The hot air receded, and I ran a hand over my face before heading slowly back into the hall. Whatever was coming out of the portal couldn’t have survived the flames...could it?
The walls were charred black. The beams above were burned. And on the floor was a husk, a shriveled carcass of...I didn’t know what.
Declan stepped out of one of the other rooms. He held a bag in his hand, then dumped the contents all over the floor and over the husk. I took a look at the white and silver pile. Salt and iron shavings.
Pearl and Daphne stepped out, too. They looked shaken but unharmed.
“Everyone okay?” I asked.
Daphne still held tight to the flamethrower. “I guess that stuff was flammable, huh?”
“Yeah.” Pearl laughed. “Douse that thing in salt.”
“What was that?” I asked.
“I have no idea,” Pearl said. She walked up between me and Declan. Then she looked at the portal, and the color drained from her face. “I’ve been here before. I’ve seen this…”
“Pearl?” Declan put his hand on her shoulder.
“I’m fine,” she said in a soft voice.
She didn’t look fine.
But the fart monster was dead...or at least I thought it was.
Pointing to the toy truck, I said, “What about that?”
“No need to douse it in salt,” Pearl said. “It was merely a vehicle for the spirit.”
“A vehicle,” Daphne said with a hysterical laugh before burying her face in Declan’s chest. “Get it?”
I had to see Cordelia.
“Excuse me.” I rushed past my friends and ran up the steps.
There was no sense of relief, only fear as I raced to see my mate.
Chapter 15
Cordelia
Caleb and Moira joined me on the porch as the sun rose over the horizon. They made such a sweet couple. I wondered how long they’d been together. It seemed like a good fifty or sixty years, from the way they tenderly held each other’s hands.
I had a love like that. Matt. He was the love of my life.
“Hey, do either of you know where Matt went?” I asked.
“Matt who?” Moira asked.
“My cousin,” Caleb said. “I was an asshole to him. Feel kinda bad about that now. I don’t know what happened to him.”
“He was here just a few moments ago,” I said, looking around. There were pretty flowers in hanging planters on the porch. I hadn’t noticed them before. And was it possible that it had only been a few minutes since I’d been left alone? I wasn’t so sure anymore. Maybe I was losing my mind. At this age, it wasn’t unheard of.
Some things defied age, though. Like love. Like the special moment between Caleb and Moira, who gazed into each other’s faces as they talked. I’d never seen devotion like that before, except with me and Matt. We had loved each other with a power that nothing could break.
So, where was he?
I focused on the flowers hanging from porch beams, trying not to stare at Caleb and Moira. But as I watched the pretty pink and red geraniums, their petals came into focus. I could even see the individual links of the chains holding up their baskets. It was as if my vision was getting better, and…
Of course my vision was fine. I blinked and looked around. “What’s going on?” I asked. “What happened to the fart monster?”
“The what?” Moira looked as disoriented as I felt. She saw her hand in Caleb’s and wrenched it away. “What the hell?”
Caleb leaped away from her. “Blech!”
“Oh, nice,” Moira said. “Real nice.”
He snorted. “Like your reaction was any better. Why were you holding my hand, anyway?”
They both looked at me, because I was sitting closest to them.
I shrugged. “No idea.”
Some people from the Redemption pack came out of the front door and sat on the other side of the porch. I looked at them, and they looked at me, but none of us did anything. Why they weren’t coming after me, I had no idea, but I wasn’t about to call attention to myself.
Someone came around the side of the house. Someone with broad shoulders, dark hair, and gray eyes that made me think of storm clouds. I leaped from my chair, putting more distance between me and the folks from Redemption and putting myself closer to him.
“Hey,” he said, tugging me into an embrace. Then he pulled back and looked me over. “You feeling okay?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I just don’t get how I’m up here, and, hey, what happened to the monster? And why do you smell like smoke?”
He laughed. “The fart monster’s taken care of. We blasted it. And there was a...I don’t know how to describe it. A portal of some kind. In the basement.”
“Of the B&B?”
“Yeah.” He squeezed me again, and I felt my body come alive with tingles of pleasure. He smelled so good, and he felt good, too. Amazingly good, in fact. Desire was beginning to overtake me.
Standing on my tiptoes, I whispered in his ear, “I need you.”
“Oh yeah?” He cupped my ass in his hand.
“Yep. Immediately.” I was ready to climb him like a freaking tree and impale myself on a specific branch.
Everyone else seemed to be doing their own things. Caleb and Moira were hurling insults at each other, the Redemption pack members were talking quietly, and Declan was walking up to them, a purposeful look on his face.
Matt tucked his hand in my back pocket and said, “There’s this cool thing in the woods that I want to show you.”
“Is it your dick?” I asked.
He laughed. The sound of his laughter, the sight of his smile, made me so happy.
“Seriously, though,” I went on, “as long as it isn’t a haunted dummy, I’m game.”
Together, we walked into the woods that bordered the B&B’s property. Their sheltering branches provided shade, and the sounds of people at the B&B faded away. After a few minutes of walking, I said, “Just how far are you taking us?”
“To here.” He pointed.
A sparkling stream cut across the forest floor, with mossy boulders bordering it. It burbled quietly. “It’s gorgeous,” I said to Matt.
He turned to me. “You’re gorgeous.”
His hand was warm against my hip and he rubbed it back and forth, just under my shirt. Waves of desire moved through me. I felt wanton, hungry for his touch.
“I was so scared for you,” he said, his lips coming down over mine.
“I’m doing all right,” I said, pulling back. “But I’d be doing even better if we were naked.”
“Insatiable,” he said, pulling my shirt up. His hands went straight to my breasts and he gave my nipples a playful tweak.
I leaned into his grasp with a moan. His touch made me feel alive. Warm. And, like he’d said, insatiable. Reaching for his jeans, I popped open the buttons and slid my hand inside, eager to touch his cock. Firm. Smooth. Ready for me.
We undressed each other in mere seconds and then stood naked.
“Come here, lover,” he said, his voice a low growl.
Before I could step closer to him, he yanked me forward. His cock pressed against my lower belly. The hair on his chest tickled my breasts. His hands, large and warm, caressed my shoulders and down my back until he grabbed my ass.
With a soft kiss on my mouth that tasted like peppermint, he whispered, “I love you, Cordelia.”
“I love you, too.”
He lifted me, then, and I helped by wrapping my legs around his waist. Now his cock was right where I wanted it—where I needed it. The tip was close enough to my entrance that just by moving my hips a tiny bit...there. He filled me slowly, pressing forward so that I could feel every inch as he moved. Desperate for more contact and friction, I kissed him hard and gripped him with my legs.
“Ah, Cordelia,” he said, stroking in and out.
The angle was perfect—his cock hit that special place inside of me while my clit rubbed against his base. I could feel my b
ody tightening. His mouth was on mine, swallowing my gasps, and I reveled in his taste. All mint. All man. All mine.
Using my legs for leverage, I met each of his thrusts. The pleasure built in me. Tighter and tighter it wound, until it collapsed in on itself. I cried out with the intensity of my orgasm and Matt stroked a few more times before his body went rigid, his arms like steel bands around my waist and shoulders. I rode his final thrusts and squeezed him as he emptied.
He bent his forehead to touch mine and looked me in the eyes. “I love you, my beautiful mate.”
Chapter 16
Matt
I couldn’t believe that she was okay. Nothing else mattered, not the portal, not the demon truck, nothing but my mate.
My future was right in front of me, a strawberry-blond witch who hated shifters, yet still let me in.
I brushed a strand of hair back from her face. “I love you, Cordelia.”
“I love you, too.”
Reluctantly, we put on our clothes to head back to everyone else. It was unlike me to leave while everyone debriefed after the monster was defeated. But I’d had a debriefing of my own, so to speak. I’d needed to join with my mate and reassure myself that she was really okay and that she was really mine.
She was.
Those four little words she’d just spoken, I love you, too, filled my heart to the brim. And I couldn’t imagine waking another morning without her in my bed beside me.
“Let’s move in together. You’re my mate, and I don’t want to wait another moment to start our forever together,” I said. I didn’t know what she would think about that, or where we would live. I’d move to Redemption for her if that’s what she wanted. I’d do anything for her.
She flattened her lips into a line, but it didn’t stop me from seeing the smile at the corners. Her eyes lit up and she said, “Promise to make me breakfast?”
“Every day.”
“Okay, I’m in. But only if I can move into your place. No way in hell am I going back to Redemption.”
“Works for me.” Honestly, it better than worked for me. It was perfect. I got to keep my mate and my pack. “I’d change packs for you, but I like it here. I couldn’t respect the kind of people who would hunt you down without listening to your side. No matter who your mother is or what she did.”
We reached the edge of the yard at the rear of the B&B. Two of the wolves from Redemption were standing with Declan by the corner of the house—and if I wasn’t mistaken, they’d both been among the aged shifters. They stopped speaking and turned their attention to us.
A gust of cool air prickled the back of my neck.
“We’ll get out of your hair,” the taller one said, and offered Declan his hand.
Declan shook it.
The two turned to go, without saying a damned thing to Cordelia. No matter who her mother was or what she had done, Cordelia was her own person. She deserved better.
Declan offered a warm smile as we approached.
She deserved to be one of us.
“Looks like you were right,” he said to me. Then he turned to Cordelia and offered her his hand.
She accepted.
“I appreciate your help in finding my sister,” he said. “And welcome to the pack.”
Cordelia beamed. “Thank you.”
A shout came from the basement opening at the back of the house. Declan, Cordelia, and I all ran toward the sound.
“Daphne!” Declan yelled.
We hurried down the stairs to hear Pearl shout again.
“Duck!” she screamed.
The three of us hunched over without questioning her. Something cold blasted over my head. I could hear the sounds of scrabbling, like claws on a marble floor, but there was no marble floor here. Once the cold air went away, I started to stand up straight.
“No, stay down,” Pearl said, a thread of panic still in her voice. “There’s another one.”
I hunched down and clasped Cordelia’s hand in my own. I should have made her stay upstairs, out of the basement, but we’d all been in a hurry to come to Pearl’s and Daphne’s aid.
The next cold blast raised the hairs on the back of my neck. A thudding sound filled my ears. It sounded like a slow heartbeat, the rhythm almost sensuous. It might’ve been hot if it wasn’t so creepy.
In the next moment, it was gone.
Daphne and Pearl were standing by the portal. Pearl looked lost in the movement of the blue surface.
Declan, Cordelia, and I went down the remaining stairs to stand next to them. Declan took Daphne in his arms and glared at the portal.
“I couldn’t contain them,” Pearl said, leaning back against the wall. “They got through the portal before we blocked it off. I didn’t notice them until a minute ago.”
“What were they?” Declan asked. He looked as concerned as I felt.
“It’s entirely possible they’re benign spirits,” Pearl said.
Daphne huffed. “Given our luck recently, probably not.”
“What should we do?” Declan asked Pearl.
She shook her head and shrugged. “Nothing to do, at the moment. We’ll hope they were benign and try to live our lives while being alert to any trouble.
“So, business as usual,” I said.
“Yeah.” Pearl seemed to sag further into the wall.
Cordelia touched Pearl’s arm. “Are you okay?”
“You’re not old.” A smile spread across Pearl’s face, but it didn’t touch her tired eyes. “I’m so glad.”
“Thanks. Me, too,” Cordelia said.
“I’ve been here before,” Pearl said. “I’ve seen this before.”
“A dream or a memory?” Cordelia asked.
“It feels real. I can’t shake the feeling that something happened here a long time ago. Something I shouldn’t have forgotten.”
“Sounds like memory magic,” Cordelia said. “It sounds like something my mom would’ve done.”
“That may be.” Pearl frowned. “No matter what did or didn’t happen to me, we need to do something about this portal now.”
“Can you seal it?” I asked.
“What if this is where the Slug King came from and everything that happened since?” Declan shivered.
“How about we stick the electric box back up?” Daphne suggested. “Is it magic...dampening or something?”
“Sadly, no,” Pearl said. “It’s just a normal box.”
“How about a containment spell?” Cordelia asked.
The go-to for these things seemed to be salt and iron shavings. And fire. “We can always try a hell of a lot of salt and iron shavings,” I suggested. “Dump it all around, toss it inside, put up a tarp covered in it.”
“Let’s do all of it,” Pearl said. “Cordelia, will you help me?”
“I’d love to,” she said.
“I know you have your own life elsewhere,” Pearl said, “but if you ever wanted to move to Forbidden, I could use another witch on my side.”
Cordelia squeezed my hand. “I’d love to.”
Declan and I stood by, ready to help but ultimately unnecessary, as the women worked to cover up the portal. Cordelia and Pearl held hands and placed crystals around the area. The magic was invisible to my eyes, but the two of them looked satisfied at the end of it all, and that was good enough for me.
Epilogue
Cordelia
“Ooh, I love a good scary movie,” Daphne said, making room for me and Matt on the couch next to her and Declan. Her scooting over put her almost directly in Declan’s lap, but he didn’t seem to mind in the slightest.
Several weeks had passed, and nothing strange had happened as a result of those two spirits, or whatever they were, escaping from the basement. We were all cautiously optimistic that life could continue as before.
Or not quite as before, because now I had Matt, and I was happy—very much unlike before.
Daphne’s phone rang on the coffee table in front of her. She held up a hand. “Sorry guys, han
g on just a second. I’ll take this call and then turn off the ringer.”
“No problem,” I said, smiling. I was just so happy to be here, surrounded by my new favorite people. A good portion of them were shifters—which wasn’t something I’d have ever expected.
“Forbidden B&B,” Daphne said into the phone. “Oh, yes. I remember you. You’re looking for a toy truck?”
I exchanged a look with Matt, who smirked.
“Yes, of course. Your son’s toy.” She said it with a straight face, all while digging around in a ceramic dish in the center of the coffee table, which was filled with random objects. She finally came up with the charred corpse of the toy truck.
She flipped it in her palm. “I’m sorry to say it may have been damaged. Yes, of course you can pick it up anytime.” She smiled. “Yes, your son will be very happy to have it back, I’m sure.”
After ending the call, she looked around at us and we all started laughing.
“It’s cute, though,” I said. “He really loves his toy truck.”
“I really love you,” Matt said, tugging me close.
Everyone groaned, but it seemed that cheesy displays of affection were the norm here, so I wasn’t bothered by it.
“So, movie time!” Daphne said.
“The last time I tried to watch a scary movie,” Sophie said, “I ended up screaming at the sight of my own reflection with my best friend and her sister, the shit scared out of us.”
“How is Bea, anyway?” Daphne asked. “I liked her.”
“She’s good,” Sophie said. “I’m hoping she comes for a visit sometime.”
“And...Sarah?” Daphne asked in a more hesitant voice.
“Out of my life for good,” Sophie said with a smile.
The door to the B&B banged open, and Caleb strode in. “I’m here, and I’ve brought my favorite movie for the marathon!”
I noticed Moira eyeing him from across the room, but she didn’t say anything. Apparently, the two of them had been madly in love when they were old people under the fart monster’s spell. I’d missed the conversation when Declan told them about it, but apparently neither of them had taken the news well.
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