give him that one, almost nodded before I caught myself.

  “…and your dishonesty. You knew all day where they were, didn’t you?”

  Another fish impersonation answered him.

  “How could you keep that information from me?” He stabbed a finger at midair. “How could you show such disloyalty . . .”

  Huh? My eyebrows shot up.

  “…and disregard for others?”

  “Not fair,” I mumbled. “I was trying to protect you all.”

  His finger did some more air pokes. “And how could you go off without even leaving a note?”

  Whoops! Hadn’t thought of that one. Too busy scheming disloyal and dishonest manoeuvres, that’s why, Jem.

  He gave another low growl as he rubbed at his hair. “Do you have any idea how terrified we were?”

  My lips squidged to the side. I could have hazarded a guess.

  His index curled back in as his fist reformed to punch at nothing. “And what bloody right did you have to take Beth along with you?”

  “Now, just you wait right there!” Beth snapped.

  Nathan’s head whipped to her, but she gave him no chance to retaliate.

  “I have a mind of my own, Nathan Holloway, and for you to suggest otherwise is nothing short of a damn insult.”

  “She had no right to take you,” he said.

  “I gave her no choice,” she threw back.

  “Then, you had no right to go.”

  “I forgot.” She took a step forward, planting herself in front of me. “You lot like your women compliant and feeble. Well, you’re out of luck, honey, because you damned well went and looked in the wrong place if you didn’t want a woman with a mind of her own.” She spun to glance at Connor. “So did you.” She whirled on Sean. “And you most definitely did.”

  Sean’s chuckle broke the tension, Ethan’s, too. As Nathan’s focus fixed onto Sean, the fire cooled in his eyes.

  Connor stood from his seat. “Thanks, Jem, for bringing my sons home.”

  Nathan’s cold stare turned on him.

  Connor glanced from him to me. “But, you could have been more responsible about it.”

  I waited a moment until certain they’d finished their attacks. “Where’s Jess?”

  “Tending to the boys,” Connor said.

  “I’ll go give her a hand.” I made my escape.

  On the landing, I poked my head into the lilac room, found Josh still sleeping like a baby. Turning to the left, I opened our bedroom door.

  Kyle tugged his T-shirt the rest of the way over his auburn head and smiled.

  I crossed to him. “You’re awake.”

  He nodded, rubbing his face. “Thanks to your sister. She seems to know stuff about …well, stuff.”

  “Confirmed by your condition.” I smiled. “What did she do? Not more Pro Plus?”

  His eyebrow lifted.

  I waved him off. “Never mind. Tell me.”

  “Well, I woke to find a decent looking woman pouring smelly water over me and bathing me with a sponge. Then, it registered that I was actually in the bath. So then, I thought it was a dream. But then, she started explaining who she was and what had happened.” His lips twitched. “And the dream concluded when I spotted Dad and Nate observing like a couple of pervy old men. That drove off the last hints of sleepiness.”

  I snorted out a laugh at his details before I grew serious. “But you’re okay?”

  “Thanks to you, I hear.”

  “Don’t say that within earshot of Nate, for goodness sake.”

  “You’re in trouble for it?”

  “Like never before.” At his chuckle, I smiled. “Josh is still asleep.”

  Kyle frowned.

  “Which room is Dan in?”

  “I believe he’s in the midst of his visit to the spa right now.”

  I stepped forward, planted a big wet one on his cheek. “I’ll go see how he’s doing.”

  At the end of the landing, I pushed through the bathroom door and discovered Daniel still in the tub with water splashing about him and a pink-cheeked Jess unnecessarily sponging his shoulders whilst explaining what had happened.

  “Room in there
for one more?”

  Daniel thrust up and out, almost drowning Jess in a tidal wave of water. His arms lifted me, his nose nuzzled into my hair. “Jem.”

  I sniffed at the strong citrus odours clinging to his wet body. “You okay?”

  “Sure, I’m good.” He tickled my neck with a few forceful kisses before setting me back on my feet.

  I grabbed a towel, used it to dab at my soaked front and passed a second to Daniel, which he rubbed at his hair with. “Kyle’s awake,” I said. “I just left him in our room. There’s some stuff of yours in the bottom drawer if you’re getting dressed.”

  He reached for the door handle. “Where’s Josh?”

  “The spare room,” I said, adding, “Not done yet, though,” in case he barged into there.

  He grinned. “I’ll go see Kyle, then.”

  “And your dad. Your dad’s been going out of his mind with worry.” As he left with his smile still in place, I turned to Jess. “Need a hand with Josh?”

  Averting her eyes, she bent and pulled out the plug.

  “Jess?”

  “I’ve already done Josh.” She twisted back to me as she straightened. “It didn’t work on him.”

  My pulse picked up a notch at her incomprehensible words. “What d’you . . .”

  “I can’t wake him up,” she said. “I tried him, the same as his brothers, but it didn’t work. I don’t know why.” She lifted her palms. “I don’t know if he’s in deeper because of the length of time Marianne worked on him before, or because she used binding before she did everything else …I just …don’t know.”

  My fingers flexed. “Can’t you try something else? You can’t leave him like …that.” I almost spat the word as I stabbed a finger toward where he lay.

  “I don’t know what else to suggest.”

  “But . . .” I took a step toward her, just as quickly moved back. “You must have some idea. How did you figure out how to try waking them in the first place?”

  “I took a stab at what may have been in the sleep potion and made one to counteract it.”

  “Then, we can do that again. Try a different one.” My feet fidgeted. “Let’s give it another shot.”

  “It’s not going to work.”

  “’Course it will. We just need to double the dose.”

  Sadness filled her eyes as she shook her head. “It won’t—”

  “Make it work!” I growled, fists clenching against the urge to grab her shoulders and shake until she agreed. “You come along here. Convince me you’re a witch.” I pfft’d out my frustration. “You can’t even do this one little thing.”

  Jess didn’t speak. Her gaze never left mine, though.

  I stabbed a finger toward her. “When do I ever ask you for anything, Jess?”

  No response.

  I flung out my arms. “It’s not as if I come knocking your door every five minutes, begging favours. For the first time in my life, I’m asking you to act like a big sister here. So, quit messing around and get on with it.”

  Her eyes darkened—the first sign that she even listened to me.

  “Or, maybe you’re not the witch you’ve led us all to believe. Maybe you don’t really know anything. You just like to think you do. Well, guess what, Jess? This isn’t playacting. This is real life. Josh’s li—”

  “You know what? I’m sick of listening to you rant on about what is or isn’t real based on what you’ve seen for yourself.”

  I glared at her.

  “I wasn’t joking when I explained just how deep a sleep the witches put the pack under. A magical sleep.” Her expression remained serious, her gaze never left mine. “And yes, you have no choice but to fight magic with magic—whatever you think of it all. Though, how you can come from the lineage you do and say you don’t believe in all this shit is beyond me. You can’t hold your history and not believe, surely? Or, are you going to discount everything that worked over the last few days and make sense of it with some sceptical bullshit?” Irritation sparked in her eyes as she poked a finger my way. “If Marianne was looking for something of yours at Connor’s, like you claim she was, then she would only have been doing so with the intent to hurt you. Yet, nothing came of it. Because you were protected. By magic. You know Ethan had a bigger hit of that confusion spell, but he was not affected. Because he was magically protected by your hand, Jem. You must believe. You believed enough to call me in. What did you do before that? Nothing! Because you already knew, deep down, that you could only fight magic with magic. Because you—”

  “I’m sorry,” I cut in.

  “How can you be so in denial?”

  “I said I’m sorry, Jess. It’s just …damn, all this witchcraft bull has been a lot to take in, you know?”

  “Because a human changing into the form of a wolf is so much easier to swallow?”

  My tongue played around inside my cheek as I failed to conjure a response.

  “You didn’t believe it before you met Sean. How many arguments did we have about the possibility of werewolf existence?”

  I couldn’t dispute that. We’d debated the subject on numerous occasions. She’d wholeheartedly believed. I hadn’t, and then I became one.

  I took a deep breath to steady myself. “So …it only took the bathing to wake Dan and Kyle?”

  She stared at me a second before nodding.

  “What did you bathe them in?”

  “Just some herbs, citrus oils—ingredients to invigorate, mostly. The opposite of what I’d put in a sleep potion if I made one.”

  “Makes sense, but …Josh? You sure we can’t try something different?”

  “I’ll keep looking. But, I can’t stay here indefinitely. I’ve already called Ray twice to ask him to have the kids longer.”

  My brow creased. “I didn’t know that.”

  “You needed me here,” she said. “But, I have to go back. My kids need me at home now.”

  “But …Josh,” I whispered.

  He had to wake up. She had to try.

  “I tried, Jem.”

  “Try harder.” I snarled but checked my temper and balled my hands against my eyes. “Sorry.”

  She stayed quiet for seconds before she spoke again. “I’ll keep searching. Once I get home, I promise you I’ll keep looking for a way to wake him up. As soon as I have something, I’ll call. You won’t need me here to do the magic. You’re more than capable of that yourself—if you haven’t figured that out after the past week . . .” She sighed. “I’ve got to go home.”

  The hairs on my arms fluttered as she walked past. I lowered my hands, kept my eyes closed as I listened to her trot down the landing and enter our room. Within minutes, the zip of her case sounded out before her heightened breaths as she struggled with it toward the stairs. Her luggage bashed the top step, and she gave a low grunt.

  Mentally scolding myself for taking my frustrations out on her, I turned from the room and strode along the landing. She’d only gone a few steps when I reached out and grabbed her bags. “I’ll take these for you.”

  Jess smiled up at me. “Thanks, Jem.”

  • • •

  After receiving profuse thanks from everyone, Jess bid her goodbyes and climbed into her car. I stood on the doorstep, watching the white Punto rumble down the drive. The scent of cooking bacon and potato cakes wafted through from the kitchen, courtesy of Beth. The initial hint of morning broke into the sky above, but as Jess’s tail lights disappeared from sight, the great weight of my emotions descended.

  Jess’s departure made it definite. She knew no other way to wake him. None other than those she’d suggested and tried.

  Yet, I couldn’t bring myself to go in the house. To go inside and close the door would be like shutting the door on so much more than the damp frosty air, the lighten
ing sky, the outside world. It would be like closing out Josh, and I couldn’t do that, even if it would reduce my shivers inflicted by the cold.

  As the heat of Sean’s hand came to rest on my shoulder, I leaned into his touch. His chin tucked over my collarbone, his arms slid around my waist. I tilted my head as his sigh drifted over me, listened to his body talk and reassure me he’d really come home, alive, well—or as well as could be expected after what he’d been through.

  “Mum said I was to convince you to eat,” Sean whispered at last.

  My gaze upturned to the kaleidoscope of colours as the sky altered its shades even more. “I’m not hungry.”

  “She told me you’d say that.”

  I breathed out a quiet laugh.

  “You coming in?”

  I shook my head.

  “I’ll stay with you, then.”

  I gave another head shake. “You need to eat. You’ve lost so much weight.”

  “So have you, Jem. You should have looked after yourself better.”

  “I had other things to keep me going.”

  “And I’m back now, so you can eat.”

  “But—”

  “Josh will still be there.” As usual, he understood. “Take the food upstairs and sit with him if it will make you feel better. Just …please eat.” When I didn’t answer, he struck with his lowest blow. “If you eat, I’ll eat. I promise to match you mouthful for mouthful.”

  I withheld my protest as I went to tell him I didn’t want anything. I’d learnt my stubbornness from the best and knew he wouldn’t move unless I did. With a reluctant nod, I closed the front door and allowed him to lead me into the kitchen.

  34

  I talked Sean into resting before ignoring my own advice and going to sit with Josh. The others called in throughout the morning. Each time, they sat awhile and spoke quietly about the past week. I stayed without a break, chatting to Josh when alone with him—inane stuff we’d normally talk about, as well as stuff we wouldn’t.

  I talked about playing ball, about food, about Christmas, about food, about Poppy, and asked him a few questions I knew he couldn’t answer even if awake. Didn’t matter that some of the subjects I brought up were personal. Josh and I often found time for private chats—nothing untoward or conspiratorial—just us, just friends, just chatting.