Except me.
And Willow.
She pulled her wrist out of my grasp. Her eyes snapped with fire. She squared her shoulders. “This is where I belong now. The only way I’m going back to Augustus is in a body bag.”
That is exactly what I was afraid of.
Chapter2
WILLOW
Brody doesn’t want me here.Burn.
Not a surprise, but a disappointment. In our freshman year of college, after a few dates with him, I’d broken things off to marry my true love and his best friend. Sounds like a fairy tale?
Worst decision of my life.
I was the only one who’d ever know the truth about Taylor. Far from being the grieving widow, I thanked God he was dead. I didn’t kill him. He did that all on his own with some barfly, his motorcycle, and a slick road.
The state police assured me he hadn’t suffered.
Too bad.
Everything with Taylor was exciting at first. He was a risk taker; I was a one-time Ohio girl loving the adventure of college life in Augustus. But every once in a while, after Taylor had a bit too much to drink, he’d get rough. Afterward, he’d apologize and promise it’d never happen again. The first few times, I let it pass. The third time, I was afraid. Taylor’s drinking became more frequent when we moved back to my hometown in Ohio. He could shift all he wanted on our large property, but he wasn’t happy. I was trying to figure out how to escape the marriage when he died.
I wasn’t the only one free of Taylor now. Our young son, Theo, was too.
Now, years later, I was back in Maine and Brody was still as handsome as ever; that story hadn’t changed. But what could’ve been between us was over. Brody was Taylor’s best friend. He’d be horrified to know I was checking him out on this warm day. And really digging what I saw.
Brody’s construction gig had made him ripped. His muscles bulged under his T-shirt. I imagined stripping it off him and running my hands over all that hard-edged muscle. Gabe told me shifters normally ran around Sleepy Briar naked. Bummer that Brody didn’t oblige with that tradition.
Then again, wherever would he pin his deputy badge?
I rolled on some paint, wishing every unfortunate thing in life could be covered up by a fresh coat of paint like this old place. I’d chosen a light butter yellow. Every time I looked at it, hope filled my heart. Things would be better here. They had to be. Nothing could be as bad as they once were.
I run through a mental checklist of things to help keep my mind off my shitty past. The outside of the house needed work more than the inside. The old Victorian on the end of Main Street had seen better days. It would be a great location when Main Street was open for business. Right now, the Sleepy Briar inn was the only thing that looked even remotely welcoming. It’d be two months before tourists ventured this far north. I had big plans for what I’d be doing with my salon by that time.
Brody cut in paint while I rolled a coat all over the cozy interiors. Since it was a small place, we spent a good deal of time stepping around each other. I loved how he smelled—like pine trees and the slightly metallic scent of snow.
“Why haven’t you rounded this bitch-ass succubus up? She’s no better than my great-aunt in Florida. Aunt Myrtle wants to leave her Christmas decorations up all year. Even in Florida, there’s a statute of limitations for plastic flamingos wearing stocking caps. Maybe you need some retired condo-association owners to help you out?”
“It’s not a joke, Willow. We don’t know where the succubus is. Her nest was destroyed, but I doubt she left town.”
“She’s planning revenge?” I paused my rolling to think about this. Sleepy Briar and the surrounding mountain and valley areas were vast. There was plenty of space to go around. “Isn’t there some kind of magical security tripwire you can use?”
Brody growled. “We’re working on it, but our numbers are small. And who we have is weakened or in hiding.”
“What you need is a human.” I added fresh paint to my roller. Brody’s close proximity distracted me from letting the excess paint drip off the roller into the pan. As a result, my first pass released a fine splatter of paint that flecked his dark hair. I brushed at his head lightly with my fingertips, and for a second, the image of him as an older man flashed before me. The odds were not good that we would grow old together.
“What? A human for what?” Brody pulled away from my touch.
“To help devise a plan and rally the troops. I can do that. Don’t forget, salons are great for two things: gossip and increasing morale.” I might not be a paranormal, but I had my own super power.
Brody stared at me like I had two heads. That lower lip of his was a beauty. I could almost lean over and bite it.
His eyes widened in what I can only think of as pure terror. The flecks of green in his dark-brown irises always made my heart beat a little faster. What would he do if I leaned in just so—
“How are you going to accomplish that?” He cleared his throat and stepped back. Turning away from me, he adjusted the front of his jeans.