“We didn’t really get that far into the conversation. We actually didn’t talk at all.”
“Jolie!”
She heard her mom and went to get up. This time Jesse let her, and she walked to her mom at a clip that was just shy of running. “Oh, Jolie, I was so worried about you. Garrick said Jesse had you and not to worry, but I had to see you for myself.”
Her mom hugged her, and she hugged her back. “You need a cell phone, Mom.”
“Yes, dear.” Her mom squeezed her even harder.
“Liv?” A masculine voice came from behind her mom. “Let your daughter breathe.” His rich voice was both calming and powerful. It was a lot like Jesse’s in that way, but to a much greater degree. Her mom pulled back, and Jolie looked to her new stepdad. He was Jesse in thirty years. Same build, same coloring, and same cheek bones. Their eyes, however, were so very different. Where Jesse’s were an almost aquamarine on a beautiful day, Garrick’s were a crystal clear blue that was almost like looking into the sky.
“Jolie, this is Garrick, my husband.”
Reality hit again, and her stomach dropped.
Garrick was standing at her mom’s side, and Jolie reached out her hand in greeting, not knowing what else to do. What is the protocol when you’re caught snuggling with your new brother by your new stepfather?
“Nice to meet you.” Jolie sounded unsure as she said it and briefly worried about hurting his feelings, but he pulled her into a hug and whispered in her ear, “Your father loved you so, and I promise you my family will take care and protect you for all times.” Not the greeting she expected. Not at all.
She felt Jesse getting closer. She had always been a little quirky as far as extra sensory crap went, but this thing with Jesse put it to a whole new level. A bad feeling before something bad happened was one thing. Feeling people coming was quite another.
“Hey, Dad. I thought I would bring her here first. Your place can be a bit ... overwhelming.” Garrick and her mom laughed at that.
“Good plan, son. Mama told me you were here, and I figured that was why. Mama said she sensed it right off,” Garrick said with pride. Pride at what, Jolie had no clue. “You were right, son.”
Garrick and Jesse hugged the man-hug, back slapping and all.
“Of course I was right.” Jesse beamed as he pulled from his father. “Just because I knew years before I should have doesn’t mean it is any less true, just that I was more prepared when it hit.”
“As I recall,” her mom threw her two cents into this conversation of weird. “You nearly messed it up the first day, so don’t get too confident, son.”
Suck an egg. There was that. Again.
Jolie felt Jesse’s arm around her and froze. What on earth was she supposed to do with that? Pull away? Slap him? Pretend to be shocked? Sink into the feeling of safety? What?
“Oh, I know I almost blew it a few times.” He tightened his arm around her shoulder. “Working on fixing that, but first we need a plan. Today was no accident.” His voice went from conversational to drill sergeant in one sentence.
“I know, son. I know.” The tone of the conversation was now so tense she wanted to run and hide. “The oak will fall and the wolves will rise.”
He mother gasped and fell to the ground, Garrick at her side. Jolie went to join them, but Jesse had a death grip on her shoulder. She turned to give him give him the what for and saw a very green Jesse looking at her, panic and fear clearly written across his face.
This was not good.
What Did the Triangle Say to the Variable?
Gee, I’m a Tree.
Liv came to in moments, but looked a similar shade of green as Jesse. Garrick was busy tending to her mom, and while Jolie knew she should be at her mom’s side, Jesse was not letting her go. His hold on her was gentle, but firm.
“They found her.” Her mother’s voiced cracked mid-sentence and tears began to form in her eyes.
“We knew it would happen, Liv.” Garrick was comforting her mother, but in a very factual and non-emotional way. “I promised both you and John we would keep her safe for all times, and we will.”
“Bullshit,” Jesse snapped at is father. “If it were true, they would never have found her.”
“Jesse.” Garrick’s voice left no room to doubt that he meant business. “Enough.”
“No.” Jesse matched his tone with his father’s. The air got tense. It was an odd thought to have, but she really felt the air around her change as their conflict grew. It scared her enough to momentarily forget her mother had passed out and that something pretty fucked up was happening. Something so fucked up that it terrified both her mother and Jesse and had led to this very pronounced pissing match. “This needs to be fixed and now. Either you do it or I will have to.”
“Jesse.” Garrick’s voice rumbled, and it was terrifying. Jolie felt herself begin to shake, and Jesse’s arms wrapped around her tighter, giving her a sense of calm in all this madness. “Think. You can’t say things like that. Here, in this company, you are still safe, but if you said that elsewhere, it would only end badly. So very badly.” The firmness in his voice was still there, but the anger was gone, and it almost sounded as if fear infused where the anger left.
Jesse tensed up at that. Whatever message Garrick was giving him was received loud and clear. “Sorry. I will be more careful.” The words felt sincere, but sounded almost as if they came from someone else. The self-assurance he always seemed to hold was less, significantly less. “I wasn’t meaning what it sounded like. I would never …”
“Done.” Garrick apparently had enough of this conversation, and at that one word, Liv joined him, standing shoulder to shoulder, but not touching as a newlywed couple usually would. Then again, this was not a typical conversation. Or at least so Jolie hoped.
“Let’s take this inside.” Liv started to walk toward the front door before finishing her sentence. It was clearly not a question. They were taking this conversation inside. My goodness, Jolie was surrounded by a lot of bossy people. She would have laughed, except she was typically one of them.
This time Jolie was prepared for the intense déjà vu that hit her. It was no less intense than before, but she was able to handle it this time. The squeeze of Jesse’s hand helped in that to be sure.
He led them into the living room where they all found a seat, she and Jesse on the sofa and her mom and Garrick in the two recliners. From the little she had seen of the house, it definitely felt like it had a woman’s touch, but those recliners screamed man cave. Her mom looked like a mini version of herself in the oversized chair.
“We should tell her.” Jesse started the conversation without any pleasantries and small talk. Jolie appreciated that. The last thing she wanted was to remain in the dark any longer.
In unison, both Liv and Garrick replied, “No.”
“Her being me?” Jolie was done being on the outside of this whole conversation looking in. She’d tried to be patient, especially since her mother did black out, but enough was enough.
Crickets. She was met by crickets. She met each of their eyes and none of them acknowledged her question. They just looked back as if she hadn’t said a thing. That was not going to cut it.
“I will take that as a yes.” She pulled in a breath and tried to reign in her control. She didn’t want to let all of her emotions out for fear they would keep even more from her. “So what are you going to tell me? Who was driving the truck? Why was my mom passed out? Why does no one seem to care my new brother is treating me like a love interest in front of both my mom and stepdad? What does the prank message really mean? Why do I feel like I have been here before?” She heard her voice start to get emotional and stopped for one final deep breath before adding, “Because I need to know the answers to all of those things, and if you aren’t going to help me, I will have to figure it out on my own. And considering I almost got killed once today, that might not be the best plan.”
She knew she was pretty much blackma
iling them into telling her, but she needed answers they seemed to have. And while she might not have “almost” been killed as she stated, it had felt that way at the time, and if she could avoid feeling that again, it would be fabtabulous.
“We don’t know who tried to kill you,” Garrick began.
“But?”
This time it was her mom answered. “We know why.”
Jolie waited for more, but was met with silence.
She looked to Jesse who was pointedly staring at her mother. Within moments her mother started to squirm a tiniest bit. “Fine. ‘Why’ is because of your father.”
“He’s dead.” Jolie couldn’t understand what a dead man could do to get her on some sort of must die list. He never paid her any mind while he was alive and now she might join him in death. Fuck that.
“That’s it, sweetheart.” Her mother was crying even though her voice remained steady. “They wanted him. He died, so now they need you.”
“They …” Jolie’s voice was shaking, and as much as she wanted to sound brave, it was beyond her capabilities at the time. “Need me … how?”
“You’re scaring her.” Garrick’s voice filled the room, and she felt herself calm slightly. She had a feeling he probably had a little extrasensory skills like she did, because nothing about this situation was at all calming. “There is no need for that. She is here, now, with us and protected. Nothing will happen.”
Jolie could tell by her mother’s expression that she only half believed Garrick.
“Nothing like what?” Jesse’s voice was calm, but as she turned to face him, his eyes betrayed him. “Nothing like them trying to run her off the road or flatten her at the crosswalk?”
Jolie’s hands were gripping the sofa cushion. She could feel it. Something was even more wrong than her mother thought, and the true danger was not even really in play yet; it was still yet to come. Sometimes she hated her “gift.” Even if she told them what she was feeling, the information was utterly useless.
Garrick rose from his seat. “Jesse, you will mind your place. I know this is personal, but you have to remember it is personal for me also. If others see you acting this way, no good will come of it.”
Jolie didn’t understand what Jesse was being reprimanded for and quite honestly she couldn’t care less. She wanted answers. When she stood up and walked toward Garrick, Liv and Jesse shared the same shocked look.
“I need you to not keep taking around me like I am not in the room.” She took a few steps closer and was now only a foot away from her new stepfather. “I need answers. All of them. I don’t care what promises you made. I don’t care what kind of protection you think you are giving me. I need answers.”
Unlike when Jesse seemed to go against his father, this time he seemed amused, and that infuriated her even more. Someone, or if she was right, someones were trying to kill her and he knew why, yet here he was trying to hold in a laugh.
She reached up and smacked him in the chest. “And this is funny, how?” At that the room burst into laughter, and she was enveloped in a hug.
“It is funny.” Garrick still held humor in his voice, but the humor was gone. “Because only one person has ever stood up to me the way you just did and that was your father. He was the only person who treated me just as Garrick, not as who or what I am. He would have smacked my sorry self too.” He squeezed her a bit tighter. “He was so proud of you.”
“He never knew me.” That was the second time he had mentioned her father as if they had been in each other’s lives.
“Oh, he did, honey. He knew you and loved you; he just did it from afar to protect you.” Garrick kissed the top of her head as if she were a small child and pulled away. “So I guess we go with your plan, Jesse.”
“We tell her everything?”
She couldn’t tell if Jesse was questioning his father’s words or the depth of the conversation they were about to have, but she was glad either which way. Especially since her stepdad had added a whole new set of questions to her list with that little hug.
“We will tell her everything related to her safety,” Garrick replied as he went back to the chair next to her mother, who seemed much more relaxed than just a few moment earlier.
“Thank you,” was Jesse’s only reply, and she knew that there were a lot more secrets in the room than she was going to get answers to tonight. As much as it frustrated her, she knew there was time for more.
Jolie went to sit next to Jesse and decided to screw any last attempt she had at making it seem like they were not together, or whatever they were. She wanted the comfort of feeling his thigh brushing hers and his arm around her shoulders.
“Garrick, should I tell her or you?” Her mom was back to a slight shade of green. Jolie grabbed the couch cushion with one hand and Jesse’s thigh with another.
“You, Liv.”
It was odd to see her mother asking in such a way. She had never been the strongest woman, but she was always a good mama bear.
“Jolie, your father loved you very much, and I really want you to try to listen to everything I say before asking questions because …” Her mother’s voice was shaking. “Because it will be hard for me to start again once I stop.”
Jolie nodded at her mother. She had only seen her mother this visibly shaken once before, and that was when she got the call about her father’s death.
“Your father did always love you. He never wanted to leave you, but he had to because he knew that if he was part of our lives, you would be in danger. People, very horrible people, wanted to find and kill your father. They thought he was the key to their plan.”
“His death was no accident.” It was out of Jolie’s mouth before she could stop herself. “Sorry,” she mumbled.
“No, he died in a motorcycle accident.” That didn’t feel right to Jolie, but she could tell her mom believed it so she let it slide. Her mother continued. “Here is where you need to just listen and ask later.”
Her mother took a huge breath, and Jolie saw Garrick reach over and giver her hand a squeeze.
“So there are people, really bad people, who think they have discovered the way to turn themselves into bodarks.” That word felt oddly familiar, but she couldn’t place from where. “Bodarks are basically werewolves of legends. The kind you read about in horror books, not in romance novels. In the legends, you have to stab a tree with a copper knife and recite a chant, and then, according to Russian folklore, you become a bodark.” The last word was a whisper and her mom looked toward Garrick.
“Jolie,” Garrick took over for her mother. “As you may have noticed, there are not a lot of bodarks around. True, they would have liked to keep their forms hidden if they were, but they would leave a vile and very violent path in their leave. People would know. It has been centuries since the last known bodark was killed.”
This should all be sounding like a big ball of crazy. She felt that whatever came of this was only part of the picture. Damn half-ass power.
“Jolie, you look like you are following along okay. You know this to be true?” Garrick asked.
“It feels true, but I feel like there is more.” Might as well put it out there.
“There is more, Jolie,” Jessie said for only her to hear. “Rest assured, you will know it all.” Jolie doubted he knew what was nagging at her at this moment, but the offer of more information pleased her.
“There is a lot more, as Jesse says.” Guess he was not as quiet as she thought. “But back to the bodarks. There have been no bodarks because people had it wrong. The legend was lost in translation over the years. Bodarks were not made by the stabbing of an actual tree. They were made by stabbing the descendants of a few particular family lines.”
Holy suckass luck, Jolie Elah Skuld. “By family lines you mean … oak … Elah … The oak will fall.” She didn’t need them to say anything, she knew she was right. “They want to stab me.”
Why Couldn’t He be a Door to Door Salesman?
Instead of pulli
ng her close and reassuring her that all would be okay, even though that was far from the case, Jesse jumped up from the coach and over to the window. “Who knows we are here?” He was all business. From where she was, she couldn’t see nor hear anyone, but Jesse seemed to indicate there were people coming.
“Just Mama, and probably Sheriff Williams since he was there when she called you.” Garrick seemed a lot calmer than Jesse at this point and Jolie's mother looked an all-out mess. Not that Jolie could blame her. If only half of what she inferred from their conversation was accurate, her mother’s life pretty much had sucked since her birth.
“Mama is a gossip.” Jesse kept his eyes glued to the driveway.
“Mama is a gossip who wants to see Jolie safe and to keep in my good graces,” Garrick said as he walked toward Jesse and put his hand on his son’s shoulder. “Sit down, son. Having you at the window like that will only cause alarm if the visit is social.”
Jesse started toward the couch just as Jolie’s mom got up from the recliner. “Jesse, sit in the recliner your father was in. and Jolie, sit in mine. Garrick and I should be on the couch when anyone comes. The last thing we need is news getting out about … well … you know.” Her mom was blushing, and it seemed so out of place in the midst of whatever was currently happening.
“Mama knows.” Jesse sat in the chair, and Jolie went to do the same. This is not the first time he’d said that, but she still had no idea what Mama exactly knew.
“Mama always knows. She usually knows before the people who should know. That is one thing she would never gossip about, though.”
Garrick pulled the curtain back into place and went to join her mother, sitting much closer to her and looking very much like a couple. It would have made Jolie happy if she wasn’t so determined to bone her stepbrother. That would have to wait until she no longer had people trying to stab her. But they didn’t try to stab her, did they? They tried to run her over or off the road.
“Wait, if they—”
Beyond The Veil: A Paranormal & Magical Romance Boxed Set Page 66