The Queen, The Mirror, and The Creation (Fated Chronicles Book 5)

by Humphrey Quinn

  Of course, if her brothers or William had found out how Jerkface had treated her, they’d probably have killed the guy. Or at the very least, injured him severely.

  Charlie grabbed a mug of coffee and nodded toward his brother Michael, who refused to return the gesture. Charlie had hoped to avoid another argument so soon after arriving home.

  As it turned out, Michael didn’t feel like arguing either. “Meeting Emily for coffee,” he explained, promptly leaving.

  Charlie shook his head, disappointed.

  “Give him time,” the vampire advised kindly.

  “Why does he have to be so darn stubborn?”

  Melinda snorted. “Um, gee. Maybe because he’s a Howard.”

  “Exactly. He is a Howard, and like it or not we have a responsibility to uphold.”

  “Michael gets that, Charlie,” Melinda cut him off before his rant continued. “He’s just not as accepting of his fate as we are,” she added dramatically. “He sort of has a point though. I mean, why should he be forced to spend his life protecting the Isle, just because he’s a Howard?”

  “We don’t get to make that choice, Melinda.” Charlie stated it with finality. He glanced at the vampire, searching for approval, but William’s face showed no sign of his true feelings on the matter. Charlie had not thought it possible, but the vampire appeared distracted. When William didn’t answer he changed the subject.

  “Thanks for making the potion for me, Sis. I left for my trip so fast I completely forgot about it.”

  “No worries. You’ve had a lot on your mind. Besides, I’d do just about anything for My William.” She decided the best way to move past last night’s dream was to treat William as she always did.

  The vampire breathed out testily. “Melinda, you must stop calling me that. It is not right. Not only am I nearly four hundred years old, but until quite recently I was your legal guardian. Must I keep reminding you of this?”

  “William,” she retorted innocently. “I’m twenty-one and you’re the only man I can flirt with in this testosterone filled house. Besides, you make it so easy. Have you looked at yourself lately? That’s right, you can’t. So I must take it upon myself to remind you how handsome a vampire you are.”

  Yes, she thought. Ridiculously handsome. No, he was beyond handsome now, especially after last night. He’d gone straight from handsome vampire she had a crush on to forbidden fanged hotty in a matter of a single dream. She tapped her fingers on the counter as if this movement would somehow drown out the racing heartbeats thudding against her chest.

  Apparently, forgetting about the dream was not going to be easy.

  And the truth was, William did have a reflection. But it wasn’t one his own eyes could see. A side effect of the potion he’d just downed. It made looking into glass difficult. Things had a fuzzy appearance. One bad side effect that was worth the freedom the potion gave him.

  William noted the change in her heart rhythms again but ignored it, tossing Charlie a look that pleaded for his agreement in the matter of her affections.

  “Maybe, Melinda, you would be better off saving your attention for someone your own age,” Charlie said, backing up the vampire. “And not to bring it back up again, but perhaps if you got out of the house more often…”

  “Charlie, you’ve scared off all the guys I’ve dated!” Except for Jerkface, which she’d done herself apparently, by just being her. And there had only been two other guys she’d dated before him. Three whole guys, twenty-one years old. So beyond pathetic. Melinda tensed. She had chosen Jerkface, to give herself to. She was never going to forgive herself for that choice. But she hadn’t wanted to carry the label virgin anymore.

  How stupid that label seemed now. She still felt like a virgin. At least she hadn’t told Jerkface he was her first, not that the fact redeemed her decision at all.

  She put her stubborn gaze back on. “Charlie, between you, Michael, and William drilling my dates with questions no normal human would comprehend, it’s no wonder they never call back for second dates.” She lashed out, preferring to believe it was them and not her, driving them away. But how could it not be her? She just wasn’t date material. Or perhaps the other two had just wanted what she’d given Jerkface, and when she didn’t…

  Dating sucks.

  But she’d blame it on her brothers, just the same.

  Charlie patted her shoulder. “I’m just looking out for you, Kiddo.”

  “Well, you can’t have it both ways,” she argued hotly. “If I leave the house and start dating more, you have to accept the guys I go out with. No more scaring them away.”

  “Okay. You’re right. Why don’t you go out now? I can clean up this mess.”

  Melinda shook her head, a hesitant tingle creeping into her gut. Talking about leaving was easy, but actually leaving the house was a much scarier thought. And going on another date with another guy she didn’t know, just a bad idea.

  “I made the mess, I’ll clean it up. Besides, it’s sort of a badge of honor, first time making the potion for My William and all. I just hope I got it right.”

  Charlie threw her a look that said, you’re making excuses, but let it slide as William dramatically rushed to the front kitchen window. He tore off his pullover revealing his chiseled bare chest and flung open the curtains, the bright morning sunlight flooding the room, exposing him to potentially fatal rays.

  Both Melinda and Charlie stood wide-eyed, waiting to smell smoke or see flames erupt. Instead, William’s mouth turned into the slightest of smiles.

  “You nearly gave me a heart attack!” Melinda shouted. “What if the potion hadn’t worked?”

  “There is only one way to find out if the potion did work.”

  “But you could have tested it on a finger, not your entire body!” she protested.

  “I have complete faith in you, Melinda.” William pulled his shirt back over his head.

  She made a face, knowing he was just trying to prove a point, by agreeing with Charlie. She was a bright, beautiful, and talented young woman that needed to find a life outside of the Howard Mansion. But they were the only ones who had such thoughts.

  William had just been standing in the kitchen, shirtless. And she’d been too stunned by his attempt at burning himself that she hadn’t even enjoyed his magnificently chiseled perfection. She shivered at the thought of reaching out and touching that cold skin.

  Did it just get hotter in here? Did the air just get sucked out of the room?

  Why did William have to be an off-limit vampire?

  Physically, he was the epitome of perfection, at least in her eyes. Tall. On the thin side but not wiry. A first glance wouldn’t tell you instantly that he was stronger than any human man. That awareness came from the confidence he exuded in every movement he made. The draw of his gaze, the pull of his smile, the very manner in which he carried himself just strutting down the sidewalk. All things, which depending on his mood, either blanketed you in complete security, or emitted predatory threats that warned, I wouldn’t walk down any dark alleys alone if I were you.

  More than all that, Melinda knew him. Trusted him. Heck, he was her best friend. Her confidant. Why couldn’t real life be as easy and exciting as her dream life?

  Melinda kept up her stubborn front. “You haven’t tested the potion completely, William. It’s the other function that’s the really tricky part.”

  “I will be out taking a stroll if you need me,” the vampire responded tersely.

  Melinda spoke quite seriously as he departed. “If anyone suddenly realizes you’re a vampire that has lived in this town for over a hundred years and hasn’t aged, come home at once and I’ll try again.”

  Getting the potion just right was usually Charlie’s job as he was the most practiced at making potions out of the three siblings. But after a heated argument with his brother, Michael, he had abruptly left for a fishing trip and had forgotten to make William’s masking potion. They always kept an emergency vial of it, just in case,
but Melinda had wanted to try her hand at making it instead.

  As long as made correctly, and taken every three months, the masking potion allowed William not only to walk in the daylight, but allowed him to live freely, leading an almost normal life.

  The potion kept people in the town from realizing he did not age. They just knew him as William Wakefield, longtime friend to the Howard family; one of The Demon Isles founding families.

  In addition, four years previously, William had temporarily become guardian of the three siblings after their parents had mysteriously disappeared during a hunting trip into White Pines National Park. A place frequented by many tourists on the Isle. Not that they needed a guardian seeing as Charlie was twenty-two at the time. But the siblings had needed William, and he had been their parent’s longest and most trusted friend.

  Some locals believed that their parents had befallen some terrible accident, the type usually associated with careless tourists that refused to heed repeated warnings. Like how one misstep on the rocky cliffs might send you plunging to your death, or how fast you could find yourself in trouble when the tide came in and suddenly you’re stuck on the one rock that’s just barely sticking out of the water, or worse, in a cave that now has no exit.

  However, a handful of locals were aware of the truth: that hunting meant their parents were searching for The Demon Isle’s magical power source. A source that to this day, had yet to be located; even by the many generations of Howards to have come and gone from the Isle. All the siblings were certain of, is that the search had claimed the lives of their parents, just as it had claimed the lives of numerous Howard Witches before them.

  But it was this very power source that the Howard siblings also defended, often putting their own lives on the line to protect. It was what their family had always done: protect the source from being discovered and falling into the wrong hands.

  Of equal importance were the incessant attempts by various supernatural beings that came to the Isle in hopes of drawing on that power. Or overthrowing the Howards and claiming the Isle for themselves, therefore putting the locals and the tourists in constant danger.

  Dangers that newer locals opted to ignore or pass off as strange, but somehow explainable, events. Many, of course, chose to exploit the Isle’s mystical draw, now making it a top vacation spot for fans of the supernatural and paranormal. This only complicated the lives of the siblings as these fans often got more trouble than they bargained for.

  Charlie offered again to help clean up the kitchen.

  “I can handle it,” Melinda said. “You should get unpacked, maybe take a shower.” She wrinkled her nose at his fishy stench.

  “I should have been here to help you.” His voice held guilt as he grabbed half-filled vials and dried herbs, returning them to their cupboards. Melinda didn’t argue, she enjoyed her brother’s company.

  “For your knowledge,” she explained after a bit, “I did get out while you were away. I went on a patrol with William.”

  “That’s not getting out,” her brother argued.

  “Is too.”

  “We patrol at night. And patrolling is work.”

  “Yes, but there’s sometimes still people around.”

  “Work is not a life, Melinda. You need friends. You need to get out and have fun. What about the friends you used to go to school with?” Charlie asked. “That guy you went out with a few months ago?”

  Jerkface, or possibly the guy before Jerkface. “They’ve all moved away, gone to college,” she claimed quickly. “And what’s wrong with hanging out with my brothers? Or William? And there’s Emily.”

  Charlie snorted. “When she comes to the house to see Michael. I don’t want to push you, Melinda, but like you said earlier, you’re twenty-one. You should be out on the beach, partying, going on dates, and getting into trouble.” He thought about that for a minute. “Okay, make that partying lightly but you get what I mean.”

  “I’m trying, Charlie.”

  “I know, Kiddo.” He saw the uneasiness in her eyes. “Just keep taking little steps and even though we give you a hard time, screw us! Just go have some fun.”

  “Yeah, okay. Fun. It’s my top priority,” she voiced, with fake enthusiasm.

  THANKS FOR CHECKING OUT THE PREVIEW!

  As of November 2017, this series is free to borrow in Kindle Unlimited!

  **ALSO—so you know, there are two versions of the Demon Isle Series.

  We Witches Three (Teen Friendly Version)

  Wicked Good Witches (Same Story Rated for Adults)

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