Love Charms (70 page)

Chapter Seventeen

Blast From the Past

There was that taste again.
Thick, coppery sliminess that made my stomach lurch. At least it was my own.

My eyes fluttered open. I was
in a bedroom. A nice one actually. Picasso hung on the walls. A poster bed sat
in the middle, covered in expensive comforter and pillows. The window coverings
were a deep mahogany, the early morning rays filtering in and making everything
glitter and shine. Hell, even the chair I was tied to was ornate, my hands
wrapped around mahogany rests.

Someone was smart. My purse
was nowhere to be found and a nice thick layer of duct tape kept me from
reciting or screaming my head off. And boy, did I want to scream – I was
pretty sure I was bleeding from when Athanasia punched me in the head, I had no
idea where I was or what that bitch was doing to Jack, and then there was blast
from my past. Riley Carpenter.

Almost on cue, the door to
the bedroom opened and he breezed in. He still had the same cocky jaunt, his
hard, firm body confidently moving across the room. The last time I saw him he
wore his dark black hair long, falling past his shoulders. It was short now,
military style. It accentuated his strong, attractive face.

He flashed me a weary smile.
"Hi Jade."

"Hlvj Jaooya? Oi ciado
yuo!" I mumbled through the tape.

"I'll take that as an
'I'm happy to see you’." He replied, pulling a chair up in front of me.

I scoffed.

"Sorry about
Quentin," Riley continued. "A vamp turned some girl he was screwing
so he kind of loses his shit around their kind."

Silence.

"Oh, and I'm sorry about-"
he gestured at my bindings. "All of this. To be fair, you did tell me if
you ever saw me again you'd transfigure my balls onto my face."

More silence.

"I'll gladly take the
duct tape off if you promise to not cast any spells on me or my pack until you hear
my proposition." I was considering agreeing then transfiguring him anyway,
but there was something in his eyes that gave me pause. Something desperate.

I gave him a nod.

"Awesome," he said
with a sigh of relief. He stepped forward tentatively and pulled off the tape
as gently as he could.

I worked my mouth, loosening
my muscles. "You son of a bitch."

"I know," he said
gravely. "I am."

"After what you did,
what gives you the right to proposition me? Ever?"

I closed my eyes as a flood
of emotions came rushing back. Excitement, optimism, love, fascination. Riley
was the first supernatural I met after my awakening, when my magical ability
was fully realized.

I was sixteen and spending
the summer in the boondocks with my mother. I'd snuck out to Greenville to
party with an old friend's sister who went to East Carolina. I hadn't known
then that Riley was a were, but I could tell there was something different
– something about his aura. When he changed form for me, I'd been
terrified and heartbreakingly optimistic. I was different, guys had always been
put off by me. But Riley was different too...and when he said three words, I
was sold. I was going to become his mate and we'd have a battalion of
half-breed babies.

I was so naïve. A few days
before the end of summer vacation, Riley fell off the grid. I went back to New
York without even telling him goodbye. I found out later that he imprinted on
another female were and they were to be married.

Riley ran a hand over his
buzzed hair. "I should have told you. Or said goodbye at least."

"You've got a lot of
nerve," I said acidly. "You think you can just breeze in and out of
my life? All bets are off. I'm in big enough trouble anyway...oath breaker is
the least of my worries." I looked at the ceiling. "I lacked imagination
back then. I bet you'd have trouble screwing people over if you had a dick for
lips. Allora iseia-"

"Wait," he
interrupted. "Just-" he clenched his fists, fighting to keep his
composure. "I know I have no right, but just hear me out."

I closed my mouth and stared
at him with death in my eyes.

"My mate," he
began. "My partner, Arrissa, she, uh, died a few weeks ago."

I cleared my throat. While
I'd wished a whole lotta ill on Riley, I never blamed the other girl. "I'm
sorry for your loss."

"Thanks Jay."

"Jade," I corrected
hotly.

"Right," he nodded,
pushing out of his chair. "Natural causes supposedly." He paced the
room back and forth. "I know it's not your problem, but my dad's real sick
and Mom-"

"I heard," I cut
in. "I'm sorry about your parents.”

He nodded again then turned
to look at me wearily. "My whole life, I wanted to be leader of the pack.
But the costs-" He stopped, clearing his throat. "Anyway, her mother,
Arrissa's, holds a lot of pull with the pack. Her mate was one of the original
weres."

"Okay," I said with
a raised eyebrow. I was a witch. A wanted witch. Were politics was not my
concern.

"Her mom wants me to
find out, from Arrissa, if it was natural or if, uh, something was at
play."

"Something else like
what?"

"Murder," he
answered solemnly.

I looked at him with
disbelief. "I don't have time for this drama, Riley. I've got a lot on my
plate."

"Uh huh."

"And The Records are
filled with plenty of necromancers who would love to help."

His gaze settled on me. His
dark opals used to set me on fire. Now they were just infuriating.

"I don't want just
anyone,” he said adamantly. “I want you."

I let out an agitated sigh.
"Even if I wanted to help, like say, if you would have asked me like a
normal person instead of kidnapping me, I can't because-"

"You're on probation?”
he finished. "It’s been taken care of. You have clearance to do
this."

I raised an eyebrow.
"Does it have something to do with your all powerful fanger bff?"

He shrugged. “The how’s not
important.”

I leaned forward, as close to
him as I could with my restraints. "If Athanasia harms one hair on Jack’s
head, I’ll stake her myself. Then I'm coming for you."

His face softened then, his
eyes sparkling with mischief. "The rumors ARE true then. You're pretty
serious with the fanger, huh?"

"None of your
business."

"He eats people, you
know."

"Yeah, but somehow he
manages to not fall off the grid for several years, punch me in the face, or
kidnap me."

"I didn't punch you in
the face."

"You might as well
have," I said stubbornly. "Clearance or not, I don't respond well to
gunpoint summonings. Find another necromancer."

Riley crossed his arms, his
face going hard. "I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no
choice."

"What? You gonna torture
me ‘til I say yes?"

"I don’t need to torture
you," he answered icily. "I know you, Jay. You're hotheaded,
stubborn, and a pain in the ass...but you're no murderer. The Watchers,
however, don't know you. Once they come looking for you for Trial and you're
nowhere to be found, you may as well tie yourself to a stake. My compound is
pretty tightly enchanted. If they were patient, they could probably break
through and locate you, but if I recall correctly, they’re not."

I gulped.

"A summoning will take
what, 30 minutes? Then you can go back to your business of hating me and trying
to clear your name."

I sank into the seat as my
heart sank to the soles of my feet. I hated Riley with the passion of a
thousand suns, but he was right. I really had no choice.

"You're a bastard, you
know that?" I said pathetically, giving up. "Grab a pen and paper.
I'm going to need supplies."

Chapter Eighteen

Shotgun Summoning

I tried to take solace in the
fact that I was at least untied. I could wiggle my toes, fingers, and nose.
Although escape was far from an option since Riley had two of his beefy
packmates stationed outside the room, it was nice to be able to move about
freely. But it didn't make what was to come any easier to swallow. I had to do
a summoning, on a crescent night, in a room that reeked of bad juju. Oh, and besides
having to deal with Riley, I had to deal with Arrissa's mother, Lynda, who was
touching all of my summoning materials.

I turned to Riley, my jaw
set. "When I agreed to help you, I said I'd allow her mother to observe as
long as she didn't disrupt anything."

"Lynda..." Riley
began warily.

"I'm just excited is
all!" Lynda exclaimed, her southern drawl oozing. That wasn't the only
thing that oozed. She wore an expensive Juicy jumpsuit paired with stilettos
with spikes for heels. Her blonde hair was obviously a dye job, glowing
fluorescently in the dim light of the candles. She might've been pretty decades
ago, but botox and other cosmetic delights had turned her into a Joan Rivers
lookalike. Her outfit and makeup obviously took hours. What kind of grieving
mother gets all dolled up for her freshly dead daughter's summoning? Where was
the tear-streaked face, the shabby clothes, and the bird nest of hair?

"I need you to back up
several feet," I ordered her. "Riley and I are about to begin."

She crossed her arms.
"I'm not some country bumpkin, necromancer." She walked over to where
her designer bag sat and pulled out a ziplock bag. "I brought some
personal stuff. And I’m her mother, I should make the circle."

From the amused look Riley
gave me, I gleaned that she was pretty much 'mother' in name only. "Do you
want to-" I cocked my head in her direction, hoping he'd be the one to
tell her why.

"Nah," he said with
a smirk. "You're the witch, you should tell her."

Lynda's ice gray eyes set on
me.

I cleared my throat, tucking
a curly strand behind my ear. "Er, uh..." I swallowed. "Mrs.
Carter, Riley is creating the circle because it's best to use a bond between-”
I paused. “A husband and a wife. The bond between lovers."  While Mrs.
Carter was pretty annoying, I wasn’t just telling her this to get her out of
the way. The bond between a mother and her offspring worked if the ghost was a
child or a virgin. Otherwise, I could say every Latin word in creation to no
avail.

I braced myself for a temper
tantrum to rule all temper tantrums, but it didn't come. Mrs. Carter just
rolled her eyes and strutted to an armchair, sinking into it with a sigh.
"Let's get going. I ain’t getting any younger."

The room went quiet as I
walked over to the grocery bag and tossed Riley a can of salt. I pulled out the
studded dog collar next, a tiny bell fastened to the side. Someone had a sense
of humor.

I gave Riley a solemn nod.
"Let's begin."

I walked slowly, clockwise in
a circle.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

I could hear the sound of the
falling salt as Riley created the circle. When it was complete, I took a step
back and said the incantation. A silver wisp appeared, gyrating and weaving
before giving way to the ghost of Riley’s wife.

Lynda gasped, pushing out of
the chair. She took several haggard steps forward, not wanting to believe what
was before her eyes. For all her talk of experience, it was clear this was her
first summoning. "She's still beautiful!"

Arrissa Carter stood in the
middle of the circle. I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. When I'd
come across their wedding announcement all those years ago, I'd hoped to find
someone homely. But the girl I'd seen beside Riley was classically
beautiful...slender, fair skinned, golden haired with ice blue eyes. To top it
off, she had graduated top of her class and had plans to study teaching at ECU.
The All-American dream.

Even in death she was
gorgeous, her short blonde hair hanging in a curly halo around her peaceful
face. Well, peaceful until she realized she was standing in the middle of the
circle, summoned from her sleep.

I’d been trained to view the
ghosts as objects, to create distance. But even though I’d just met Riley’s
wife, I knew she was more than just a ghost. She was Arrissa.

"Riley? Mom?" she
said, her eyes widening. "What have you two done?"

"Don't get
hysterical," her mom said, prancing up to the line. "We just-"

"That's close
enough," I snapped, shooting her mom the evil eye.

Arrissa's eyes set on me.
"You called me here, necromancer?"

I felt the power from her
words and put up a shield, standing my ground. "I summoned you, yes. But
at the request of your husband."

Riley reddened, coughing as
he took a step forward. "Hey babe."

"What can I do for you,
Ri?" she said in a businesslike manner.

"It’s about the
accident," he answered. "Your mom and I wanted to talk to you about
it."

She shrugged her perfect
shoulders. "What is there to talk about? An aneurysm is pretty open and
shut."

Her mother clapped a hand to
her mouth in horror.

Arrissa looked at Riley and
me with a look of confusion. "Did I say something wrong?"

Riley ran a hand over his
head, his eyes on her. "You had a stroke, honey. From a blood clot after
your foot surgery?"

"Keep on feeding her
lines, you son of a bitch," Lynda said sharply. "We both know that
you killed my daughter."

"Here we fucking
go," Riley said with an eye roll.

"You're damn
right!" Lynda screeched, pacing back and forth. "I knew you were
trouble from the minute I laid eyes on you."

Riley's face went hard. I
remembered that face well...the one he wore when he talked about how his life
wasn't his own. When he talked about a father who called him a disappointment
and a mother who lived by 'It's 5 PM somewhere' twenty four hours a day.

I saw Arrissa take a step
closer to the line but still maintain a healthy distance. Apparently she was
familiar with the danger zone as well.

"Riley and I had our
problems," she said gently. "Every married couple does. But Riley
didn't kill me, Mama. It was just my time."

Lynda's perfectly put
together face crumbled then as she sank to the floor. "I know I spent most
of your life-"

"Filled with
jealousy?" Riley growled at her.

Lynda ignored him, still on
her knees in front of her daughter. "I know I wasn't the best mother, but
you have to know that I thought we had more time," she sobbed. "Time
for me to make it up to you, time for me to make it up to my grandbabies. This
just can't be it!"

As annoying as her mother
was, her words spoke to me. In my line of work, I always heard that spouses
felt guilt because they hoped for death. A car accident, a stroke, an alien
invasion....anything earth shattering that would set them free. It was nice to
finally see someone who had a regret that didn't involve a prenuptial agreement
or not getting married at all.

Arrissa's face was serene as
she flashed her mom a sad smile. "It’s okay, Mom. I know you loved me in
your own way." Her eyes went to Riley. "Any more questions?"

Riley shook his head.

"Good," Arrissa
said gently. "Now I'd like to speak with the necromancer. Alone."