I'd have to ask her about that.
7
Emma
Carol was rocking in one of the old, weathered rocking chairs on the front porch when we got there, with my car parked in the spot on the left, the one that opened out onto the walkway to the front door. Deva eased into the driveway beside my car, and my gaze was fixed to Carol. For some reason, time seemed to slip away, and I remembered her waiting for me after school on the front porch when I had track practice. She would have the same far away look on her face back then. Only she was thinking about Bryan. They’d been sweethearts, the kind everyone thought would get married, until he’d had to move junior year.
She’d sworn that he was the one, and that she would wait as long as it took to get him back. But I couldn’t imagine, even after all these years, that she was still thinking of him in these moments. She had to have moved on. Right?
I’d have to ask her about it. Because the only thing I could think of that would be worse than having your heart broken by a cheating ex was losing someone who could’ve really been it, and then spending your life missing them.
“Come on, let’s go inside,” Deva said, flashing her teeth in a quick grin.
I nodded, feeling strange. Happy but caught in my own thoughts too. Deva was beside my door a second later and pulled it open for me. Somehow, I remembered to unbuckle my seatbelt, and then we headed for the porch. My mind felt like candy floss, like it had been whipped around until it was as light as air and barely there at all. It wasn’t unpleasant at all, but maybe a little disorienting.
The look vanished from Carol’s face, and she smiled as she saw us heading toward her. “Feeling good?” she asked, tossing me my keys.
I couldn’t help but return her smile and nodded as I unlocked the front door and threw my keys on the table inside the door. Then froze. The happy, relaxed feeling faded away and a cold shiver moved down my spine. I lifted my arm and stared down at it, realizing that every hair was standing on end. It was more than just goosebumps. This was every hair follicle pushing, every atom of my being telling me something had changed. Then I dropped my arm.
Before I even stepped forward to let Carol and Deva in, I knew deep in my soul that something was very, very wrong.
It felt like the floor was tilted under my feet as I let my gaze roam over the room. There was blood on the floor. Not a lot of it, but a small pool. And there were splatters around it.
If Henry was injured, it would be a bad injury, but he’d be okay. It didn’t explain why he hadn’t called me or why he was nowhere to be seen. I moved forward, taking in the rest of the living room as my eyes darted away from the pool of blood. It was trashed. Furniture had been tossed around. Vases and lamps that my parents had bought were shattered on the ground. And yet, the TV was tossed on its side, not stolen. Nothing seemed to be taken. So if this wasn’t a robbery, what was it?
“Henry!” My feet crunched on glass as I began to move, looking to the bright windows that faced the sea. The white sand was still perfect, no tracks, no scuffle marks, nothing. The waves still rolled in and out as if my brother hadn’t been hurt. But there was no sign of him. “Henry!” I shouted again, panic uncurling in my belly.
Behind me, I could sense my friends were standing in shocked silence. I told myself that I should keep going through the house. Maybe he was somewhere inside? And yet, my instinct said otherwise.
“Deva, could you call the police?” My words came out hollow.
It was the thing to do. Right? In situations like this, people called the police?
My heartbeat filled my ears, and Deva’s voice was somewhere in the distance. I moved through the house like a nightmare, seeing more destruction with every step I took. Flashes of the car accident came into my mind, rising like a shadow around me until it was all my mind could focus on. My parents had been talking in the front seat. Henry had been asleep beside me. Headlights had seemed to fill the windshield, and I remembered the look of horror on my mom’s face.
The memory moved in slow motion, just like I moved in slow motion through the house, fighting my mind to see what was in front of me and not what had happened in the past. I checked the bathroom and saw nothing to indicate Henry had cleaned and bandaged an injury, but saw toiletries thrown everywhere. The car appeared in my mind almost larger than life right at the moment when the glass shattered like an explosion. I remembered the front of the car crushing in, almost swallowing my parents, and then the car had teetered and started to roll over and over again.
Henry had called my name that night.
I called his name now, over and over again as I stared at his room, which was destroyed. Even his expensive computer monitors had been smashed in, and his sheets ripped and thrown about the room. Then I went to what was currently my room. I doubted he’d been in our parent’s bedroom since they died. But still, I searched the room and my bathroom, praying he might have thought to hide in there, but I found the same destruction as the rest of the house, and no Henry.
That night came again, swallowing me as I stood in the center of a room filled with my destroyed belongings. The car had rolled until it was upside down. My back had felt like it’d been torn in half and blood was everywhere. But Henry was so scared beside me. So I’d unbuckled us both, which wasn’t an easy feat given the strain our weight was putting on them as we hung there, and crawled through that broken glass.
I looked at my palm and saw the scars. I felt my knees twinge at the memory.
But I’d led Henry out of there. I’d climbed with him to the road, encouraging him every step of the way, where a stray passerby had seen us and called the police. My parents, there was nothing of them. Nothing that looked like the people I knew. Nothing that could indicate they were still alive.
I couldn’t save them.
But I’d saved Henry.
And now? Now something was wrong. He wasn’t here. Tears filled my vision, and I squeezed my hands closed, as if I could still feel the broken shards of glass that had been embedded beneath my skin. It was my job to protect him. I’d failed him so many times over the years. I’d let my friends take care of him instead of me. I should’ve told my ex that we had to move here. Not just cried and begged him to. I should’ve realized a man who didn’t care about anything that was important to me wasn’t the knight on a white horse I’d made him out to be. I’d thought he’d give me the life of my dreams, but all we had pursued were his dreams. Mine never mattered. But now that I was home, now that I was here for Henry, he was gone? Hurt?
“Where is he?” I sobbed, big, fat tears rolling down my cheeks as I scanned the room once more before I turned back to the living room and walked down the hall as my vision swam and I began to hiccup.
Someone had righted the kitchen table and chairs. Deva said nothing, just pulled me into one of them, and stared into my face. Maybe she was speaking. Saying something. I wasn’t sure. I felt so far away. So lost.
Deva put her arm around me and hummed softly, her voice strangely soothing as time passed with no meaning, and then I heard the sound of sirens in the distance. Sounds and lights came sharply back to me, and I realized Deva was whispering, “It's okay. I’m here.” Over and over again.
I turned toward her, and it was like everything was clicking back into place. My brother, the guy who never left the house, who didn’t raise his voice, who wouldn’t hurt a fly; He seemed to have been attacked. And our home was vandalized. Why? It made no sense.
Carol came back to us and sat down on a chair across from me. I didn’t know what she’d been doing, but she was pale. Had she seen something I hadn’t? Did she know something I didn’t know?
“Who would do this?” I said, the words tearing from my lips.
Deva and Carol exchanged a look that made my stomach do a flip. Deva’s dark brows drew together and then she spoke softly. “Before the police get here, Emma, listen. Your brother—the crew he was hanging with was pretty dangerous.”
“Crew?” I stared at he
r in confusion. My brother didn’t have a crew.
“He never mentioned anything?”
I shook my head, shocked. The fact that he had a girlfriend had astounded me considering I knew he hated leaving the house, but now to learn he had a whole crew of friends? How much had my brother changed while I’d been gone? “I thought he mostly just hung around with Alice and stayed here,” I murmured, almost more to myself than anyone else.
They exchanged another knowing glance, and I pulled away from Deva. They knew something. That much was clear. My shoulders were like stone, and my panic was fading, replaced by confusion.
“Tell me. Please. I need to understand.”
Carol sighed and ran a hand through her light brown hair. “Henry can count cards.”
I stared at her dumbly. I hadn’t known that, but it made sense. He was that smart. “Okay?”
What did that have to do with any of this? He always liked to collect action figures and rare collectibles of nerdy things that he loved. And I was pretty sure he dominated everyone in games online.
Deva squeezed my shoulders. “He got into gambling, and then he got into gambling with the vampires.”
Gambling with vampires? Is that what she just said? My brother, my sweet brother, was gambling with bloodsucking animals that burned in the light and wore capes? I couldn’t believe it. Talking cats, fine. Karma powers, okay. Gambling vampires? No. Just no.
“W-hat?” I stuttered out.
“He’s really good,” Carol said, as if that would make any of this make sense. “But from the rumors, he always takes it a step too far and loses.”
And it was like everything clicked in my mind.
“That’s why he was always asking for money,” I whispered, a rush of cold air moving over my skin as things that never made sense suddenly did.
Deva reached out and squeezed my good shoulder. “Yeah, he asked for it from all of us once or twice. But the thing is, you can’t tell the sheriff.”
“Why not?” I cried. “If the vampires have him, we have to get him back.” I would pay his debt, even if it cost me every last penny.
“There are others that can help us with that,” Carol said. “Not the human police.” She looked at Deva again. “Honestly, we probably shouldn’t have called them.”
The more I was learning about this supernatural world, the more I was starting to hate it.
Suddenly, someone knocked loudly on the door, and my gut tensed. My head was spinning from everything I’d seen and heard, but one thing pushed in front of the rest. If I started blabbing about vampires and gambling, I wasn’t going to get helped by humans, I was going to get locked up. That much I knew.
So, I let them in and explained what happened, keeping it vague. They took a bunch of pictures and asked questions about Henry and who he hung around with, but I was able to honestly answer that I didn’t know. I didn’t know his friends outside of Alice.
Behind the officers, I sensed someone else come in. My heart leapt as for a split second I thought it had to be Henry. I stepped away from them, my gaze searching for my brother, and froze as Daniel’s big form seemed to fill the doorway. For some reason, just the sight of the big man with his kind green eyes made me want to run to him. He seemed like the kind of man who could take all your worries away and swallow you in a hug that made the world seem less frightening.
His eyes found mine, and it was like for one minute someone in this world not only saw how much I was hurting, he felt it too. My vision blurred as more tears filled my eyes, and he took a step forward, as if to offer me comfort.
Carol stepped in front of him. “Daniel, I’m glad you were working today.”
The moment between us shattered, and he looked away from me, his gaze on her.
I felt like a deflated balloon. Daniel was a big man, with strong arms, and the kind of face that women dreamed of. But he wasn’t mine. He was just a ghost from my past here to do his job.
“He only works part-time since his wife died,” Deva whispered in my ear, and I realized I must have been staring. I could have told her that I knew that already, but I didn’t want to deprive her of giving me the tidbits of gossip she thought I’d appreciate.
Daniel arched an eyebrow and glanced at Deva. Had he heard her? No, not from so far away. There must have been a different reason for that knowing look of his, one that said he knew exactly what Deva was briefing me on.
Carol put her hand on his arm. “I think this is a case you’ll want to take a special interest in.”
I tensed. What did that mean? I thought we weren’t supposed to tell them anything? And why did Carol seem to be so close to him? The question bothered me in a way I didn’t understand, or didn’t want to understand at least.
But he simply nodded, glancing at me once more before he said, “Okay, boys, I’ll take it from here. Henry is a family friend.” He spoke to the officers as if he was their boss. And to my surprise, even without him actually being sheriff anymore, they all quickly obeyed him, clearing out of the room with barely a look in my direction.
The next thing I knew, we were all sitting at the kitchen table. All eyes were suddenly on me, as though I had any idea what had happened here. I needed answers, not questions. I needed action, not sitting still while under the watchful green eyes of Daniel Arthur.
8
Emma
“Okay, Emma, tell him the truth,” Carol said. “Anything you know.”
My gaze moved to Daniel. He studied me, and beneath his gentle expression, I could see his thoughts were turning. It was strangely interesting. I got the feeling that he was a really good cop. Which was dumb, because I’d never seen him do anything that logically told me that.
“Tell him what? I don’t know anything.”
Carol lifted a brow. “You can be honest with him.”
Now, I was really confused. Was that just something she was saying, but if I started talking about vampire gambling rings he’d think I was a moron? How much could I really say to Daniel before he thought we were all crazy? Did he have the authority to place us, or rather me, under a psychiatric hold?
I probably couldn’t say much if I wanted to keep my freedom.
I looked at Daniel and then back at Carol, choosing my words with care, which made me speak slowly and probably sound a little odd. “Every once in a while, Henry would ask me for a large sum of money. Well, large in my eyes. Several hundred, usually. Sometimes close to a thousand. I figured he was just managing his money poorly.”
Carol shook her head. “No, it wasn’t that.”
Clearly. Because clearly, I couldn’t do a proper job taking care of my brother when I wasn’t even around him. Apparently, I wasn’t good at being a wife or a sister, and now my brother might be in trouble because of it.
Deva set a tray down on the table, startling me. I hadn’t even noticed she was making tea. And where had the cookies come from? She poured the tea as she talked, the amber liquid rushing into the cream-colored china cups, which had apparently been boring enough for the attackers to leave them alone. “Rumor has it that Henry has been gambling with the vampires and sometimes he loses pretty big.”
Vampires. Okay. Cool. She said it. Totally fine.
I wasn’t going to freak out.
Nope.
I inhaled slowly through my nose and held my breath, releasing it between my slightly parted lips, and hoped that no one noticed that I was on the edge of losing my shit. Again.
Now what?
Carol nodded, then when I still didn’t jump in, she added, “And when he loses, supposedly it’s usually against the shifters.”
Shifters. Okay. We were doing that now. Sparkly vampires and growly, exploding clothes shifters. None of this was weird. Not at all. And it wasn’t weird we were telling a human all of this, and that he wasn’t looking at us like we were nuts. I’d seen movies about shit like this. Someone seeing something that no one else could. Everyone thinking they were crazy. At least I had Deva and Carol to back me
up.
“Is that about it?” he asked, his expression unexpectedly frustrated.
Seriously?
Was that it?
I don’t know. Did we want to add mermaids or witches to the story? Everything seemed so comical in that moment that I almost started giggling. It was the kind of laughter that only happened when things were too serious, or too awkward, or too ridiculous. I had to swallow a few times to prevent the giggle that was lodged in my chest from spilling out.
Deva grabbed her cup. “Yeah, that’s about all we know. Sorry we can’t be more helpful.”
Daniel sighed. “I’ll take care of it.” He got up and started walking away, his cup of tea untouched.
“Wait.” I jumped up, and he froze and looked back at me. “What are you going to do? Can I help?”
“Just stay here and be safe.” He gave me a small smile.
“No. He’s my brother.” My hands curled into fists again, and that giggle that had been lodged in my chest morphed into a tempest of anger and hurt. I wasn’t sure if I was going to start screaming or crying.
He moved closer to me and ducked his head a little, so we were eye-to-eye. “I’m going to do everything I can to make sure your brother is okay. Alright? I promise.”
For some reason, I believed him. “Well, I’m not going to just sit here and do nothing.”
His mouth curled into another small smile. “No, of course you aren’t. You’re Emma, the girl who can sing loud enough to shake the entire gymnasium.”
I stared at him in surprise, not knowing what to say.
He bobbed his head, almost like he was giving me a little bow. “I’ll let you know anything I find out.”
As he turned to go, my gaze was locked on him. It was strange to me that in my forty-something years, I’d never met a man like him before. It didn’t matter that I’d known him in high school. Well, known might be too strong a word. I’d crushed on him, hard. If he was anything like me, then he was vastly different than his high school self. Sure, the core was still the same, but experiences change you. I could only imagine how losing his wife had changed him.
Karma's Spell (Magical Midlife in Mystic Hollow Book 1) Page 5