by Nova Nelson
“This North Wind wouldn’t happen to have rosy cheeks and an affinity for conspiracies, would he?”
“Why yes, Ms. Ashcroft. He would. His conspiracy was, I must say, quite compelling.”
“Then perhaps there’s something to it.”
He nodded and stabbed the tip off his slice of pie. “Perhaps there is. You have plans after you get off work?”
I narrowed my eyes, arching a brow. “Why, you asking me on a date?”
He chuckled. “Wouldn’t dream of it. Not after the display I saw at Franco’s. You’re very likely too much woman for me, Ms. Ashcroft.”
“Oh hush, you.”
Stu’s eyes jumped to something behind me, and I turned just as Tanner said, “She’s very likely too much woman for me, too, Deputy. But I’m not gonna let that stop me.”
The men shook hands across the counter.
“I was just asking Ms. Ashcroft for a word after her shift’s over, but I’d also like a chance to speak with you, Mr. Culpepper.”
“Oh,” I said, cutting in and shaking my head gravely. “I can tell you right now that Tanner is way too much man for you, Deputy.”
Stu’s head turned to the side and he held up his hands defensively. “That is absolutely not the information I need for my case, so I thank you in advance for keeping it to yourself.”
Tanner wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “What’s on your mind then, Stu?”
Manchester wiped a spot of cherry filling from his mustache and returned the napkin to his lap. “Well, I guess I might as well tell you now. The Eastwind Sheriff’s Department is officially accepting applications. Thought you might want to drop by and pick one up.”
I could feel the muscles of his arms tense around my shoulder.
“I just might. No harm in applying, right?” Tanner looked down at me for confirmation that I was for sure not going to give him. He was still entertaining the idea of leaving Medium Rare? I glared at him, and he flinched and returned his attention to Stu.
“What about you, Ms. Ashcroft? When you swing by to fill in a few of the blanks from last night, you could grab an application for yourself.”
Before I could answer, Tanner jumped in. “She’s done with that, Stu. I think she’s been pretty clear about it.”
“Is that true?” Stu asked, looking to me.
“Tanner’s right. I have been pretty clear about it. I have zero interest in working for the sheriff’s department—no offense—but I’m afraid I have to admit that finding myself neck deep in the trouble around town is a habit I just can’t quit.”
Stu chuckled. “Can’t or don’t want to?” He tilted his head forward, squinting up at me.
I opened my mouth to respond, but was distracted when the bell above the front door rang.
Donovan held open the door for Eva as she entered, and then he placed a hand at the small of her back, scanning the room for an empty table. As his eyes met mine, I nodded and he returned the gesture with a closed-lipped smile that closely resembled a frown before he led Eva to the booth next to Ted’s.
Tanner’s voice and the warmth of his breath on my cheek almost made me jump. “Wasn’t Eva wearing that same thing last night?” he asked.
My mouth fell open when I realized Tanner was right. I rounded on him. “Men notice that?”
“Some do.”
I returned my attention to Donovan. Eva’s back was to the counter, so I couldn’t tell if she was staring at him with the same intensity that he was showing her.
I sighed. “Good for them,” I said. “Donovan deserves happiness just like the rest of us.”
Tanner nodded, but stared at me strangely, like he wasn’t sure who he was speaking to. “Agreed. Never thought I’d hear you say that, though. Not about him.”
Grinning, I conceded with, “Me neither.”
Tanner tucked a loose piece of hair behind my ear. “You sure have been acting strange lately. But wishing happiness on Donovan is a whole new level.” He squinted at me suspiciously. “If I didn’t know any better, Nora, I’d say you were in love.”
“You know what?” I let myself tumble into those hazel eyes. “I think you might be right.”
“And who might the lucky man be?”
I remembered waking up that morning to find Roland staring down at me through wistful eyes, just where he’d been sitting when I’d fallen asleep.
“You might know him,” I said. “He manages a diner in the Outskirts.”
“Owns,” he said.
“Co-owns,” I corrected.
Tanner leaned down until his lips were only an inch away from mine. “Sounds like a pretty lucky guy.”
“Not as lucky as me.”
END OF BOOK 5
Gone Witch (Book 6)
Chapter One
Jane Saxon poured me another glass of the pinot noir and finished her wild story with, “I tell you, never in my life did I think marriage would involve pulling hundreds of cactus spines out of my husband’s bright-red rear end. I didn’t even know Ansel’s skin could get that color. I near about died.”
I was near death myself, laughing so hard.
“And if I ever so much as breathed a word of that to Darius,” Jane continued, “Ansel would divorce me on the spot.”
I caught my breath and said, “That means it’s good leverage for you.”
She tilted her head and raised her glass. “Here’s to always having just the right amount of leverage on the men we love.”
I toasted, took a sip, and leaned back on Jane and Ansel’s comfortable leather couch. They’d been back from their honeymoon for a few weeks now, but this was the first ladies night Jane and I had managed; after being away so long, she was picking up as many shifts as she could to play catch-up for all the money they’d spent in Wisconsin.
No, not that Wisconsin. I know, I thought that, too, at first. I was quickly set straight when they explained Wisconsin happened to be the name of a world connected to Eastwind through Avalon. It cost a pretty penny to take the inter-world train not only to Avalon but then onward to Wisconsin, but apparently it was worth it for weres like Jane and Ansel. The realm was wild, open to the whims of all types of were-creatures. And on top of that, it had luxurious accommodations for sleeping and the kind of privacy honeymooners need.
“Can I ask you something way too personal?” I said.
“Those are my favorite kinds of questions.”
I considered how best to phrase it. “If you and Ansel have a child, will it be half werebear and half werewolf, or what?”
She laughed. “Thank goodness, no. It’s only ever one or the other when different species breed.”
“And are you and Ansel thinking about it?”
“Not at the moment. What about you? You ever want kids?”
I shrugged a single shoulder. If I had a baby, there was a chance it would be a Fifth Wind like me. Did I want to risk passing this burden along to the next generation? “Not at the moment,” I said.
“I guess you would have to consult with the potential father first,” Jane said. “Speaking of whom, how are things with you and that juicy piece of white meat I call ‘boss’?”
“Good. Great, actually.”
“I couldn’t help but overhear the two of you in the back office the other day …”
I felt the blood drain from my face. “We were just, um, reorganizing the storage bins.”
She rolled her eyes theatrically at me. “If that’s what you want to call it, fine. But no, I’m not talking about that.” She paused, grinning approvingly at me. “You’re telling each other those three words, aren’t you?”
I sipped my wine, trying to appear nonchalant when, in reality, I got girlishly giddy every time I imagined Tanner telling me he loved me. It’d been about a month since he’d first said it, but it still made me lightheaded. “Yeah, we are. No big deal, though.”
She jabbed me in the calf with her big toe. “Oh shut up. You can be excited about it. The two of you are on the f
ast track for marriage, and everyone sees it.”
“Maybe, except …” There was that one little thing. That slip of judgment—well, a couple of them—and then the prolonged omission of the truth.
“Except?” she waited patiently.
I might as well tell her. I’d already told Stu Manchester, for fang’s sake.
“You can’t tell Ansel, okay?”
She nodded. “Add it to the list.” Unlike Ansel, who was forthright about how he would tell Jane everything anyone told him, I knew she could keep a secret.
“I sort of … No, I most definitely kissed Donovan.”
For a moment, I wondered if I’d only imagined saying it, because she stared at me, blinking through a blank expression, saying nothing.
Then, she threw her head back and cackled. She slapped her knee, nearly sloshing her wine all over her couch. “Unicorn swirls!” she shouted. “There is just no way under the moon you two kissed. Wait, was it by accident?”
“No,” I said, laughing at her incredulity. “It was on purpose. Both times.”
Her mouth fell open. “Oh girl.” A look came over her, and in another context, I might have thought she was about to attack me. “You better start spilling this story to me, and if you don’t finish before Ansel and Darius get back from their run in the woods, I’m gonna make you keep telling it, so you better step to.”
I decided it was a good sign that Jane was eager for the story and didn’t immediately chastise me for kissing someone who wasn’t Tanner. The lack of judgment felt like more than I deserved, but I was grateful for it.
“You remember when those strange droughts were hitting Eastwind?”
She nodded, leaned a crooked elbow over the back of the couch, and settled in with her wine to take in the story. So I delivered.
I got to the part where Donovan and I emerged from the Deadwoods, covered in blood, and marched into Medium Rare before she interrupted.
“I’m still mad at you for putting on that display with Tanner when I wasn’t there. Ansel has been bragging about seeing it happen live and in person. He knows it drives me crazy.” She paused. “Now what’d Donovan do when you kissed Tanner?”
The memory drew fresh guilt to the surface. “He left.”
She sucked in air like she’d scalded her finger on a frying pan. “Poor guy. As if he needed something to make him broodier than he already is. Have the two of you talked about it since?”
“Unfortunately, yes. But the good news is that I think he’s starting to move on to greener pasture.”
Jane raised her eyebrows. “Oh yeah? Who in this town is greener than you?”
“Evangeline Moody.”
“Ah, right. Eva. Yeah, she’s greener than most of us. Cute little thing. I’m not fooled, though. She’s a South Wind. She may look cute, but I wouldn’t cross her. When they want to, those pyromancers will burn you.”
“I hope she doesn’t burn Donovan.”
Jane chuckled. “Seriously. We can’t afford another heartbreak in that boy. But I wouldn’t worry about it. Pyromancers and hydromancers usually work well together. At least, they don’t go down in burning flames when they do split.”
“I guess that’s good.”
My glass was empty again, and Jane refilled it before scooting the bowl of mixed nuts closer on the coffee table. I threw back a handful just as she said, “I take it you haven’t told Tanner the story of what happened in the Deadwoods.”
I shook my head. “No, but oddly, I’ve told Stu.”
The arched a brow. “Stu Manchester?”
“Yeah. I didn’t mean to, it just sort of came out.”
She chuckled, and I added, “It’s your fault! If you hadn’t gone on your honeymoon, I would’ve told you so the anxiety didn’t build up and make me gush to the freaking deputy.”
Her laughter subsided on a sigh. “When are you going to tell him?”
“You think I should?”
“Of course. It’s Tanner. He’ll understand.”
“But he’ll be hurt.”
“Yeah, and confused and betrayed. But those are emotions we all go through to some degree when we’re with someone for a long time. It’s not like you and Donovan slept together … right?”
“What? No! In the woods?”
Jane looked at me sideways. “You say it like it’s a bad thing. Clearly you haven’t tried it.”
“The Deadwoods aren’t Wisconsin, Jane.”
“Fine. What I’m saying is that you just kissed him—”
“It wasn’t just a kiss. I mean, it was, but it was a really nice kiss, and it would’ve become more if I hadn’t put a stop to it.”
Jane puffed out her lips. “Nora. A handshake with the wrong person could be more if you don’t put a stop to it. But you did.”
“And then I kissed him again in the tunnel between the realms.”
“Are you trying to convince me you’re a terrible person? Because it’s not going to work. Do you want to be with Donovan?”
“No!”
She sat silently, her lips pressed into a thin line.
“Seriously, I don’t. I love Tanner and I choose him.”
Her expression brightened. “Okay. Then he’ll understand. Maybe not right away, but before long.”
I groaned. “Okay, fine, I’ll tell him.”
Jane smiled. Then her eyes shot open and she sat up straight, wagging a finger at me. “Oh, but before you do. Give Donovan a heads up. He deserves to know his best friend is about to be severely miffed at him.”
“Good call.”
She leaned back again. “You feel better about it now?”
I forced a smile. “Yep, all better.”
“Anymore gossip you need to catch me up on after my honeymoon?”
I paused, considering it. But one thing at a time. “Nope.”
From behind her spoke a man’s voice in a thick Irish accent. “Not going to tell her about me?”
I ignored him. Because, no, I had no plans to tell anyone about Roland O’Neill.
Not yet, at least.
“Not sure you should tell your lover boy about the other lover boy,” Roland said as he chaperoned me home from Jane’s house. It was well past midnight. I’d stayed longer than I’d wanted to, of course, and now I would only get a few hours’ sleep before waking up for work.
The cobblestone streets of Eastwind were deserted at this hour on a Wednesday, and mid-September had brought with it a cool night and chilly wind. Roland’s nearby ghostly presence only served to add a new layer of chill to my skin.
I pulled my overcoat closed in front of me. “Why shouldn’t I tell him?” I asked, humoring my past-life lover.
“If I found out some back-stabber who called himself my closest friend had laid hands on you, I would run him through. Maybe not even with a sword, just the closest pointy object I could find. I wouldn’t be picky.”
I glanced at him. He sure looked like he was being serious. “Okay, well I don’t think Tanner is the violent type.”
He sighed, a strange action for someone who didn’t breathe. “Oh Diana—”
“Nora.”
“—you can never know what type of jealous lover a man will be until you test his mettle. I’ve seen the most peaceful men burn a city to the ground for lesser jealousies than another man kissing the wrong woman.”
“It feels like you’re trying to scare me.”
“Just warn you, beautiful.”
Warn me or try to make my relationship with Tanner implode in a much bigger way down the line?
While Roland claimed to love me, and had indeed shown as much by searching for me across multiple lifetimes (I had to give him that), I suspected he didn’t always keep my current life’s romantic interests at the forefront of his mind when he offered advice. In fact, I would be an idiot to think he did.
Luckily, when I was Nora, as opposed to Diana who fell in love with him in the first place, my feelings for him were manageable. However, if life ever
brought me back to that cliff by the sea, his warm body up against mine, I wasn’t sure if I could make the same decision I had before; I wasn’t sure I would ever choose to leave.
Hopefully, it didn’t come to that.
Roland’s assumption was that the Tanner thing wouldn’t last, and when it inevitably ended, I would finally have the sense to start fulfilling my promise to find a way to bring Roland through to this side in corporeal form.
Did I actually have the power to do that? I had no clue. I’d heard it mentioned plenty of times that Fifth Wind witches like me could raise the dead, but what shape those dead would be in when they were raised had never been specified, and I’d never asked.
We weren’t exactly to resurrection in my evening lessons with Ruby and Oliver, either, and I was certain that if I even broached that subject, both of their heads would explode.
“You want me to break up with Tanner, don’t you?”
“Aye. I feel I’ve been pretty transparent on that account.” I looked at him, biting my lip, and he nodded a small concession. “Pun not intended,” he added. We passed through the Emporium, which was deserted and quiet. “I do look forward to the day when you no longer spend nights in another man’s bed, but I’ve learned nothing if not patience in my quest to find you.”
“Just so we’re clear,” I began, “you’re not, like, watching when …”
“No. I’ve been through actual torture in my time; I would never willfully indulge in it.”
“Great. Let’s never speak of it again.”
“As you say.”
I knew this couldn’t go on with Roland and me. I wasn’t that dense.
How could I come clean to Tanner about Donovan, pretending the air was clear, and then hold onto the secret of Roland O’Neill, my new live-in ghost? Yet I knew that telling Tanner about Donovan and Roland at once was a guaranteed one-way ticket to the single life.
Something had to give, but I wasn’t sure what that something would be …
Chapter Two
The alleyway behind Sheehan’s Pub was the perfect place to have a private conversation. This was the second time I’d been back there with Donovan, though the circumstances weren’t the same as before.