The small window at the back of the inn was always closed, but the light was on till the wee hours of the morning. And Graham swore he saw some sparks and a couple of odd silhouettes against the frosted window pane. What the hell was going on in that room?
“Do you know what kind of top secret experiment they're working on?” Nick asked, breaking into his troubled thoughts.
“Lisa's working on...” Graham swallowed. He couldn't tell anyone about the serum. “Something...scientific.”
Nick rolled his eyes and deadpanned, “Well, she is a scientist.”
Graham didn't reply. He picked up his hammer and pounded a nail viciously into the wall.
Nick shot him a sidelong glance and said, “Lisa's with Gramma and Ne-ma. They're good witches. You have nothing to worry about.”
Graham gulped. He wasn't so sure about that. Gramma and Ne-ma were full of energy and enthusiasm and they could get up to all sorts of mischief. They were always game to try anything.
“We'll be going to Broomstick Inn for dinner,” Nick said. “Maybe you can go up to the room to see Lisa.”
Graham shook his head. “No. I don't want to distract her. Her work is important.” And what is important to her, is important to me.
Nick clapped him on the shoulder. Nick was mated to Zoe Riley, a dedicated, capable nurse and her work at the hospital was demanding and time-consuming. Nick was very proud of Zoe and the work she did, and he gave Graham an approving, supportive smile.
Nick turned and bellowed at the crew. “All right, guys, let's finish up quickly! Dinner's on me!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The dining room of Broomstick Inn was bursting at the seams. Ever since Gramma and Ne-ma opened up the dining room of their inn to the public, Broomstick Inn was always crowded during lunchtime and dinner time. The food was good, the portions were generous and there was free flow of coffee and tea.
Graham and his workmates dragged a few tables together to form one long table, and they were the noisiest group in the room. Alisa and Harper, Gramma and Ne-ma's granddaughters-in-law, bustled around the dining room, serving the guests and taking their orders.
“Where's Gramma and Ne-ma?” Graham asked Harper.
“They're up in the room with Lisa,” Harper replied. “They've been there for...”
“Three days and three nights,” Graham finished for her, his shoulders slumping.
“Actually, the three of them came down briefly about an hour ago,” Harper said. “Gramma and Ne-ma seemed really happy and excited. But I thought Lisa looked a little nervous.” Harper leaned in and whispered, “Gramma and Ne-ma said they have a big surprise for us.”
“What surprise?” Graham asked with trepidation.
Harper shrugged. “I guess we'll just have to wait and see.”
They didn't have to wait long.
Footsteps came pounding down the stairs and whoops and laughter were heard. Everyone heard Gramma and Ne-ma's gleeful cackle long before the two witches appeared at the door of the dining room.
“Ta-da!”
All heads turned towards the door.
A stunned silence fell across the room. Eyes bugged, jaws dropped and cutlery clattered to the floor.
“G-Gramma? Ne-ma?” someone stammered at last. “Is that you?”
Gramma and Ne-ma were always boasting that they were the only ones in Shadow Point who could age backwards, and that they looked better now than they did twenty years ago. But now the two witches had really gone and done it. They had aged backwards, for real!
“Of course it's us!” they hooted delightedly. “How do we look?”
Graham blinked repeatedly as Gramma and Ne-ma twirled round and blew kisses at all the guys. The two little old witches weren't old anymore. Gramma and Ne-ma looked like they had gone back to their twenties. Their silver hair had turned lush and blond, and Ne-ma happily plucked her spectacles off her nose and batted her eyes at everyone. “I don't need these now,” she cooed. “And I think my arthritis is gone too! My knees don't ache any more!”
Gramma tossed her golden curls over her shoulder and giggled at the sight of the gawking faces around her. “Ooh, my body feels...” She ran her hands down her curves and did a happy dance. “So pert and firm!”
Their eyes, laughter, voices and mannerisms were the same. But their faces and bodies were…
“Hot damn!” Nick exclaimed.
“Damn right!”
“You gals are damn hot!”
The guys whistled and yelled compliments at Gramma and Ne-ma but the words “damn” and “hot” kept coming up. Gramma and Ne-ma lapped up all the compliments and added their own naughty comments and jokes.
Graham stared at the two blond bombshells who were really Gramma and Ne-ma with a single question screaming in his head.
“How...” he finally managed to sputter.
His eyes widened as the answer came to him immediately.
Graham shot to his feet. “Where's Lisa?” he shouted.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Graham ran to the stairs but Ne-ma caught up with him and grabbed him by the elbow.
“Calm down, Graham,” Ne-ma said. “Lisa's fine. In fact, she's more than fine.” Ne-ma grinned. “She succeeded! The experiment is a success!”
When he managed to find his voice, Graham wheezed, “This is what she's been working on? An anti-aging serum? I thought...”
Ne-ma shook her head. “I don't think she's quite finished with the serum. There's still work to be done. But this—” She gestured grandly at herself and Gramma, who was hurrying towards them. “This is a wonderful, fantastic breakthrough!”
“All right, what do you want to do now, Neveah?” Gramma asked breathlessly. “We ain't sitting at home tonight, that's for sure. That'd be a damn waste of our perky, nubile bodies!”
“Let's go clubbing!” Ne-ma hollered, punching her fist in the air. “We'll pick up all the hot guys and dance on tabletops!”
A bunch of Graham's workmates came scrambling out of the dining room. They crowded around Gramma and Ne-ma eagerly. “Take us, Gramma and Ne-ma! Take us clubbing with you!” they pleaded.
Gramma and Ne-ma chuckled. “Okay. We'll meet you guys out front. We'll go up and change into something...tighter,” Gramma said with a wink as she tugged at her blouse.
“And shorter,” Ne-ma added, hiking up her skirt. “Give us a few minutes. You boys go finish your dinner and then we'll party the night away!”
The guys cheerfully went back to the dining room as Gramma and Ne-ma ran upstairs. Graham looked up and saw Lisa coming down the stairs slowly. Her hair was a mess and her eyes looked feverishly bright. There were smudges on her face, and colored powder on the tips of her fingers.
“Lisa.” He went to her immediately and hugged her.
Her arms wrapped around his waist as she leaned her head against his chest.
“I think I did it,” she whispered, looking up at him with wide, shining eyes. “I think I reversed the effect of the serum.”
Graham kissed her forehead tenderly. He inhaled her scent deeply, and pulled her even tighter against him. He wasn't a scientist and he didn't understand what it was exactly that she did, but he was so damn proud of her. And he was just so happy and relieved to see her—in one piece and looking the same. She hadn't aged backwards. Thank goodness!
Clearing his throat, he began, “You made Gramma and Ne-ma young again...”
Lisa nodded. “The serum was intended to turn shifter cells into human cells. Shifters age slower than humans and their cells heal faster than human cells. To turn shifters into humans, the serum had to take these abilities away and...reverse them. The serum accelerated aging and slowed down healing.”
“So you reversed the effects of the serum,” Graham said.
“Yes. I thought that if the serum could accelerate healing and slow down aging instead, i
t could help a lot of people. It could give hope to a lot of terminally ill patients.” Lisa swallowed and went on, “I managed to reverse the effects, but the reversal is a little too drastic. Gramma and Ne-ma volunteered to try the serum on themselves. But as you can see, instead of slowing down their aging, the serum reversed their aging!” She wrung her hands. “Oh dear...”
“Gramma and Ne-ma don't seem to mind,” Graham said.
“I have to tweak the formula so the effect isn't so drastic,” Lisa mumbled. “I'm not sure how long the effects last...”
“Not very long,” Graham muttered, catching sight of Gramma and Ne-ma at the top of the stairs. “Not very long at all.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Lisa jerked her head up and saw Gramma and Ne-ma trudging dejectedly down the stairs. They were back to their normal, silver-haired, ninety-something selves. Ne-ma was wearing her glasses again and she sighed as she adjusted her mini-skirt self-consciously.
“Oh well, that was fun while it lasted,” Ne-ma said with a shrug.
“Good thing I'm wearing my push-up bra,” Gramma muttered, tugging at her low-cut, figure-hugging top. “Everything has gone south again!”
“Ha! Am I glad I decided on these fishnet stockings. You can hardly see my varicose veins!” Ne-ma quipped.
“Oh Lisa,” Gramma said as soon as she saw her. “I think our experiment failed. The serum didn't work...”
“And now we look ridiculous in our garish make-up and inappropriate clothes!” Ne-ma made a face. “We should just...”
“What are you talking about?” Graham exploded. “You look just fine! In fact, you look amazing, Gramma and Ne-ma!”
Gramma and Ne-ma turned to stare at Graham for a moment before breaking out into wide grins.
The guys had come out of the dining room to see what all the commotion was about. They gave Gramma and Ne-ma appreciative looks and whistled. “Wow! Gramma, Ne-ma, you two are going to be the hottest ladies in the club!”
“We finished our dinner, Gramma and Ne-ma. Just like you told us to,” someone said meekly.
“Are we going clubbing or not?”
“You haven't changed your mind, have you?”
“You're not thinking of ditching us and going clubbing by yourselves, are you, Gramma, Ne-ma?”
“You promised to take us!”
No one mentioned Gramma and Ne-ma's transformation back to their old selves at all. Gramma and Ne-ma would always be Gramma and Ne-ma to them, whatever shape they took. Looks didn't matter at all. It was what they had inside that counted. In everyone's eyes, Gramma and Ne-ma were two of the most beautiful ladies in Shadow Point.
Gramma and Ne-ma winked at each other. “We still got it, eh, Glynda?” Ne-ma said, nudging Gramma with her hip.
“We never lost it!” Gramma smirked and gave Ne-ma a hip bump and a low five. “Come on, boys! Let's party the night away!”
Gramma and Ne-ma flashed Lisa the thumbs-up as they shimmied out of the inn with a bunch of hot, young hunks.
Graham watched them go and took Lisa's hand gently. “Shall we go home?”
She nodded, then stopped and checked her waist pouch. “Yep, I've got everything here,” she said, stifling a yawn. She suddenly felt so tired and she realized how little sleep she'd had in the past few days. “Yes, I want to go home.”
Lisa walked with Graham to his car and closed her eyes once she slid into the passenger seat. As Graham drove them home, she put her hands over her waist pouch and exhaled a long breath.
She had used up half of the original serum in her experiments. And she'd transferred the remaining serum into a syringe to make it easier to measure the quantity.
She had certainly made good progress. Gramma and Ne-ma had been such good sports and they had been a great help. They encouraged her and gave her all the help and support she needed. When she needed sample shifter cells and DNA, they had rushed out right away and returned with a dozen clear plastic bags. There were hair and fur samples of different shifters in them, all clearly labeled. Shifter cells were in abundance in Shadow Point. Gramma and Ne-ma simply knocked on a few doors and politely asked their neighbors and friends for a few strands of their hair. They'd also snipped off large chunks of their grandsons' hair “in the name of science”. Ne-ma even managed to get a sample of the Sheriff's hair. The Sheriff of Shadow Point, Winston Knight, was a lion shifter and an all-round good guy.
The two witches were a godsend. Without their help, she would never have come so far in such a short time. She owed Gramma, Ne-ma and the good people of Shadow Point a debt of gratitude.
She'd made a very major and significant breakthrough. She was now confident that the serum could be used to heal and rejuvenate, not degenerate and destroy, a living cell.
The car pulled to a stop and Lisa opened her eyes. Staring at Graham's cozy little house, a feeling of relief and...rightness washed over her.
This was home. Lisa took a deep breath and turned to gaze at Graham.
She belonged here. In this house, in this town, with this man.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Once she stepped into the house, Graham made her sit down on the couch and put her feet up. Then he hurried into the kitchen and began pulling armfuls of ingredients from the fridge.
“Go back to the living room,” he ordered when she poked her head round the kitchen door. “Put your feet up, switch on the TV and just relax.”
“But...”
“I'm cooking a hot, nutritious meal for you. You've been working so hard,” Graham said, blocking her way so she couldn't step foot in his kitchen. “Shoo!”
“I can help...”
“In that case, can you grab that bottle of champagne from the fridge?”
“Champagne? What are we celebrating?” Lisa asked.
“We're celebrating your breakthrough!”
Graham popped the cork and poured the bubbly into two elegant champagne flutes. “To success!” He raised his glass.
Lisa couldn't help grinning. “To friendship, and love,” she said softly, clinking glasses with him. “I honestly don't know what I'll do without you...and Gramma and Ne-ma. Everyone's been so helpful! I'm really glad I came to Shadow Point…...”
“You'll be safe here, Lisa,” Graham said. “I promise.” He straightened up and said, “Now, out you go. Relax that brilliant mind of yours. No thinking about work!”
Lisa laughed as Graham kicked her out of the kitchen and sternly pointed to the living room couch. “Stay there, and stay out of my kitchen.”
“Yes, chef!”
Sipping her champagne, Lisa settled down to watch a game show. She could smell the delicious aroma of food coming from the kitchen and her stomach rumbled noisily.
She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten. She remembered Gramma and Ne-ma bringing her food, but she had simply gobbled down whatever was on the plate without really paying attention to what she was eating. She didn't want to spend a minute away from her experiments. She had slept when her eyes could no longer stay open, but as soon as she jerked awake, she would hurry to the table and start working again.
Everything she needed was readily available in Shadow Point. There were supermarkets and convenience stores that catered to both human and paranormal folks. Science wasn't that complicated. Chemical compounds could be found in everyday essentials. She could get the acids she needed from a cup of detergent and some fresh fruits. And a wad of gum and some baking powder gave her the perfect agent she needed to bind the various shifter cells to the serum.
Science wasn't hard. The hard part was deciding what to do with what you had. Effective medicines could be made from the simplest foods and ingredients. And explosive bombs could be made from innocuous, harmless things you found around the house.
Lisa knew that destroying something was easy. The serum, in its original form, sought to destroy shifters. It took away the power of th
e animal in them and slowed down their naturally efficient healing abilities. It weakened them, so that they wouldn't be stronger, faster, better than humans. And eventually, it would kill them.
Lisa grimaced and finished the rest of her champagne in one gulp. She had met so many lovely shifter families in Shadow Point and even held some of their adorable, lovable cubs. She couldn't imagine anyone wanting to destroy these beautiful families.
She wished she had asked more questions before she began working on her serum. But she knew that her ex-boss, Dr. Burrelli, would have a ready answer to any question. But none of his answers held a shred of truth.
Lisa closed her eyes and listened to the lulling voice of the game show host. The host was charming and witty, but the show just couldn't hold her interest. She seldom watched TV, and when she did, she usually watched documentaries.
In her opinion, National Geographic documentaries was reality TV at its best.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Graham waltzed out of the kitchen and tiptoed to the couch. Puffing out his chest, he began, “Dinner is...”
A loud snort, followed by a snore, interrupted his announcement.
He leaned over the couch and saw that Lisa was fast asleep. Her mouth was hanging open and her snore sounded like a foghorn, but it was the most adorable sound he'd ever heard.
Graham gently picked her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom. Lisa groaned and grumbled in her sleep as he laid her gently on the bed. Lisa's hand shot out and grabbed his just as he was about to turn away.
Guardian Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (BRIDES fur BEARS Book 7) Page 6