Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (Dead Things Series Book 1)

by Martina McAtee

  “Can you help her?” Kai asked Josephine, gesturing to Ember. Tristin’s lip curled at the growing black puddle beneath her cousin. That was really disgusting.

  “She almost done,” Josephine assured him. “This is the consequences of bad magic. All that darkness gotta get out somehow. You’re already feeling better, ain’t ya, child?”

  She nodded weakly.

  Ember wiped her mouth on her sleeve, sliding away from the mess on the floor. She was white as any ghost Tristin had ever seen. Her eyes were still glassy but she didn’t look like she was dying anymore.

  The witch huffed, “Good, cause I need to sit down.” She tottered towards the bleachers with enough wobbling momentum that Tristin feared she might topple over face first. As the witch walked, she waved a hand and the overhead lights flared to life, temporarily blinding the room.

  They all followed along behind her, unquestioning. The old woman used her walking stick to knock the witches’ candles out of her way. Tristin couldn’t fathom how this woman held so much power. She looked like she had one foot in a retirement home and the other in the grave. Josephine plopped herself down with a heavy sigh. Ember’s boss took a seat beside her.

  Once settled, the witch turned her gaze to Tristin and then to Ember. “What were you two thinking? Blood magic?” she snorted. “After all the things I put in place…years of planning and you two manage to muck it up in a matter of weeks.”

  “Josephine, what are you talking about?” Isa asked, her bewilderment apparent.

  “I’m talking about setting up these children to inherit their birthright.”

  “Our birthright as reapers?” Tristin asked, annoyance creeping into her voice. Kai winced, giving her his wide eyed, shut-up look. She rolled her eyes. This old bat didn’t impress her.

  “She’s talking about your birthright as the Morrigan,” Miller answered.

  Josephine slapped the man’s arm, eyes fond, “There you go, stealin’ my thunder.”

  “The Morrigan?” Kai gasped.

  Tristin’s anger flared. Oh, of course. “Ember’s a goddess? That figures.”

  The old woman crooked a finger and Tristin lurched forward, hitting her knees before the older woman. Her pulse slammed against her throat as she realized she was unable to get away. The old woman held her in place with something…her swampy witch magic.

  She placed a palm against her cheek and Tristin felt her unease slipping away. “Child, you are, by far, the feistiest of my three, my little warrior, fightin’ the world.” She addressed all three of them then. “Do none of you know your history? What do they teach you in this town? The Morrigan wasn’t one person, but three. Three separate reapers, sisters, each with their own gifts and abilities. Each powerful in their own right. But together…together they were unstoppable.”

  Ember stood, unsteady as a baby deer, moving to sit on the floor near her old boss, placing her head on his knee. The elderly man startled at the touch but then began to comb his fingers through her hair. “You’ve become a little bit of a wolf yourself, Ember,” he told her. She nodded against his leg, looking exhausted.

  “You’re saying we are gods?” Kai asked, face flushing. Her brother blushed so easily but Tristin admitted it sounded crazy. He reached for Rhys’ hand but then stopped as if remembering it wasn’t his to hold anymore. Tristin’s eyes found Rhys’ and he stepped closer to her brother, his huge hand encircling Kai’s wrist. Kai looked relieved but so sad Tristin had to look away.

  Josephine smiled, “I’m saying the magical world has waited a long time for you.”

  “Not the entire magical world,” Kai quipped, looking at the bloodstain where Allister’s body had lain.

  When Ember could muster the strength, she turned her face towards her old boss, “Miller, why are you here? How do you know Donovan or Josephine? How does Donovan know Josephine? I’m so confused.”

  “I’m here because my sister said you needed me and I’ve been looking out for you your whole life.”

  “You’re Ms. Josephine’s brother?” Tristin asked.

  He nodded. “I am.”

  “I don’t understand any of this,” Ember groaned. “What is this?”

  Ms. Josephine chuckled, “I had a vision, the night the three of you were born and I knew we had to protect you no matter what the cost.”

  “A vision, you’re a psychic witch?” Quinn asked, moving closer to Tristin like she had her own gravitational pull.

  “No, child, I’m an oracle.”

  “No way,” Quinn blurted.

  “Like in the Matrix?” Kai asked. Tristin hid her face. He was so embarrassing.

  “Perhaps,” she laughed, “but I knew, just as your mothers knew, that you had returned to save us.”

  “Save you from what?” Tristin asked.

  “From the curse. From the Grove.”

  “From the Grove?” Ember gasped. “How could we ever save you from them? We couldn’t even save Quinn.”

  “That’s not important now. That comes later. It’s clear we have much to do. First, we have to clean up this mess.” She looked at Quinn. “How you feelin’?”

  He flushed as all eyes turned to him. “Okay, I guess. A little weird. I look like me, but I don’t feel like me, exactly?”

  “That’s what happens when a reaper uses witch magic to try to restore a soul.”

  Tristin’s heartbeat stuttered, “Are you saying it won’t last? Is he going to disappear?”

  Josephine quieted her with a gesture. “Nah, it’ll hold but there will be consequences. Big ones.”

  Ember lifted her head, eyes guarded. “Like what?”

  Josephine didn’t answer right away, as if trying to decide what to say, “I’ve been waiting for this for so many years. I knew you three were destined to change our world, but no amount of planning can control how things come to pass.” She frowned, eyes haunted.

  “Your father knew the only way for you to truly be free of his spell was for him to die. He’d always known it had to be this way. We knew when we dropped the cloaking spell that hid you and your father, Allister would come.” She looked to Kai, a hint of a smile on her face. “It’s why I put your name on Kai’s arm. It was a gamble but from what Donovan told me, he wouldn’t be able to resist seeing if it was really Ember.”

  “That was a pretty big gamble,” Wren said.

  “So you knew who I was the whole time? You knew everything when we came to see you? You lied to us.” Kai said.

  “I didn’t tell you nothin’ that wasn’t true. I just didn’t tell you everything. You didn’t tell me everything neither. You coulda’ told me Ember was alive. You coulda’ told me her powers were out of control. Let’s not talk about ‘coulda’.

  “I didn’t count on the soul eater. Given what I knew of Allister, I should’ve, I suppose. He’d never do his own killin’. But I never saw him in my visions. I never figured you’d find a way to bind yourself to somebody so quickly. I didn’t figure on you restoring his soul.”

  “Restoring his soul?” Ember repeated sluggishly, like the words were fighting her. Tristin thought her cousin might puke again. “He didn’t have a soul.”

  “Not until you gave it back the night you met him in the cemetery. You remember?”

  Her cousin swallowed hard. “That weird ball of light?” she whispered.

  “It took a while for him to really start to feel human again. You both blamed it on the bond but Donovan said his soul seemed to be anchoring a bit more every day. Had you not tethered him to you, he might a realized it eventually but you were still dealing with the effects of the binding spell wearing off. You did better with the critters.”

  Tristin could see the exact moment the enormity of what the witch said hit Ember. “So if Mace had a soul…” Tears formed in her eyes, “Was what we felt real? He-sacrificed himself-his soul…” Her e
yes widened, horrified. “Oh, God, what did I do with his soul?”

  Josephine shook her head, “I don’t know, child, but I expect we’ll find out soon enough.”

  Ember swiped viciously at her eyes, before suddenly asking, “So you’re saying my dad knew he was going to die?”

  Miller nodded, “As long as he lived, your powers would never truly be unbound. Without your full powers, Tristin and Kai’s powers could never advance.”

  “Advance?” Kai asked.

  Miller chuckled, “Oh, yes. You haven’t even begun to see what you’re capable of. But you will.”

  Ember shook her head, “This is crazy.”

  “We have time to explain everything to you, but not tonight.”

  “I have one more question that will need an explanation. Tonight.” All eyes turned to the alpha who’d stayed silent until now. “Who is Donovan to you?”

  Donovan moved to sit next to the older lady, kissing her cheek, “Donovan is my grandson. His mother was my daughter Deja. His father is Edgar. I sent him to you but not with any ill intent. I needed to know Kai and Tristin were okay. Miller was taking care of Ember as best he could. I knew if you saw an injured wolf, you’d take him in. You gotta big heart, Isa. It’s why I chose you to watch over the twins.”

  Isa looked conflicted. “Allister brought them to me. He said it was under orders of the Grove.”

  “A man so desperate for power is easily manipulated. It only took a little nudge to get him to see keeping you three alive was a far greater benefit to him than having you dead at least until you grew up.”

  “Donovan was near dead when we found him. We could have killed him. You injured your own grandson so he could infiltrate our pack?” Wren asked sounding more spooked than Tristin had ever heard him.

  “My grandson is very strong. He understands what’s at stake. Soon you will too.”

  Miller stood, “I think that’s enough for tonight. You need to get some rest. From here on out, everything changes.”

  “That’s it?” Tristin asked. “That’s all the explanation we get? We’re supposed to save the world with this information?” she gestured to herself, Ember and Kai.

  Quinn pulled Tristin from her knees. “Tristin, I’m tired. I want to go home. I’m sure Ms. Josephine will give us more answers soon, right?”

  “Course, child,” she told him.

  Tristin shivered as Quinn wrapped his arms around her. She returned the hug but gasped as she felt Mace’s scars. “What is-?”

  Miller stood, stretching. “That glamour spell that girl used is glitchy. You children have no training whatsoever.”

  He waved a hand, Latin pouring from his lips. Tristin pulled up Quinn’s shirt, earning a yelp from the boy. “Hey, handsy, no means no,” he told her, yanking his shirt down. “Buy me dinner first or something.”

  “Better?” the old man asked.

  Tristin nodded.

  Everybody began making their way towards the door. Everybody except Donovan. “What about me?” he asked quietly, looking to Isa.

  Isa looked at Josephine, “Yes, what about him?”

  “Donovan’s father may be an alpha but Donovan was born human. He took the bite by choice. He will always be a beta. He’s earned the right to choose his pack. If he’s still welcome in your pack?” Josephine smiled at him.

  Donovan kept his head down, eyes to the ground only daring to glance at Isa when it became apparent they were waiting on him.

  “What do you want, Donovan?” Isa asked.

  He risked a look at his grandmother, “I want to stay. I want to stay with Isa but not as an Omega. I want to be permanent.” He looked at Isa. “If-If that’s okay with you?”

  Isa stared at the boy for so long he started to whither under her gaze. Finally, she said, “Fine, but that means no more running off whenever you feel like it; you cannot answer to two alphas. If you are mine, you are mine. No more secrets. How’s your father going to feel about that?”

  “It’s my choice. I promise, no more secrets.”

  She looked to Wren who nodded. Rhys looked more leery before giving her the slightest nod. “Okay, let’s go home.”

  85

  KAI

  Kai felt like he’d aged a hundred years in one night. They’d taken two vehicles to the school. The Suburban and the Corolla. Ember, Quinn and Tristin rode home with Donovan in the Corolla. Kai and Rhys rode back with Wren and Isa. Kai was a little disappointed he didn’t get to ride home with Quinn even though he pulled in the driveway only two minutes behind them.

  He smiled a bit as he made his way up the stairs. His friend was back from the dead. He couldn’t be sad about that but it was strange to see Quinn in reality when mirrors reflected Mace. Isa spent two hours working hard to ensure the other packs knew an attack on Mace-Quinn-Mace, ugh, was an attack against their pack. The other packs begrudgingly accepted the soul eater. Kai suspected it was because they were wary of a pack that now contained four wolves, three reapers, a faery and a soul eater.

  He didn’t care as long as they were gone.

  He pushed open his bedroom door to find Rhys sitting once again on his bed, staring at the floor.

  “I never wanted to lie to you,” Rhys said.

  Kai was too tired for this but couldn’t help but say, “Then why did you?” Rhys opened his mouth but closed it. So Kai finally asked the question he’d been afraid to ask that first night. “How long have you been my personal guard? That is why Isa never let me go anywhere without you, right? She knew how I felt about you so she thought it would be easier? That I’d want you around me all the time?” Kai couldn’t look at Rhys. Now that he’d said it out loud he kept going, letting his imagination fill in the blanks. “Is that why you had a sudden change of heart about us? Did you decide I was easier to control if you just pretended you cared about me too?”

  Rhys’ head jerked up at that. “What?”

  Kai swallowed the lump in his throat. “What? Makes sense. Makes way more sense than you having feelings for me. Why else would you suddenly just give in?”

  Rhys shot to his feet, grabbing him by the shirt. “You almost died. I almost lost you. You stood before the Grove and I thought they were going to take you from me…twice.” The wolf pressed his face against Kai’s neck, inhaling deeply like he was trying to soothe himself. “I gave in because I couldn’t stand not doing this, not touching you. I couldn’t stand seeing that look in your eyes every time you wanted me to touch you and I disappointed you…again. I’m always disappointing you.”

  Kai snorted, “You felt sorry for me?”

  Rhys pulled back, hands on Kai’s face, forcing him to meet his gaze. “You are so stubborn. I fought my feelings for you because I couldn’t stand the idea of being with you when you didn’t know the truth. I didn’t want it to be like that. I don’t want there to be lies between us. Isa said if you knew about the Grove making you prisoners we’d all be in danger.”

  This time it was Kai who couldn’t summon any words.

  Rhys looked him dead in the eye and Kai was positive his heart seized when the wolf said, “You told me you wanted me since you were twelve. I’ve known you were mine since the moment we met. The first time I saw you, you smelled like mine.”

  Kai stared, mouth open. He knew Rhys could hear his pulse. Hell, he could probably see it throbbing in his neck. He tried to say something, anything really, “I-”

  “No, you wanted the truth, here it is. I love you. I have never loved anybody but you. I will never love anybody after you. You are my home. We’re bonded. Do you get what that means? Wolves mate for life-” he stopped abruptly, stepping away, “but you aren’t a wolf. This doesn’t have to mean to you what it means to me. I mean, that’s a big commitment at seventeen? Are you ready to promise me forever now that you know there are so many better options out there for you?”

 
Kai was nodding before he even knew it, mouth finding Rhys’ mumbling against his lips, “There are no other options for me, you big stupid wolf. I told you that. If we are mated, bonded, whatever you want to call it, I’m totally on board.” Kai pulled back suddenly, staring at Rhys dubiously, “Wait, is this a marriage proposal? Cause I would have liked a little more fanfare. A ring. A fancy dinner. Perhaps a sonnet or two?”

  Rhys rolled his eyes but then was kissing him again, walking him backwards, pressing him down into the mattress. His heart felt like it was bigger than it was ten minutes ago and he knew that was stupidly romantic but he didn’t care. Rhys loved him. Rhys said they were mates. “Oh God, we are those stupid kids who get engaged in high school.”

  “Technically, I’ve been engaged since before I was born.”

  Kai pulled back, “Oh, yeah. Selina right? Is that going to be a problem?”

  “They can’t fight a mating bond.” Rhys told him, kissing his way along his throat, pressing his body closer to Kai, biting his way along his jaw and doing that hip rotation thing that made Kai temporarily lose his ability to process rational thought. Kai pulled Rhys’ head back so he could look at him. “Hey, you think if we tell Isa we’re engaged, we can start having like actual sex?”

  “What we did in the truck wasn’t actual sex to you?”

  “Well, I mean, yeah. Sure. Like, um depending on your definition of sex,” Kai mumbled.

  Rhys snorted but Kai threw his leg over him and twisted, letting Rhys’ surprise and Kai’s momentum flip them so Kai was above him. Kai bit him through his shirt. Rhys’ eyes glowed green, fangs dropping. Kai couldn’t help the laugh that escaped. “Uh, maybe we should have you declawed first before we break into the advanced sex stuff.”

  Rhys rolled his eyes again, but kissed his nose.

  Kai bit the end of Rhys’ nose in return. “I love you too, you know?”

  Rhys turned bright red. “Yeah, I know.”

  “If we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together, you are going to have to stop blushing every time I say it. Here, let’s practice. I love you.”