Wicked Good Witches Three Book Box Set (Demon Street Blues, Alpha Knows Best, Bye Bye Bloodsucker) (15 page)

Perhaps if the time came that he did leave the Isle, she would be all right. This was a good place for her. A simple place, minus the job as witches and protectors of the Isle, of course. And things didn’t change much on the Isle. But his desire to leave had subsided. He still wanted to travel and explore the world. But it didn’t have to be today, or tomorrow. He had lost that urgency for it to be now.

He handed Emily her coffee and took a seat next to her. His hand fell to her knee, and she grabbed hold of it entangling her fingers with his, having no desire to let go. Just the touch of her hand sent a yearning thrum up his arm. Or maybe his empathy was picking that up from her. Their emotions were starting to meld in his mind. It was getting harder to see where his ended and hers started. He also found that he liked this. Possibly the first time he enjoyed anything about his magical inheritance of empathy.

Moreover, if he hadn’t been the largest dick in the world, he could have been enjoying all of this, years ago.

I’m such a stubborn dumbass!

The luckiest stubborn dumbass…

He squeezed her fingers tighter needing to let some of the overabundance of emotion out of him. She squeezed back, understanding, her gaze never leaving Melinda.

Even with the task of finding their father still looming overhead, life today seemed better than it had in a very long time.

A bit later, coffee mugs emptied, refilled by Grace and almost empty again, a familiar voice called out. “Howards!” It was Mack, The Demon Isle sheriff.

“Hiya, Mack,” said Michael. “Would you care to join us?” He had his arm around Emily as he spoke, but winked at the sheriff in their usual playful manner. 

“’Fraid not. Funny thing is I was just about to call you guys.”

Michael and Melinda were surprised when she did not return Michael’s flirtatious gesture. She rarely missed an opportunity to hassle him about his ridiculously good looks.

“Perhaps we should move somewhere a little less, full of people,” Melinda suggested.

“Actually, I hate to break up your party, but if you don’t mind, I’ll just follow you home. I’m afraid I’m gonna need Charlie on this one.” The tone in Mack’s voice dampened their good moods.

“We could just call him,” Melinda offered. “To be honest, I’m not even sure he’s home.”

“His summer fling must be back in town,” Michael mumbled under his breath. Emily let out a short giggle and Melinda just nodded in agreement, not wanting to think about her brother’s sex life.

Mack inhaled, exhaled, and then shook her head, looking torn.

“Sorry, but I think this is better discussed in person, and I need Charlie present.”

Melinda grabbed the new cell phone she’d gotten that morning, to replace the one she’d broken a day earlier, and tried Charlie’s number. William had left the phone in the kitchen for her before locking himself in his luxury dungeon. 

“Voicemail,” she whispered to Mack. “Hey, um, Charlie, when you’re awake and um, whatever, we need you home, okay. Mack needs our help.”

Melinda hung up and headed into the coffee shop. Michael and Emily followed. Upon seeing them enter with the sheriff at their heels, Grace’s smile dropped a little, but she nodded politely.

“Morning to you too, Grace.” Mack gave her curt nod.

“I’ll take care of those mugs,” Grace said, grabbing them. “I can see you’ve got
business
to attend to. You don’t be a stranger now, Melinda. I expect to see you back here real soon.”

“I definitely will.” Melinda paused. “Thank you, Grace.” She needed to say it. It was nice not to be treated like the local freak.

Grace nodded kindly and went about her work.

Melinda, Michael and Emily walked in tense silence toward the Howard Mansion, the sheriff not far behind.

CHAPTER FOUR

Charlie lay sprawled across the floor; a sheet partially covered his nakedness. The woman, Nina, shared the sheet, sleeping soundly just inches away. Slowly, the morning sun crept in, warming their bodies and bringing them out of their contented slumber. Charlie gently pulled her body closer, her head on his chest.

“You could come back tonight,” she suggested lustfully. She lifted her head, to see his response.

“You know I can’t. It’s the full moon. I know you don’t think I can hurt you, Nina, but I can’t take the chance. Not tonight. The ring makes you strong, but I can’t trust that it makes you unbreakable.”

“You can’t blame a girl for trying,” she spoke softly, sitting up to face him. “But the ring is stronger than you think. And it doesn’t come off unless I take it off, voluntarily. A well designed safety feature.”

He pulled her body up, so she faced him. “You’re right, that it a smart design. And I’m sure you’re right that I can’t hurt you, Nina. But I don’t dare chance it. I will be back tomorrow night,” he reminded, as much for her benefit as his own.

He pushed her backwards, the weight of him lying on top of her, pinning her to the floor. A mouth invasion and a pulse pounding moan later, his body ached to stay all day and night. Fuck the full moon. Fuck his life.
Fuck
everything
… especially the hot, curvaceous body underneath him.

Charlie pulled back letting out a disappointed groan. He freed her and sat up, searching for his clothes. Nina laughed and located her tee shirt. A second later, she was on her feet and in the kitchen.

“You want coffee?” she called out. 

“That, and maybe a cold shower,” he mumbled, watching her grab for a coffee can just barely within her reach. She was doing it on purpose and he knew it. But holy fuck she had a splendid ass. The perfect amount of jiggle, and plenty to grab onto while he….
God damn it…
he threw on his tank and shorts, walking up behind her. His arms easily stretched over her head to grab the can, keeping it teasingly out of her reach. He pressed up against her, showing what her sexy curves had just done to him.

She let out a tempting breath and turned her head to look at him. “Either you stay, Charlie Howard, or you let me make my coffee,” she admonished devilishly. “You know how I get when I don’t get my coffee.”

“All right, all right,” he caved, handing her the can. He backed away with hands in the air as if to surrender. He took a seat on a tall stool at the bar in the kitchen, adjusting himself until he’d cooled down.

“So, how are you anyway?”

“Now you ask?” Nina replied, her eyebrows turned upward. “Eh. Same old, same old. You know the game… nothing but work, work, work. But I’m on vacation now. I don’t need anything but coffee in the morning, a bottle of tequila in the evening and my wolf man every night.”

Charlie was tempted to break his own rule and come back tonight, regardless of the full moon.

“So how’s life on the Isle?” she asked him in return.

“Actually, to be honest, things are pretty equally incredible and terrible.”

Small talk was about all Charlie and Nina ever got into. They preferred to keep any serious details out of their three-summer long relationship. A mutual understanding of what they both wanted. Release. With no strings attached. No complications.

“So it’s life as usual.” Nina handed him the first cup from the coffee pot.

“Yeah, life as usual.”

“If you want me to be honest, Charlie, there’s something different about you.”

Nina always was keen on seeing small changes that took place in Charlie. Then again, that was part of her job when she wasn’t vacationing on The Demon Isle.

“Just a full moon thing,” he insisted, acting as if it were nothing of importance.

“Actually, I think you’re right. The wolf is much more present than usual. Definitely extra frisky and aggressive.”

He shook his head, wearing a grin. This was true. Although she certainly hadn’t minded last night.

She chuckled, poured herself a coffee and joined him at the island. “It’s sort of like the moon is demanding you transform, Charlie. Almost like it’s saying you’ve avoided me long enough… you’re out of time.”

He stared in bewilderment. Nina could not have been more right.

“It frightens you, doesn’t it?”  She reached out and stroked his stubble-covered cheek.

“It does.” There was no point in hiding the truth. “But I’ll deal with it, just like I do every full moon.” He tossed her a smile that said not to worry about it. “I think last night took off some of the pressure.” He licked the tip of her nose, ready to claim her lips when his phone buzzed, indicating he had voicemail. He had turned the ringer off before arriving at Nina’s the night before. 

“Damn. Duty calls,” he said in a disappointed tone after listening to Melinda’s message. He really was going to have to leave and go back to reality.

“You witches… always on the job.” Nina cracked an understanding smile.

“Says the gal who’s on the clock twenty-four-seven, except for six weeks every summer.”

“Ah, but I love my job. And look at how I get to spend my vacation.”

She pulled him in, begging one last kiss out of him before allowing him to leave. 

Something about the kiss felt different to Charlie. Deeper. Fuller. Tinged with hidden meaning he didn’t have time to decipher.

She pulled away. He groaned again.

“Tomorrow night, Nina. You’d better be ready for me.”

She sucked in. Her head filled with a delighted haze as she escorted him to the front porch and watched him disappear down the road.

“Oh, my big bad wolf man.” Nina’s voice trembled, riddled with emotion. “I'm afraid there won’t be a tomorrow night. My duty calls as well.”

She stepped back into the house, slipped the protection ring off her finger and walked into the bedroom, gently placing the ring in the center of the sea of white covering her unused bed.

She lovingly ran her hands over the sheets, erasing any creases or wrinkles.

She stood, taking a deep, certain breath. “Well that’s that,” she spoke to no one.

Nina got dressed and slipped out of the cottage, following a pathway alongside the back of the beach, which veered off into the dark woods of The Demon Isle.

CHAPTER FIVE

Upon arrival at the Howard Mansion, Michael and Emily headed into the kitchen. From the look on Michael's face, his empathic abilities were picking up some very disturbing feelings from the sheriff. Melinda went down to let William out of his prison whether he was ready to come out or not.

He smelled her blood before she’d gotten down the first stair. He breathed it in. It was tolerable now, but as she got closer, that tolerance lowered.

“William,” she called out. “You probably already heard her in the kitchen, but if not, Mack’s here and she needs our help with something.” Melinda’s tone shoved his cravings back in their place. He heard the fearful inflection.

“Very well.” He exited his cell after she unlocked it for him.

Cravings in their rightful place or not, William kept to the opposite side of the kitchen near an open window, as far from Melinda as he could get without raising suspicions over his actions.

Michael asked Mack if she’d like a cup of coffee.

“Can’t ever turn down a good cup.” She nodded thanks as he filled a mug from the freshly brewing pot. Michael grabbed the cream and sugar, adding just a touch of cream and three heaping teaspoons of sugar.

“Damn my sweet tooth,” Mack joked uneasily when he handed her the cup. 

“Charlie called,” Michael announced, for Melinda and William’s sake. “He’ll be here any minute.”

Mack hadn’t taken more than a few sips when Charlie sauntered through the back kitchen door.

“Morning everyone,” he called out, upon seeing them. “I’ll take a cup of that,” he told Michael. He grabbed a mug, filled it and handed it to Charlie.

“Thanks,” he said, taking a big gulp.

“You looked
relaxed
considering what day it is,” Michael noted with a smirk.

Charlie just shook his head and scrunched his face. It was his look of,
yeah, we’re so not going there…
instead, he made a quick change of the subject. “What’s up?”

They all turned to Mack.

She set down her cup, clearing her throat.

“There’s something I need your help with, and more importantly, Charlie, you need to hear what I have to say.” 

Charlie’s relaxed demeanor morphed into tension. “You know you can count on us for anything, Mack, supernatural or otherwise.” 

“Truth is,” she continued, “I just came back into town from a crime scene, out in White Pines National Park.” She paused after, seeming apprehensive to continue.

“Do you need help figuring out how someone died?” Michael questioned. 

She shook her head no. “No death readin’ needed. Coroner already has a cause of death.” She aimed her next words at Charlie. “Wolf bite… although I’d say it was more like wolf
shred
.”

Charlie pounded his mug onto the counter, splashing the coffee and nearly breaking the mug. He stood up, his body fully aware of what Mack was telling him, but his mind refused to believe it. “There are no wolves on the Isle,” he insisted, knowing full well there had been at least one wolf on the Isle previously.

“Yeah, just like there weren’t any God dang wolves on the Isle ten years ago when you got bit.” Mack talked as if she had read his thoughts. 

“What does this mean?” Melinda asked faintly.

Michael, already realizing what it meant, wrapped his arms around Emily, pulling her as close to him as possible.

“It means there’s a werewolf on The Demon Isle,” Charlie revealed darkly.

“But I thought werewolves could only change during a full moon,” Emily said, confused, as she did not know the entirety of Charlie’s story. “How did a werewolf kill someone the night before a full moon?” 

“That’s how it happened when Charlie…” Melinda stopped, covering her mouth, beginning to understand why Mack had needed to speak with Charlie. And what Michael had already caught onto.

“The coroner discovered a very unique thing about the wolf’s bite… its missin’ a tooth, Charlie.”

Charlie’s nostrils flared a flurry of emotion raging through him.

It wasn’t just any werewolf.

It was
the
werewolf.

The very one that had bitten him ten years prior and had left a tooth embedded in Charlie’s shoulder after its hideous attack.

“I guess you can consider yourself lucky you survived, Charlie. The body we found this mornin’…” Mack couldn’t finish, and she’d witnessed plenty of bloody attacks during her time as sheriff.

Melinda stared at Charlie, deeply concerned over what this would mean for him, a panic attack threatening to rise.

Michael’s empathic ability sensed Melinda’s anxiety mounting to a
threatening to overwhelm
level, and he grabbed for her hand. She barely felt him holding onto it. Her skin went numb.

William took a few quick paces around the room, blood lust no longer a concern, the look of comprehension dawning in his emerald green eyes. “Yes,” he mumbled, as if answering his own silent question.

The rest turned and waited breathlessly for him to explain.

“It is extremely likely that this wolf’s return is behind your heightened tension these last few days, Charlie. Even though you have never permitted the full transformation to take place, you still have your werewolf senses. I believe this wolf’s arrival may have triggered the connection between you.”

“How do I break it, William? I want nothing to do with it,” Charlie pleaded, his voice charged with shaken control. “Unless…” His eyes brightened with a new possibility.

“Don’t even think about it, Charlie,” exclaimed Michael, already understanding what Charlie was thinking. “You cannot use yourself at bait to capture this thing!”

“I am afraid Michael is quite right, Charlie,” William agreed. “You cannot confront this wolf without an almost certain chance of transforming completely. I am sure you remember what happens then?”

“You mean other than a murderous rampage across the Isle,” Melinda muttered in a sickly sarcastic tone.

Charlie covered his face with his hands, looking pained as he forced himself to sit back down. He looked up, dropped his hands, staring into the eyes of Melinda and Michael. They shuddered at the same moment.

Melinda because she saw true fear in Charlie’s eyes and this frightened her above all else. And Michael because his empathic abilities sensed Melinda losing the battle to keep her own fears from crushing her.

Charlie stood up, pacing back and forth, stopping every few steps to speak, but nothing would come out. He gulped, his throat feeling like a pile of dry ash as he searched for the courage to say what he needed to say.

“There’s something I never told you guys,” he finally pushed out. “And don’t get mad at William, I forced him to swear to secrecy.”  

“What did you keep from us, Charlie?” Melinda barely controlled the panic ensnaring her heart.   

He took another moment to answer. Thinking it over carefully first.

“If I transform, fully surrendering to my wolf, and the one that created me is still alive… it becomes my alpha. I will no longer have control over my actions, whether it’s a full moon, or not.”

“What!?” breathed out Michael.

“Charlie… this is…
huge!
” Melinda had many choice words and thoughts about the revelation, but none would reach her lips. Captured and imprisoned by her thickening throat and befuddled brain. 

“I have to agree with your siblings on this one, Charlie.” Mack shook her head.  “This situation is turnin’ into a much larger problem than even I expected.”

“And William isn’t going to be much help,” stammered Melinda. “Or have you forgotten that a werewolf bite is poisonous to him?”

William ignored Melinda’s remark, realizing it was misplaced anger, and knowing he would do whatever was necessary to save Charlie. 

“I’m sorry I never told you guys. I guess I hoped it would never come to this. I hoped the thing would never come back here. I didn’t want to burden you with what I thought would be unnecessary worry.”

“Turns out it was necessary, Charlie!” Melinda retorted in a huff. Her heart was beating at a much faster pace than it should, and she sucked in unsteady air trying to calm the panic attack bubbling its way to the surface. Tears stung at her eyes. She sucked the side of her cheek, trying to control them.

No one replied. No one knew what to say, or do, with this information. After another long moment of tense silence, Michael did his best to bring everyone out of their stupor.

“And here I thought Charlie’s
edginess
was just over the new girl in town.”

“Ha. So much for the Eva Jordan theory,” Melinda sniffled. 

Charlie sighed, deeply regretful as he witnessed his sister crumbling before his eyes. He stepped over to her, forcing her to hug him.

“I don’t want anything to happen to you,” she sobbed. “I can’t lose you too. I just can’t.”

“I know, Kiddo. I’m sorry I never told you. I really am. But everything’s going to be okay. This full moon will come and go, just like any other. I promise.”

Just then, the sheriff’s radio started chirping.

“Looks like I am being called away, Howards. You all talk amongst yourselves and let me know what you figure out. I’ll be in touch.”

She showed herself out, but before she let the door close, she gave another warning.

“Be careful, all of you. I don’t want to be losin’ any of you either. That put out there Charlie… if you transform and can’t be controlled, you know what I’ll have to do.” She patted her upper pocket. “I’ve still got the bullets you gave me.”

“I expect you to do your job, Mack. Nothing less,” he agreed firmly. “I’m supposed to protect the Isle, not be the thing it needs protection from.”

She nodded stoically and let the door slam shut.

Melinda’s nostrils flared and her eyes began to tear up again.

“You gave her bullets!? To kill you with!”

“It’s going to be okay, Melinda,” Charlie insisted.

“You can’t know that!”

She turned to Michael and William for support, but neither spoke.

Michael, grasping Emily, but now as if his life depended on it, could not reply to Melinda because he could barely keep himself together as her anguish washed out of her body like a flood.

William’s face turned to stone, but not before she saw the struggle there; he was trying to hide it from her. They didn’t want to admit they might be in more trouble than they could handle. Or they were just trying to protect her from the truth, afraid she couldn’t handle it.

They were right.

Melinda’s throat closed up and she gasped for air. Black splotches burst into her vision. The room started to spin and her mind shouted for her to run and hide… to disappear completely. 

Charlie and Michael reached out but she batted them away, heading for the door. “I can’t be here,” she choked out in a pained voice. “I can’t watch my brother basically fucking die…” She ran out of the house as fast as possible.

Charlie stepped out after her, shouting, but she did not hear what he said.

She just kept running, blocking everything from her mind. She needed to get away. She’d suffocate and die if she went back inside that house.

##

“What perfect ass timing!” Charlie rambled angrily. “Just when I was starting
not
to worry about her, every waking moment.”

“Just let her go,” William advised. “At least she is out of the house and not locked in her room.” Although even as he said this, it was everything he could do, not to go after her himself.

“Great! Out there, who knows where, with a werewolf on the prowl.”

“She is stronger than you think, Charlie. Give her time to sort out her feelings. I think it might be good to let her do this.”
It might also be good to have a little space from her,
William realized. He needed to have a clear head, something that was proving impossible when he was near Melinda now.

“Maybe I should go after her?” suggested Emily. “Maybe she wouldn’t mind talking to me, being I’m a girl, and a friend, and not a brother.”

Michael tossed her an appreciative smile. “Maybe it’s just better if Melinda sits this one out. Give her some space like William said. We can handle this one, ourselves. We just need to come up with some kind of plan that doesn’t involve you turning into a werewolf, or using yourself as bait, Charlie.” 

“Yes, let’s not have it come to that, shall we?” agreed William. “Perhaps, the best place to start is…”

“Research,” both Charlie and Michael finished in dry sarcasm.

William lifted an eyebrow. “Actually, yes. I want to know what allows this wolf to change without the moon being full.”

“You’ve researched this before,” Charlie said. “You found nothing.”

“Perhaps I missed something. Perhaps, what I need is not in my own library, but on that confounded thing Emily calls a laptop.” He glanced at Emily expectantly.