I smiled, imagining Daniel as an awkward teenage bear covered in bee stings. “Well, I’d like to think my life would’ve been better. Instead of marrying a man who used me and threw me away…” I stopped talking, suddenly feeling ashamed of how I’d let my ex treat me for all those years. “But then again, I wouldn’t have my son. And Travis was worth every hard moment of my marriage and my life. I guess there’s some truth to the fact that we all end up where we’re supposed to be.”
“Agreed,” Daniel said, a smile teasing his full lips. “And what’s your son like?”
“Travis,” I gushed his name. “That kid is incredible. I take credit for the sweet, intelligent, handsome man he’s grown up to be. He’s in college, pursuing his engineering degree. He treats women with respect. And he remembers to call his old mom just often enough that I still feel loved, even though he’s in a stage of his life where he doesn’t need me as much.”
Daniel sighed. “I always wanted kids, but we just never could have them. I’d accepted that maybe that wasn’t in the cards for me. Though, sometimes, I wish I’d had a son or daughter I could teach things to. You know, how to chop wood. How to make my mother’s favorite stew. Stuff like that.”
“Well, if you ever want to teach someone all that stuff, Travis will probably visit me sometimes, and that kid would drink up learning that kind of stuff. His dad never really paid him a lot of attention, so I’ve noticed he tends to gravitate to older men who have stories to tell.” I smiled, even though Travis’s lack of a real father-figure had always been a sore spot for me. “We had this older neighbor who liked to hunt and fish. Travis would trail after him any time he was working in his garage, and then he started taking him with him for short fishing days. Travis always came home grinning, like he’d never felt more special in his life.”
Suddenly, it occurred to me that I’d just offered Daniel a semi-father role in my son’s life. I felt my heart race and glanced over at him, fully expecting for him to have aI need to get the hell out of herelook on his face.
Instead, he turned, and those stunning eyes of his seemed to twinkle. “I’d love that.” Then, he cleared his throat. “So, does this mean you’ve officially decided to stay in Mystic Hollow?”
I laughed. “Well, nothing is official yet. I still need to wrap up my old life and deal with my ex.”
Things were quiet for a long time, and we pulled into Carol’s neighborhood. “About your ex,” he began, then cleared his throat again, “what did he do after you left?”
I tried to hide my panic. Daniel didn’t know about the whole toad thing. He was just making conversation. “Not really sure. But he’s not really my problem anymore, thankfully. He and Candy are welcome to each other.”
He said nothing more but seemed to accept my answer. Which made me relax a little, until I remembered why the hell we were driving in the middle of the night. It wasn’t that I had forgotten. It was more than my nerves were so fried that I didn’t even know how to manage the feeling of panic and worry inside of me.
Daniel pulled me up to the front door of Carol’s house, where Beth was staying, as well as Deva. Carol’s house had always looked so cheery, but right now, it was as if it radiated a sense of wrongness. The lights outside were all turned on bright, and a couple of police cars sat silent on the street. It almost felt like returning to an old neighborhood after the apocalypse. Everything was sort of the same, but different at the same time.
We climbed out of the truck and both rushed up the steps. With each second that passed, my heart hammered louder. Beth had escaped the thing, although with a warning. She was okay. I had to remember that. But even though everything I was thinking was logical, I felt sick as I pushed open the door and rushed inside.
“We’re here!” Not wanting to scare them anymore than they already were.
Beth sat on the couch with Deva and Carol flanking her. All of them had tea in their hands, but set down the mugs when they saw us, glancing toward the police officers like they didn’t know what to do. And all three of them looked pale and scared. Not that I blamed them.
Daniel crossed the room to the officers. Good, he could question them and find out what happened. I could find out what happened from the ladies’ perspectives, and then we could piece together what happened and who did this.
Making a beeline for the couch, I said. “Are you guys okay?”
Deva nodded. “We’re okay. Just a bit shaken up.”
Carol scooted over on the couch so I could get close to Beth. “What happened?”
I sat down next to her and wrapped my hands around one of her hands. She was shaking, wearing a nightgown with little animals stitched onto the front, and a knitted robe over the top of it. Her long blonde hair, the hair that was always brushed perfectly straight, was a tangled mess around her face. And she didn’t wear a drop of her beloved makeup, which told me she was really scared. Even when we were kids and had an emergency, Beth would be busy doing her makeup in the car.
“It’s okay, Beth,” Carol whispered, “just explain it one step at a time.”
Beth shuddered and her skin felt damp and sweaty. “It was awful. It was Roger’s old business partner, Cliff. Only, he was like this half wolf and half human thing.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “And the look in his eyes… I was sure he was going to kill me. Like, I really thought I was going to die.”
Damn it. The missing jerk was the one who was coming after Beth? No. Not a chance. His ass was going to pay.
“We’re going to figure this out,” I said, squeezing her hand. “We won’t let anything happen to you. Promise. Okay?”
Beth doesn’t even seem to hear me. “I just can’t get how unnatural he was out of my head. I just keep coming back to it. Whatever’s powered this guy up, it’s some dark magic.”
Dark magic? Darn it. I didn’t know anything about dark magic, but I guessed it was time to start figuring it out. If I didn’t understand the difference between dark and light magic, how in the world was I going to help my friend?
“Did he tell you what he wanted?” Carol asked, giving me a look that said that this was the most Beth had spoken since the incident.
After a long minute, Beth nodded. “He seemed to think I was the one who did a spell on him. One he believed Roger had made me do. But I think he believed me when I told him I hadn’t. That’s when he threatened me and told me I have to figure out who cursed him and undo it.”
“Who in the world could’ve helped Roger with a spell like that?” Deva asked as I rubbed Beth’s hand with my thumbs.
“I don’t know,” Beth said, looking lost and alone.
