by Deanna Chase
“He’s stable,” Zelda said, her face suddenly pale. “Right after the paper arrived, the convulsing stopped, but he’s still weak and barely able to shift. The pentagram on his arm flares up periodically, and I’m able to neutralize it temporarily just as I had with yours.”
“So let me get this straight. Diesel is sick and came to you for help. Your magic backfired, sent him into a fit, and produced this piece of paper. In addition to that, he has a living tattoo, the same one I have, and you think we’ve both been marked. Am I with you so far?”
Zelda nodded.
“Any ideas on why this is happening?” I ran my fingers over my arm and the strange ink, certain I felt some sort of faint undercurrent of energy.
Sassy leaned forward and in a hushed whisper said, “She Who Must Not Be Named escaped.”
“She Who Must Not Be Named? Who the hell is that?” I asked.
“You know, that crazy beotch witch. The one who cursed Diesel.”
“Ophelia?”
“Shhhh,” Sassy and Zelda said at the same time. Zelda glanced around nervously. “Don’t say that again.”
“Have you two lost your minds?” I asked. Sterling and I shared a glance, then we both looked at my new tattoo. “It’s not glowing, so I guess I’m not being called to the dark side.”
Sterling laughed. The other two didn’t.
“We’re working under the theory that she has cursed both you and Diesel.” Zelda nodded to the tattoo. “And that saying her name only intensifies it. Gives it strength because she has power over you.”
I studied the tattoo. Had those vines inched higher on my arm. It was hard to tell. “And you know this why?” I asked, dread coiling in my gut.
Zelda waved at the parchment still sitting in front of me.
I reached for it, but Sterling grabbed my wrist stopping me. “Wait.”
“Why?” I leaned over eyeing the fancy lettering scrawled across the page.
“It could be dangerous,” he said.
“It’s a piece of paper.” Though he had been a witch when he’d been alive. He probably knew more about these things than I did.
“One Zelda won’t touch,” he countered.
“He’s right,” Zelda said. “We don’t know for sure, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
“Do you know what it says?” I asked.
Zelda moved to stand behind me and peered at the letter. “An eye for an eye, prepare to die. Betrayals run deep, may your souls rot in the keep. Poisoned ink marks you as mine. Now your traitorous hearts will shrivel and die.”
“Wow. That’s a pretty crappy spell.” I snorted, amused at how dramatic it sounded. “She should’ve done her homework a little better. Because last I checked, one of us is already dead.”
“Ida May—” Zelda started.
“Dude,” Sassy said, shaking her head. “That’s a spell that sends you to Hell.”
“What! It says—son of a witch.” I stared at the parchment, watching as the letters morphed into English. Betrayals run deep, may your souls rot in the keep. Crap on a cracker. Sassy was right. I lifted my head, my entire body tensed with anger. “I’m not spending eternity in Hell. That two-bit magic whore is off her rocker if she thinks I’m going anywhere hotter than New Orleans.”
Sterling patted my arm. “You tell ’em, Ida May.”
I stood, ready for action. “No one threatens me. Let’s go find that witch.”
3
“We can’t just go blow up her ass,” Sassy said as we piled into a large gray SUV. “No one knows where she is.”
I slid into the backseat behind Zelda. Sassy sat in the passenger seat, and Sterling behind her, next to me. “Isn’t anyone looking for her?”
“Of course,” Zelda said. “Yaba Daba Goo Goo has a team on it. The problem is no one even knows how she managed to ditch the witch pokey. But she did. And now Diesel’s in trouble. We’re focusing our energy on helping him get better.”
Zelda was referring to Baba Yaga, the head honcho in charge of all witches. I’d never once heard Zelda call the other witch by her proper name. I was blaming it on her authority issues. I narrowed my eyes. “Okay, then let me just ask, why did you decide to summon me?”
“Because O—” Sassy stopped and cleared her throat “—She Who Must Not Be Named hates you. It’s basically your fault she was thrown in the pokey.”
“It was not my fault,” I said indignantly. “That classless wench brought this on herself.”
“We know that,” Sassy said, waving her hand. “But that’s not the way she sees it. And since the note references souls, as in more than one, we naturally figured you were the other target. We couldn’t just let you rot, could we? You’re here so Zelda can make sure you don’t end up the guest of honor at Satan’s barbeque.”
“But I was fine in New Orleans,” I whined.
Sterling patted my knee. “Probably not for long. That curse sounds like the type that slowly eats away at you. Being a ghost means you wouldn’t likely see any of the tell-tale signs. But since you’re in human form now, the spell has left a visible mark.” He ran his hand over the tattoo, frowning. “Yeah, that thing is nasty.”
“I’m not sure I like you referring to me as nasty… at least not with that unpleasant look on your face.” I pulled my arm away, hiding the evidence of my curse. Then I gave him a naughty smile. “But If you said that to me in the bedroom, that might be different.”
“Yes!” Sassy pumped her fist in the air.
“Someone just shoot me,” Zelda said, feigning annoyance. But thanks to the rearview mirror, I caught her lips twitching as she tried to suppress her amusement.
“You keep saying that,” Sassy said. “One of these days I’m just going to go ahead and put you out of your misery.”
Zelda cast her a dirty look.
“Let’s at least wait until she figures out how to de-curse me and Diesel, okay?” I said.
“Yeah, good point.” Sassy reached back, holding her hand out for a fist bump.
I obliged, then slid over to snuggle next to Sterling. If we were approaching my end days, I was damn sure going to enjoy any time I had left.
The small log cabin came into view at the end of a dirt road. What it lacked in size, it made up for in character and beauty. A swing had been added to the front porch, and someone had planted an abundance of colorful flowers along the borders of the walkway. Not Diesel surely. This smacked of a woman’s touch.
Andi. She was a new wolf in town, and the moment I’d seen her with Diesel, I’d known she was his mate. Had they figured it out yet? It sure looked like it.
Zelda pulled the SUV to a stop next to a silver truck. Everyone hopped out except Sterling.
“Aren’t you coming?” I asked, peering through his window.
His expression was blank as he said, “Maybe I should wait out here.”
“Why?”
Shaking his head, he chuckled softly. “Ida May, it’s clear you have history with this man. Do you really want me hovering at your reunion?”
“Reunion?” I rolled my eyes. “Our fling lasted a total of about three days. There’s nothing there,” I lied. Of course I still had feelings for Diesel. He was my first love all those years ago, and it hadn’t been that long since we’d been together. But he’d moved on. I’d moved on. There was no reason for Sterling to act as if he was the other man. I yanked the door open. “Come on. You’re a witch… or used to be. You could be useful.”
He glanced at Sassy, then Zelda. When neither contradicted me, he shrugged and got out of the SUV.
I smiled up at him, slipped my arm through his and led the way to Diesel’s cabin. But the moment I got to the front door, nerves set me on edge and I untangled myself.
He leaned down and whispered, “Are you okay?”
I nodded, trying and failing to ignore the churning in my gut.
He brushed one of my dark curls behind my ear, kissed me on the top of my head, and whispered, “I’ll be her
e on the porch if you need me.”
How had a ghost rider, a man who spent his entire existence cruising on his motorcycle, gotten so… sensitive? “Thanks.”
“No problem.” He moved silently to the swing, sat, and leaned forward with his hands clasped together.
Sterling Charles was just about the most perfect man I’d ever had the pleasure of laying my eyes on. No other ghost who found himself in human form would be bothering to stick around to help with some effed up curse. Let alone one that revolved around his date’s ex-lover. That was just ludicrous. Everyone else would be out living it up, enjoying the pleasures of the flesh. Hell, it’s what I wanted to be doing. It’s what I would be doing if I hadn’t been cursed as well.
A small voice in the back of my mind whispered, Liar. You’d put your life on the line for Diesel and you know it.
Okay, fine I would. But I’d be thinking a lot more about how to squeeze in a little fun.
“Here goes nothing,” I murmured and then walked in without even knocking. The high-end, cozy cabin was exactly as I remembered it: sparsely decorated with a gourmet kitchen and gorgeous French doors that let in an abundance of light. They’d been a good design choice. The back of the cabin sat at the edge of a grass-filled meadow, and the view was gorgeous.
Strolling in, I headed straight for Diesel’s bedroom. When I got the the partially cracked door, I walked right in and called, “I hope you’re decent!”
“Ida May!” Diesel pushed himself up on his bed. He grinned at me, the lines around his whiskey-colored eyes crinkling.
“I bet you weren’t expecting to see me anytime soon.” I forced a smile, hiding my abject horror. His skin was ashen, the bags under his eyes dark with fatigue. He was thinner. Paler. Aged. My gaze met Mac’s across the room.
The gorgeous Shifter king nodded his hello, rose, and quietly slipped out of the room, giving us a moment of privacy. Zelda and Sassy hadn’t followed me, much to my surprise. I most likely had Zelda to thank for that. Sassy wouldn’t know tact if it bit her on the ass.
“On the contrary,” Diesel said, his voice cracking as he held out a frail hand, gesturing for me to join him. “I’ve been waiting for you all day.”
I laced my fingers through his and had to blink back the tears stinging the backs of my eyes. Is this what the curse had done to him?
“Come here,” he said patting the edge of the bed.
“Are you sure? Maybe I shouldn’t—”
“Ida May,” he growled, sounding much more like the Diesel I remembered. “Don’t treat me like I’m dying.”
I bit my lower lip and did my best to tamp down the fear flooding through my senses. The problem was he looked like he was dying. And that just wasn’t something I’d been prepared for. He was a wolf and barely a hundred years old. Way too young to be quietly wasting away. I waved a hand. “Move over, bed hog. There’s only enough room for one butt cheek.”
His lips curved into a whisper of a smile as he swept his gaze over me. “What the hell are you wearing?”
“Are you seriously implying you don’t care for the exposed asscheek look?” I teased.
“I’d be more appreciative if I thought I had any claim to them.” Inching over, he patted the bed again. “Sit.”
“I’ll have you know Sassy put my outfit together. So much happened in the last couple of hours, I didn’t even think to ask for something a little more appropriate.”
“Appropriate? You?” He laughed, and his face lit up as some of his coloring returned.
Talking was good for him. I breathed a tiny sigh of relief, encouraged there was at least something I could do to help. “Don’t go disparaging my fashion choices. Beggars can’t be choosy, you know.”
“They can when they’re at Zelda’s house,” he said. “That witch has more closets than bedrooms.”
He had a point. As soon as I got back there, I was raiding her designer duds. Because honestly, anyone that let me walk around in public in booty shorts owed me one.
Once I was settled on the bed, I lifted my arm and pointed to the tattoo. “I hear we’ve got a little something in common.”
His faint smile vanished, replaced by horrified anger. “When did that first appear?”
“About an hour and a half ago.”
He trailed his fingers lightly over the design, just as Sterling had. Only instead of the ink remaining benign, the pentagram took on a golden hue. The vines brightened to electric green and started to once again climb my arm. Letting out a curse, he snatched his hand away. Instantly the magic faded and the tattoo was once again benign.
“That was… odd,” I said, my voice a little shaky.
“More like alarming. This spell Oph—she put on us seems to be affecting me more than you.”
“It probably has something to do with the fact that I’m already dead,” I said with a shrug. I was long past grieving my premature death.
He ground his teeth together as he studied me. “For a dead person, you seem to get around.”
I chuckled. “That’s true.” Then I peered at him, blinking. It was as if he was transforming right before my eyes. His pale skin darkened to golden tan. The gauntness in his face disappeared. And those dark circles under his eyes were barely noticeable. “Um, Diesel?”
“Yeah?” He kicked the quilt off and stretched his legs out.
“Are you feeling any better?”
“Actually, now that you mention it, yes, I do.” He climbed off the bed and stood. “Much better.” He strode into the adjoining bathroom. A few moments later, he walked out with awe written all over his face. Running his hand through his tousled dark hair, he asked, “How did you do that?”
“Do what?” I glanced around as if something in the room would reveal the mystery.
“Heal me. Before you arrived I was knocking on death’s door. And now after five minutes I look like my old self.”
He was right. He did. Impossibly long lashes framed his bright eyes. His tall frame had filled out, giving him the look of a man who knew his way around a gym. But most of all, his zombified complexion had vanished, leaving him as handsome as ever. I grabbed him by his T-shirt and yanked him out into the living room. “You guys! Look. He’s cured!”
Mac did a double take. “What the hell?”
Zelda turned to Mac. “I thought you said he was getting worse.”
“He was.” Frowning, Mac crossed the room, and visually inspected his fellow Shifter. He lifted Diesel’s arm, checking out his tattoo. Then he glanced at mine. “The curse isn’t broken. How did this happen?”
“It’s Ida May,” Diesel said, staring down at me with tender eyes. “As soon as she got here, I started to get better.”
Everyone turned to stare at me.
I took a step back, my hands up. “I didn’t do anything.”
Zelda’s expression turned contemplative. “The curse connects the pair of you together. You could be the reason he’s better. I temporarily brought you back from the dead. Maybe he’s syphoning that magical energy from you. It’s a different spell than what I used on him.”
“But how is that even possible? I don’t have magic.” It wasn’t that I was against the idea that I’d somehow healed Diesel. If I did, then great. I just didn’t understand why. None of them had been able to do anything, and they were powerful people. What was it about me that got him out of that bed?
“Like I said, it could be the connection. You aren’t doing anything. He is,” Zelda said.
Diesel shook his head “It’s because she’s my mate.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into him.
Oh, jeez. This again? “No, I’m not,” I said, meeting his elated gaze. Crap curds. I felt like I was kicking a puppy. A very tall, gorgeous, whiskey-eyed wolf of a puppy. “I’m a ghost, remember? I can’t be your mate.”
“It’s the only thing that makes sense. Together we’re stronger,” he insisted, ignoring Zelda’s theory altogether.
“I’m not sure it works th
at way,” Zelda offered.
Sassy shook her head. “Yeah, I never heard of that before either.”
Everyone turned to Mac for his opinion. He lifted his hands palms up, indicating he didn’t have an answer.
“I’m not,” I insisted. “Besides, what about Andi?”
Diesel’s brows furrowed together. “Andi? How do you know about her?”
I shrugged and gave him a sheepish smile. “I might have checked in on you a time or two—”
“I knew you couldn’t stay away,” he teased and planted a kiss on the top of my head.
I unconsciously glanced toward the front of the house, feeling very awkward about the fact my date was still out there. I extracted myself from him and went to stand next to Sassy. “I’m sorry. I should have told you right away.”
“Told me what?” he asked.
“I’m kind of here with a date.”
His mouth fell open as his gaze landed on Sassy. “Are you serious? I never knew you liked—um, what about Jeeves?”
Sassy and I glanced at one another and both fell out laughing. “Her?” I gasped out. “You thought Sassy was my date?”
“Please. Ida May is cool and all, but she doesn’t exactly have the right equipment, if you know what I mean.” Sassy punctuated her statement with a variety of obscene hand gestures.
“Everyone knows what you mean, Sassy.” Zelda rolled her eyes.
Diesel frowned, scanning the small cabin. “I’m not sure what I was supposed to think after a statement like that. It’s not like there’s anyone else here besides Mac and Zelda and they’re already mated.”
I waved a hand toward the door. “He’s waiting outside.”
Diesel stared at the door, then me, hurt shining in his beautiful eyes. “Wait a minute. You’re telling me Zelda summoned you here, told you I was dying and that you’re cursed, and the very first thing you do is find a date? Then you bring him here? That’s cold, Ida May. Really cold.”
Anger flared to life in my chest. “Way to jump to conclusions, Diesel. It’s comforting to know you think so little of me.”