by Ruby Raine
“I’m not sure how to divide up the jobs,” he finally admitted. “This is not a situation I expected us to be in and to be honest, I don’t really know where to go from here.”
“Well, I can start,” offered Emily. “I’m going to need some super strength, a.k.a. William, to help me. I cannot carry Lizzy’s body all on my own. I’m not sure what she was thinking by only telling me where her body is hidden.”
“She’s thinking you’re the only one she can trust,” explained Michael. He could not help but be proud of his girlfriend, but at the same time, feared what this ghast would do once returned to her body.
How powerful a witch was she? Whose side would she be on? At the moment, he’d answer that question as her own side, however, once human again, everything would change. And it was Deane blood that would course through her veins. And being in spirit form, he could not use his empathy to get a sense of her true feelings.
“Regardless of trust,” said Emily, “which I do not take lightly, I will still need William’s help.”
“And you may have it,” William promised. “That leaves the rest of you to gather the required items and prepare the ceremony location.”
“We don’t have any of the needed items,” informed Lucas. “I suppose the old house might have a store of stuff we haven’t come across yet.”
“It’s a big house, it could take months to find,” said Riley.
“I guess that means you will need to prep the location then,” Charlie aimed at the Deane brothers. “We may not have all the items ourselves, but I know where we can get them if we don’t.”
Lucas nodded, looking like he wanted to speak. It took him a second to do it. “This is a lot to ask, but I’m not sure just my brother and I can get the location ready in time. We might need some help with that.” He sucked in, letting out upon exhale, “We’ve never done anything like this, so I have no idea what I’m supposed to do. And I have no idea where this place is we’re supposed to go to.”
“I’ll go with you,” offered Melinda. She quickly shot don’t-bother-arguing-we-have-to-do-this eyes at her brothers and William.
Mack, as if reading the brothers’ minds reminded, “I’ll be close by, securing the area for the ceremony.”
“Okay then,” caved Charlie reluctantly. “William, Emily, to Lizzy’s body. Lucas, Riley, M-Melinda,” he stuttered uneasily, “and Mack, to the ceremony location, and Michael, Eva and I will gather the required items to perform the ceremony.”
“I think we’re forgetting one big problem,” halted Michael. “We need a plan for the Soul Hunter. We need to be prepared for the possibility it will try to escape, and I for one, do not want that Soul Hunter to get off the Isle.”
“William, any ideas?” asked Charlie.
“No. I’m afraid my dealings with such a creature are nil. But once we have located and transported Lizzy’s body I will return to the mansion and do as much research as possible.”
“Actually, we might be able to help out on this one,” spoke Lucas. “I don’t know the answer,” he clarified swiftly, “however, our library is still intact. If my family brought the creature here, perhaps there’s info about it in one of our books.”
“Very well, if you permit, I shall look through yours, as I feel confident browsing through my own will prove useless.”
“The house is open. The library is on...”
“The first floor, at the back of the manor,” finished William.
“You’ve been there before?”
“Yes. On a few occasions.” He did not expand. “And, thank you.” He nodded curtly.
“Anything we can do to help,” asserted Lucas. “This Soul Hunter is here because of something our family did, and we will do whatever we can to fix that. And Lizzy, she may have become a ghast because of a Howard, but our family betrayed her, too. I thought we’d have a lot to make up for, but this is much more than I expected so soon.” He appeared honestly disheartened by what was happening.
“Well, how about let’s just make it through tonight, and if we can get Lizzy back into her body without allowing the Soul Hunter to escape, we can consider this night a success, and worry about the rest... some other time,” said Charlie. He wanted to put the past behind and believe that the Deane brothers would be true to their word, but remembering their history kept him from doing so.
Charlie and Michael watched anxiously as Melinda walked by them, leaving with Lucas and Riley, with Mack behind them heading to her cop car. Melinda’s gaze never left Riley walking alongside his brother.
Michael grimaced, letting out a disappointed grumble. “Shit. Seriously?”
Melinda swung around, realizing too late what had happened. Michael knew. He’d sensed her emotions and discovered she liked Riley. Damn empathy. He was going to find out eventually you know. You’re such an idiot. Grow up, and grow a pair already!
His sister’s emotions were all over the place but regardless, it was obvious she was crazy about Riley Deane. Michael pursed his lips, his face hardened.
Only one more brother to go. Melinda wanted to just get it over with, so they could get pissed and hate her all at once. They still don’t know what I’ve done with him. She shuddered at the thought of them finding out.
Charlie threw his gaze back and forth between his brother and sister, trying to understand what was going on, but William tossed Michael a bleak look that said, Not now. Let it be.
Michael shrugged and told Charlie, “Later. Let’s get going.”
Eva joined them and they departed.
The vampire prompted Emily gently to head to her car. Emily cast Melinda another compassionate smile, but William refused eye contact, his passing silent. His brows bent in... Melinda didn’t know what, but it left her feeling numb and empty.
The way he’d reacted to Riley...
The wedge cutting into her and William’s friendship had just been hit with a sledgehammer and been driven down even deeper. It was hanging by a thread.
Loss. That’s what William was hiding as he passed by her.
They were losing each other more and more every day. Soon, they’d just be people that happened to live in the same house and work together. Her mistakes in the last week had assured William would never be her best friend again.
WILLIAM AND EMILY ARRIVED at the graveyard. Not a very unique place to hide a body, but it would certainly blend in with the surroundings.
“Wait here,” advised William. He dashed off to make sure the graveyard was empty of late night visitors and scouted for the location of the mausoleum they needed to access. He appeared at Emily’s side just seconds later.
She let out a start. “It still amazes me to see you do that. Not that I can really see you do that. You know what I mean.”
William bowed his head, taking it as a compliment. “The graveyard is clear, and the mausoleum is this way.” He walked at normal human speed allowing Emily to walk alongside him.
“William, can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“I’m assuming you’ve figured out at this point that Melinda is dating someone and that someone is Riley Deane?”
“Yes.” His voice dropped. “I have gathered as much.”
“I think that’s why she’s been so upset. I knew she was dating someone. I feel terrible I didn’t tell anyone, but she asked me not to. And I thought it was all going great anyway. I should have known it was guy trouble. But I would have never guessed it was this type of guy trouble.”
“Nor I. And knowing Melinda, she’s overwrought with guilt.”
“The type of guilt she should be asking forgiveness for?” asked Emily apprehensively. “It’s clear what you all think of the Deanes, you especially,” she added cautiously.
William stopped. His gaze intense.
“My actions were,” he shook his head, unsure what to say. When he’d found a man, this Riley, with Melinda, and smelled his blood, marking him as a Deane, his normally controlled defenses had shatter
ed yet again. His emotions raging out of him like a pathetic lovesick schoolboy. One with super strength, a set of fangs, and a hunger to suck something, anything, dry.
The thought of a Deane so close to her, touching her, defiling her... he let the picture ravaging his mind go with a low rumble in his chest.
“Melinda did nothing wrong. I do have a sneaking suspicion she was not aware, and once she discovered he was a Deane...”
“That’s when she locked herself in her room,” finished Emily, putting together the final piece of the puzzle. “Poor Melinda. It’s so hard for her to put herself out there. And she gave it a try and look what happened. I wish there was a way to make it easier for her to tell people how she feels. To not be so afraid. It’s like she thinks everyone is just going to hate her, or abandon her if she makes a mistake.”
William’s thoughts stalled for a moment. It’s what he had just done. He hadn’t known what to say to her. How to act. So he’d just ignored her. I’m not angry with her, so why did I do that?
William knew Melinda feared abandonment, she had ever since her parent’s deaths. She used to talk to me, his thoughts droned. But she doesn’t any longer. She’s not comfortable doing so. He had hoped, seriously hoped, they could put the awkwardness behind them. Forget the dreams. The shared moments. Move forward as if none of it had happened.
It appeared he was wrong.
It also appeared he was, dare he admit jealous.
And I abandoned her, when what she needed from me was acceptance and understanding. It was such a human thing to do.
“Hearts are such a fickle thing.” William realized he said it aloud and his face contorted into a tight frown.
Emily looked up at him, her gaze understanding.
“Even with all my years on this earth I still do not understand them.” He continued toward the mausoleum. The way he spoke made Emily believe he was speaking of his own heart, more than just hearts in general.
“It’s because hearts can’t be controlled.”
William stopped, listening to her intently.
“After spending years waiting for Michael to come around, telling myself daily, sometimes hourly, that he might never come around and I needed to move on and forget about him, my heart just refused to listen. Love is not something any of us can control. Even vampires I’d wager. We can control a lot of things, William.” She let out a huff and shook her head. “But we cannot control who we love.”
Emily pitched him an inquisitive side-glance, but he said nothing and wore a blank stare. She didn’t know why she thought he would admit anything to her. But she couldn’t help the curiosity on the subject of whether he did have feelings for Melinda.
If she had to bet, she’d put her money on, yes.
It seemed like a hopeless situation, even to Emily.
They continued in silence to the mausoleum, and Lizzy Deane’s body.
Gaining entrance was easy.
Lizzy had explained to Emily that the key for opening the gate was hidden nearby, inside a hollowed out section of a tree. It was overgrown now, and Emily could not get her hand inside the tree, so William shoved his strong hand inside and a second later removed a long iron key.
They opened the gate and stepped inside. In the center of the room was a stone coffin. William gently pushed the heavy lid, which moved easily with his vampire strength.
“I definitely could not have done this myself!” Emily watched him move the cumbersome stone as if it were mere paper. “Thank God you’re super strong.”
“Even with my super strength,” noted William, “we will not be able to bring the entire coffin.”
“I hadn’t thought about that. Definitely won’t fit in my car, so we’ll just be bringing her body?” she surmised.
“Yes. Are you ready?”
“Think so,” said Emily. What was waiting inside? A rotting corpse? Bones? Dust? Worms or other creepy crawlies? She gasped as William removed the stone lid.
Lizzy’s body lay inside and as she had stated, perfectly preserved. Her skin was porcelain with a hint of pink, her long light brown locks perfectly in place, flowing around her body. She looked as though she were simply sleeping. She wore a full-length black dress, with lace that ran down her arms and rose high around her neck.
“Incredible,” Emily exhaled, stunned.
“Yes. Quite. This is extremely advanced magic.”
“So what will happen once she’s back in her body? I mean, does she stay the same age? Will she age suddenly like in those fright movies, turning to dust? Will she really be able to live the rest of her life?”
“If the magic was performed correctly, which appears to be the case, Lizzy should return to her body continuing the human life she should have lived. Her body has been in perfect stasis, and it will be as if she never left it.”
“So no weeks or months of therapy to teach her body how to work again?”
William chuckled. “No, my dear Emily. Not at all. Magic like this works differently. It’s not like a human illness or accident that requires time to recover.”
“Ah, well. Okay then. Let’s get her to the car and get on our way. You’ve got some research to do and I have a body to deliver.” She shuddered. “This is the most bizarro thing I have ever done.”
William lifted an eyebrow. “Definitely not an everyday experience.”
He gently lifted Lizzy’s body out of the coffin and swiftly arrived at Emily’s car. He took care with his movements as he slid her into the backseat and buckled her in. Her head dropped to the side, he allowed it to lean on the inside of the car door. He grabbed a jacket Emily had stashed in the trunk and slid it between her head and the glass, to cushion her from knocking blows, caused by driving and bouncing around.
Emily got back to the car and stared, wide-eyed at the brown haired beauty sleeping in her back seat. “Have to admit, it’s sort of creepy.”
William opened the driver’s side door for Emily. She slid into the seat and strapped the seatbelt around her. “Thanks, William. Geez, hope I don’t get pulled over. What would I say? Oh, dang, never mind. We know the sheriff.” She giggled and rolled her eyes.
“On nights like these it’s good to have friends in high places.” William grinned. “Still, drive carefully. Eyes on the road, and not gazing into the mirror, staring into your backseat.”
Emily laughed. “I’ll try. I can’t make any promises.”
He nodded. “I’m off to the Deane library. And will meet up with everyone at the rendezvous location.”
“See you then,” mouthed Emily as she pulled away. By the time she glanced into her driver’s side mirror, William had vanished into the night.
CHARLIE HANDED MICHAEL half of the list. “I’ll get the other half. Eva, you can come with me.”
Michael sped away to various locations inside their home, gathering the necessary items.
Charlie motioned for Eva to follow him toward the back of the mansion. He led them to some stairs at the back of the house that brought them down into the basement. He opened the door and switched on a light. It was a storeroom. There was another door on the opposite wall, which led into the rest of the basement.
It was a cool, dry place to keep supplies for magical potions and spells. The walls were lined with shelves, each shelf filled with baskets, jars and boxes. Drying herbs hung from the ceiling. There was a long wooden workbench in the center of the room.
Charlie started collecting the items on his list.
“Eva, would you grab me that basket?” he pointed with his head to an empty one near the entrance.
“Sorry, I’m not much help,” she said, handing it to him.
“You collected that basket like a pro,” he insisted dramatically.
She let out a peevish huff.
“Don’t worry about it, Eva. This is my job. It’s what I do. At least we found out what happened to your dad, and know we can get him back safely.”
“You’re right. I just wish I could be more help. I’
m not used to... not being of any use.” She shook her head. Why did I just say that? It was far too personal. And more than he needed to know. She and her father were here for a very specific reason, and it needed to end there.
Just keep it together.
Get your father home so you can rip him a new one.
And somehow, not owe Charlie fucking Howard any favors when this is done.
Keep it light.
“We are going to get him back.” Charlie’s determination and misjudgment of her quietness brought her mind back into the basement.
“You’re right. Sorry. Mind was wandering, to way too many places all at once.”
“Yours does that too?” he jeered. “Let me know if you ever find a way to stop that.”
“Sorry, Charlie. I don’t think it’s humanly possible.”
“Damn. Too bad. Regardless Eva, just leave this to us. It’s what we do. And before the day is through we’ll have your dad back. Safe and sound.”
“Until I get my hands on him,” she let slip out in a growl.
Charlie laughed.
“Sorry. That was supposed to stay in my head.” She changed the subject. “How do you handle this job? It seems to me it is rather exhausting. I’ve only known you for what, just over a week, and your schedule tires me out just thinking about it.”
“It has its moments,” he conceded. “These last couple weeks have been much more active than normal. You’ve decided to visit the Isle at an unusually busy time.”
“So it’s not always like this?” she posed innocently, leaving out the part where she was already quite aware that much of what had kept the Howards busy was mostly her doing.
Part of her ongoing attempts to force Charlie’s wolf into obeying her, or to steal the ring gifted to him by the Guardian, Nina, whom Eva was responsible for killing.
“No. This summer is particularly busy for some reason,” Charlie returned.
“Lucky me. Lucky Dad.” She breathed out a long, shaky breath, turning away from him. Damn it. What the hell is wrong with me? A wave of emotion threatened to surface. Tears stung at her eyes. Crying? Are you fucking kidding me? This place is turning me into a simpering idiot.