Hannah’s heart gave a small heave and she briefly pressed her eyes shut. Then she collected herself and faced the duo. She was glad Jinx was with Tyler. She’d almost collected him for the tour to give the veterinarian a break. Given what she was certain was about to happen, she was relieved that the dog was safely away from her. Unfortunately, now that she surveyed her location, she was also safely away from almost everybody else. She wasn’t sure that was a good thing given the circumstances.
“Don’t you want to say something, Hannah?” Ray prodded.
Did she? It might be smart to attack and run, she told herself. She was edgy, though. Her nerves were on full display. She had to calm down before she could react. Otherwise ... well, otherwise things might take a wrong turn.
“What do you want me to say, Ray?” she asked finally, putting a brave face on as she regarded him. “Which one are you?”
“Which one would you like me to be?”
She rolled her eyes at his teasing tone. “You’re obviously pride,” she noted as she flicked her eyes to Nikki. “I honestly didn’t see that coming. You were relatively sweet during your interview. That’s why I landed on you.”
“Oh, let’s not play games,” Nikki drawled. She’d turned from pleasant to predatory in the blink of an eye. “The reason you picked me had nothing to do with me being sweet and everything to do with Lorna flirting with your man.”
Hannah’s mouth ran dry. “I ... what?”
“I told her not to be so overt if she wanted the job,” Nikki continued, as if Hannah hadn’t said a word. “She likes to do things her own way, though. She can’t turn it off. Of course, I don’t know that she’s ever really tried to turn it off. Honestly, though, it doesn’t matter now.”
“We turned it into a competition,” Ray volunteered. “We made sure that the bodies we took over were fit for the job openings you were advertising. We thought we would have a little more time before it became necessary to out ourselves, but your actions over the past two days have forced our hands.”
“We really did want to make a game out of it,” Nikki added. “You made it so that was impossible, though.”
Hannah swallowed hard, a bevy of information running through her head. “You take over bodies.” She thought of the two furies she’d eliminated. Did that mean she’d killed human beings in the process of protecting herself and others?
As if reading her mind, Ray let loose a low chortle. “Oh, you’re wondering if you killed people, aren’t you? You poor thing. You can’t wrap your head around it. Well, if it’s any consolation, you didn’t. Your conscience can be clear.”
“We burn out the souls when we take over,” Nikki explained. “Our hosts are long gone before we take up residence. You don’t have to worry about that.”
Hannah still felt icky about the entire thing. “Why do you need human bodies anyway?”
“So we can walk around,” Ray replied. “We exist on a different plane. When we come back, we need to be able to interact with those around us. I mean ... if they can’t see us, or feel our magic, what’s the good of being back?”
“I’m not sure why you come back at all,” Hannah admitted.
“Because it’s tradition,” he replied simply. “We’ve been together for a very long time. Not since the dawn of time or anything — no matter who says they were there for that, they’re lying — but for thousands of years.
“We rose to prominence almost three thousand years ago,” he continued. “We had fun, started the whole ‘seven deadly sins’ hoopla, and enjoyed ourselves for a good two hundred years before we got bored. Most furies only last fifty or sixty years on this plane before they burn out.”
“It’s a live-hard-die-fast mentality,” Nikki offered. “Most furies want to retire, so to speak, on the other plane. We, however, decided we wanted to keep one foot in the door over here.”
“That’s why we decided to revisit this plane every hundred years,” Ray explained. “We came up with rules, made it a game, and agreed to visit a different magical stronghold each time we came back. It was just our luck that Casper Creek happened to be this year’s stop.”
It wasn’t the first time Casper Creek’s magical potential had been pointed out to Hannah. It was one of the reasons Astra wanted the property so badly. She thought she could increase her power resources if she could claim the property as her own. The fact that the furies believed the land was important, too, was enough to shake Hannah ... although she refused to show it.
“Well, that’s great for you guys, huh?” She plastered a fake smile on her face. “Is that why you had Frank set up that whole thing with the gun? Did you think that would be enough to make me lose the property?”
“Pretty much,” Nikki replied, blasé. “We need to replenish ourselves when we return. The trip over and back takes a lot of energy. We have to charge our batteries during every trip. That’s why we pick locations such as this.”
“Unfortunately for us, Casper Creek isn’t exactly what we thought it would be,” Ray supplied. “The power in this land is tied to you through your grandmother. You need to willingly give up the property, and the magic that goes with it, for us to take what we need.”
Hannah cocked her head, surprised. “You need me to willingly give up the property because ... why?”
“Because it was deeded to you by blood,” Ray replied. “Your grandmother made sure nobody could ever take this place from you. I didn’t know her or anything, but I get the feeling that she was a powerful witch.”
“And she was smart,” Nikki said. “She was so smart that she’s put us in a bind. We need you to give us this property so we can drain it.”
“Why not just kill me and take it?” Hannah queried.
“Because that won’t work. If you die before designating an heir, then the blood oath will stick forever. We don’t have time to drive around looking for another magical stronghold. We need this one. Our power is ... diminishing. We need to move things along.”
“Which is why we’re here,” Ray said. “You, young lady, have further diminished our powers by killing two of our own. I have to give you credit. I didn’t think that was possible, especially after meeting you. I thought you were some air-headed witch who had no idea what she was doing. It turns out that’s not true.”
“Kudos to you.” Nikki sent her an enthusiastic thumbs-up. “Frank’s plan was to force you to sell the property to one of us. We were going to mess with you a bit before that happened — which is why we applied for the bartending position — but your takedown of Donny threw us all.”
“I told him not to go to that restaurant,” Ray muttered, shaking his head. “He just couldn’t stop himself from putting on a display. He said he was hungry and he couldn’t wait for his big meal. Well, look how that turned out. He’s dead and we’re weak.”
“And he’s not here to listen to your complaints,” Nikki shot back, her eyes flashing with annoyance. “I think, if he had to do it all over again, he would change his tactics. Given what happened, that seems like a no-brainer. He got greedy, though — something you should know a little about — and now we’re in a mess.”
Well, that answered that question, Hannah mused. “So ... greed and pride.” She was mostly talking to herself. “And Lorna is lust.” Something occurred to her. “Is she here with you? Something tells me you guys are going to be moving in bigger units from here on out.”
Ray snorted. “Your takedown of Donny was surprising. Eliminating Frank the way you did, though ... well, that was unbelievable. We’ve had to readjust our approach.”
“So ... you’re all here?”
Ray nodded. “We are. See, we’ve learned that we’re strongest when we work together. Unfortunately, we’ll never be what we were before again because of you.”
“Yeah, the five deadly sins doesn’t have the same ring to it,” Nikki lamented.
“We still have to shore up our defenses,” Ray explained. “That means taking this place. We no longer have
the option of waiting. It has to happen now.”
Hannah’s heart was pounding so hard she thought she might pass out. “I’ll never give you this land.”
“You will if you want to protect your precious Cooper,” Ray countered, grinning when he saw the panic flit through Hannah’s eyes. “Oh, you’re finally putting it together, aren’t you? Yes, we’re all here ... and your boyfriend is in the most trouble of all. If I’m not mistaken, Lorna should have him right where she wants him at this exact moment. Do you want to come with us and see?”
Sheer panic licked through Hannah’s stomach as she tried to maintain control of her emotions. All this time, throughout this entire conversation, Cooper had been in trouble. She didn’t have to look at the spot where he’d been standing with Jacob several minutes before to reassure herself. He was gone. Heck, they were both gone. She’d seen them separate and then lost track of Cooper. He was in one of the buildings ... and apparently he wasn’t alone.
“I’ll never give you this land.” Hannah was firm. “You can threaten us all you want, but I’m not an idiot. The second I give you what you want, you’ll kill us anyway. There’s no upside for me.”
“There’s one,” Ray countered. “If you give us what we want, we’ll promise to end you quickly.”
“That goes for Cooper, too,” Nikki interjected. “We won’t let Lorna do ... well, what she likes to do. We’ll put you both out of your misery fast. That’s the best offer we can make to you.”
“I see.” Hannah licked her lips, nervous energy taking over. “I have a counter proposal.”
“Oh, yeah?” Nikki’s amusement was palpable. “And what’s that?”
“Well, see, I’m going to need a little something more.”
Nikki was practically salivating as she leaned forward. “And what’s that?”
“This!” Hannah slapped her hands on either side of Nikki’s head and poured the magic she’d been drawing into the girl’s brain. Nikki’s eyes went wide, bulging out of her head, and she almost immediately seized.
Hannah didn’t wait around to gauge the outcome of her handiwork. She turned on her heel, even as Ray was viciously swearing under his breath and she felt (more than saw) Nikki’s body poof out of existence, and bolted between the buildings.
“Running isn’t going to do you any good, Hannah,” he called after her. “I’m definitely going to make it hurt when I find you.”
Hannah pushed the notion out of her head. All she knew was that she needed to find Cooper. Once they were together, they could come up with a plan.
Together, they could do anything.
17
Seventeen
Cooper slipped into the seamstress store to take a look at the research Danielle and Jackie had amassed. There was a back room to the storefront, which was where they kept most of their witchy belongings, and Cooper was fairly certain that the women wouldn’t show themselves for at least another hour. That meant he could peruse their findings without them looking over his shoulder.
Unfortunately, information he found on the back table left him more confused than informed. According to the passages they’d highlighted, Hannah was right … at least in theory. If you could fight off one of the furies, you made them weaker ... although it was a rare few who could manage that. Almost all of the individuals mentioned in the books had magical backgrounds. That was good news for Hannah, but bad news for him.
He cracked his neck as he stretched, agitation building through his powerful shoulders. Hannah’s insistence that he had somehow fought Frank didn’t sit well with him. If he’d fought, then he wouldn’t have attacked his friend the way he did. On the flip side, he recognized she might be on to something when pointing out that he easily could’ve killed Tyler. The question became, if he was so out of control, why didn’t he go that route?
He didn’t have an answer. The whole thing was starting to give him indigestion and he didn’t want to think about it. He had no choice, though. Deadly furies were barreling down on them and it was only a matter of time before they mounted a full-blown assault. Cooper couldn’t shake the notion that the attack was imminent ... and probably much sooner than any of them were comfortable with.
“Excuse me. Do you have a moment?”
The voice behind him was ultra-feminine, and Cooper didn’t recognize it. Despite that, it also felt familiar, and when he swiveled his mouth dropped open at the sight of Lorna. “What are you doing here?” he blurted out stupidly.
Lorna looked amused by the question. “I’m here to see you.”
“Me?” Suddenly, Cooper felt inexplicably dumb. “Um, I’m sorry if I didn’t message you about the position, but we decided to go another way. I apologize for making you come all the way out here for an interview but ... that’s the way it is.”
Lorna’s smile was cocky as she trailed her fingers over one of the handmade dresses in the window. She seemed entranced by the workmanship, to the point where her attention was focused almost solely on the frock.
“I emailed you, right?” Cooper racked his brain. It would be just like him to forget to handle the hard part of the bartender decision. Of course, he’d been somewhat distracted since that afternoon.
“You did email me,” Lorna confirmed, her fingers tracing the intricate bodice. “This is exquisite work. It almost looks authentic.”
“It is authentic,” Cooper replied. “I mean ... as much as it can be. The women who work here have learned to sew using only the items that were available in a specific time period. They’ve gotten really good. Technically, some of the fabrics are more modern, but the work itself is historically accurate.”
“I can see that.” Lorna beamed at him. “I would like to meet the woman who made this dress.”
The demand caught Cooper off guard. “Oh, well, she’s not here right now. I expect her within the hour, though.” It was only then that he realized the research he’d been perusing was still out, and even though Lorna had taken up position in the storefront rather than the storage room, the ancient books were still on display ... and vulnerable should someone become curious. “Um ... I don’t understand why you’re here.” He slid into the room and quickly closed the book, making sure to put a sheet of paper between the pages so he could find it again should he want to read further. He was back in the storefront within seconds. “Is there something you need?”
“There is something I need.” Lorna practically purred the words as she turned to face him, puffing out her chest as she regarded him with a bright smile. “I need you.”
Cooper was taken aback. “Excuse me?”
“I need you,” she repeated. “I have a certain itch, and I’m pretty sure you’re the only one who can scratch it.”
Cooper was horrified at the suggestion. “Um ... that’s flattering, but I’m in a relationship.”
“I know.” Lorna’s smile never faltered. “You’re with Hannah. She’s the reason I didn’t get the job. That made me lose the bet, which kind of makes me want to pay her back ... so here I am.” Lorna gestured toward the dress again. “Hannah didn’t make that, right? I’m totally going to change into it as soon as we’re done here, but it would be best if she wasn’t the seamstress.”
Cooper was completely at a loss. “I don’t understand. I ... .” Then realization dawned. “You’re one of them.”
“And you’re slower than you should be,” Lorna shot back. “I mean ... I wasn’t even trying to pretend I was anything other than who I am when I came in here. You’ve been beating around the bush for a full five minutes instead of actually asking the obvious question. What’s up with that?”
Cooper frowned, annoyance obvious. “Listen—”
“No, you listen.” Lorna wagged her finger, making a clucking sound with her tongue. “I’ve had a really crappy few days. You and your little blond friend have really fouled things up for us. We’re in something of a bind ... which is why I’m here instead of playing the game. It was one thing to lose Donny — I always knew h
e would be the one to fall by the wayside because of his appetite — but to lose Frank, too?
“We had contingency plans,” she continued, her expression plaintive. “Do you have any idea how much magic it takes to move between planes? We built this mythology for a reason. We wanted to be remembered ... and feared. We were having a good go of it, getting together every hundred years, and then your girlfriend came along.”
Cooper narrowed his eyes. He could feel the edges of his brain fuzzing, as if the woman was somehow casting a spell over him, but mention of Hannah had him focusing again. “Hannah isn’t to blame for this. You’re killers. She was trying to protect those she loves.”
Lorna cocked her head, as if trying to read Cooper’s demeanor. “That’s ... interesting.”
“What’s interesting?”
“Um ... don’t worry about it.” She plastered a bright smile on her face and moved closer to him. “Hannah has become a problem. I know you’re wired to take her side no matter what but that simply can’t happen in this particular case.
“She has completely screwed up our exit strategy,” she continued. “We can’t go home without a little help now. Personally, I blame Frank. He came here on his own because he thought he could save the day. He loved getting accolades heaped on him. Instead of that, though, he died. Now we’re down two ... and we don’t have the power to get back home.”
“That’s not Hannah’s fault.” Cooper was defiant. The more Lorna tried to exert control over him, the more his spine stiffened. He could feel her magic as it tried to invade his mind, but he put up a mental wall. There was nothing she could do to get him to turn on Hannah, and it was obvious that’s what she wanted. “You’re the ones who came here, killed people, and tried to ... what? I guess extend your mystique.”
“It’s not mystique. It’s tradition.”
“If you say so.” Cooper gave her a wide berth as he eyed the door. He wanted nothing more than to get away from her, but given the angle of her body, she would be able to touch him if he made a break for it. He couldn’t help but believe that would be a fatal mistake.
The Monstrous Seven (A Hannah Hickok Witchy Mystery Book 4) Page 17