Chapter Ten

I needed to update Mason, but before I could wander down to his office—where, if he didn’t live, he frequently camped out—he came to see me in the hotel suite.

“We found Vaughn’s dad,” I told him.

“Excellent news,” he said. I had the feeling someone on staff had already told him.

“I’ll try to find Vanessa tomorrow,” I said awkwardly. “And then get Mr. Sheridan home where he belongs.”

He finally turned his attention to me. “Don’t leave,” he said. “Adam needs rest,” he persisted, “and I’ve already contacted a world-renowned healer.” Which confirmed that one of his spies had already told him Mr. Sheridan was safe. At the same time…he sounded genuine in wanting me to stay.

“What kind of healer?” I asked.

“She specializes in recovery from compulsion trauma,” Mason said. “Particularly from trauma from supernatural incidents.”

I looked at Vaughn.

“I think she could help Adam a great deal,” Mason said.

There was so much gratitude in Vaughn’s eyes. “What do you say, Tansy? Ron can handle things at Sheridan Catering for a few more days.”

“Okay. Then we should stay,” I replied.

“Thank you,” Vaughn said. “Thank you so much for helping my dad. It was kind of you.”

Mason’s face went red. “Don’t be spreading that around,” he said gruffly. “I have a reputation to maintain.”

Vaughn laughed. “I’ll try not to sing your praises too loud,” he said. “Especially since you ignored my girlfriend’s existence for seventeen years.”

“The healer will be here soon,” Mason said, ignoring Vaughn’s comment.

Then Mason hurried off for a work thing for the Paranormal Activities Committee.

Rose and Thorn arrived soon after, escorting a young woman dressed in a long purple dress with black boots and lots of bangles on her wrists. She had stick-straight black hair with a white widow’s peak.

“The healer’s here to see Mr. Sheridan,” Thorn said.

“You’re the world-renowned healer?” I asked. I’d been expecting someone older. Someone who looked like Granny or one of the Old Crones. Of course, in the hidden world of the supernatural, it was always difficult to guess someone’s age.

She nodded.

“I’m Wanda. Now please introduce me to Mr. Sheridan.”

“He’s not talking very much,” Vaughn said.

“What vampire compelled him?” she asked. “Do you know?”

“Yes,” I said. “It was The Executioner.”

She didn’t say anything for a long moment, then finally commented, “It could be worse.”

Not exactly reassuring. By the frown on Vaughn’s face, he agreed with me.

“My dad’s been sleeping a lot,” he said. “I’ll show you to his room.”

After they went into the bedroom where Mr. Sheridan was always either sleeping or rocking in his rocking chair, I paced the deluxe suite for a while.

“We’ll be back in a few hours,” Thorn said. “I have to do a security check, and Rose has to whip up a batch of tonic.”

“Thanks, Rose,” I said. It had slipped my mind that I was getting low.

“I’ll bring it back when we return to escort Wanda,” she replied.

“She can’t leave on her own?”

“Tansy, these are our private quarters,” Thorn said. “Nobody outside friends and family gets up here without an escort.”

“Got it,” I said.

After the twins left, Wanda and Vaughn stayed behind closed doors with his dad for over three hours.

Rose came back with my tonic and put a bunch of bottles of it in the fridge, then plopped down on the sofa. Thorn turned on the television and sat next to her. Rose grabbed the remote and clicked off the show.

“Hey, I was watching that,” Thorn said.

Rose nudged her. Thorn glared at her twin and then nudged her back.

“What?” I asked.

“We want to talk to you,” Rose said.

I’d been avoiding them ever since I learned that Vanessa had almost killed them when they were toddlers. And that was when she’d still been human. Or maybe she had been a vampire all along and someone’s fangs at her neck just made it official.

“I’m busy,” I said sullenly.

“Tough,” Thorn said. “Stop being a pain-in-the-ass little sister and listen.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “You have five minutes.”

“We weren’t spying on you for Dad,” Rose said.

“He seems to think you were.” I raised an eyebrow.

“We weren’t only spying on you for him,” Thorn said.

“We wanted to meet our sister,” Rose said. “We’re sorry we didn’t tell you the truth right away.”

“It makes it hard for me to trust you now,” I admitted. It felt like they’d betrayed me, even though we hadn’t even known one another back then.

“Tansy, we wanted to be a part of your life,” Rose said. “That’s all.”

“It wasn’t some big nefarious plot,” Thorn said.

How did she know that’s what I’d been thinking? What Vanessa had tried to plant in my brain, until I figured out what she was trying to do.

“I know that,” I said. “Vanessa just got in my head for a little while.”

“We don’t even remember her, anyway,” Rose continued. “Not from when she was with our dad, I mean.”

“You don’t?”

“We were only two,” Thorn said. “What do you remember from when you were two?”

“Absolutely nothing,” I said.

Even though I’d already figured out my sisters didn’t have anything to do with Vanessa’s latest plot, it felt good to hear it from them.

“I’m sorry my mom is so horrible,” I said.

“You can’t help who your parents are,” Thorn said.

“Sure can’t,” I said. “But I wish she would just stay out of our lives.”

“The way I see it,” Thorn replied, “you have two choices: Put up with her shit or get her out of your life for good.”

I knew what she meant by for good, but as much as Vanessa had messed with me, I’d never been able to put a stake through her heart.

“I’ll consider it,” I said, effectively shutting down the conversation—for now.

After that, I got sick of waiting to find out how it was going and pressed my ear against the door. The walls were nicely soundproofed, but for once my vampire hearing was working. I ignored the thought that as my vampire abilities grew stronger, my witch magic grew weaker.

“Hold him down,” Wanda said.

Mr. Sheridan cried out in fear and pain. I wanted to go help, but I made myself stay where I was.

“That’s it,” Wanda soothed. “Let it all out.”

A long silence fell, and then Vaughn said, “He’s sleeping. Should he be sleeping?”

I heard someone coming closer and stepped away from the door, but it opened before I could retreat very far.

Vaughn smiled at me. “He’s better. Resting.”

“Can you remove that rocking chair?” Wanda asked. “Don’t destroy it but remove it from his sight.”

Vaughn stepped back into his dad’s room and returned carrying the rocker. “I’ll take it to Rose’s roof garden later.”

“I know you’d like to return to your home,” Wanda said. “But he shouldn’t travel for a few more days.”

“We were already planning to stay in Vegas a few more days,” I said.

“It’s also important that Mr. Sheridan doesn’t have any contact with Vanessa Mariotti for the next few days,” she warned. “Not even phone calls, texts, or video chats.”

“We’ll keep a close eye on him,” I promised.

“Good,” she replied. “It’s important to sever the bond or else he’ll go back to her.”

We couldn’t let that happen.

Vaughn cleared his throat, his gray eyes serious. “This means so much to me,” he said. “If there’s anything my pack or I can ever do to return the favor.”

“Uh, about payment…” I said. “What do we owe you?”

She waved my offer away. “Mr. Alicante has already taken care of all that.”

“You’re sure?”

She nodded. “I’ll be out of touch for the next few weeks,” she said. “We were supposed to leave this morning, but Mr. Alicante can be very convincing when he wants.”

“Coven meeting?” I asked.

She laughed. “No, the first vacation I’ve taken in ten years. Just my partner and me and a deserted island.”

“Have fun,” I said. “And thank you.”

After Wanda left, Vaughn and I hung out in the living room of the suite. It was a relief that Mr. Sheridan was with us.

Connor and Skyler came back.

“How’s your dad?” Skyler asked.

“Doing better now,” Vaughn said.

She walked over and gave him a hug. “That’s awesome,” she said. “We should celebrate.”

When she saw the expression on my face, she added, “Nothing big. Mr. S needs his rest. I was thinking a giant deep-dish pizza and a movie. Just the four of us. Like old times.” She gave me a hopeful smile.

I smiled back at her. “That sounds perfect.”

Before Connor had found out he was a werewolf and hightailed it to Ireland and his uncle for answers, the four of us had hung out a lot. Skyler, Vaughn, and I had been friends since we were little, and Connor was his best friend. When Skyler and Connor had started to date, Vaughn and I would sometimes still tag along. Vaughn’s girlfriend at the time, Ashley, hadn’t liked hanging with Skyler or me, but Vaughn hadn’t let that change our friendship.

“What does your dad like on his pizza?” Connor asked Vaughn.

“He’s not fussy,” he replied. “But Wanda said he should eat light foods for the next few days, so pizza’s out for him.”

We argued about the toppings, of course, but quietly since Mr. Sheridan was resting.

“I’m not putting pineapple on pizza,” Vaughn said firmly. “That’s just wrong.”

“Especially for werewolves,” Connor said. “Meat-lovers all the way.”

After we’d chosen our toppings and ordered Mr. Sheridan a simple vegetable soup, we turned the television on low and tried to find a movie to watch.

The phone in the room rang, and Vaughn picked it up. “Okay,” he said and then hung up.

“I have to go downstairs to get the food,” he said. “Security just informed me that under no circumstances were deliveries allowed on this floor.”

“Makes sense,” I said. “Can you imagine how many people want to kill Mason?”

They all snickered, but then Vaughn sobered. “I’m grateful to him for helping my dad. To all of you, really.”

“We’d do anything for you,” Skyler said. “You know that.”

There was a little silence and then Vaughn said, “Almost forgot about the food.”

“I’ll go with you,” Connor said. He gave Skyler a little nudge, and she frowned at him but then softened and kissed him gently.

An uneasy silence fell after they left. I wasn’t sure what to say to my best friend anymore.

“I’m sorry,” Skyler blurted out. “I’ve been a shitty friend.”

I wasn’t going to argue with her on that, but I also knew that I wasn’t perfect, either.

“What brought this apology on?”

“Connor pointing out that you weren’t who I was really mad at,” she replied.

“And that would be?” I asked. I thought she would say Connor or maybe even her own absent mom, but instead she said, “Myself.”

“You aren’t responsible for any of it,” I replied.

“Neither are you,” she said.

“My family is part of the hidden world,” I said. “A bigger part than I even knew.”

“The only one to blame should be Travis,” she said. “But if I’d never started dating him…”

“He didn’t give you much of a choice,” I replied. I threw myself down on the comfortable couch, and she sat next to me.

“And his band of creeps didn’t help,” she commented. “But I’ll do better, I promise.”

“Me too,” I said, and I meant it.

“And I’m sorry I was a jerk when Connor got hurt. I was just so worried about him that I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

I knew how I’d felt when Vaughn had been injured, but I’d given Skyler so many chances.

“You did ice me out,” I noted.

“I didn’t mean to ice you out,” she said, her face a picture of contrition.

“But you did, and it hurt,” I admitted.

A single tear ran down her face. “I was ashamed. Guilty.”

“Ashamed about what?”

“It’s my fault you were bit,” she said. “And instead of owning up to it, every time something else happened, I blamed you.”

“You did,” I replied. My throat felt tight, and tears wanted to fall, but I wouldn’t let them. “But you can’t keep doing that. Not if you want to be my friend.”

She gasped. “I am your friend. I’m your best friend. And from now on, I’ll act like it.”

“You promise?”

“Promise,” she said. “And I’m sorry. So sorry. Can we hug it out?”

She held out her arms, and I gave her a tight hug.

We finally stopped hugging long enough to smile at each other.

“So, what have you and Vaughn been up to?” she asked.

I blushed, and Skyler laughed wickedly.

“Shut up,” I said. “I can tell things are going well with you and Connor, too,” I added. “He barely lets you out of his sight.”

“He’s so amazing,” she sighed.

The door opened, and Vaughn and Connor walked in carrying a stack of pizzas.

“Who’s going to eat all that?” I asked, then added, “Never mind. That was a silly question.”

The guys set the pizza down on the coffee table, and I got out plates and napkins.

The smell of melting cheese and yeasty bread made my stomach growl, but then I remembered I needed to drink my tonic. Granny’s special brew wasn’t working as well as it used to, but that was a problem for another day.

I grabbed one from the minibar and gulped it down before I grabbed a slice and dug in. In the time it took me to drink my tonic, the guys had finished an entire pizza and were well on their way to polishing off a second one.

Skyler and Connor debated the merits of which movie to watch while Vaughn and I sank back into the couch opposite them. I cuddled into Vaughn’s side. Our friends finally decided to watch the latest Keanu Reeves action flick.

The movie was almost over when Mr. Sheridan wandered out of his bedroom, yawning and stretching. He was wearing a T-shirt with a picture of the hotel on it and a pair of Vaughn’s sweats.

“Everything alright, Dad?” Vaughn asked.

“Just hungry,” Mr. Sheridan answered. Vaughn jumped to his feet, but his dad waved him away. “I can fix my own snack.”

He went into the kitchen area. I got up and followed him in there. “I forgot to tell you I asked them to stock some applesauce.”

Mr. Sheridan was staring down at something in his hand, which he quickly put in a drawer. “Sounds good,” he replied. “Thanks.”

He ate his snack in the living room with us but then went right back to his bedroom.

After he left, I said, “I thought you took his phone away so he wouldn’t try to contact Vanessa.”

“I did,” he said.

“I’m pretty sure I saw him with a phone just now,” I said. “Or something.”

Vaughn’s mouth turned down, and I wanted to kick myself. His dad was finally safe, and I was ruining our evening with my suspicions.

“It wasn’t his phone,” Vaughn insisted. “Because his phone is in my pocket.”

“Is that what I felt?” I flirted, trying to get him to laugh, but I barely got his lips to turn up.

“Maybe it wasn’t a phone,” I said. “But whatever it was, he put it in the drawer next to the fridge.”

Vaughn went to check, and I followed right behind him. I gestured to the drawer in question, but when he opened it, there wasn’t anything there except take-out menus and a can opener.

“There’s nothing there,” Vaughn said. And I wasn’t sure if that fact should make me relieved… or worried as all hell.