“We lost track of time,” Adam says with a half smile. He wraps his arm around my waist and kisses my cheek. “Hey.”
The other three men’s eyes narrow. “We better get our seats,” Jason says.
As they move to the table, I back Adam through the door, pull him to the side in the hallway, and kiss him as if we’ve been separated for a decade. Chuckling from the door makes me pull away. We just smile as the Lord of D.C. walks into the conference. “There goes my rep.”
“I missed you too,” he says.
“Did you … enjoy yourself?”
“Yeah. We went and got lunch at this barbeque place and ate the place out. Then we went for a run,” he chuckles, “and I ended up getting into a wrestling match with Rory. Then we went for drinks, which is why we’re late.”
Here I thought Jason was all brawn and no brains. He played this beautifully, giving Adam all that I can’t. Familiarity, male bonding, kinship. The light in Adam’s eyes stings my heart. “I’m glad you had fun,” I say with a fake smile.
“It was a great sendoff,” he says, kissing my forehead.
One of the F.R.E.A.K.S. agents, I think his name’s Chandler, steps into the hallway. “George wants to begin.”
“Thanks,” I say. The man nods his head and walks in. “Time to be diplomatic.”
George, Lord Peter of D.C., Jason, and I, as the founding members or their successors, sit at the head of the table while the others sit along the columns with their attendants sitting in chairs behind them. George begins by giving crime statistics, talking a little about the cases the squad handled this year. Zombies, vampires, trolls, wraiths, and even a rogue pack of werewolves. I helped with that last one. A few vampires raise their hands to ask questions about the law, covering their own butts, but I’m too busy taking notes and trying to ignore the glares coming from the werewolf on my right. George finishes with his report, and it’s my turn. I address the questions and comments sent in, and the applicable person answers. Finally, Jason takes a break from glaring at me to glare at everyone else as he spends two minutes filling us in on werewolf news. Short and sweet.
We break after that for a few minutes, per usual. Next the peanut gallery gets to speak. As I’m standing, a tight vise grips my elbow. “I need to speak with you in private,” Jason growls.
Crap. This should be fun. “Of course.”
We take a few steps before Adam approaches. “What’s going on?”
“It’s fine,” I say.
Adam looks at Jason. “What are you doing?”
“Do not question me, Beta,” Jason snaps. “You haven’t left yet.”
I can see the struggle in his eyes. He wants to obey his Alpha as he always has, but he wants to protect me too. It’s killing him he can’t do both. Oh hell. “Adam, really it’s okay,” I say, saving him. “I can take him.” I look up at the seething werewolf. “Outside.”
Adam doesn’t move as I yank my arm from the Alpha’s grip and walk out with Jason behind me. The moment the front door shuts, Jason asks, “You saw it too, didn’t you?”
I spin around. “You’re an asshole, you know that? You’re the one doing this to him, and you have for eighteen fucking years! A good friend, a true friend, would be happy, not threatening to kick him out of the family.”
“In this case I cannot be his friend, I must be his Alpha. I have an entire pack to consider. There are rules and safeguards for a reason. I cannot break them. Not for him, not for anyone.”
“I’m your ally! I helped you and the pack many times without question. Did it ever cross your mind that these hypothetical children we may or may not have might be good for the pack?”
The hard exterior cracks just a smidge. “As a matter of fact, it did. I have broached the subject to the other two Alphas on more than one occasion, and I have been shot down every time. It would set precedence, and it would only take one to topple us all. If I could make an exception, I would.”
I hug myself. I’m losing. “This is wrong, Jason. It’s unfair.”
He nods. “I know that. If there was anything I could have done, I would have by now. Despite appearances, I do like you. More, I respect you and under other circumstances I’d be honored to have you in my pack. It cut me deep every time I saw him looking at you all these years, knowing what it was costing him. I can sympathize in ways you can’t fathom. That’s why I gave him the week.”
“That was nice of you.”
“It was fair of me. I didn’t think it would work. You’re a hard woman, Mona. A lot like me in most respects. All business, pragmatic, keeping emotion out of the equation. I should have known better. Love … there is nothing more powerful in this universe.”
“Yeah.” I sigh. “Where is this going, Jason? What do you want from me?”
“I want you to give me a week. If half of what he’s told me about the past week is true, then you’ve been through hell together. It’s been constant intensity and danger. I know from experience how those two elements can draw people together. How they can make you do something you swore you’d never do. But you’re still in that bubble. You both need time to think and reflect because if you’re wrong about this, about how you feel, you’ve ruined his life. Once he leaves the pack, I can’t take him back.” He steps toward me. “I’m asking you to be smart. Be sure. If it’s meant to be, it will be.”
I stand as still as a corpse as those words sink in. There isn’t time. Chandler steps out, telling us we’re back in session. Like a zombie I follow Jason back in. The other two wolves are making Adam smile with conversation when we enter. Adam puts one, I think Rory, into a headlock and gives him a noogie. When he sees us, he releases his friend, and the smile drops. I half smile to reassure him but hold up my hand to stop him from coming over. He gets too close to me and all logic fades.
Needless to say I barely pay attention for the rest of the summit. I could give a damn about territory borders or a local newspaper outing a psychic because I know Jason’s right, and I’m failing at convincing myself otherwise. I love Adam, and he loves me. I know it, just as I know I didn’t fall in love with him when he was chasing the demon or breaking into houses with me. It was when he made us dinner, danced with me, walked the girls to the bus, smiled with his whole heart. But love isn’t enough. What if he’s just so happy to have caught me after all these years he’s not thinking clearly? What if in a month, a year, a day, whenever, the doubts start to creep in and he begins to resent me for making him choose? This is forever we’re talking about. No going back. I think I have to let him go. I have to trust.
The Thirty-First Annual Preternatural Co-Op Summit ends forty minutes later. What we accomplished or decided, I couldn’t tell you. As we get up, Jason glances at me, but I look away. “Are you alright?” George asks.
“Fine.”
“When everyone leaves, I need to speak to you about yesterday,” George says. “We—”
“Fine. Whatever. Excuse me.” I walk over to the wolves. “Let me walk you to the car.”
Even though his arm wraps around my waist and he smiles, I can read Adam’s face like a book. The sadness and apprehension is etched in every muscle. The others seem just about as happy, and Rory is downright hostile. For a moment I close my eyes, recording the feel of him against me, his smell, that arm circling my waist. I can do this. I can do this for him.
When we reach their SUV the tension is palpable. “So,” Jason says.
“So,” Adam says, voice cracking a little. “I, uh, guess this is it.”
“I guess so,” Jason says.
His arm drops from my waist. “I, um—”
“You need to go with them,” I blurt out.
Adam’s eyes narrow. “What?”
“You need to go back with them,” I whisper.
His eyes grow triple their size in disbelief, then grow enraged as he turns to Jason. “What the hell did you say to her?” he roars.
“Nothing she didn’t already know.”
Adam coc
ks his fist back and is about to lunge, but I grab his arm. “No!” I pull him away from the group, who takes their cue to climb into the car.
“Did he threaten you?” Adam asks. “What—”
“I love you.”
He does a double take. “I don’t understand this. You love me, but you want me to leave?”
I chuckle as I wipe the falling tears from my eyes. “I don’t want you to leave. But you need to. So you can come back.”
“Baby, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I love you, and you love me. I don’t doubt it for a second … but I think there’s a tiny part of you that still does. And it should. We—we’ve been in this bubble, on this rollercoaster, and it’s been exhilarating and scary and romantic and a whirlwind, and on it I found exactly what I needed.” I cup his cheeks in my hands. “You. Now it’s time for me to give you what you need, and you need this. There is a reason you didn’t tell me for eighteen years. This is your life, your whole life you are giving up. If there is a doubt, even an inkling, you need to get in that car. You need to get off this rollercoaster and think, really think about what you are giving up. You love those men in that car too. I see it all over your face. And they love you too, probably a little less than I do,” I chuckle, “but they do. They deserve a fair fight.” I sniffle. “You know I’m right. I want you here, no I need you here, but all of you. I’m giving it all to you, all my love, all my faith, hell, my soul is yours. No one else’s. I just ask the same in return.”
He blinks his own tears away. “This is so unfair.”
I smile. “I know,” I say, wiping his cheeks, “but I have faith. In you, in us. I know you’ll come back to me. I’ve waited thirty-five years for you, I can wait a little longer. You’re worth it.”
He pulls me into a hug, and we cling to each other. “I love you so much,” he whispers.
“I love you too.”
“You really trust I’ll come back?”
“More than anything.”
We kiss as if the world is ending. He’s the one who pulls away, as I knew he would be. “I’m coming back.”
“I know.”
“I love you.”
“I know that too.” I pause. “I’ll be here waiting for you, Adam Blue.” I kiss him again. “See you soon.” I run away before I lose all my resolve, without a glance back. No need. I’ll see him soon enough.
There isn’t a doubt in my mind.
Comfort the bride-to-be
I drive around for a while, trying to calm down before going home. I just want to get into bed with some ice cream and watch Persuasion with my own Captain Wentworth purring beside me. I’m not that lucky. Collins’s Ford Focus is parked on the street. My work is never done.
With a sigh, I walk into chaos. My baby sister is sobbing on the couch while her best friend smoothes her hair. Sophie and Cora sit on the stairs, and with one glare from me, scurry upstairs. “What on earth is going on?”
Debbie sits up and breaks into more sobs. “Oh, Mona.” She leaps up and squeezes me tight. I can smell the whiskey on her breath. “I’m—I’m a horrible person!”
I glance at Collins, who rolls her eyes. “Why sweetie?”
“It’s not going to work. It’s not. He’s too good for me!”
“Where did this come from?” I chuckle.
“He—he was flirting with Becca tonight, so—so I kissed this guy,” she sobs.
I look at Collins for confirmation. “We all went out for drinks, and she obviously got plastered. She barely touched his lips, then busted into tears and insisted I bring her here.”
I mouth, “I’m sorry,” and Collins shrugs. I rub my sister’s back and shush her. “Calm down, sweetie, calm down. It’s okay.”
“I’m a horrible person,” she sobs. “How could I do this to him? I don’t love him. I mean, I mustn’t to have done this! I have to cancel the wedding. I have to!”
Ugh. I pull away, and hold her by the shoulders. “Deborah Jean McGregor, you stop all this right now! You are not a horrible person, you are not canceling your wedding, and that is final. You are scared, you are drunk, you are being inconsiderate, and I will not stand for it. You know you love Greg, and he loves you. Your feet are just a little chilly right now. It’s normal. You are going to have a wonderful life together, and that life begins tomorrow. If you sober up and still don’t want to go through with the wedding, then so be it. But you better be a hundred thousand percent sure, otherwise you will have wrecked the best thing that ever happened to you. Got me?” She nods. “Good. Now, march your drunk butt upstairs to my bedroom and get into bed. You’re bunking with me tonight. Go! March!” Sniffling and with her head hung, my baby sister obeys. When I hear the door shut I flop down on the couch next to Collins. “Oh goddess, give me strength.”
“Kaylee brought a bottle of rum, and they started drinking it around three,” Collins says.
“She’ll be fine. Tamara acted the same way. All three times.” We both laugh and shake our heads. “And how are you doing?”
“Alright … and I feel bad about it. Right now I’m just focused on the wedding. I figure I’ll have a breakdown right after.”
“You and me both, hon.” I shake my head. “You’re a strong girl. You will be amazed what you can survive.”
She’s quiet for a few seconds. “She was my sister,” she whispers sadly. “She wasn’t all bad. She was just lost. She had no purpose in life. That’s not a way to live.”
“How’s Maxine?”
“She won’t talk to me,” she says, voice cracking.
“Oh, honey,” I say, hugging her. “She just needs time.”
“Meemaw and Debbie are all I have,” she cries as she clings to me. “Now Debbie’s getting married, and Meemaw hates me. All I ever wanted was for her to be proud of me. I’ve done everything I could, and now it’s all ruined.”
“No, it’s not. I’m sure she’s real proud of you. How could she not be? You’re beautiful, smart, a hard worker. Hell, you spend your days saving people.”
“I hate that job so much,” she cries. “I only became a nurse because Meemaw said I should. I hate my life! Nothing ever works out.”
I rub her back. “I know it feels that way sometimes, honey, but take it from me, life can turn on a dime. You just need to have faith.”
She sniffles and pulls away. “Oh hell,” she says, wiping her face, “I hate crying in front of people. I’m sorry.”
“Nothing to apologize for. We’re family.” I smile. “You want to stay here tonight?”
“That’d be great, thank you. I don’t want to be alone.”
I squeeze her hand. “You’re not alone.” With a smile, I stand. “Okay, I’m gonna check on everyone. Why don’t you find some sappy movie we can watch and bawl our eyes out to?”
“Sounds great.”
“Be right back.” I walk upstairs and check on the girls first. They’re pretending to sleep. “Goodnight. I love you.” Inside my bedroom, Debbie lies on her side sniffling. “Hey,” I say, shutting the door. I walk to the bathroom to get her aspirin and water. “Sit up and take these.”
She does. “I’m being a brat, aren’t I?”
“Yes, but you’re my brat, and I love you nonetheless.”
“I don’t know what’s the matter with me. You and Collins are going through all this crap, and you’re both taking care of me. I am a horrible person.”
“You’ll make it up to us,” I say with a smile.
“I really don’t know what’s the matter with me. I love Greg, I do. It’s just … this is forever. How do I know he’s, you know, the one and only?”
“Is he your best friend?”
She thinks. “Don’t tell Collins, but yes. He is.”
“Has he been a good partner to you? Being there when you need him to be?”
“He’s been great.”
“I know you want babies. Will he be a good father?”
“Oh yeah. No question.”
> “This is the biggie. Can you honestly picture sitting across the breakfast table every day from him for the rest of your lives?”
She considers it. “Yeah.”
“Then you got nothing to worry about, I guarantee it.”
“Thank you,” she whispers. “I love you.”
“Love you too.” The telephone rings. Now what? “I gotta get this. You try to sleep. Big day tomorrow.” I pick up the portable and walk into the hallway. “Hello?”
“Mona?” George asks.
“Hi, George,” I say as I walk to the attic for privacy. “What can I do for you?”
“You disappeared after the summit. Is everything okay?”
“Personal stuff. It’ll work itself out. What’d you want to talk to me about?” The attic is stuffy and cluttered with boxes on top of boxes, so I sit at the top of the attic stairs.
“I was hoping you could clear up some inconsistencies so we can close the case.”
“Try my best.”
I hear the rustling of papers on the other end. “You said the demon was summoned early Tuesday morning, correct? Well, we spoke to a Bruce Nettles, and he said Cheyenne arrived at his apartment around one, and Adam Blue alibied her prior to that.”
“Couldn’t she have slipped out after Bruce was asleep?”
“That is possible, yes. There is something else though. There were three sets of prints on the notebook: yours, Cheyenne’s, and her sister Collins’s.”
“So? We looked through the book.”
“One of the fingerprints was in blood. Animal blood. It wasn’t Cheyenne’s, it was Collins’s. We thought maybe she cut herself, but tests just confirmed the blood was from a dog. Also, though the handwriting is very similar, we compared samples from Cheyenne’s to the notebook. It wasn’t a match.”
If I wasn’t sitting, I’d fall down. No. No way. Not her. That doesn’t, it doesn’t make sense. She loves me. She saved my life. Cheyenne was going to shoot me. If Collins wanted me dead, she would have let her. “You … you did this!” Cheyenne sounded so surprised. Collins was standing right behind me. What if Cheyenne wasn’t aiming for me? What if …
What's a Witch to Do?: A Midnight Magic Mystery Page 28