AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She rolls her eyes and mutters, “Love. Right. Like you know a damn thing about that.”
“I would do anything to ensure Colin’s happiness and well-being,” I continue, ignoring her mumbling, “even go against his wishes, if necessary.” I glance toward the door, knowing we only have a few more minutes before the catering staff comes to fetch the ceremonial goblets. “And it appears necessary. He won’t end the engagement. Not unless we force his hand.”
“We aren’t going to do anything,” she says. “There is no we. I don’t trust you as far as I could throw you.”
I arch a brow. “That would be a decent distance, I expect. You’re quite a bruiser, aren’t you?”
Her lips curve in a patronizing grin. “Insults like that stopped working in second grade, pumpkin. I’m proud of my body and no lanky, knobby-kneed vampire is going to change my mind about that.”
I grunt. “That’s the most intelligent thing I’ve heard emerge from your foul little mouth.”
“Not interested in mind games, either.” She exhales and swats at my hand, but I leave it locked around her neck. “Let me go.”
“Five minutes,” I insist. “Give me five minutes of your open-minded attention and I’ll let you go. If you still don’t believe I want to help you stop this wedding when I’m done, we can part ways as friends.”
“Never,” she growls. “We will never be friends.” Her gaze darts toward the door. “But yes, fine. I’ll listen. But if I do, you have to keep quiet about the lemon juice. I don’t need a bunch of vampires on my ass for nearly giving them citrus poisoning.”
“Agreed. Even with the antidote on hand, citrus poisoning isn’t pleasant.” I release her throat, waiting to see that she intends to stay put before I launch into a quick, bare bones explanation that will hopefully be simple enough even for this wee cretin to understand. “Colin was engaged a decade ago, to one of the sirens who lived on the small island you can just make out from the marina. Elyria was the love of his life. He lit up when they were together. She made him happier than I’ve seen him in two hundred years. Happier than he was when he was alive, and back then he had everything to live for.”
Blaire rubs a hand down her neck, as if wiping away the taint of my touch, before crossing her arms. “So, what happened? Did she call off the wedding?”
“She was murdered, ripped limb from limb and the pieces left scattered on the docks for Colin to find.”
She flinches slightly and some of the color drains from her pink face. “I’m sorry. That’s awful. Worse than awful. But if he’s still grieving his other fiancée, then that’s even more reason for him to call things off with Annie. That’s not fair to either of them.”
“Yes, but he won’t,” I explain. “He’s resigned himself to living without love and somehow used that to justify sacrificing himself—even though there are other bachelor elders about, and we have at least a year before the shield fails. That’s plenty of time for Annie to find someone else, someone capable of giving her the love she deserves. I obviously don’t know you sister well, but she doesn’t seem like the sort of person who will be happy in a marriage of convenience, even if it does secure her family’s place in town.”
“That’s exactly why she’s doing this. For the rest of us.” Blaire exhales, driving a hand through her thick curls, sending another tantalizing whiff of her signature scent wafting to my nose.
I swallow hard and will my fangs to remain in hiding. If this woman realizes I want to taste her nearly as much as I want to save my brother, it will only complicate things further. Especially once she’s spent enough time around vampires to realize our hunger is…sexual in nature.
The only thing more mortifying than realizing I’m attracted to this foul-mouthed little goblin would be her finding out about it.
“My little sisters are in trouble,” she continues, worry in her voice. “Some worse than others, but they could all use a fresh start, and they’re all low on funds. Annie knows that. She knows that she doesn’t just need to marry a supernatural so we can stay here. She needs to marry someone with the means to help our broke ass family until we can get back on our feet. I told her I can get renovation work and save up the money on my own, but that will take time, and we don’t know how much time some of our sisters have left. Casey, especially. Her boyfriend is such a complete piece of shit, and they have a baby girl who deserves better.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Your mother really did a bang-up job with you girls. Didn’t she?”
“My mother was a hot mess as a parent,” Blaire says, “but she’s not a bad person. And she was just declared legally dead because she’s been missing for a year and no one can find her body, okay? Flawed or not, I still love her and have feelings about that.”
“I apologize,” I say, sincerely, realizing I’ve overstepped—I know what it’s like to lose the people you love most—but she waves me off.
“Don’t waste your breath. I know you don’t mean it. Just stop with the judgy shit and let’s focus on how we’re going to stop the wedding.”
“You’re on board, then?” A wave of hope eases some of the tension humming through my limbs. “We’ll work together to find another beau for your sister?”
She nods. “Yeah, sure, or…something. Maybe there’s another way to restore the shield. There’s always more than one way to skin a cat. Just because this is the way it’s always been done doesn’t mean it’s the only way.”
I frown, but admit, “Perhaps not. I’m open to looking for another path forward.”
I’m also nearly one hundred percent sure we won’t find one.
While the Wonderfully sisters were hiding in the woods and Nightfall remained ignorant of their existence, we had to come to terms with the possibility that there might not be a Wonderfully sister to marry off this century. We brought in dozens of witches in an attempt to find a way to renew our shield, but none of them could refresh the spell or duplicate it.
Whatever magic Willodean Wonderfully used when she established this safe haven from the human world in the seventeenth century, her secrets have been lost to time.
As much as I hate to admit it, we need these witches, and we need the eldest among them to marry one of our own. I just need to make sure Colin isn’t the one with his head on the marital chopping block.
Voices sound outside the door and I add in a whisper, “Meet me at my home tomorrow at noon. I’m in the former groundskeeper’s cottage at the edge of the property. Take the path from the beach by Selkie Rock and you won’t be observed.”
