“Hey, problems with your Porsche again or is it the Mercedes this time?” Reese asked, grinning as he stepped down from the cab of his tow truck.
Keller was a bio-tech wizard who could probably buy and sell everybody in town five times over. But he didn’t flaunt his wealth—well, other than a penchant for fast, expensive cars.
“Neither.” Keller was leaning against a wall of the garage with his arms crossed and a curious light in his eyes. “I just came to see if you liked the take-out you got from the Cougar’s Den. Did it taste good?”
“Couldn’t tell you,” Reese said cheerfully. “I gave it away. All but a few fries, that is.”
“Gave it away?” Keller’s eyebrows shot up. “To who?”
“Who do you think? The girl in my shed Fiona told me about.” Reese shook his head. “Goddamn—how does she know things like that? I’d pay good money to spend time inside her head.”
“You’d be wasting your hard earned cash. I don’t think anyone but Fiona could figure out what goes on in there,” Keller said dryly. “But tell me about the girl. What is she like? What’s her name?”
It was Reese’s turn to raise an eyebrow.
“You checking up on me, Keller? Or is it the Cat inside you that’s so curious you can’t help asking?”
Keller shrugged easily. “A little of both, maybe. Mostly I just wanted to be sure everything was okay.”
“Fine, I’ll tell you what I know—it’s not much though,” Reese said. “Her name is Jocasta Ferrell. She looks to be nineteen or twenty and she’s a witch.”
“A what?” Keller looked startled.
“You heard me.” Reese laughed at his friend’s expression—Keller wasn’t easy to rattle. “Oh, and she’s staying at my place but only under the condition that she can cast a binding spell on me so I won’t touch her.”
“What?” Keller frowned at him. “And you agreed to that?”
Reese was surprised at his friend’s extreme reaction.
“Take it easy, buddy. You and I know I’d never hurt a female but Jo doesn’t know that—she’s been, uh, hurt before. So this spell thing is just to help her feel better about staying in my house, that’s all.”
Keller frowned. “You don’t believe in witches or witchcraft, do you?”
“Well, I mean I believe that the people who call themselves witches believe it,” Reese said. “But I don’t think there’s much more to it than that. It’s like the power of positive thinking, you know? Jo thinks she’s casting a spell on me to keep me from hurting her—which I would never do—so she feels more comfortable around me. There’s no actual effect except for the mental one.”
“That’s really what you think?” Keller shook his head.
“What? You don’t mean to tell me you believe in all that stuff—do you?” Reese asked. “I thought you were a man of science and all that.”
“I am but I’ve learned not to discount anything—especially someone else’s beliefs, no matter how far-fetched they may seem,” Keller said. “Ask yourself this—would you still let this girl cast a spell on you if you knew it was going to have an actual physical effect?”
“Well . . .” Reese, frowned, mulling it over. “She told me the spell is just to keep me from touching her, uh, the wrong way.” He cleared his throat. “You know what I mean. So yeah, I guess I’d still let her, if it helped her feel better.”
“You said she’s been . . . violated in the past?” Keller asked.
“Pretty sure she has.” Reese nodded, his jaw clenching at the thought of someone hurting Jo like that. He hadn’t known her long but his Fox had already laid claim to her and he felt a powerful feeling of protectiveness growing inside him where she was concerned. “Plus, she’s been attacked twice since she left Avalon.”
“She lived at the females-only Yoga retreat?” Keller asked.
“Apparently it’s more than just a Yoga retreat. Anyway, she was attacked by a pack of dire wolves just outside of Asheville. She thought they were ‘Skin Walkers’.”
“Jase Sanders’ pack?” Keller asked, frowning. “Why would they attack her? Did they mistake her for prey?”
Reese shrugged. “Don’t know but I didn’t get the sense she was lying about it. She’s really, really distrustful of males. That’s why I agreed to let her cast the uh . . . the binding spell on me—it was the only way she’d agree to stay.”
“And you think that was wise? Inviting a strange woman into your house and your life? A witch who’s already admitted she intends to cast spells on you?” Keller demanded.
Reese frowned.
“Get over it, Keller,” he growled. “I know what I’m doing.”
“I’m not sure you do,” the other Shifter retorted. “Look . . .” He put a hand on Reese’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, I’m just worried about you.”
“Well don’t be. I have it under control.” Reese shrugged off his friend’s hand, then thought better of it. “Look, Keller,” he said, trying to make him understand. “How did your Cougar feel about Samantha? Not now—back when you first met her?”
Keller sighed. “My Cat loved her—claimed her—almost right from the start. But we formed an early bond so—”
“It’s the same with my Fox,” Reese interrupted him. “He loves Jo—in fact, he’s fucking crazy about her and he’s never, never reacted that way towards a female before.” He shrugged. “I like her too and well, this just feels right somehow. I can’t explain it, I just feel it in my bones, you know?”
Keller looked at him for a long moment and then shook his head.
“All right, forgive me for butting into your business. I just worry about you getting mixed up with witches. Their powers are real, you know—as real as ours.”
Reese felt a wave of unease roll over him. Could it be his friend was right? Was he walking into some kind of a trap, allowing Jo to cast this spell on him when he barely knew her?
But his Fox insisted loudly that she was good, that she was right and trustworthy.
He shook his head.
“Sorry, Keller, but I’ve got to go with my gut on this one. Or in this case, my Fox’s gut. He really likes her.”
“All right.” Keller took a step back, a doubtful look on his face. “I just hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.”
“Don’t worry,” Reese said stiffly. “I do and I’ll be fine.” He cleared his throat. “Look, Keller, I’ve got a lot of work to do, so . . .”
“Of course. Sorry I bothered you.” Keller sighed. “Look, at least promise me one thing—take her to meet Fiona. She’s the one who told you about this girl in the first place. She’ll know what to do with her—where to put her.”
Reese frowned. “Where to put her? I already told you, she’s staying with me—that’s where she belongs.”
Keller sighed. “I can see your Fox has already claimed her, but just talk to Fiona—will you at least promise me that?”
“I’ll go by her shop tomorrow if it’ll make you feel better,” Reese growled, thoroughly pissed off by his friend’s high-handed behavior. He was beginning to be sorry he’d ever told Keller anything about the little witch. “And I’ll bring Jo with me—if she wants to come.”
“Good,” Keller said shortly. “Look, I can tell you’re angry at me, Coop, and I’m sorry. I just . . . want you to be okay.”
Before Reese could answer, he went to get behind the wheel of a candy-apple-red sports car sitting just outside the shop. After sliding his muscular bulk into the low-slung vehicle he poked his head out and looked at Reese.
“If you need anything—any help—just let me know.”
“Will do.” Reese tried to keep the irritation out of his voice. He and Keller were good friends but the other male could be all kinds of nosy and officious sometimes. Then again, Reese reminded himself, Keller was a Cat. It went with the territory.
He went about the rest of his day, trying to forget his friend’s words of warning. But even as he worked, he couldn’t help
hearing what Keller had said to him echoing in the corners of his mind.
“I just worry about you getting mixed up with witches. Their powers are real, you know—as real as ours . . .”
Could Keller possibly be right? And if so, was he doing a foolish thing, allowing Jo to work her magic on him?
Reese didn’t know, but he thought he was about to find out.
Chapter Four
There were some noises from inside, then the sound of the front door closing and an engine—it sounded like a big one—starting. Looking around the side of the house, Jo saw a big wrecker truck drive by. On it was the slogan, FOX’S AUTO BODY: YOU BROKE IT, WE FIX IT! Reese was inside and he drove the huge vehicle with easy confidence, one hand on the wheel and the other arm on the open window.
After he disappeared Jo sat back on the porch steps and looked at the back door. Should she go in? And more to the point, should she stay?
She supposed she could just use the restroom, grab a glass of water, and continue her journey—there was nothing holding her here. But where would she go? It wasn’t like she had a destination in mind other than away from Avalon. And strangely, she wanted to stay.
“I’ll just go in and look around,” she muttered, daring to climb the creaky back porch steps. “See what it’s like inside.” Collecting her backpack and holding her athame out in front of her just in case, she pushed her way past the screen door and entered the house.
She got the impression that Reese lived alone so she was expecting a bachelor clutter. Instead, she was pleasantly surprised to see that the big Shifter was apparently a guy who knew how to clean up after himself.
The back door led into a large and well-appointed, if somewhat old-fashioned, kitchen. It was white with sunny yellow trim, a gas stove, and a big old refrigerator that hummed quietly to itself in a corner. Faded white and yellow checked curtains hung in the window, which showed a good view of the backyard and the forest beyond it.
A grandma kitchen, Jo thought. She could almost imagine a nice little old lady with gray hair baking batches of chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles by the dozen. But when she tried to picture the scene, she saw herself instead, standing over the gas stove and stirring a pot of her famous vegetable stew.
Jo frowned. That was ridiculous—she was here as a guest, not to get comfy enough to take over the kitchen and cook. Although she supposed she might offer to make Reese dinner one night as a kind of payment for staying in his home. That would be nice.
She walked through the kitchen and out into the living area, which was filled with faded but clean furniture in a floral pattern that must have been picked by Reese’s mother or some other female relative. She wondered if he’d inherited the house and just left everything as it was. After all, the floral print love seat and couch still looked comfortable and serviceable—if it isn’t broke, why fix it?
There was a den with some sports posters framed on the wall but the TV was an old box model, not the flat screen Jo would have expected. Across from it was a big, comfortable looking leather chair and a reading lamp on a little table. The walls were lined with bookshelves and the books didn’t look purely ornamental either—their creased covers and battered edges showed they’d been read. There were war histories, biographies, mysteries, thrillers—a thoroughly masculine selection, Jo thought. There was also an e-reader lying on the little table under the lamp. Hmm . . . if Reese really read this much it might explain the blue band of intellect she’d seen in his aura.
Jo was intrigued but she was also in dire need of the restroom. She cut her exploration of the big house short and headed upstairs, looking for a bathroom.
The upstairs was a long hallway lined with doors. After peering into several guest rooms, Jo finally turned the right knob and was rewarded by the sight of a toilet facing a big, old fashioned claw-foot tub. Finally!
Stepping inside, she stowed her athame in her pack and hung it on the hook on the back of the door. After taking care of business, she sighed in relief and her eyes wandered back to the bathtub. How long had it been since she’d had a bath? Ages and ages—it felt like forever.
Looking down at herself, she saw with distaste that the ashes of the white ash tree were still smeared thickly across her pale skin. That had been necessary out in the forest to throw the Skin Walkers—no, Dire Wolf Shifters, she reminded herself—off her scent. But if she was going to stay with Reese, she didn’t need to be grimy and coated in ashes anymore. Plus, she really needed to wash the cut on her arm from where her athame had slipped.
The clock on the wall said a quarter to three. Reese had said he wouldn’t be home until between five and six, which left her plenty of time to take a bath and prepare to cast the binding.
Jo filled the tub, watching the steam rise with anticipation. Oh, the hot water was going to feel so good on her aching muscles! She even found some Epsom salts to pour into the tub. It wasn’t scented bath oil or bubble bath but it would do and hopefully the salt in the water would help scrub away the stubborn gray ashes that stained her skin.
As she waited for the huge tub to fill, Jo wandered towards to the mirror over the bathroom sink. She hadn’t looked at her reflection in ages and she expected to see a woman with dirt-smeared cheeks and weary circles under her eyes.
What she saw instead shocked and surprised her. There certainly was dirt smeared on her face and her eyes looked weary but . . . it wasn’t her—wasn’t Jo. Or at least, not the Jo she was used to seeing.
With a gasp, she drew away from the mirror, her hands going involuntarily to her face. Where was she? Where was the woman she had become?
Staring at her from out of the glass was her younger self—the girl she’d been twenty years ago. The thick streak of silver that had been in her hair for the past ten years, which had started fading in Avalon, was now completely gone. The crow’s-feet around the corners of her eyes had been smoothed away and the curving lines around her lips had been erased.
Pulling her dress off, she saw that her body was similarly changed. Her breasts, which had begun to sag, were now high and tight, and her ass was firm and round again. The varicose veins that had started around her ankles had magically disappeared and there wasn’t a trace of cellulite on her anywhere. She had thought her body felt somewhat different during her travels through the woods but there never seemed to be a good time to stop and really examine herself. Now she could see how much she’d changed and it scared her.
“What happened to me?” she whispered, looking down at herself. “How can this be? What’s going on? Is this what the Elders were talking about when they kicked me out?”
She looked at her face again, at the flame-red hair without a single silver strand, the pale, dirty cheeks and big amber eyes. She looked exactly as she had during that awful time—the time she’d tried so hard to forget. It was as though her body was going backwards, trying to force her to remember the past trauma, the awful attack she’d thought she would never get over . . .
No—don’t think like that. Don’t dwell on it, she told herself, trying to be calm. You worked through it years ago with Miranda. Don’t dredge it all up again now.
It was easier advice to give than to take but before she could dwell on it longer, she saw that the claw-foot bathtub was about to overflow. Quickly, she ran to shut off the taps and drained a little of the steaming water before she climbed in and sank down, trying to make peace with her young, new body.
She spent a long time soaping and scrubbing herself, finally managing to get all of the gray ashes off her skin. The cut on her arm stung from the salt in the water, but it was just a shallow scratch and Jo was sure it would heal quickly. It felt good to be clean again and good to get reacquainted with her body—despite the way it had changed.
But the question was, how had it changed? When the Elders had kicked her out of Avalon, they’d accused her of working Dark Magic. Though Jo knew perfectly well she had done nothing of the kind, now she wondered if maybe someone—some maligna
nt other—had worked some on her.
She thought of the shadow creature and shivered. Could that entity—the one she’d been trying so desperately to escape—have something to do with her drastic change? Had it been planning to get her kicked out of Avalon so that it could have its dark way with her?
Also, did her sudden youthening—Jo couldn’t think of a better name for it—have anything to do with the awful pain she’d had on the night of the full moon? Or the throbbing between her legs? Or the dull headache that had settled in her temples and wouldn’t go away, no matter what she did? She’d gotten so used to living with these constant pains they became almost normal, but with her suddenly much younger body she realized she ought to be feeling much better than she was.
Although actually . . . she frowned. The headache was gone—at least for now. When had that happened? She didn’t know, but it was nice not to have the dull pounding in her temples for once.
Jo washed her hair and then sat and soaked and pondered, occasionally adding hot water until she glanced at the clock and realized it was almost a quarter to five. Crap! How had it gotten so late? She had to hurry now, to get everything in order for the binding before Reese came home.
She got out of the tub and dried herself with a big, puffy yellow towel that felt good against her sensitive skin. I’ve been roughing it so long I’d forgotten about little creature comforts like hot baths and soft towels, Jo thought. Having access to them again, as well as having a full belly, was a luxury.
She felt a flash of gratitude towards her host and then told herself to be careful. Especially now that she was young again, maybe Reese was only after her body. She needed to be certain he couldn’t touch her, just in case.
But his aura was pure, whispered a voice in her head. And the house has nothing but good echoes. And what about his Fox?
Jo couldn’t help the rush of good feelings she got when she thought of the soft, furry little creature Reese turned into. The way he had nuzzled her neck and curled up in her lap . . . the way he danced around begging for french-fries—really, it was impossible not to be won over by the adorable little animal.