“Kind of like you and me. Two things most people wouldn’t think go together.” He grinned as he grabbed a plate and began to pile food on it. He faced me fully with a mound of food before him. He went to hand it to me.
I snorted. “I cannot eat all of that. No one can.”
“There is hardly anything here,” he said, trying again to get me to take the plate.
“Uh, Jeffrey, there are four pieces of fried chicken, a mound of mashed sweet potatoes, some sort of green stuff, and whatever that breaded stuff is,” I said, pointing to it.
“Breaded okra,” he returned.
“I don’t even know what that is, let alone how it tastes,” I admitted. “What is the green stuff?”
“Collard greens,” he said, motioning to corn bread on the counter. “You’ve got to try that too. Momma’s corn bread is to die for.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at him. Evidently, the way to his heart was through his stomach. Too bad I wouldn’t be living up to his mother’s cooking skills, unless we were talking about Italian dishes. Then I could probably hold my own.
I took a piece of corn bread and the minute I tasted it, it melted in my mouth. My eyes widened. It was phenomenal.
I swallowed and stared at him. “I’d have married you for her corn bread alone. Your hot body is just a bonus.”
He snorted. “Thanks. I think.”
I took another bite and made noises indicating just how yummy it was.
He started to eat as well, standing as he did. “I never asked if you cook.”
“Yes, so long as my grandmother isn’t in the kitchen,” I said. “If she is, I’m not allowed to touch anything without her approval.”
“When we get a handle on Dragos, how about we go up and see her?” He drank some of his tea and didn’t spit it out.
I cringed for him, remembering the taste of it as I nodded. I took a bite of a piece of fried chicken and flavor exploded in my mouth. “Ohmygod, this is delicious too.”
He glanced past me, in the direction of the large picture window that looked out at the water. “Momma will be happy to know you like her food.”
“Correction. I love it.” I ate more, my thoughts going back to our time in the bedroom. “Jeffrey, where did you get your bedroom ceiling fan?”
“Ordered it from the hardware store here in town. Why?” he asked. “If you hate it, I’ll change it. As you probably noticed the cabin doesn’t have much in the way of a woman’s touch.”
I glanced around and smiled. “It’s perfect as it is. I was wondering about the fan because for a minute I could have sworn it reached jet propulsion levels of air blowing when you we were playing stuff the cannoli.”
He watched me carefully. “You felt the gusts of wind too?”
“Uh, yeah. They were hard to miss,” I replied, taking another bite of the chicken.
“Legs, the night of the succu-witch attack, that storm came out of nowhere,” he said, something off in his tone.
“Not really. Sounds like Poppy caused it with her magik,” I said, before taking a sip of water.
“Are you sure she did it alone?”
“Marcy may have helped. They’re both witches,” I supplied.
He stared harder at me.
“What?” I asked.
“Legs, you’re a witch too,” he said softly.
I sat there a second and then realized what he was hinting at. “You think I caused the wind?”
He nodded. “I do.”
I snorted, shaking my head. There was no way I’d caused the wind.
Twenty-One
Dana
There was pounding on the front door, causing me to jolt slightly on the stool. Jeffrey sniffed the air and set his plate of food down near me on the center island. His eyes widened as he hurried toward the door, throwing it open to reveal Marcy and Poppy standing there.
“What are you doing here?” demanded Jeffrey.
Poppy looked past him, at me.
“Your husband thinks you’re at home with Travis watching over you,” said Jeffrey sternly as Poppy brushed by him.
“Uh-huh,” she said, coming straight for me. “Are you okay?”
“Poppy,” said Jeffrey, clearly upset.
I hurried off the stool and met her partway. “I’m fine.”
Marcy eased around Jeffrey as if he wasn’t even there and came toward me, carrying an oversize bag over her shoulder. I’d seen her take the very same bag to the beach before and wondered what in the world she was up to now. She glanced up at me. “Oh good, you got the ghoul out of your hair. I wasn’t sure if you would. I brought a shampoo I made.”
Poppy hugged me as Marcy pulled out a dark bottle of liquid. She held it out to Jeffrey, giving him no choice but to take it.
His gaze swept to me for guidance.
I shrugged. When it came to Marcy, it was best to just go with her oddities.
He set the bottle on an end table. “Poppy, where is Travis? Brett said he left him guarding you and the twins.”
“Pepper and Tucker went to see Thomas,” she said. “Your father actually talked them into it after breakfast this morning. Maria suggested they get him out of town for a bit until this all blows over. They told him they needed to go back to Yale to get their things for summer.”
“Did they tell him not to fall for the lure of any succu-bitches on the way?” I asked, noticing she didn’t mention Travis in her response.
Poppy snorted. “It was implied.”
Marcy continued digging through her bag. “Poppy, you’re going to need to have a long talk with Thomas soon about supernaturals.”
“I know, but not today,” she said.
Jeffrey touched his brow. “I’ll ask this again since you both ignored me. Where is Travis?”
Poppy glanced nervously at me and then pressed a smile to her face. “Um, he’s tied up at the moment.”
“Doing what?” demanded Jeffrey. “He’s supposed to be protecting—”
“Here. Hold this,” Marcy said, pulling out a sharpened wooden stake. She thrust it at Jeffrey.
He took the stake, his gaze darting from her to it and then back to her once more. “Why do you have this?”
“Because it was in my bag,” she said as if that explained everything.
“Um, Marcy, thank you, but I don’t need this. I have built-in weapons,” added Jeffrey.
She patted his arm gently. “Aww, you’re so adorable. You think I brought that for you. No. It’s for Dana.”
Jeffrey jerked the stake close to his body. “She’s not going up against any threat again. Stake or no stake.”
Marcy kept patting his arm. “Sweet that you think so.”
Poppy took my hand in hers. “Marcy told me we needed to be here. I know I promised Jeffrey that I’d stay away and let him handle things here with you, but when Marcy told me it was important that we be here—with you—I dropped everything and came.”
“You promised Jeffrey you’d stay away from me?” I asked.
She bit her lower lip and nodded. “Earlier. But I hadn’t heard from you. I was worried.”
He sighed. “I forgot to have her call you. I’m sorry. We were a little busy.”
Marcy beamed. “They were knocking boots. Congratulations on mating. I’m so happy for you both.”
Poppy squealed and clasped her hands together. “You did it? You let him claim you?”
Jeffrey snorted, setting the stake on the coffee table. “More like demanded.”
I groaned. “I did not.”
“Did too,” he returned with a grin that said he knew darn well he’d baited me.
Poppy yanked me to her and hugged me so tight I thought she might pop my head clean off. I had to push on her to get her to stop. She then jumped up and down in place. “I’m so excited!”
“I couldn’t tell,” I replied, my tone level.
She squealed again.
Marcy reached into her bag once more. The next I knew, Burgess was darting out of
it, running past me and right for the master bedroom.
“You brought your tree-rat in your bag?” I asked.
She nodded. “He was excited to come. He’s missed you all day. You should know, I let him sleep in your boot again because he’s having a really hard time with you being gone.”
I closed my eyes and counted to ten. There was a creepy vampire dude who wanted to harm me, stinky ghouls doing the dude’s bidding, and now I had to deal with a squirrel with separation anxiety.
Could my life get any weirder?
There was another pounding on the door, but this one wasn’t rapid and light as the last had been. It was strong and loud.
On instinct, I grabbed for my friends and yanked them behind me as Jeffrey sniffed the air again. His eyes flashed to icy blue and then he grunted, opening the door quickly, his eyes returning to normal.
Brett and Stratton entered.
Jeffrey shut the door. “Oh look, the gang is nearly all here. Should I roll out a welcome mat for anyone else?”
“All here? What do you—” Brett’s words died on his lips when he spotted Poppy. He lowered his head slightly, his gaze narrowing on her. “Poppy-seed, what are you doing here and where is Travis?”
“We tied him up,” said Marcy nonchalantly as she reached into the seemingly bottomless bag. She pulled out a small jar of something. “I made a calming tea for you, Brett.”
Stratton laughed. “Did she just say they tied up Travis?”
“She did,” returned Brett, annoyance written all over his face.
“She doesn’t mean they actually tied him up, does she?” asked Stratton.
“Something tells me that’s exactly what she means,” interjected Jeffrey. “I think she’s going to need a bigger jar of calming tea before the night is out.”
Stratton’s attention turned to me. He smiled. “Congratulations are in order.”
Brett stilled and then looked to his best friend. “You did it? You claimed her?”
Jeffrey licked his lips. “I locked it down. I saw you dance around mating for twenty years. Figured I should just jump in feet first. Sink or swim thing. Well, that and she demanded I do it. Told you chicks dig me.”
I shook my head, chuckling as I returned to my plate of food. “Since you’re all here, are you hungry? Jeffrey’s mom cooked for an army.”
Poppy eyed the spread of food on the center island and perked. “She made corn bread? I love her corn bread.”
“Right?” I said. “I swear on Richard Marx that it’s the best corn bread I’ve ever had.”
“Totally,” added Poppy.
Brett yanked out his cell phone and placed a call. He then lowered his phone. “Travis isn’t answering.”
Marcy held the jar of tea out to him. “Here. You’ll need this.”
“Did you actually tie him up?” he asked, disbelief on his face.
“Don’t be silly,” said Marcy, her smile sugary sweet. “Of course we did.”
Brett sounded pained as he bent his head, shaking it as he did.
Poppy went to him and rubbed his upper back as she stood by his side. “There, there, honey. It’s okay. We put something in his tea to help him rest. Then we tied him up.”
“Not helping,” he said.
“Travis was supposed to be resting anyway,” she countered.
Brett pointed to Marcy. “You are starting to sound like her.”
Just then Marcy stilled, her gaze going to the picture window. “They’re here.”
“That wasn’t the least bit ominous,” added Stratton as he glanced at the window too. “Uh, guys, it’s getting very dark out there, very fast.”
“Shit,” said Jeffrey, rushing to the door and bolting it. He then motioned to me. “Dana, you, Poppy, and Marcy need to go to the master bathroom right this second. Lock yourselves in!”
I didn’t panic. Instead, I squared my shoulders. “I can’t run and hide, Jeffrey.”
“Yes, you can!” he shouted, his eyes flashing to icy blue.
Brett grabbed him. “Reel it in, Farkas.”
“I’m not going to let my mate be hurt,” snarled Jeffrey.
Poppy glanced at me. “We should have made him a special tea too.”
“Let’s maybe not drug our friends and family,” I said.
Marcy glanced at the jar of tea in her hands and then moved it behind her back, doing her best to appear innocent. “Erm, maybe Brett shouldn’t have any tea right now then.”
Stratton bent as he laughed from the gut.
Brett just looked tired as he kept hold of Jeffrey.
The smell of rotten eggs reached me, and I tensed. “The ghouls are out there.”
Stratton straightened and took a moment to regroup. “Right then. Let’s do this.”
Marcy waved a hand at Brett. “Go stand near the big window. Take Jeffrey with you.”
Brett opened his mouth to argue.
Poppy puckered her lips a little and gave him sad eyes.
The man folded in a heartbeat and marched like a scolded child to the position Marcy told him to take. He dragged Jeffrey with him.
“To the left a bit more,” she said.
He listened.
Stratton glanced at her. “Where do you want me?”
“Near the back entrance,” said Marcy glibly as she opened her bag again. She then yanked out a jug of something that looked like water. She set it on the counter near me.
“How much crap did you put in there?” I asked. “Wasn’t it heavy? And how did Burgess make it here without being crushed?”
“I didn’t put him on the bottom,” she said. “Poppy, get the door.”
“Poppy, don’t you dare open—”
She was to the door, unbolting it and tossing it open before her mate could finish uttering his protest.
My chest tightened as I locked gazes with a man I’d not seen in twenty years—the same man who had stood outside of the church at my mother’s funeral.
My father.
He’d not aged a day.
His black hair hung to his broad shoulders as he filled the door frame. He had to be six foot seven or eight. He made the men currently in the cabin look short and they were all well over six feet tall.
Poppy just stood there, staring up at him.
He glanced down at her and his expression went from unreadable to charming in two point two seconds. “Poppy, nice to formally meet you. I’m Bram Van Helsing.”
Gasping, she looked at me, her hand on the open door. “He knows my name?”
I didn’t respond.
“Dana, you forgot to mention how attractive he is,” she said in a low voice that everyone could still hear.
My jaw set as I stared at Bram.
He sighed. “I never wanted any of this for you, Dana. Please know that. And please know that no matter what you may think of me, I love you very much.”
“Well of course you do,” said Marcy. “Invite him in, Dana.”
I crossed my arms under my breasts and glared at Bram.
Marcy snorted and glanced at Jeffrey. “When you’re done with your show of dominance, can you invite him in? If you want to keep your mate safe, he’s needed.”
“Mate?” asked Bram, his green gaze snapping to Jeffrey.
I found my voice. “If you try to hurt him, I’ll use the stake Marcy brought me on you.”
Poppy gasped. “Dana!”
The edges of Bram’s lips curved upward. “You have a lot of your mother in you. That’s a very good thing, Dana.”
Jeffrey pushed away from Brett. “Come in.”
Bram entered. “My men are nearly here. Jeffrey, it would be wise to summon the pack. I’ve reached out to the vampires in the territory too. Their master owes me a few favors. They’re on their way to assist.”
Jeffrey turned his head and stared out the window. He was silent for a moment and when he glanced back at me, his eyes were still icy blue. “It’s done. The pack has been alerted.”
“Going old
school with that summons,” said Brett. “Felt that one in my bones.”
Bram was just inside the front door when a gust of wind came in out of nowhere, pushing him forward. With a grunt, he regained his footing and stood tall. He rolled his eyes, facing away from the door. “Wilma, I wish I could say it’s nice to see you again.”
Wilma?
He couldn’t possibly be talking about my grandmother.
In strolled Nonna, her head held high, her purse clutched to her. Behind her came Peter. He had a baseball bat over one shoulder. Next came Rita, carrying a jug of liquid that was oddly similar to the one Marcy had brought. Rita’s jug had a symbol on it that looked like a bolt of lightning with a circle drawn through the center.
Then Chester and George entered. They each had golf clubs. Last, but not least, was Lou. He entered pulling his rolling oxygen tank behind him.
“Ohmygod, you really did steal the bus? And you drove here? This was your big adventure?” My mouth fell open.
Nonna walked right up to Bram, ignoring my outburst, and threw up a hand gesture meant to ward off evil. A few choice Italian curse words fell from her lips as well.
Bram remained composed. “I see you’ve warmed to me over the years.”
Snapping out of my stunned state, I hurried to Nonna and drew her into a gentle embrace. I then stepped back. “What in the…um…world are you doing here?”
She glared at Bram more before eyeing me. Her gaze raked over me slowly. She frowned. “Dana, how do you expect to get your mate to notice you if you wear that? It does nothing for your chest. Flattens what little you have.”
Poppy snorted.
Marcy rushed in to save me. She eased Nonna away from me. “Good news, her mate noticed her even with her breasts being the size they are.”
“He did?” she asked. “Which one is he?”
Marcy pointed to Jeffrey.
Nonna smiled wide and went to him, throwing her arms out.
He glanced at me and then bent to hug her, his eyes going back to normal.
She patted his cheeks and then surveyed him. “We need to fatten you up some. When we’re done dealing with the demon and his minions, we’ll feed you.”
“Okay,” said Jeffrey, clearly caught off guard. “It’s very nice to meet you, ma’am.”
Hexing with a Chance of Tornadoes: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Romance Novel (Grimm Cove Book 2) Page 19