by Ruby Raine
Eva wasn’t scared seeing Charlie in his non-human form because she was aware of the supernatural side of the Isle. Still, she had amazing recovery for being in a near death experience.
Charlie, on the other hand, did not like the situation at all; it seemed wrong to him. First, that they just happened upon a woman in trouble near a cave not often explored, only to find out she is aware of their world, something few know. And the timing, right after a dead body was found in this very cave.
Then again, she did have a nasty gash on her leg and was truly panicked when they had found her. Plus the man found in the cave had been dead for years, and had been killed by their mother. This Eva Jordan couldn’t have anything to do with that.
He could tell by Michael’s reactions that he wasn’t getting any strange vibes, so Charlie shook it off as paranoia. His wolf senses were tingling at full speed though, warning him there was something not right about this entire situation.
But perhaps that had more to do with the fact they were standing in a cave where his parents had stood, shortly before their deaths, and had nothing to do with Eva Jordan.
“So you’re summering on the Isle again?” Michael asked her.
“Yes. My father rented a place on the shore, just outside of town near the Mermaid Point Lighthouse.”
Her father was on the Isle as well. Michael wondered if he might get to meet him.
Charlie cleared his throat. “This is all quite interesting,” although his tone clearly meant the opposite. “But we’re losing the day. We should get a move on.”
He tried to pass off his doubts as purely paranoia, but something nagged at the back of his mind. Something about this woman was not trustworthy. And the sooner they got out of the cave, the sooner he could be done with her.
“So where are you headed?” Eva asked them.
Michael smiled, taking out the crystal.
“We are heading that way,” he pointed, as the crystal turned and lit up, toward the darkness of a cavern not too far ahead. They jumped back into the water and swam to the embankment of the cavern. Once out of the water, they unhooked their flippers, leaving on shoes that were flexible and waterproof. Eva wore the same style flipper. They left the flipper parts behind and carefully stepped into the cavern.
The crystal grew brighter, and the cavern was surprisingly easy to walk through. The brothers had expected the terrain to be more difficult to negotiate. Another five minutes in, the light from the crystal unexpectedly went out, plunging the trio into complete darkness.
Up ahead, voices echoed.
They were not alone in the cave.
WILLIAM AND MELINDA reached Emily’s house. They located her father in the garden out back.
“William Wakefield and Melinda Howard. Well, I’ll be! What brings you two out my way?” He motioned for them to have a seat under a gazebo in the center of the garden.
“It’s good to see you, Mr. Morgan. You look like you’re getting around better,” Melinda noted, although she had not seen him since his last visit, with Emily, for dinner a few weeks prior at the Howard Mansion.
“That I am. That I am. Doc finally got the pain meds right and my back has never felt better! Just you two wait until you’re this age,” he trailed off.
Melinda took a sideways glance at William. Aging. Something he would never experience. Something she would. Another reason they could never be together.
“Mr. Morgan,” began William, “we actually came today to speak with you about something rather urgent.”
“Oh. I see. What can I help you with?”
“It’s regarding Emily,” William revealed.
“Emily!” His eyes widened. “Is she okay?”
“Um. Well. We are hoping you might be able to tell us if she’s okay,” Melinda said.
Emily’s father looked confused.
“Mr. Morgan, what can you tell us about Emily’s ring?” William got right to the point.
At the mention of the ring, Mr. Morgan’s face turned ashen, and he lost all vigor.
“It was a gift,” he stammered. “I gave it to her years ago, but it once belonged to Emily’s mother.”
“Does it have any special purpose?” Melinda prompted.
Mr. Morgan still did not answer.
“Look, Mr. Morgan. I hate to be blunt,” Melinda stated, “but we don’t have much time. I am sure, after living on The Demon Isle these last few years, that you must be aware there are things on this island that are not normal.”
Mr. Morgan stood and paced the gazebo.
“I am quite aware,” he divulged with complete seriousness. “It is the reason I moved my family out of Georgia, and to The Demon Isle in the first place.”
William and Melinda listened intently.
“It took me years to locate this Isle. I tracked rumor after rumor, followed clue after clue. I needed to find a home for my family that strengthened magic and my search led me to here, to The Demon Isle. Of course, there were also warnings, that because of the nature of the Isle, many dangerous things were attracted here as well. It didn’t matter though. I needed powerful magic to save Emily from a life of pain, and fear. It was her mother’s dying wish that I bring her here. She lived just long enough to see it through.”
He paused, taking a coarse breath and continued, his voice sure, but sad.
“You see, Emily takes after her mother. She was a spirit vessel. So is Emily.”
William’s eyes brightened with understanding. “The ring, it blocks the spirits?”
“Yes. We gave Emily the ring when she was a little girl. As I said, it was once her mother’s ring. But when Emily started exhibiting signs that she also had the gift, her mother took off the ring and we gave it to Emily. Removing the ring left Emily’s mother vulnerable to spirits. Normally, she was prepared for this. She had taken the ring off many times, and allowed spirits to enter her body willingly. There was a time she helped many lost souls pass along messages and move on from this world.”
“It is not always as simple as that,” William surmised. “Is it?”
“No. It is not. Her mother came into contact with an evil spirit. I don’t know how much you understand about spirit vessels, Mr. Wakefield, but some spirits, if strong enough, can possess a living, human vessel. It is nasty, hard work to get them back out once you let them in. One such spirit tricked my wife and possessed her for weeks. Emily was still young; she just thought her mother was ill. Not long after it was over and my wife was free from the possession, I gave Emily the ring. Her mother did not want her to experience such things at her young age. You both know my Emily,” he justified, gazing at them. “She’s so sweet natured, so lost in her books, and studies.”
“She’s also super smart and quite strong-willed when she puts her mind to something, Mr. Morgan,” Melinda reminded confidently.
He nodded in worried agreement. “She is. Now. She had to become strong after her mother passed away.” He swallowed hard before continuing. “You see, before we came to the Isle, the ring’s power had started to weaken. We feared what would happen if the ring failed completely. We just wanted Emily to have a normal childhood. A normal life.”
“So you moved here,” Melinda confirmed. “So the Isle’s magic would strengthen the ring’s power.”
“Yes. Once we were here, and my wife knew that the ring would protect Emily, she passed on. She had been sick for some time. Cancer. She stuck it out long enough to see for herself that Emily would be protected.” He paused again and shakily continued. “I was terrified when she left to go to college, but the power from the Isle seemed to hold, especially since Emily came home to visit nearly every weekend.”
“Mr. Morgan,” said William pointedly. “With the full understanding of everything you have gone through to protect your daughter, I fear I must inform you that something is trying to use Emily as a vessel.”
“I feared this day might come,” he whimpered grievously. “I have never even explained to Emily what she is. What her
mother was. She has no idea.” His face pleaded for their help.
“William,” cried Melinda in a tone that begged, please go protect Emily.
Without question or hesitation, he sped instantly away toward the bookstore.
“Wh-where did he go?”
Melinda sighed. She spent the next several minutes explaining to Mr. Morgan that she and her brothers were witches and that William was a vampire. She continued to explain her prophetic dreams, including the one she’d had about Emily. She purposely left out the part where Emily died at the end, fearing his reaction.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Morgan. Now that we know what Emily is, we have a far greater chance of helping her through this.”
“Is there anything I can do?” He suddenly looked old and worn.
“Honestly, I think this is better handled by us. This is what we do, and William is quite knowledgeable. If anyone knows how to stop a spirit from entering a vessel, it will be William.”
CHARLIE, MICHAEL, AND Eva stood in the cave, their eyes adjusting to the sudden darkness. The voices some distance ahead had caught them off guard, echoing ominous warnings back to them.
Eva tripped, clutching Charlie for support. He grasped her, to keep her from falling over fully. “You steady?” he asked in a low voice.
“Fine. Really not normally this clumsy.”
He looked at her incredulously.
“I swear it,” she mouthed.
He could not resist a low chuckle. He might not trust her, but she was attractive, and had a keen mind, regardless of her clumsy missteps. Eva’s hands stayed glued to his shoulders, fingers kneading into muscles that twitched under her touch. She let her hand swipe down his arm, fingers radiating against his skin like warm satin.
The nagging suspicion returned. A tingle twisting in Charlie’s gut. What was it about her that sent his wolf senses into overdrive? He left her side and stepped forward cautiously until light drifted in from up ahead. They stopped, listening, trying to decipher if the sounds they heard were friend, or foe.
“Eat. Eat it all,” a cringing cackle reverberated through the cave.
They listened closer and heard odd sounds.
Sucking sounds.
Slurping sounds.
“I am thinking hostile,” Michael muttered, stepping closer to investigate. He motioned for them to hold up and wait. His footing was lighter and quieter than Charlie’s.
“Does this sort of thing happen a lot around here?” Eva asked Charlie. She’d snuck up alongside him.
He leaned down to her ear. “Welcome to the real Demon Isle.” His tone taunted, a mixture of fright and sarcasm. He grinned, dazzling her without meaning to, breathing her in. On his first inhale, his head went hazy. With the second, he might as well have downed a six-pack of beer laced with a lust potion.
Instantly heavenly and captivating, it shattered his guard making him forget he was on the job. Or standing in an underwater cave. Or with his brother ten feet away and an unknown assailant just around the corner. Or that the woman next to him was a complete stranger who got his hackles fired up.
None of that mattered. Only her. Only Eva. Only that smell. Like crisp air at night under the full moon. The smell of the earth under his feet. Of primal desire to run free and wild. The promise of the hunt. The reward of catching his prey- the white-haired woman caught between him and the cave wall.
In movement Charlie did not recall, he’d jammed his body against her, pinning Eva between him and the wall. A distant shout in his head asked him what the hell he was thinking, but that human voice trailed off when she let out a catch of breath over the unexpected act.
Not a frightened one.
She did not try to stop him.
He didn’t question. Only needed more.
Lips brushed down her neck; instead of pushing him away, Eva lifted her chin giving him deeper access, encouraging him to taste her. To smell her.
Why isn’t she fighting me? The human thought in Charlie’s mind dissolved into not caring about the answer. Words would not formulate. His mouth unable to make the right movements to create speech. His legs went soft, feet stumbling, body acting drunk. To balance himself he wrapped his left arm around Eva’s waist, his right palm braced on the cave wall over her head. He towered over her, coming in at six-foot-three with a frame broad enough to hide her petite size from anyone.
So easily, he could overpower her. She’d never get away.
His hand splayed and tightened against her back. He could not force himself to let go. If he let go he’d lose the delicious intoxication. Never have it again.
Part of him panicked. That small human part of him struggling to remain coherent and make sense of all this. But every time the human side threatened to resurface the intoxicating smell fed into him, goading the wolf. Stoking its wild urges.
Eva’s gaze radiated amusement over Charlie’s sudden inability to speak or move correctly. But she didn’t pull away. And didn’t act surprised by his behavior. Her reactions welcomed him in. Encouraged him.
“Are you okay, Charlie?” she whispered with such innocent lechery it pulled him in even more. It took every ounce of willpower to stop himself from picking her up, slamming her against the cave wall, and taking her. Blood surged to his groin, making him hard as the rock behind them. He needed her to feel what she was doing to him, and pushed himself into her.
Eva sucked her lip, swallowing the moan threatening to slip out. But the quiver in her body gave her away. A quiver that sent his frayed control slipping. As far as his wolf was concerned, she was free for the taking. So many carnal pleasures; his breaths got thicker. The hair on his face standing to attention, darkening. Silver blazing in his eyes.
This woman had no idea what she was inviting in. Eva might think it a frenzied one night stand in the making, or maybe she just had a fetish for supernatural beings.
Somewhere deep in Charlie’s human mind, he shouted for himself to stop. Begging for some measure of control over the wolf. A snarl built in his throat, a sudden overwhelming need to sink his teeth into her porcelain flesh, to claim her. To bite. To tear into his skin, to hurt her.
Then it vanished.
The sudden intoxication lifted.
Just gone.
Clarity coming back to Charlie’s befuddled brain.
His human face and mind returned, the wolf receding back into its hiding place.
He stepped back, although clumsily tripping as he did so. Distressed eyes narrowed in on Eva Jordan, Charlie a bundle of confusion and embarrassment.
Michael rejoined them from his lookout duties with a grimace. Seriously? Charlie goes from not noticing scantily clad women bouncing around the ferry to practically jumping a total stranger. I’m gone for two minutes. The rest, he grumbled silently.
“Sorry,” was all Charlie could muster as he turned away from Eva. His mind repeating a steady line of expletives. There was no logical explanation for what just happened. It made no sense whatsoever.
“We all good?” Michael aimed at Charlie in a disgruntled whisper.
Charlie nodded, his memories a hazy mess. He did recall the last thing raging around his mind before it ended, his wolf. Hungry. Wanting to play. And by play it wanted to devour Eva. Pretty much literally. As in, I’d like to sink my teeth into your flesh and rip off your skin. All the lust had tunneled into this one thought. Devour all of her.
Where the hell does such a sadistic idea even come from?
Who the hell is this woman?
The desire to bite was one thing. A normal thing for his wolf to desire.
This need was much different. Much more dangerous. This was a need to inflict pain. For no other reason than he could.
Charlie was never so glad that he avoided dating humans. They were so fragile. He was dangerous. Possibly deadly if his wolf ever bit someone, and at the least, permanently life altering if he passed his curse onto someone else.
Just now though, his wolf had wanted so much more. Thank God it
stopped before it was too late. He needed to be done with this cave job and get away from this vexing white-haired jezebel, as far away as the island would allow.
Why would he react to her like this?
No, not him, his wolf. It was his wolf that craved her. Not him.
It was a smell, he recalled. An intoxicating smell had set it off.
So the solution is easy. After we get out of this cave, I never get close to her again.
Problem. Fucking. Solved.
And as much as he wanted away from her, he could not imagine what she was thinking right now. Being jumped by a total stranger. Hell, he might as well have tried to attack her. So many wrongs about this situation!
He stepped up beside his brother, having difficulty focusing. His breathing uneasy.
“What the hell was that all about?” mouthed Michael. He held up his arm. “Rhetorical question. Can feel it, remember?” And he was super freaking happy about it.
Charlie wasn’t thrilled either, and wondered just how much of that Michael had picked up on. Sometimes, having an empath for a brother was a pain in the ass. It could come in handy, but at times like these... “I have no idea what that was.” Charlie shook his head. “Let’s just focus on what’s ahead. Please.”
Michael’s empathy picked up on the fact that Charlie was no longer in turned on mode, but completely freaked out mode. Something about what just happened had him teetering on a precarious edge.
They didn’t have time to deal with it now.
Eva joined them.
Charlie ignored her, keeping his focus on the voices ahead in the cave and not her reaction to the despicable thing he’d just done, overwhelmed by a need to control the situation.
The smell was at least gone. Thank. All. That’s. Holy.
“I think it’s time to crash this party.” Charlie narrowed his gaze, concentrating on the job.
“Yeah, let’s,” agreed Michael.
The brothers wasted no time, rushing forward, only to freeze in their tracks once out in the open. Horrified disgust washed over their faces.