Watcher: A raven paranormal romance (Crookshollow ravens Book 1) (13 page)

“We are, I just need to stop here first. Have you never been here before?” I shook my head. Cole looked puzzled. “How long have you lived in Crookshollow? This place is famous. I thought everyone had been here.”

“I’ve lived in the village for seven years,” I said. “But I’ve never really been one for nature walks. I much prefer the pub.”

Cole laughed. “This is the Witches’ Cemetery. Back in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Crookshollow was a centre of occult worship, until the church caught wind of all the goings on and decided to make an example of the place. Some two hundred witches were burned or hanged right in the village square, and the remains of many were buried here, on unconsecrated ground, far from the God-fearing gravesites.”

“Oh.” I glanced around at all the crooked stones. Upon closer inspection, the place was even creepier than I first thought. The entire cemetery was black, the hedges that surrounded it devoid of all leaves – even though it was spring – and the earth puckered and scorched. Many of the stones leaned out at impossible angles, or were broken in pieces. “Why is everything blackened?”

“That’s a recent development. You should ask your friend Alex about it.” Cole stooped low as he walked through the rows of bent tombstones. He almost appeared as if he was looking for something.

“Alex? I don’t understand.”

Cole grinned. “Let’s just say that she and her partner Ryan—”

“—
fiancé
.”

“—right,
fiancé
Ryan were involved in a little altercation right here, a few months back. Some of my kind were involved, not just ravens, but several vulpines – fox shifters – and other shifter species as well. The resulting fire did all the damage you can see.”

“There was a
fire?
How is Alex involved in all this? Is this why we’re going to see her tonight?”

“I don’t want to say anything more. She will tell you. But suffice it to say that you can trust Alex with my secret.”

“I wish you’d trust me with your secrets.”

“I do.” Cole said. He took my hand and led me along another row of stones, his eyes sweeping the ground around him.

“No, Cole. You don’t. You didn’t tell me about Byron being your brother when he came to the bakery today. You said you’d explain tonight, but you still haven’t.” I pulled my hand from him. “You haven’t told me what Byron meant when he said he saw you last night, or who Harry is, or anything about this vampire I’m supposed to fear so much. And you haven’t explained what we’re doing at this cemetery. I don’t think you understand that I am scared. I need to know what’s
really
going on.”

Cole stopped and turned toward me. He took my hands and gripped them tightly, his touch sending shivers along my arms. His dark eyes bore into mine, searching my soul for something. “I’m trying to protect you, Belinda. The less you know, the less dangerous you are to them. I don’t want Morchard or Gillespie to ever see you as a threat, or your life will be over. And I couldn’t stand that.”

“You say that, but it doesn’t feel like that’s what you’re doing.” My voice grew higher. I gulped back a lump rising in my throat. I was dangerously close to crying. “It feels as though you’re not allowing me to make my own choices about my survival. You’re taking that away from me, and after everything I told you, after everything you know about me, you must be able to see that I can’t deal with that.”

Cole didn’t say anything. His eyes shifted, their edges softening. I continued. “I know that I mean nothing to you, but I care about you, Cole. I don’t want you to die. I want to help, but I can’t if you keep shutting me out.”

As soon as I’d said that, I wished I could take it back. I’d said too much, revealed how I was really feeling. Now he knew I liked him; I’d given him that power over me. I stepped back, trying to tug my hands free of his, but he squeezed them tighter.

Cole’s eyes flickered. I poised myself for his rejection.

“How can you say that?” Cole whispered, his voice pained. “How can you say you mean nothing to me? You saved my life.”

“I’m just some girl in a bakery.” I said, my voice catching. “Who doesn’t even know karate. As Byron said, I’m only the next in a long line of women who are falling … who have been in your life. I’m not the first, or the last. I’m expendable. I know that, I just—”

“I’ll show you how fucking expendable you are.”

Cole’s lips met mine with such tremendous force I nearly fell backwards. He steadied me with one hand in the small of my back, and the other against my neck, drawing my head up toward him. Fire raced through my body as his lips parted mine, and his tongue wrapped around mine, furiously devouring me.

I rose up to meet him, shocked by the force behind his kiss. My hands reached up and tangled in his long hair, the silky strands falling through my fingers. A strand fell over my face, tickling the skin of my cheek. My whole body felt as if it were made of electricity, a great shining ball of light. Everywhere he touched hummed with energy.

Cole kissed with a need so powerful, it squeezed at my chest. His fingers splayed across the small of my back, drawing my body against him. His hardness rubbed against my thigh, and the thought of it there made me ache. It had been so long, and he was so gorgeous, and his kisses made me feel like I was sinking into a puddle of ecstasy.

My tongue slid over his, the heat of his mouth pulling me in, drawing out all my doubts, leaving me with the ache between my legs, and only one way to satisfy it ...

But unanswered questions swam through my head. Why was I in a cemetery, kissing a man who can turn into a raven, when he still hadn’t even told me what danger was hunting us? Was this kiss just another distraction so he didn’t have to answer my questions? I tore myself out of the fantasy of Cole, and clamped my mouth shut, forcing his tongue out. My body screamed in protest, but I had to do it.

Cole pulled away, holding me at arm’s length, his eyes boring intently into mine. His expression said he wasn’t done with me, that he wanted more. I gasped for breath, forcing back my desire, stomping it down inside so I could
focus
.

“I knew you didn’t know martial arts.” He grinned wickedly, bending in to kiss me again.

And as I stared at him, and the heat raged through my body, I saw something I never expected to see. I saw Ethan.

In Cole’s features, I saw the same look Ethan had given me hundreds of times, a look of desire. He
wanted
me, and being wanted by Cole felt so, so right. But in Ethan’s case, that look had been a lie.
Cole is not Ethan, he’s not the same.
I tried to tell myself, but I couldn’t shake the horrible feeling I was walking into another trap. I was setting myself up to get hurt again.

“You look scared all of a sudden,” Cole said, his voice throaty. He squeezed my shoulder. “Why? I’m not going to hurt you.” I thought he would add
unless you like it
on the end of that sentence, but he didn’t. At least for once he knew when to be serious.

“I don’t know that.” I stared at a spot just above his shoulder, focusing on the black smudge across a gravestone. If I looked him straight in the eye, I would lose myself again. “I don’t even know
you
. I don’t know what you are, what you’re capable of.”

Cole’s eyes narrowed. “You sure can turn it off and on like a tap.”

His sharp tone cut through me. “I’m sorry—” I caught myself. “No, do you know what? I’m not sorry. You’re kissing me in a cemetery, and I don’t even know what’s going on. I can’t do this, Cole. I can’t get hurt again. I have to be able to trust you, and right now that’s just not possible.”

“You trusted me on the bike.”

“That was different. You know what you’re doing on that bike. I don’t think you know what you’re doing with me.”

Cole squeezed my shoulder harder. “Fine. Ask your questions. If you’re so desperate to know what’s going on, what I’m capable of, ask me anything. I won’t lie to you.”

I took a deep breath, steadying myself. My pulse was still racing, the fire Cole’s touch ignited still burning inside me. I forced myself to step back again, placing some distance between us. Cole didn’t let go of my shoulder. “What did that note mean? Who was Harry?”

“You looked at that note? It was private.”

“Of course I did. You weren’t telling me anything!”

“Fine. Harry is Victor Morchard’s son.” Cole said. “And he’s dead because Thomas Gillespie killed him.”

“And why did Thomas Gillespie kill this Harry?”

“Because he heard I’d run away, and he wanted to punish Victor for letting me get away. So he killed Harry and drained his blood.”

“That’s sick.”

“I don’t disagree.”

“Does this mean Thomas Gillespie arrived in Crookshollow early?”

“At the very least, he’s in Loamshire. Harry took the train from Oxford into Crooks Crossing yesterday. He was heading home to the castle, so I guess he did that, inside a coffin. I saw him with my own eyes when I snuck out of your flat last night to go and investigate. Sir Thomas must have attacked Harry as he left the train station.”

“In broad daylight?”

“Vampires can read minds and manipulate memories. Anyone who saw anything probably had their memories altered. You see why I am so desperate to keep you away from these people. Thomas Gillespie is the most dangerous man you could ever encounter, Belinda. Even Victor Morchard was afraid of him. The stories Victor used to tell me…” Cole shuddered. “I sincerely hope that you never have the horror of making his acquaintance.”

“But the Morchards think you are dead, and the Gillespies have had their revenge. So what’s the problem? We just hide out for a few days until the Gillespies go away, and then find a way to break the bond. It will be fine.”

“Ah yes. The problem,” Cole said. “Is that Thomas Gillespie can read minds. And as soon as he arrives at Morchard Castle, Victor will probably offer him another of his Bran as payment for the debt, lest he lose another child. And as soon as Sir Thomas comes close to Byron – which he will no doubt do – he will
see
in Byron’s mind that I am still alive, and he will see your shop. Sir Thomas will then kill my brother, and he will come for what is rightfully his. He won’t have any qualms about killing you, either. Thanks to Byron sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong, we are all in great danger, unless I can figure something out.”

My stomach tightened. “What can we do?”

“Your friend Ryan can help us, I think. If I can state my case to him.” Cole swept his eyes around the cemetery. “But ideally, I need to figure out how to become a proper rogue. That’s why I came here. Mikael’s witch is going to leave me a message here if she finds someone powerful enough to break the curse. I don’t see a message, but … this cemetery has been the site of a massive magical onslaught. It’s the only place I know of where rogue ravens have been in recent months. What went down here was so intense, I wondered if there were some way to capture the residual energy here, to harness it and somehow use it to break me free of my bondage.”

I’d spent two days in the company of this man, and now hanging out in charred cemeteries talking about magical spells seemed perfectly normal. “And have you found anything?”

Cole sighed. “Unless you count a beautiful woman with no karate abilities who won’t allow me to kiss her, I’ve found nothing. I don’t really know what I’m looking for. This is magic beyond my knowledge. I’d need to speak to a witch. I don’t suppose you happen to know any witches?”

I tapped the nearest grave with my foot. “I’ve got friends in low places.”

He squeezed my shoulder. “You make me laugh. It feels so good to laugh.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” I stared down at his body, rigid beneath his leather jacket. It occurred to me I hadn’t checked his leg yet today. “Hey, how is your wound?”

“A lot better, thank you. I can almost fly normally now.”

“Yeah? Show me.”

Cole looked concerned. His grip on my shoulder tightened. “You want to see me in my raven form again?”

“Yes, please.” I suddenly needed,
desperately
needed, to know he was truly OK.
Is it because he’s your old defence against these evil people? Or is it because you care about him?

Plus, watching Cole transform into that beautiful, silken bird was seriously hot, but I didn’t think I was quite ready to tell him that.

Cole turned away from me, facing up at the waxing moon, and gripping the edge of a nearby stone with both hands. He took a deep breath, and started to change, his body shrinking down into itself as his arms bent awkwardly, the black feathers sprouting from his skin and spreading over his body, shrouding him in midnight. When he turned back to look at me, he was perched on the edge of the tombstone, and his eyes were the only part of him that seemed connected to the human Cole, the one I knew, the one I’d just been kissing. Every other part of him was pure raven.

I pulled his clothes off the tombstone and balled them under my arm. Cole tapped the stone twice with his beak, then with another glance in my direction, he took off. He didn’t get much higher than my waist before he half glided, half crashed on to the top of a headstone, losing a few tail feathers in the process. He turned around and glared at me, as if to say. “I meant to do that.”

“Sure you did,” I answered him, instantly feeling weird. Could he even understand me in his raven form?

Cole flapped from headstone to headstone, each time rising a little higher, flying a little longer. When he reached the end of the row, he doubled back, this time clearing the entire width of the cemetery in a single graceful swoop.

“That’s it!” I cried, clapping as I watched him soar higher. “You’re doing it.”

Cole zoomed across the cemetery, moving in swift circles about my head. He moved so fast he was nothing but a black blur. A couple of times I lost sight of him as he swooped and dipped between the blackened trees.

With a self-satisfied
croak!
, Cole soared back down and landed on the tombstone, gracefully folding his wings away. He tapped the stone again, then morphed back into his human form. His feathers slid back into his skin, his bones cracked as they rearranged themselves, and within a few moments I was standing opposite a very naked, very smug-looking Cole.