by Ruby Raine
"Wow. That would make things way easier. We could come and go in a blink, not a thirty minute each way car ride. Brilliant fucking idea, if you ask me."
"I know. Actually, I should have thought about it sooner. I guess the whole full moon's a comin' had me sidetracked."
"Can't imagine why."
They chuckled at that idea and pulled into the driveway, and made it inside where Michael was already making coffee.
"She's at the manor," Lizzy informed him. He nodded somberly. That was a start, he guessed. It was killing him and taking every ounce of strength not to run right over there and pound on the door like a lovesick idiot.
"How's our new vampire doing?" asked Charlie.
"Locked in the basement," Michael answered.
"She didn’t—" Lizzy started, but he cut her off.
"She did good. She knew she was a mess and locked herself in. I was about to go let her out, if she's ready."
"What happened?" Charlie asked, concerned.
"She hasn't said. I'm sure she will when she's ready."
Melinda came sauntering into the kitchen from upstairs, casting a confused gaze at everyone already awake, dressed, and looking like they were just getting home.
"Why do I have the feeling I missed something?"
Charlie, Lizzy, and Michael couldn’t hold back a low chortle.
"Let us fill you in," began Charlie. But when he looked at her, he caught the hint of something familiar. His sister was overwhelmed. "Or... we can have some coffee, get cleaned up, and then sit down and have a family meeting. We have a lot to figure out and discuss."
Melinda nodded and blew out a breath. Why had she gotten out of bed? Oh, right. She'd wanted to talk to Mathew.
"Um, where's Mathew?"
"Power Source, with Lucas," answered Lizzy as she downed some coffee.
Charlie caught Melinda stealthily trying to eye the study and chewing on her lip. Something was up. A dream she didn't want to plant on everyone maybe?
"I'm going to go shower before family meeting time." Michael jaunted up the stairs, both to shower and clear his head.
"Geez. I missed something big, huh?" Although, Melinda had a hard time fathoming it was bigger than what she'd gone through. Her gaze wandered back into the study.
"I'll go check on Courtney," offered Lizzy. Her connection to Charlie was telling her he wanted to talk to his sister.
"What's up?" he aimed at Melinda.
"That obvious, am I?"
"You have a dream you need help with?"
She deflated some. She'd promised to be open and honest. But how did she do that without betraying William at the same time?
"I want to tell you about it, but now is not the time and it can wait. Promise."
"Okay." He didn't argue. But didn't make to leave her alone either.
"It's a private thing, okay. I'm just not ready to talk about it, and really, there's nothing you can do about it."
Charlie nodded. "Okay."
"I promised to tell you if it was important to the job, and if it turns out that's the case, then you'll be the first to know."
"I can't ask anything else." But the seriousness of his sister's tone worried him.
Ding dong. Ding dong.
It was the outer gate at the end of the driveway, which they'd been closing more often as an extra precaution. Supernaturals would still trigger the alarm if they stepped across the property line, but it seemed redundant not to lock the gate and put their reliance purely on the alarm.
"Who the hell would be ringing the bell at this early hour?" chimed out Charlie.
Footsteps marched down the stairs.
Lizzy and a more controlled Courtney flew up from the basement.
They were all on edge at this unexpected arrival though.
They all meandered toward the front door, deciding safety in numbers, just in case. Charlie opened the door, and from this distance they noticed a woman standing far out front, looking rather lost.
The closer they got though, Michael's footsteps faltered.
Even Charlie and Melinda had to take a double—make that a triple-take.
"Hello," the woman greeted. "I'm sorry for ringing your gate so early, and unannounced. You are the Howards, correct? The Howard Witches?"
Standing at the gate was a woman nearly the spitting image of Emily's dead mother. Was this a sick trick?
"Who—um—what—" Charlie's tongue was befuddled into speechlessness.
Lizzy didn't have that problem though. She'd never met Emily's mother before she'd passed on.
"Who are you? Why do you want to know?"
"I'm sorry. I'm doing this all out of order. I'm afraid I'm in a panic. My name is Luciana Arnaud. Call me Lucy. I can see I've confused some of you. I am not Lily Morgan. I am not Emily's mother. I am her aunt. Lily's twin sister. A few inches shorter, but otherwise, identical."
"Amazingly so," said Michael.
"I'm looking for my niece. You see, I woke up in her car. Very far from home. But I've been told she's somewhere on the Isle, by a reliable source." Her sister, which she left out for fear of sounding off her rocker.
Charlie made the call and opened the gate.
"Please come in."
"Thank you." She followed them back inside and graciously accepted an offer of coffee from Michael. "Lots of sugar in there please." She was recovering from an almost two day possession by her sister.
"Again, I'm sorry for barging in like this but I have a problem I'm hoping you might help me with, seeing as you are Emily's friends."
"We can try. But—" Michael shook his head in befuddlement. "I'm sorry. Emily never spoke of an aunt."
"No. She wouldn't have. She didn't know I existed. It's a long story, let's just chalk it up to a stupid sibling spat that went too far. But when Emily left here, she found me. I can explain how, later. But first, I must ask, have you seen her? I'm terribly worried. You see, we were practicing blocking possessions, had a long day of it, had a few too many drinks, and... well..."
"She got possessed?" finished Charlie. "Wait—you're a Spirit Vessel too?"
"Yes. It's passed down to all the females in my family. Anyway, I was hopeful you might help me track her down so I can get the spirit out of her."
"Actually, Emily is on the Isle," said Michael.
"And the spirit already left her," added Lizzy. "She's fine. And staying at my house."
"Oh, thank God." Lucy's hand went up to her heart.
"C'mon," said Lizzy kindly. "I'll take you there. Although, shoot, I can't drive." Something else she was going to need to remedy about her life.
Melinda piped in. "I'll drive you," she aimed at Lucy. "Let Lizzy and everyone else get ready for the day." And whatever craziness was about to unleash at this family meeting. Plus, she'd love to say hi to Emily. And apparently, she'd missed a hell of a lot while she was going down memory lane with William.
She went to slip on some shoes and grab a sweater. Charlie found her in the kitchen staring into the study though.
"The dream?" he guessed.
She spun around, startled.
"Um. Yeah. I was just thinking I could start some research on something later."
Now she really had him curious.
"Can I help?"
Melinda sucked in her cheeks nervously. "I know I promised to be open, but this is hard, Charlie."
"Why?"
"Because, it's William."
"Oh. So, it wasn't a prophetic dream?"
"Of sorts." And then she was explaining anyway. At least in part, that he was going through a detox, wherever he was, and she'd been dragged into his chaos as his mind unraveled.
"That had to be—interesting?" he wasn't even sure what else to say.
"More like, freaky, frightening, and incredibly revealing."
"And what are you researching?"
"Charlie, I have to ask you something first. I don't like to, but... can we keep this between us? For now, at least."
Charlie's eyes scrunched together, but he nodded. He was keeping a lot of secrets lately and it was sure to backfire. He wasn't sure he was going to be able to keep them from Lizzy, seeing as their new bond allowed her access to his thoughts. And he was sure to let down his guard one of these days.
Melinda shook out an anxious breath.
"I'm researching about vampires. More specifically, if there's any possible way a vampire could be freed from the curse—I'm not talking about death. But becoming human again."
Charlie's jaw swung open. "Um—"
"I realize it's an extreme longshot. And probably a waste of valuable time. But I need to do this. And I will try to explain better, but another time. I can't. Not today."
"Okay. But if you need me, stop me from whatever I'm doing."
"Thank you, Charlie."
She left the kitchen and sped off to drive Lucy to the manor, and speak to Emily and then Mathew.
JEAN GAVE ANNIE A THIN lipped smile.
Goodbyes were always hard, but this one was extra so. She and William had not spoken much after his detox. And Annie had kept quiet, but decided to still go to the Isle even once it was painfully clear William's secrets were out in the open.
However, because of Riley's growing distress, and these continual bursts of his feeling getting stronger, they'd deemed it necessary to reopen the portal from Sorcier directly to The Demon Isle. They would be home in a blink. Not a couple of day's drive.
Once the travelers were through, they'd close up the portal again.
Annie promised to call home often.
William promised nothing, and Jean and he spoke a hushed goodbye that might well be their last—she hoped not. However, resigned herself to the possibility. But also promised not to give up on her friend, just yet.
Annie gave Jean one final hug, topped with an anxious smile. Even with all the awkward, she had to admit she was excited to see this magical place William had lived for so long.
Annie and William got into his car and waited for Riley. Before straddling his motorcycle, he hopped over to Jean.
"Thank you, for taking me in. I was pretty lost when I wandered in here."
"But you're not now. I can sense the change."
"I still don't know exactly where I'm headed, but I'm a hell of a lot less lost than when I got here. So, thank you. For everything."
"Anytime. And I mean that. You ever need a place to lay that pretty head of yours, Sorcier is always open to you, Riley Deane."
He nodded, straddled his two-wheeled machine, slid on his helmet, and fell in line behind William's car.
The portal was opened and they sped off into the darkness, popping out a blink later.
And just like that, they were pulling onto an old, not so frequently used road on The Demon Isle. Home, just like that.
Riley pulled up alongside William.
"I'm guessing my brother will be at the manor. I'm headed there."
William gave him a curt nod, Riley already knew where he was headed.
"See you soon," Annie called out from the passenger seat. Even though things were a little rocky between her and William, she was excited to be here. To see the place William had called home for such a long time. And to meet this woman, Melinda, who had her sire wound up so badly.
They went their separate ways, which seemed odd after their time together. But they'd see each other soon enough. Riley sped off toward town, and up toward the manor. He was surprised when he pulled in and parked that the Howard's jeep was in the drive. His heart stammered as he dismounted the bike and watched Melinda racing out and down the stairs, and looking up and freezing at the sight of him.
Their reaction was similar. Breath frozen in their lungs, brains not quite firing correctly.
"Hi," he finally got out. Riley hadn't expected to be confronted with this so soon. Damn, she was still beautiful. But it didn't change anything.
"Hi," she managed back. She unfroze and shook herself back into the moment. "You're back."
"Yeah. Just now." Awkward much. He didn't know where to start.
She shoved her hands into her shorts pockets, fidgeting anxiously.
"How are you?" she asked him. "We've all been worried about you. I've been worried about you."
"I can't really imagine that."
She gave him a quick smile. "When you left I was—out of my mind. Processing things. I didn't know where to place any of my feelings because there were too many of them. It wasn't your fault, Riley. What happened. No one blames you. I don't blame you."
"I know. And," he let out a breath, "I don't blame myself. Not now. But I needed to—get away. Clear the space up here." He pointed to his head.
"I get that. I really get that."
"You're okay though?" he asked her.
"I am getting there. You?"
"I'm getting there too. But yeah. Mostly good."
"It's kind of a constant work in progress, isn't it? Being okay?"
He groaned, but agreed. "Listen, I um, was hoping to talk to you, I just didn't think it would be tonight to be honest."
"If you don't want to, that's okay. If you're not in the right headspace, I get it. But I'm glad you're okay. I'm glad you're back."
"Actually, it might be better if I just get this out now." Before he lost his nerve. His voice trembled a bit. He didn't want to explain this minute that he'd spent his time away with William, but he kind of needed to in order to explain his conclusions. "It's um, kind of a long story, but I've been with William all this time."
"William?" Her shocked tone and awed gaze said it all. In all her time with the vampire, in his mind, this hasn't come up at all.
"Yeah, he kind of saved my ass."
Damn the vampire. He had gone out to try to take care of Riley. Probably for her.
God, that fucking hurt. Because she was confident it had pretty much backfired.
She rolled her lips between her teeth because she got a sense of what was coming and she refused to cry. Not here. Not now.
"William is like, so seriously in love with you, Melinda."
She nodded. And forced out a soothing breath.
"And I love him." No hesitation, but damn that was hard to say to Riley.
"I know you do. And while you may or may not still have feelings for me, I know it will never be the same as what you feel for William. And I don't want to be a middle party."
"I don’t want that either, Riley. I never meant for that to happen. I never believed that being in love with William was an option. And I still don't know that it is, and yet it's sort of too late. I've also spent some time working on me. And I've still got a ways to go. But I realized I needed to learn to stand on my own two feet, and fight for what I want. I needed to find confidence in myself before I had anything real to offer anyone else. I needed to love and accept who I am before I could decide anything about my own future."
"Sounds like you've had some productive time on your hands."
"Part voluntarily, part forced, but in the end, revealing and needed. I've spent so many years letting everyone else take the reins, and I need to take them now. But, Riley," she stepped closer and fixed her dampening gaze on him. "You helped me so much more than I can express. Forget the curse and the shit that happened. When I met you, I needed exactly what you offered. I cannot ever thank you for setting me on the path that got me here. Even if it was hell, because now I know what I need to do. You helped me get there. I'm just so damned sorry you got hurt in all of it."
She leaned up and kissed his cheek, spun around, and hopped in the jeep to get away as fast as possible before the tears refused to hold back.
She'd just broken up with Riley Deane.
Smart decision?
The stupidest thing she'd ever done?
It didn't matter, because it was the only choice her heart would let her make. And she was doing just as she'd promised, taking control of her life and fighting for what she wanted.
It might fail.
But if
she didn't try, she'd regret that choice for the rest of her days.
WILLIAM ALMOST PULLED over before pulling into the driveway. He could not recall the last time he felt true nervousness. How had they managed while he was away? Was Melinda inside? What would he say to her once they were face to face?
"Nervous?" Annie guessed.
"No use lying with you, so—yes, I am."
Annie squeezed his hand. "Would you like to go in alone? I can wait."
"No, that's not needed." He pulled into the drive, expecting to park when a blast of noise cascaded all around them. He'd set off some sort of alarm.
"Well, we're making a grand entrance," stated Annie.
He parked as the front door swung open and out piled everyone from inside, with palms raised, ready to strike. They'd left the gate open after Melinda had departed.
William stared raggedly, wondering what the hell had happened while he was gone?
All palms dropped when they saw him get out of his car. And the alarms silenced.
"William..." Charlie smiled, stunned. But his welcome faltered. At least the alarm was working and sounded off when a vampire strode through.
William heard the stuttering of heartbeats and it was impossible to catch eye contact with any of them. They were nervous about something.
Annie smelled it first, another vampire, close by. A rather delicious smelling one actually.
But when Courtney Jessup stepped out from behind them all, it was like his mind went blank. William just stared at her. His brain not willingly piecing it together.
Annie smelled turmoil, and read it clearly on all their features.
But instead of waiting to find out what this was all about, she daringly marched forward and stuck out her hand. First to Courtney, since she was closest.
"Hello. I'm Annie. An—old friend of William's. And a vampire," she stated the obvious.
Courtney's gaze flicked to Annie's. Out of human habit, she accepted Annie's hand and almost jumped at the jolt it sent down her arm. Even Annie seemed caught off guard by it. The reporter let go, all kinds of confused thoughts raging in her mind. She eyed the stone-faced William one more time before disappearing in a flash.
She wasn't ready to face any of this tonight.
Charlie cleared his throat and introduced everyone to Annie, and shook her hand.