His smile transforms into a smirk. “You don’t mean that.”
“Yes, I most definitely do.”
He bites his lip as if we’re in the middle of a game of chess and he’s one move away from checkmate. “You need me, Wilhelmina. The simple fact that you don’t realize how much only tells me I should have come sooner.” There’s a twinkle in his eyes. “Much sooner.”
“This is your invitation to leave my property of your own accord.” There’s a crackle in my vision, and I wonder if he can see the lightning in my eyes or if I can merely feel it.
He seems unmoved by my display of power. In fact, he eases closer to me. His finger traces the bottom of my chin. “I’m not your enemy, chéri.”
The use of the endearment sends my annoyance to a new level. The only other person to call me that was Julien’s alter ego. I start to snatch his hand, maybe break a finger or two, but he’s already moved it. In fact, he’s already back at the edge of my steps. He twirls around on his heels, his black coat flapping in the breeze. “I’ll wait for you, Wilhelmina. I have a room in town at the Courier. But heed my words…don’t wait too long to find me. I would hate for your little Haunted friend to lose his life because of a misunderstanding.”
Again, the bastard’s gaze lingers too long. This time it’s intentional. Absolutely, without a doubt, intentional. I slam the door before I light his coattail on fire. I stomp back into the house and grab my cold cup of coffee. I take it to the kitchen and chuck it into the sink. “Who the hell does he think he is coming to my house and—”
“Willa?”
Reid stands at the top of the staircase, his hand in his unkempt hair. He looks like he’s still half asleep. I can’t even enjoy the sight of him in his shirtless perfection. My heartrate is erratic and my pulse unsteady as my fingers clench into a fist at my side.
Reid’s head cocks to the side, and it only takes my boyfriend a fraction of a second to evaluate me. “What did Julien do this time?”
“Ha.” I stalk back and forth between the kitchen and the bottom of the stairs. “You would think it was Julien, wouldn’t you? Showing up at the crack of dawn, trying to lay down some kind of sleazy charm before I’ve even had my daily dose of caffeine. Then to start talking nonsense about how I need him. Sounds like him, doesn’t it?”
Reid is at the bottom of the stairs, his hands catching me on my way past him. “What are you talking about? Was there someone else here?”
“Yes.” I point at the closed door. “Some strange boy in a pea coat came waltzing up the front porch just now.”
Reid’s concern grows. “What did he want?”
“Hell if I know.”
His hands find my face, and then his fingers wind into my hair. He tilts my chin up to look at him. “Baby, calm down. You don’t think clearly when you’re this upset.”
I close my hands and take a deep breath. His lips are only an inch from mine, and for a second, I can’t think of anything else but kissing him. He beats me to it. Reid’s lips brush mine, his calmness washing over me. “Focus. Who was at the door?”
I lean my head against his chin. “He said his name was Leo Galloway. Is that familiar to you?”
Reid pulls back slightly to think. “Never heard of him. What else did he say?”
“That I was beautiful and he hoped I answered the door half-naked every time he comes for a visit.”
Reid’s jaw clenches. “Well, we’ve established that I don’t like him. But what did he want?”
I turn around to pace some more, thinking back through the conversation. “He wanted to offer me his help. He kept saying I needed him and that he would wait for me.”
“That’s definitely weird.”
I stop dead still. “He knew about Julien. He said he hoped my little Haunted friend doesn’t lose his life because of a misunderstanding.”
Reid releases his breath slowly, thinking hard about my words. “So, he knows about the curse and the spell.”
“He also didn’t seem that surprised by the magic.”
Reid’s brow raises. “You used magic in front of a stranger?”
“Magic was the lesser of the two evils that entered my mind. He’s lucky he has eyeballs left in his head.”
Reid’s smile is slow. “Look—forget this Leo Galloway. Sadie called and wants us to meet her at the tower. She said Erika is willing to help us.”
“Really?”
“Yes, which means I need to call Talbot and go get Grady from his lovely confines at the jail.”
I nod, the plan forming in my head. “Okay.”
“It sounded like Lyric was there with Abby already, but you should probably go find Julien.”
“Right. Go find Julien.” I start searching around for my shoes, my adrenaline hiking.
“Wilhelmina?”
I grab my boots from next to the couch. “Yes?”
Reid grins at me. “Pants, sweetie. Please remember your pants.”
I glance down. Definitely still pantsless. “Right.”
***
Reid leaves to get Grady and Talbot. I decide to grab a shower before going for Julien. I need to wash away my morning. It’s not good to start off on a bad foot, especially for a day as important as today. I dress in preparation for the cold weather. Two pairs of leggings, boots, and over-sized sweater over another shirt. I drink a properly heated cup of coffee while I braid my wet hair to the nape of my neck. I let the ends hang loose to keep the wind from biting my neck. I pull a jacket out of my closet and start down the stairs.
Shoes hang off the end of my couch. I would have been alarmed, but I recognize these shoes. Black boots—shiny as if they’ve never seen a mud puddle in their life. “Julien?”
“What?”
His shoes don’t move, so I continue my way down. I round the side of the couch to find him lying there with his gray jacket zipped up over his hoodie and a matching toboggan covering his black hair. The sight of him makes me smile. The boy knows how to dress—I have to give him that. “Who let you in?”
“Romeo.”
I shove his foot. “My cat did not let you in this house.”
He props his hands behind his head. “Reid let me in.”
“Even less likely.”
He grins. “Fine. I broke in.”
“Well, now, at least that’s a believable answer.” I cross my arms over my chest. “Now try the truth.”
He sits up, swinging his legs around. “You left the door unlocked. You’re lucky it was only me coming for a visit.”
I frown, because he’s right. It could have easily been Leo Galloway. He could have waltzed himself right inside my house. Julien stands. “What’s wrong? I was only joking.”
I turn around so he can’t see my expression. I don’t really want to revisit the Leo incident right now. I know I will eventually tell Julien, but I’m afraid my friend’s reaction to this stranger on my doorstep won’t be as docile as my boyfriend’s. “It’s nothing. I just need to be more careful.”
Julien eyes me, but he doesn’t smile. It’s something different. He reaches up and touches the end of my hair that is starting to curl. “I like this look.”
I self-consciously touch the braid at the back of my head. “I thought I’d try something different. Plus, it keeps it out of my face.”
He pulls his toboggan off, his black hair spraying out in different directions. “Your ears are going to get cold though.”
He holds his hat out to me. When I don’t take it, he rolls his eyes. “It’s a hat, Willa. Not an engagement ring.”
I glare at him and snatch the hat from him. I put it on, carefully placing the edges over my braid. “Happy?”
He doesn’t answer. I decide it’s best to let it go. I pack my bag, trying to throw in anything we might even remotely need for the day’s adventure. When I turn back around, Julien is still watching me.
“What’s with the face?”
Julien shrugs. “Nothing.”
I grab his han
d before he turns around. “Julien, don’t waste my time.”
He’s quiet. I set my bag down and go over to flip off the light just for something to do. “Does this have anything to do with why you left last night?”
“I went home, Willa.”
“Without saying goodbye.”
He can’t even make eye contact with me. “I needed time to think, I guess.”
It’s dark in the room now. I lift his chin up and give him a look that simply says “I’m waiting.”
He frowns. “Why can’t I affect you the way Reid does? Why can’t I calm you down?”
“That’s what’s bothering you.” I say it as a fact because it makes perfect sense now. “Julien―”
He tries to look away, but I force his face back around. “Look at me.”
There is so much more there than there was before. That gloss is absent. That hint that some other being is in there with him. Now, it’s just Julien Cote, and he’s in pain. “You are not Reid.”
“Trust me. That much, I know.”
“Listen to me. You are not Reid. He is my opposite—my Sun. When I’m angry, he can calm me down, and when I’m calm, he can ignite the power inside of me.”
“I know,” he says, an angry edge to his voice this time.
I laugh. “Julien, I know you’ve been trying to recreate that for us. Yesterday on the mountain when you tried to make me mad enough to make my powers fly off the handle, and last night, when you tried to calm me down.”
“But I can’t. I get it.”
“No, you can’t, but that’s because you’re not my opposite. You never have been.” I clutch his face harder between my hands, squishing his cheeks. “You’re my equal, Julien.”
For a second, his frown disappears. “What?”
“Instead of reversing whatever feelings I have, you simply indulge them. When I wanted to defy Reid that night at the Fair, you threw me on the back of your motorcycle, and we ran. Last night, when I wanted to shock the snot out of Erika, you told me to hurry before anyone could find out.”
Julien is deep in thought, so I let him go and grab my bag. “Mull on it awhile,” I say, throwing my bag around my shoulders. “For now, can we please go save your life?”
Finally, he nods. “All right.”
We take Julien’s Jeep to Raven Ridge. The ride is silent. Julien really is mulling it over. The cogs turning in his head are almost visible. Everyone is there when we arrive at the pinnacle.
Everyone.
Grady. Talbot. Erika.
It’s an awkward Haunted mess. I wonder if this has ever happened. How long has it been since every member of the Haunted and the Innocent have stood facing each other…their secrets all out in the open? Abby stands behind Lyric, or rather, Lyric stands in front of her. I’m not sure which. Either way, Grady isn’t visible to her. I’m not sure anyone can truly understand the pain she must feel every time she looks at him. The betrayal. Grady has been by her side the majority of her lifetime, and not because he loved her, though I suspect he did love her, in some kind of weird, twisted way. Yet, he still spied on all of us for his older brother Roux.
Poor Talbot stands off to the side with his head ducked low. It’s always like that, as if he’s in some kind of catatonic state of submission. I guess when your older brothers are Roux and Grady Bessette, that probably is the case. Talbot didn’t want to hurt any of us. The truth of it is so plainly on his face, even now. He wants this curse to end as much as we do. He doesn’t want to become his brothers.
Reid eyes the toboggan immediately. He knows it isn’t mine, but he doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t need to say it. I take his hand—a peace offering. He merely rolls his eyes, but in a playful way. Reid is touchy about clothes. He’s made it clear that I can steal anything in his closet, and has encouraged me to do so many times. I probably should have thought about that before agreeing to wear Julien’s toboggan.
My fingers tug at the edge to pull it off, but Reid stops me. “I would rather you be warm,” he says as if it should be obvious. He pulls the edge back over my ear, shooting a rather curt glare over my head. Toward Julien, I’m sure.
Sera leads the march today. I stay tucked in at Reid’s side, trying to stay warm. Svetta watches us from inside her cottage. Her frail figure stands in the window. I wonder what we must all look like from her point of view. A league of unlikely companions marching off to war.
That’s what it feels like now. A war.
No one is outside as we pass by the houses in the valley. All the lights are off. I would assume the village has been abandoned if not for the puffs of smoke coming from the chimneys. Do they all know what today could mean?
The tips of my fingers are numb by the time we make it to the tower. I rub them together, using my power to spread warmth back through my body, down to my toes. Julien opens the door to the tower for us, then waves me to the front. “C’mon, let’s do this together.”
When I start walking toward him, he continues to wave his hand, signaling to Reid. “We need you too, Mr. Sun.”
I glance at Reid over my shoulder. He’s stunned, but hurries to catch up to me. Any one of us could have done it. I don’t think it necessarily has to be me and Reid. Abby and Sadie could just as easily open the door with him, Erika, and Grady. It feels right like this though. This all started with the three of us, so we should end it together.
My palms go sweaty at the sight of the door. It’s not the warming spell I used. My adrenaline has gone crazy. My heartbeat throbs in my ears. Julien takes a moment to check the door over, but I’m not sure why. It’s exactly as we left it. The sun and the moon carved above the giant, spiraling tree, while the figures representing the three Haunted families sit beneath it.
I nudge Julien’s elbow. “Go ahead.”
He sucks his lip between his teeth, as though he’s afraid the Raven might bite him. It lights up a beautiful purple underneath his fingertips. He lets out a gush of air and steps back. I touch the Moon, turning it blue, and Reid follows me. The Sun becomes a vivid yellow, just like last time. We scoot back, my teeth clenching as Erika makes her way to the front with Sadie. I’ve tried to pretend she isn’t with us, but now, staring at her, I’m reminded of Main Street. She looks more like herself. She’s had a shower, and her swishy dress is exactly like the one she wore that night. An evil little pixie, that one.
She seems docile enough by Sadie’s side, so I try to dampen my hatred. Just a smidge. Nothing more. Sadie whispers something in her ear, probably to remind the fiend of her promised obligation. Erika reaches up and touches the Fox. It glows red.
Everyone steps further back, making room for Grady. He doesn’t move at first. His gaze tries to find Abby, but she’s still hidden behind Lyric. Frustrated, he stomps forward and practically shoves his hand onto the Mountain Lion. I stand on my tiptoes, ready for the door to burst open, or at least hear a hidden lock unhinge itself, but nothing happens. Julien pushes Grady out of the way and jerks at the handle, but it’s still locked. “Why isn’t it working?”
All the figures are lit up. That should have worked. The door should have opened.
“Let me try,” I say, grabbing the handle. The door won’t even jiggle. It’s solid like a stone wall.
Everything in me deflates.
“It’s the tree,” a small voice exclaims from the back of the group.
Everyone turns. It’s Talbot, barely visible through the crowd. He’s plastered himself against the wall at the back of the room. His gaze is still downcast while his hands dig in his pockets. He looks exceptionally nervous that we’re all staring at him. He speaks up a little louder. “It’s the tree. The tree isn’t lit up.”
Reid steps around me so he can see him better. “That would mean the tree has to represent something, or someone.”
Talbot nods. “Yes. And I think it does.”
Reid cocks his head to the side, intrigued. “Well, go on.”
Talbot clears his throat. “I did a lot of readin
g last year, you know, when I was stuck at our old house. We have a rather large library there—books Roux collected. Things he thought were important that related to the curse.”
“Like the maps we found in Charleston,” Julien pipes up.
“Yes,” Talbot agrees. “He kept the most important books in our library. He didn’t want the other families to have them. There were several there that detailed the history of Sanctuary. Most of it was mundane stuff. Old family trees and events.”
“Okay,” Reid says, moving closer to him. “What does that have to do with this tree?”
“That tree was stamped into the front of every one of those books. Whoever wrote those history books used that tree as their emblem.”
Julien is practically in front of him now, his voice urgent. “Was there a name in the book? Anything that could lead us to this person?”
“Yeah, seems like it. But I don’t remember it.”
Julien twirls around. “Well, then, let’s go get this book.”
I’m leaning against the wall by the time Julien finishes, the truth of the situation already sucking the happy right out of me. My stomach twinges, as if knowing from the inside. “Don’t bother,” I say, almost growling out the words.
Julien’s features fall. “How can you say that?”
I hold up my hand, trying to make him realize I don’t mean it like that. I would never give up trying to save him. “I meant the trip to the Bessette library isn’t necessary. I know what family wrote that book.”
Reid does too. I can tell by that tiny glint his eyes. Julien is still confused, though, and he waits, urging me with his hands to speak. To say something. “How do you know who wrote it?”
I half laugh, but I’m not amused. “Because the bastard knew I would need him.”
Chapter 5
A PEST
I sit down at a back table at Rooster’s Diner, eagerly eating my chicken sandwich while Reid and Julien wait at the bar for their food. They insisted on going with me to find this Leo Galloway, as expected. I know he’s the one. I can feel it deep down in my bones. They vibrate inside of me, the power slowly building until my entire body hums with it. I pull Julien’s toboggan off and set it on the table next to my plate because I’ve worked up a sweat. Julien slides into the seat across the table, setting his plate down with a thud. He doesn’t touch his food. Instead, his blue eyes stare a hole through me while his hand hassles the front of his hair.
Shadow Bend (Witches of Sanctuary Book 3) Page 4