“A new chief? We have a new chief? How the hell did this happen!” My voice rose around the kitchen. “We already have a chief and his name is Marcus.”
I wasn’t sure why I was being so overprotective of him. The guy was pretending like I didn’t exist. Still, Marcus had shown me just how good a man and shifter he was. He’d been there for me, fought alongside me, and had carried me home after the battle with Samara—a.k.a. evil bitch sorceress. I couldn’t just forget that. He might not be into me, but he didn’t deserve to be cast aside like that.
“Marcus has been gone for nearly two months, Tess,” said Ronin. “And the dude hasn’t given us a sign of life. What’d you expect?” Ronin had showed up ten minutes after Iris and I had made it back home. We’d cursed all the way, making up new curse words that fit this new chief. It was a long list.
I clenched my teeth. “Not this.” Damn. I had not been expecting those words out of her mouth. And judging by the sly smile she’d given me right after, she’d seen it too.
Guilt hit hard, making me feel ill. I’d been so shocked and upset by the news of this new chief that I’d forgotten all about Ruth.
Ruth had disappeared upstairs when I came home with Iris after I’d blabbed about the new chief. Well, demanded some answers was more like it. That had been an hour ago. Ruth had not come back down.
“The Hollow Cove Security Agency has certain protocols to follow,” said my Aunt Dolores, pouring herself another cup of coffee. “Hollow Cove’s never been without a chief before.” She turned around with the cup in her hands and leaned against the counter. “With Marcus missing, they had to send a replacement. It’s how it works.”
My lips parted. “A replacement. Are you serious? You’re all acting like he’s dead. He’s not.” Fear spindled through me at the thought that maybe Marcus was dead. No, I was just being an overdramatic fool. Marcus was a brutally strong and powerful shifter. He was practically King Kong. Nothing could hurt him… right?
Dolores glared at me. “I’m not the one responsible for this. I’m just stating the facts. There’s a new chief. There it is. You need to deal with it.” After Dolores took a sip of her coffee, she asked, “Did you call the medical examiner?”
“Yes,” I sighed. “Told him everything. He’s probably there already. Working on Bernard.” I rubbed my finger along the wood grain across the kitchen tabletop, not wanting to say the question that I had to ask—but finding I couldn’t help myself. “What happens if he finds that Ruth’s tonic killed him?” Ruth would never harm another soul on purpose, but there was a slight chance her tonic might have accidentally killed the baker.
Silence soaked in, broken by the ticking of the refrigerator.
“Then we will deal with it,” answered Beverly finally, as she shifted in her chair next to me. “Bernard could have had a severe allergic reaction to Ruth’s gingerweed… or he still might have died of a heart attack.” She sounded as though she was trying to convince herself, even if her fear was obvious. “We just don’t know until we hear from the medical examiner.”
My gaze went to Dolores, waiting for her to add something, but my aunt’s face was torn with emotions running across her tight features. Panic stirred in the back of her eyes as she leaned against the counter, staring at her mug. She was afraid. Afraid Ruth might be blamed for this.
My emotions warred between dread and anger. The only good thing about this mess was that my aunts were so preoccupied with what was happening to Ruth that none of them even thought of asking me more about how the witch trials had gone. Just the thought brought on another wave of guilt. I wasn’t perfect. Right now, the trials were the least of my problems.
My jaw clenched as I hit my palm with a sharp snap on the table. “Argh! You should have seen her, thinking she’s all that. Thinking she’s the boss of everyone. We don’t need her. We can function well enough without this stranger.”
“Adira,” corrected Ronin, and I heard the distant ring of the phone in the hallway.
“What?” I growled, nearly spitting at Ronin sitting across from me.
Ronin leaned back in his chair, casual and relaxed with his hands laced behind his head, like the vampire he was. “Her name is Adira. The new chief.”
I glared at him. “She’s been here like… what… two minutes? And you already know her name?” Knowing Ronin, he probably knew a lot more too about this Adira. And I would make him tell me later.
“Don’t go all Tess-zilla on me,” said the half-vampire. “I know things. I’m knowledgeable. It’s part of my charm.”
“Vampires.” Iris rolled her eyes, but a smile tweaked her lips as she took a sip of her coffee.
The fact that a name was now attached to the stranger made it worse. More permanent somehow.
A click sounded from the hallway as the phone was picked up followed by Ruth’s muffled voice as she answered it.
“Well, I don’t care what her name is.” I shifted in my seat, trying to hear who Ruth was talking to, but her words were too low, and I couldn’t make out a thing. “She better not get too comfortable because Marcus is coming back.” He better.
The fact that the Hollow Cove Security Agency had sent out a replacement meant something was definitely wrong. Either they couldn’t get in touch with Marcus or they were in contact, but something had happened to him. Did the Hollow Cove Security Agency know something we didn’t? Was Marcus in trouble?
I needed answers. And Adira was going to give them to me. Either that, or I was going to make her.
The sound of shoes hitting the hardwood floors pulled my attention up from my mug.
Ruth walked into the kitchen and grabbed her jacket and purse from the wooden peg rack on the wall next to the back door.
Panic jerked me to my feet. “Where are you going?”
Ruth’s sad eyes met mine. “The chief asked me to come to the office. She said she wanted to sit and talk about what happened. I said I would.”
Adira had been on the phone with Ruth. “She’s not the chief,” I said, making my way around the table to stand next to Ruth. “She’s not.”
“She is now.” Dolores set her mug in the sink and whirled around. “Better go and get all this sorted out. The longer we wait, the worse it’ll get.”
Anger flashed through me, fed by the memory of Adira’s smug smile at my aunt’s expense. Something was off about her, and I just couldn’t put my finger on it. Or perhaps I was just looking for ways to hate her because she’d basically stolen Marcus’s position.
Ruth stared at me, her face returning to a numb state. “I… have to go…” she stammered, looking frightened and small.
I reached out and pulled her into a hug. “It’ll be all right,” I said into her fluff of white hair, not knowing what else I could say. A sudden overwhelming urge to protect Ruth welled in me. My Aunt Ruth was the kindest, sweetest, and most loving person I’d ever met. Seeing her like this, sad and demoralized, had my heart shattering in pieces.
I had to do something. I had to help my aunt.
“I’m coming with you,” I said, as I let her go and stepped back. “I have a few things I forgot to discuss with this new chief.” Like how I was going to accidentally curse her hair on fire.
“You’re staying here,” ordered Dolores. She gave me a pointed look at the frown on my face. “You’re too angry right now and we need to speak to this new chief without having to worry about an outburst from you. The last thing we need is this Adira to lock Ruth up because of something you might say.”
“I can control myself,” I said, making Ronin snort. “What?” I narrowed my eyes at the half-vampire. “You think I can’t?”
Ronin raised his hands in surrender. “It’s just… when you’re upset, you tend to act before you think. Your emotions make you a tad bit impulsive. Remember what you did to Marcus the very first night you met him?”
“I made him fly,” I said, remembering how I’d hit him with a slam of my magic without even uttering a single word. “I gave him free flying lessons. So what? That’s water under the bridge. I’ve forgiven him for his poor choice of words about my mommy dearest.”
Ronin raked a hand through his hair, smoothing it. “We don’t know anything about her. That could be dangerous. You don’t want to piss her off.”
I stiffened. “She’s not the boss of me. I might not be a Merlin anymore, but she can’t tell me what to do.” Or could she? I had no idea.
“It’ll be fine, Tessa,” said Ruth. “I’ve already confessed.”
“You didn’t kill him,” I protested. I felt my face go blank as I saw her raw and stripped down to the pain in her soul.
Ruth shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. “But I don’t know. I can’t be sure. Maybe I did.” She sniffed. “It’s best that I tell her everything I know.” She wiped her eyes. “I was stupid and careless. I’ll never do another potion ever again.”
“Don’t say that,” argued Dolores, her expression troubled. “You don’t know your potion killed him.”
“But I do.” Ruth’s face was twisted in pain. Her bright blue eyes fixed on her sister, and the hurt in her was obvious. “He used it. He trusted me and I killed him.”
Ruth walked out the back door before I could counter with something witty or just a few comforting words.
I shook my head. “This is wrong. It’s all wrong.”
“What does this new chief look like?” Beverly stood with a hand on her hip. “Fat? Old and wrinkled? Bad dye job? Is she overly botoxed? Too many fillers? Does she have sausage lips or is she more of the duckbill sort?”
“She’s hot,” said Iris with a shrug. “Really hot.”
Beverly frowned. “Damn. I need to change.” She hurried out of the kitchen and I heard her kitten heels hitting the stairs to the second floor. It sounded like she was running.
“Don’t wait up if we’re not back for tonight.” Dolores pulled her jacket off the wooden peg rack on the wall. “Samhain is an important part of our culture. At least one Davenport witch has to celebrate it. If not, there’ll be hell to pay tomorrow,” she said, buttoning her jacket. “Martha will crucify us. She’ll never shut up about it.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, dread pulling my head down. “I don’t really feel like celebrating.” I had more ominous and murderous thoughts at the moment.
Dolores pointed her keys at me. “You stop that right now. You hear me?” My aunt narrowed her eyes. “This is just a setback. It’ll all get cleared up. You’ll see. We’re Davenport witches, for cauldron’s sake. Nothing’s going to happen. So, stop worrying. I’ll give you the details when we get back.”
I watched as my Aunt Dolores shut the door behind her. Somehow I wasn’t so optimistic.
“I’m ready!” came Beverly’s voice behind me.
I turned my head and stared at my aunt, who’d ditched her casual jeans and opted for a pair of black tights that could have been painted on, a low black cami that revealed she was braless, and a short black leather jacket. Her blonde hair was up in a messy bun with a few strands framing her face that looked like she’d just spent hours putting on makeup. There’s no way she could have pulled this off without magic.
Beverly cocked her hip and beamed. “Does this make me look like a sex-starved slut in need of a man to bed?”
“It does,” I answered with a smile, knowing it was the precise answer she wanted to hear.
Beverly’s plump lips pulled into a dazzling smile. “Thank you, darling. See you later.” Beverly strutted her way out the door in her red pumps, looking like a million bucks.
My smile faded. Tonight was my favorite witchy celebration, and I’d really been looking forward to it. But now, there was no room for celebrating. Not after seeing the pain on Ruth’s face.
And I had the horrible feeling things were about to get a hell of a lot worse.