The guy stepped forward like he was about to take down Caleb, but a different brother stopped him. “James. Let it go. Look at them, they’re old. Just...leave it.”
James frowned and scowled and grumbled, but he got back into the other car.
“I’ll drive Moira back to the B&B in this car,” Declan said to Matt and me. “I’ll meet you there.”
James tried to herd Caleb toward the other car, but he wouldn’t have it, swatting at James’s arm while he helped Moira into the little Honda and climbed into the back seat to sit next to her.
Declan rolled his eyes and got in the car. Then everyone drove off.
I was alone with Matt in front of the abandoned house. Matt saw me looking at the dark, boarded windows.
“Their mom died,” Matt said softly. “They loved her a lot, and their dad couldn’t handle being without her. He took off shortly after her death.”
“Were they kids...or adults?” I asked.
“Adults,” he said.
“It doesn’t make it much easier, though, does it?” I asked. “To lose someone you love like that…” I knew how hard it was. I’d pushed love away more than once, before it could abandon me. It was something my mom had taught me, unfortunately.
But here I was with Matt, on this quiet, beautiful night that was just as beautiful despite the aching sorrow it had shown me.
“Kiss me,” I whispered.
He bent his head toward mine and took my lips in a kiss so sweet, so sensual, it stole my breath.
When we returned to the B&B, the sun was rising. Declan and Daphne sat on the porch in the same swing Matt and I had been sitting on before we’d performed the finder spell with Pearl. Two of Declan’s brothers were there, leaning against the railing. Pearl perched on the edge of a nearby chair, speaking to them in soft tones. I was struck again by that feeling of familiarity, but I couldn’t figure out why.
“Where is everyone?” Matt asked as we walked up to the porch.
“We put all the old people to bed,” Declan said.
“We’re going to turn this into a retirement home instead of a B&B,” one of the brothers said. He turned to face me all the way and stuck out his hand. “Hey, I’m Brody.”
“Cordelia,” I said, shaking his hand.
The other brother, the one who’d looked murderously at Caleb, held out his hand, too. “James,” he said.
I shook his hand as well, and then the group of us all looked at each other.
“So I have a big fucking question,” Brody said. “If Cordelia didn’t do all this shit, then who or what the fuck did?”
“That is a big fucking question,” Daphne said in a sweet voice. “Pearl, what do you think?”
“It was the bad smell,” I said. “Moira even said so.”
Remembering back, there had been a terrible smell each time someone aged. “Every time someone got old,” I said, “there was that awful stench, right? The only time I smelled it and no one got old was when no one else was around me. And then it...it made that dummy come to life.”
“A dummy came to life?” Daphne said. “That’s horrifying.”
“It was.” I shuddered and leaned into Matt.
Pearl sat up straighter. “Tell me everything, every detail you recall.”
I recounted the tale of the pile of dummies in the barn, and one of them following me.
“It spoke to you?” Pearl asked sharply, when I reached that part of the story.
“It repeated my words, that’s all.”
She nodded thoughtfully, her face grim. “The dummy’s possession suggests we’re looking at a malevolent spirit of some kind,” Pearl mused. “Obviously we would need to learn more before I can be certain.”
“This at least gives us a start,” Declan said.
Pearl stood up and paced. “It could be something that wants you, Cordelia. But you’re protected from it—you have the tattoo your mother gave you.”
“Why would it want me?” I asked.
She gave me a duh look. “It wants your power. And in the absence of that, it’s taking the power from the next most powerful beings near you—shifters.”
“Okay,” Brody said, “let’s say you’re both right. I smelled it once before, though, and no one got old. Not me, and not the shifter who was with me.”
“When?” Declan asked.
“When Moira and I drove back from Redemption. Remember when we went over there to look at that job and give a quote?”
Declan nodded.
“Well,” Brody said, “the whole way back, the cab of the truck smelled like ass. We joked about it, but it was weird as fuck.”
“But a stink isn’t evil,” Daphne said, doubt in her voice.
I nodded, agreeing.
“The stink could be surrounding a spirit, though,” Pearl said.
“So it’s like a fart monster,” Brody said.
Daphne, Pearl, and I snickered, and even Matt looked like he was holding back a laugh.
“Children,” Declan said. “I swear I’m surrounded by grown-ass children.”
Seemed accurate. Nobody argued with him.
“Okay,” Declan said. “Let’s say the spirit—”
“Fart monster,” Brody interjected.
Declan ignored him and went on, “Let’s say it’s responsible for the aging shifters, that it’s siphoning off their vitality. Why didn’t it attack Moira and Brody during the trip back from Redemption?”
“The same reason it hasn’t been able to harm Cordelia, maybe?” Matt said. “Is there some kind of protective charm on the truck?”
“No,” Brody said.
“Are you sure?” I asked. “How long have you been driving the truck? It could be like my tattoo, and maybe you forgot about it.”
“Hold on,” Pearl said. “Brody, is your truck locked?”
“Yeah, always. I don’t want any fuckers stealing my baby.”
She rolled her eyes. “Give me your keys.”
I expected him to argue because he seemed like a contrary sort of guy, but he pulled his keys from his pocket without a word and tossed them to Pearl.
She marched over to his truck, unlocked it, and peered at the side of the passenger seat. Pointing at it, she said, “There’s the reason the spirit didn’t drain Brody or Moira.”
“What is it?” Daphne asked as we all gathered by the truck.
Pearl pointed to it. “A protection charm. I, um, put it in here during high school.”
“When?” Brody asked, baffled.
“It’s not important,” Pearl said.
Nobody commented on the fact that her cheeks had taken on a blush. I wondered what that was about.
“Anyway,” Pearl said, “the charm is old, but it’s a good one. Feverfew is the most powerful ingredient.”
She blushed again. I’d have to look up feverfew later, and see what its other uses were.
“Great,” Declan said. “Let’s grab some feverfew and go after this thing. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”
“Slight problem,” Pearl said. “If it’s not used in a spell, it doesn’t keep. And it needs to be trimmed back in autumn—I just trimmed the patch I had growing behind the hardware store all the way back. So unless you have an herb garden, Daphne…?”
“No, I don’t,” Daphne said. “But that ingredient sounds really familiar. Wait just a second.”
She turned around and rushed into the B&B. A moment later, she came back out again, waving a bottle of what looked like air freshener.
“What on earth?” Declan asked, looking bemused.
“I special-ordered this from an organic essential oil store online. Feverfew is one of the main ingredients,” Daphne explained, handing the air freshener to Pearl while talking to Declan. “I knew the chemical-based scents bothered you.”
Okay, that was adorable and thoughtful. Declan seemed to think so, too, because he wrapped a big arm around her, tugged her close, and kissed her cheek.
“This is great,” P
earl said as she examined the back of the bottle. “I think it’ll work to keep the spirit back from us while we douse it in salt and return it to wherever it came from. We don’t even need to put it in a spell.”
“It’s also attracted by shifters,” Matt said. “So our presence should help.”
“Okay,” Brody said. “Let’s do this.”
“Wait just a second,” Declan said.
Brody raised his eyebrows. “What’s up?”
“This thing is coming after shifters and draining them,” Declan said. “I want the bare minimum of us involved so there are fewer of us to be drained.”
“I’m not leaving Cordelia,” Matt said quickly.
James was looking at texts on his phone. “Anna’s asking what time I’ll be home, but I can stay if you want me here, or go, or whatever.”
“Go,” Declan said, his voice decisive. “You too, Brody.”
Brody shrugged. “Sure. But I want to hear all about the fart monster after it’s over, okay?”
“Got it,” Declan said. “Now, both of you get out of here. We got this. Right, Matt?”
Matt looked at me, then we both nodded. It was time to put this thing to rest.
Brody and James took off, and the rest of us looked at each other.
“So now what?” Declan asked Pearl.
I spoke up. “Well, seems to me, if I stand in one spot long enough, the fart monster will appear.”
Declan nodded. “Let’s spread out.”
I moved to the edge of the driveway, near the house. Declan marched purposefully over to the far end of the drive. Matt stood by the corner of the house, not far from me. He probably wasn’t “spreading out” as much as Declan would’ve liked, but I wasn’t complaining. I wanted my mate close to me, too. Besides, Daphne followed Declan.
“Any magical power should attract it, so I’ll stand over there,” Pearl said, heading to a spot near the woods.
I looked around. Everyone else looked around.
“Well, this is boring,” Daphne said, grinning. “Dec, doesn’t it remind you of when we were waiting for the Slug King, by the basement? We were kind of bored, waiting for it. And we were just standing there…”
“And it was right fucking behind us?” Declan finished. “Yeah, babe, I remember.”
“The salt,” Pearl said suddenly. “We forgot salt.”
“I’ll go get some,” Daphne said, hurrying up the drive. As she walked past me to go into the house, she gave my shoulder a quick squeeze. “Welcome to our crazy pack-slash-family thing.”
“Thanks,” I said, looking after her. She was really nice, and I hoped we’d be friends. I could use some friends, after not having any in so long.
The revving of an engine reached my ears, and I looked to the far end of the driveway, wondering who was coming in. I didn’t see a car, which was surprising. Declan was looking straight at me, though, his expression inscrutable.
“What is it?” I asked.
Declan squinted at the grass near my feet. “What the fuck is that?”
“Cordelia,” Matt said, pointing to the ground. “Watch out.”
“Here’s the air freshener,” Declan called.
He sent it sailing in the air to me. I reached out to catch it, stepping forward, but something zoomed under my foot. My center of gravity shifted. I fell hard on my ass in the gravel.
“Ow. Fuck,” I said.
The can of air freshener fell to the gravel with a clang, then rolled a few feet away.
What the hell had made me fall? Glancing around, I saw a toy truck at the line where the gravel met the lawn.
That little toy car had seemed to come out of nowhere. An engine revved again, and I looked to the toy car, surprised. Smoke came from its miniature exhaust pipe.
“What the hell?” I said. “Matt, do you see this?”
Blinding hot pain hit my breastbone. Crying out, I pressed my hands to the spot, hoping to relieve the ache.
“Cordelia!” Matt shouted, rushing over.
The crystal on my necklace cracked in two. My tattoo burned like someone was stabbing it with flaming pokers over and over again.
Not only that, but I felt aches and pains in places I’d never felt them before. Falling on my ass in the gravel shouldn’t have done that. My eyesight seemed worse, but it was probably from the hot tears filling my eyes. I tried blinking them away, but my vision was cloudy. I lifted one of my hands to wipe at my eyes. It looked pale. Veins were showing beneath suddenly-wrinkled skin.
Matt was at my side, shouting at Declan and Pearl. I reached up to pat his cheek. I was dying, but I wanted him to know that I loved him.
Chapter 14
Matt
It was a nightmare come true.
I squeezed Cordelia’s hands, desperately searching for answers in her eyes.
Her skin thinned, and as her eyes sank, the spark in them faded. She slipped through my fingers, and there was nothing I could do. For all the strength of my bear, I felt helpless as a child as I watched the woman I loved age before me.
“Help,” I shouted. My voice cracked on the word, agony making it hard to speak. “Somebody help us.”
Pearl ran over and lifted Cordelia’s cracked crystal necklace into her palm. Her eyes widened, and she crunched something beneath her shoe. She looked down, and I followed her gaze.
She lifted her foot. A tiny metal car glinted between blades of grass. As we stared at it, a deep engine roar seemed to come from under its miniscule hood.
I bent down for a closer look. I’d seen this before. That guy in front of the B&B had been playing with it, and he’d tossed it aside before flapping his arms after that giant vulture bird. “What the—”
The truck lifted onto its back wheels and tore off through the grass.
I looked up at Pearl. “Could that be—”
“Catch it!” She gave my arm a shove.
I started running, following the zig zag of wiggling grass.
The screen door creaked open and crashed closed.
“Cordelia?” Daphne’s panicked voice was a reminder of the stakes. Not that I needed one.
“Get Cordelia up on the porch,” I said. “Please.”
A faint line of smoke rose from the grass, indicating the truck’s passage.
I dove to grab the tiny truck, but it drove up and over my fingers before I got a good hold on it.
“Declan, help him,” Pearl said. “That truck is likely possessed by whatever force has been stalking Cordelia and draining shifters.”
I scrambled to my feet and searched for movement in the lawn. The truck was too small to easily see.
“What do you think changed?” Daphne asked Pearl. “If it was after Cordelia all this time, why attack those around her until now?”
“She’s shielded,” Pearl said, “Or at least she was. The malevolent force likely needed more life energy to breach her wards.”
“What about you?” Daphne asked.
“Cordelia has a wild, untamed magic. I’ve likely not been targeted because my magic is under control,” Pearl said. “Plus, since the chaos demon, I’ve tripled up on my personal protection spells.”
The sound of their voices faded beneath the thrum of my pulse in my ears. I had to catch the truck. I needed Cordelia to be okay.
Declan grabbed a two-by-four from I didn’t know where, and slammed it down into the grass.
“No!” I yelled.
He smashed down again and again.
I grabbed his arm.
“Let go or you could get hurt,” he growled.
I held tighter. “You can’t. What if destroying the fart monster means we can’t fix Cordelia and Moira?”
His muscles eased, and understanding flashed across his face.
I looked back at the grass, just in time to see the tiny truck launch itself up from the ground toward the open doorway leading to the basement. The top of the truck was crushed in, its bright red paint scratched to hell, and one of the front wheels wob
bled so badly it looked like it was about to fall off. But it was still driving.
“There!” I pointed and ran toward the basement steps.
Declan raced beside me, both of us reaching the stairs at the same time. He went down first, flicking the light switch. No lights came on, though.
“I forgot this was out,” he groaned.
There was the truck, revving its engine down the middle of the hall, right beside the sparking power box. The box opened on its own, and a thick red cloud rose from the truck.
“Matt, catch!” Daphne said.
I turned just in time to see a metal can flying through the air at me.
I caught it. The label read Organic Scents in a flowery script.
If I killed the spirit, I could be dooming Cordelia.
“Do it,” Pearl said, appearing from the stairwell behind Daphne. “It’s the only way to save her.”
I prayed she was right.
With a sharp inhale, I ran down the dark hall spraying floral air freshener like all of our lives depended on it.
The power box burst from the sheetrock, leaving a swirling vortex of blue light in the wall behind it. I didn’t stop spraying, dousing the air in notes of lilac and feverfew. The red cloud of noxious gas dissipated, and I was left staring at the gateway it had opened. What was this?
An ominous feeling fell over me, like the air was stolen from my chest. The dark hall grew darker, as if the portal sucked in what little light had remained.
Glowing white fingers gripped the edge of the portal, inching outward like boney worms. They were unnaturally long, with claws at the ends. I aimed the sprayer at the portal and gave it a shot.
The fingers didn’t recoil. Instead, an alien-like head with giant black eyes crested through the center of the portal.
Oh shit.
“Stand back!” Daphne looked at me, flamethrower in hand.
“Wait,” Declan said, grabbing her shoulder. “That spray is—”
Daphne let loose, and the air burst into flames.
I dove back into the closest room.
Aerosol air freshener is flammable.
With my back against the cool stone wall, I let my head drop. A laugh escaped my lips. Nothing about the situation was funny, and here I was, unable to hold back the laughter about the absurdity of it all.
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