“I agree.” Lizzy spoke it. “Bad idea. If vampires do have souls then you’d just get sucked in too. And then we’d have two souls to free.”
“Yes. Well.” William stammered for a moment.
Riley let out a deflated sigh that Melinda tried to ignore. Her concern for William always brought this out of him. But there was nothing to be jealous about here. This was just honest truth. She would not risk William’s life, even to save her father. She was pretty sure her father would agree.
“Is there anything else?” asked William, to Lizzy.
“The Hunter eats souls. I can only assume these souls are stuck inside of it. I don’t honestly know what happens to them once they’re sucked in. Are they aware of what’s happened to them? Are they alive, or dead? I’m sorry I can’t answer those questions with any certainty. I only know that the sounds I heard echoing from inside the thing, were the wails of people who knew their torment would never end.”
Melinda hammered out a shaky rush of air.
“Sorry,” said Lizzy, her tone sympathetic. “I wish I could tell you more. I really do. But in all my years as a ghast, I learned very little about the Hunter. I wish now that I’d paid more attention. I was mostly just angry and bitter then, which is why I kept it here to begin with. I always expected it to try to escape again. I guess it must have known it was useless, or was biding its time. For all I know, time has no meaning to the Hunter. Months or years to us might be a mere blip for the thing.”
“Regardless of the circumstances we are grateful you did not let it free,” said William. His tone was kinder towards Lizzy.
“And it is a lot more than we had to go on a month ago, when we had no idea where are father might be at all,” added Melinda. “And that’s at least something. Unfortunately what you’ve been able to share is our only something. There’s absolutely nothing written down about these things. I mean, where do they come from? Where do they live? Is this the only one, or are there more? Do they live forever... are they even living beings?”
Riley squeezed Melinda’s hand as if trying to squeeze out the panic.
“Well, you know where the library is William,” said Lucas. “If you think it would do any good, you’re welcome to look again. Or take whatever you need.”
William nodded in thanks and made for the library. Lucas followed to help, pulling Riley with him. Lizzy said she’d grab some coffee and Melinda offered to help.
“I don’t think I need more myself,” she noted. Her caffeine and sugar buzz was still zinging through her blood and giving her the jitters. “Just a glass of water for me. That dress looks really nice on you by the way.”
“You and Emily picked well,” agreed Lizzy. “It’s still strange, these clothes you wear today. I love them,” she said in a throaty tone. “But there’s so little of them. I’m thrilled with them though. Can’t imagine ever going back to the throat to ankle dresses ever again. And the floppers,” she looked down at her feet. “So easy and fun and I can take them off and go barefoot with the flick of my foot.”
“Flip-flops,” laughed Melinda, correcting her. “And I agree, one of the best inventions ever.”
“And the paint on my toes. I’ve tried so many different colors already but I think I like this color the best.” It was a ruby color, a few shades darker than Lizzy’s natural lip color.
“It does suit you,” agreed Melinda. “How are you settling in otherwise?”
“Not too bad. Now. That first night though, honestly, I was a wreck. It wasn’t at all what I expected. To feel again was so much harder than I thought it would be.”
“I thought you could feel, as a ghast?”
“Me too. And I did. But once back in my skin it was like I’d just left my body. Everything I was feeling, thinking, remembering, experiencing right before I was ghasted was all still fresh. Even physical injuries I’d gotten shortly before it happened, hadn’t quite healed yet. All like it had just happened. Sort of like my human life came slamming back in just where it left off. Except I was the only living thing that still existed from that life. It was very… difficult.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that. I can only imagine how bad it sucked.”
“It did suck, but I had some help that night. It got better.”
“From your brothers?” assumed Melinda. It was what they called Lucas and Riley since it was too complicated to explain where Lizzy had just suddenly came from.
“No. From William. He got me back onto level ground. Got my head on straight sort to speak.” She winked and grinned. “But he is by far the strangest vampire I’ve ever met.” Lizzy picked up the filled tray and left for the library before Melinda could ask what she meant. Her heart stalled for a minute. Something had definitely happened between Lizzy and William. She didn’t know what and it should not matter. But it did. It always did.
Nothing serious could have happened. I mean, William doesn’t have any sort of human relationships…
But the way he’s been acting…
No. Not possible. If they were involved in some way… it’s just. He can’t. He doesn’t. He told me he couldn’t.
Let it go. He probably just talked to her. Yeah, I’m sure Lizzy just needed someone to talk to. William is very good at that.
Melinda followed into the library.
“I’ve got coffee for anyone who wants it,” Lizzy was saying. “Sorry, William. I don’t keep spare blood on hand.” She sprung a playful grin his way.
“I’m not thirsty. I won’t be thirsty for a very long time.” His tone indicated irritation, but also a private meaning that only he and Lizzy understood. His glower returned to the book stack.
Melinda could not deny that there was something going on between Lizzy and William. But was angry with herself that it mattered.
Lucas already had a book open and flipped through some pages.
Melinda grabbed one and joined Riley on the couch he’d just sat down on. She sat with her back up against his side, with her legs crossing each other, but stretched out comfortably in front of her. She left her flip-flops on the floor.
Unconsciously, Riley turned and kissed her head, wrapping his arm around her chest, his hand resting on her shoulder. She let out a long sigh and gave his arm a soft peck. Such a simple act and yet when he did these simple acts they made her feel so very content, and safe. He always seemed to know when she needed it.
“Are you feeling better now?” he whispered in her ear.
She didn’t turn to look at him. “Yes. And no.”
“You want to talk about it?”
“Um. No.” Her eyes caught William. He pretended not to hear, but she knew he could. “It’s all good, Riley. Really.” She couldn’t talk about what upset her with a vampire who could hear everything… especially when it was William’s truth about the world speech which had upset her in the first place.
“Okay.” His voice sounded like he was frowning. She dropped her head, burying herself into the book in front of her. Riley must have caught her staring at William. Damn it. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
Riley exhaled. It sounded more like letting out a scowl. He returned to reading. The room was quiet but for the turning of pages, the sipping of coffee, followed by occasional clearing of throats, and more and more, frustrated breaths as none of the books were the least bit helpful. Minutes turned to hours, filled with nothing but dead ends and disappointment.
“We’re getting nowhere,” growled Melinda, leaning her head forward. Riley rubbed her shoulders and she moaned and pouted in reply.
“I’m sorry you’re not finding anything helpful,” said Lucas. He stretched back, leaning his chair onto its back legs.
Lizzy cleared her throat, her eyes sticking to the book in front of her.
“Sorry, right,” he said, planting the chair back on all four legs.
Melinda bit her lip, trying not to laugh at Lucas being scolded by Lizzy.
“If we could just try to treat the furniture with a little respe
ct. Some of it has been around since before I was a ghast.”
“You’re right,” said Lucas. “Won’t happen again.”
“Anyway,” said Lizzy. “I actually have a thought. If I’m correct in my thinking, everything you guys have tried so far has included tracking the Hunter, correct?”
“Yes,” William replied.
She lifted her eyebrows and winked.
William frowned.
“I wasn’t flirting,” Lizzy retorted adding, “This time.”
William’s nostrils flared and he slammed his book closed a little louder than he’d meant to.
“You really are so easy to rile,” she said with a grin. “But I was going to say, I’m pretty sure I’ve just outsmarted you.” She aimed her words at the vampire.
William returned with a look that said, prove it.
“We’re thinking about it backwards.”
“Backwards?” repeated Melinda.
Lizzy’s gaze stuck to William’s as she let the vampire work through it. She watched the realization hit him, his logical side winning over his ego.
“Yes. Of course,” said William matter-of-factly. “We should not attempt to track the Hunter. We should make the Hunter, hunt. Do what it does naturally. And set a trap.”
“Is that a good idea? Trap the thing?” asked Lucas.
“You’re not going to be the bait,” muttered Melinda crossly, aiming her words at William.
Riley tried to hide a glower that indicated he wouldn’t mind if the vampire used himself as bait.
“I will not use myself as bait,” agreed William. “And no, it might not be a good idea. Still, its instincts are to hunt. If we could figure out how it does this, perhaps we could set a trap.”
“Comes back to essentially the same problem though,” said Melinda. “How do we get it to hunt? And how do we set a trap for it?”
Silence.
Lizzy left the library abruptly, saying nothing.
“It’s not an exact answer Melinda, but it is a new way to look at the problem.” William turned to leave as well. There was no point in staying any longer.
“Which is more than we had this morning I guess,” she replied with a sigh. She followed him back out near the front door. Her caffeine and sugar buzz was fading, her blood sugar screaming for more. It left her tired, and yet edgy. She jumped when her cell phone rang, buzzing at the same time. “It’s Mack,” she said, answering the call.
“Well hello, Melinda. I tried Charlie’s phone but he didn’t pick up, figured I’d try you next.”
“What’s up?”
“More sightings of the strange looking man,” Mack explained.
“Sight-ings?” Melinda clarified.
“Yup, at least two more that I’m aware of right now. And they happened at about the same time, across the island from each other. So...”
“Whatever this thing is, there’s more than one.”
“’Fraid so, Sweety.”
“That reporter find out about the new sightings yet?”
“’Fraid so,” said Mack. “I sound like a broken record today.”
“Yeah, a bit of that going around. We’ll look into it and get back to you as soon as we can, Mack.”
“Okee dokee,” she replied. The sheriff explained where the new sightings had taken place and let Melinda go.
Lizzy appeared holding a piece of paper and a sweater.
Melinda explained what was happening to William and the Deanes. Mostly the Deanes, seeing as William heard the entire conversation thanks to his vampire hearing. The Deanes had not yet seen the new D.E.S.I. report, or heard about the sightings of the strange looking man. Or now… men.
“I’ll try Charlie and Michael,” Melinda said after filling them in. She slipped outside to the front porch. Riley followed.
William turned to follow but was stopped by Lizzy.
“Wait,” she said. “I have an idea.”
“Yes,” he sighed.
“We need to go visit that bookstore in town, the one Emily runs. I think she might be able to help us in our search efforts.”
“How so?”
“My new brothers, have been showing me how to use this thing called the interwebs. No idea how to use it. Anyway, they showed me this... oh what do you call it again, Lucas?”
“Website,” he answered with a chuckle.
“That’s it. Web-site,” she said clearly, “where there’s all these people talking about everything you can ever imagine. I’d wager we might just find something useful. Wait, they don’t actually talk, they write I guess... but then it shows up on this...” she waved her hands around, unable to think of the word.
“Screen,” whispered Lucas.
“Yeah, that, and they just leave it there for anyone to read. I don’t get how they fit so many screens onto one of those...”
“Computers,” said Lucas.
“I mean, it just keeps scrolling and scrolling,” Lizzy rambled. “Where do they fit them all? It boggles the mind.”
That was one thing she and William could agree on. And he could not deny that they’d found useful information before, thanks to Emily.
“My point being,” continued Lizzy, “I hear Emily is the expert on this spider web thing. Why do they call it a spider web?”
Lucas could not reply without laughing and just shook his head and shrugged.
William thought on it for a moment, tempted to take Lizzy’s advice and visit Emily.
“Emily is an expert,” he agreed after a moment. “However, we have more pressing issues to deal with right now. I’m afraid it will have to wait.”
Lizzy, certain he was making excuses to get away from her, huffed out, “Look, Mr. Ignoremelots.” Lucas stifled another laugh. “You want to save the Howard patriarch, right? So why don’t we forget about everything else, and work together on this. I can help you. I want to help you.”
Logic won out and William agreed. Although he did not look happy about it.
“I know it might not be the best idea,” said Lucas, “we’re still new here, and we don’t know a lot about magic. And my brother and Melinda dating doesn’t just wipe out years of hatred between our families…” he added somewhat sarcastically, “but I’m just putting it out there that we’re willing to help. If you need it.”
William didn’t reply right away. But with all the sightings that needed to be investigated, it only made logical sense to accept their assistance.
Melinda came striding back inside, Riley at her side.
“Reached Charlie and Michael, they are going to investigate one of the sightings Mack just told us about. They just met up in town. Charlie didn’t find anything on the beach where the first sighting took place, and Michael located that Thomas Kinney guy, but he didn’t have anything new to tell. Michael said he didn’t sense that the guy was lying though.”
“Meaning whatever he saw, he at least believes it real,” concluded William.
“Looks like. So I guess we’ll check out the second sighting.”
“Actually, Melinda, Lizzy had an idea I want to follow up on. A new way to search for information about the Soul Hunter; one in which we seek out Emily’s assistance.”
“Oh. Okay. So you’re going to go do that then?”
“Yes. I think it prudent. Lucas has graciously offered to assist, and I was just about to suggest he and Riley accompany you, since I cannot.”
Melinda choked out a low cough, unsure she’d heard William correctly. “Um, not to sound, um...” she trailed off.
“You don’t think your brothers will approve,” Riley guessed.
“Sorry,” she replied, biting her lip. “Truth is, I think it’s a great idea. I’d rather not go alone. I’m just surprised you’re okay with it,” she aimed at William, turning her head shooting Riley and Lucas a look that said sorry, again.
It was far too awkward talking about this as if the Deanes were not standing there. And even if William did approve of Deanes tagging along, her brothers m
ight have a different opinion.
Lucas relieved the tension. “There’s no pressure, Melinda. But it does seem like you’ve got your hands full and I see no reason to keep William and Lizzy from continuing their research when we can help you check out these sightings. Totally up to you, of course. No hard feelings if you think it’s a bad idea.”
Melinda grinned in reply and grabbed Riley’s hand. “I have no problem and I say let’s get going.” She could finally be with Riley, without William around. Not that she was eager to see him leaving with Lizzy.
“Be careful, Melinda. Check in.” William caught her baby blues and saw a hint of worry there.
“I’ll be fine. I’ve got two strong guys to protect me. And I’ll check in.”
William nodded.
“Oh and tell Emily I said hi.”
He nodded again, glaring when Lizzy tugged him out of the manor. The look on his face made Melinda feel bad for him. I read too much into things. The poor man is clearly not interested. In fact, he looked downright miserable.
Lucas called out a see you later, then turned to Melinda. “Give me a few minutes. I want to grab a few things and then we can take my truck to where you need to go.”
This left her and Riley alone at last.
“You really okay with all this?” he asked as she folded her way into his arms.
“Spending time with you, how could I not be?”
He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “I know we’re dating, and your brothers have accepted that, sort of, but us helping you out on a job…”
“William’s okay with it and we do need the help.”
“Does the vampire decide everything? Never mind,” Riley retracted. “But speaking of William, what’s up with him and Lizzy?”
“No idea. He did seem to be doing his best to ignore her. Or coming here. Been making excuses not to ask you guys for help for the last few weeks.”
“Do you think they hooked up?”
Melinda’s reply caught in her throat. “William and Lizzy? Um... I…” she stammered out her answer poorly.
Riley sighed, having hoped the idea that the two of them hooked up, was a good thing. Melinda pulled him closer.
A Nightmare to Remember (Wicked Good Witches Book 5) Page 6