Chapter Sixteen
Driving toward the manor after she’d finished her shift at the hub, Emberlyn felt her brow crease. A familiar vehicle was parked outside her home, and an equally familiar couple leaned against it. Ethel and Thad.
She doubted they’d been sent here by her family or Reena on some mission to convince her to give up the manor. Emberlyn had never been close to the twins’ parents, so she’d have no reason to oblige them in anything. While they weren’t rude to her, they weren’t pleasant toward her, either.
Pulling up outside the manor, Emberlyn switched off the engine, nabbed her purse and then unfurled from the vehicle. ‘Ethel, Thad,’ she greeted.
Wearing weak – and somewhat awkward – smiles, they took slow, tentative steps toward her.
As always, Ethel had styled the same russet-brown hair she’d passed down to her children in a severe high bun. Like Paisley, she was short and curvy. Unlike her daughter, she had a strident, haughty, off-putting manner.
A single look at Thad was enough for a person to sense that he was positively meticulous. Well dressed and clean shaven, he kept his thick dark hair short and neatly combed. She had no clue where Kage’s tall build came from, because Thad was average height.
Emberlyn locked the car with her fob. ‘I’d invite you in, but . . .’ It would be senseless. They’d never set foot in the manor, too opposed to the crafts that had been practiced there.
Ethel cleared her throat. ‘We’re fine out here.’ She paused. ‘I’m sure you know of Paisley’s sudden interest in taking the Change.’
Emberlyn wouldn’t say it was sudden. More that the couple in front of her had dismissed Paisley’s ‘interest’, not taking it seriously – until now.
‘I can see why she would wish to do this,’ Ethel went on. ‘She and Kage may bicker frequently but they are exceedingly close. It is only natural that she may feel left behind now that he has altered his lifestyle.’
Altered his lifestyle? Such a minor term for ‘becoming a werewolf’. A process that had changed him on a molecular level.
‘It is not surprising that she might feel driven to close the gap between them by following in his footsteps,’ said Ethel, ‘but it’s no true reason to take the Change.’
‘It wouldn’t be something she could undo,’ Thad cut in, a hard glint in his moss-green eyes – the only physical trait that the twins had inherited from him.
‘You’ve seen what happens to witches who turn werewolf and regret it.
They miss their connection with their magick so much that they start fighting their new reality – shifting as little as possible, resisting the urge to run with their clan on full moons, isolating themselves from other werewolves. ’
Emberlyn had witnessed for herself just how tortured these people could become. Some had turned up on her doorstep, hoping she might know some spell that could reverse the Change. Unfortunately for them, no such spell existed.
‘We’d like you to talk to Paisley,’ he continued. ‘She listens to you. She heeds your advice. Tell her what a terrible idea it would be to give up being a witch.’
Emberlyn inwardly sighed, wondering if maybe she should have seen this coming. Neither Ethel nor Thad ever asked her for anything, but she supposed it wasn’t a shocker that they’d beat back their dislike of her if it meant getting what they wanted in this.
‘I’ve spoken to Paisley about this many times,’ she told them.
‘Since she was a teenager she has talked about taking the Change one day. I suspect it’s partly because she doesn’t feel properly accepted by the coven – not only for being a twin, but for not being a strong witch.
She feels she has nothing to lose here.’
Ethel frowned. ‘Of course she does! She would have to live without her connection to her magick. Can you imagine losing yours?’
‘No, but I’m not Paisley. What’s right for me isn’t necessarily what’s right for her – and vice versa.’
‘If you really care for her, you will convince her not to go through with it,’ Thad stated.
‘The only thing I’ll ever convince her to do is what will make her happy.’ She couldn’t understand how they couldn’t want the same for their daughter.
‘And you truly think that becoming a werewolf would make anyone happy?’ Ethel scoffed.
‘It did the trick for Kage,’ Emberlyn pointed out.
Thad’s face went rock hard. ‘We’re not talking about him.’
Dear Lord. ‘You both take it as a rejection that they chose to take the Change. A rejection of you, your family and their birthright. But this isn’t about you. It isn’t in any way a rejection of anything, it’s just a pursuit of fulfilment.’
Ethel’s thinly plucked brows snapped together, incredulity gleaming in her gaze. ‘Fulfilment?’
‘Yes. And you should want that for them, whatever form it comes in,’ Emberlyn insisted.
‘If you can’t give your stamp of approval then don’t, but at least make an effort to sustain a relationship with them.
Giving Kage the silent treatment is pointless – he can’t undo the Change, and he doesn’t want to.
All you’re doing is pushing him away, and you’ll do the same to Paisley if you don’t respect her choice either. ’
Ethel’s expression turned sour. ‘You seem mighty supportive of their choices. Did you encourage them to do this?’
‘The only thing I encouraged them to do is not live to please others.’ But it didn’t surprise Emberlyn that they’d look to blame her.
‘Well of course you would. You make no attempt to please anyone but yourself,’ Thad sniped. ‘I should have severed their friendship with you when they were children.’
Emberlyn gave him a hard smile. ‘You could have tried. It wouldn’t have worked.’ Hearing a vehicle approach, she glanced over her shoulder. ‘Ah, here’s your son now.’
If the couple were tense before, they turned even more rigid and standoffish then.
Emberlyn felt sad for the twins. She didn’t have a fondness for either Ethel or Thad, but she wished they’d get over their funk already. They did love their children. They just wanted to micromanage their lives.
As Kage parked his car near Emberlyn’s, she half-expected his parents to scamper – if only in another show of disapproval concerning his ‘alteration of lifestyle’. But they didn’t move a single inch.
Exiting the vehicle with a plastic carrier bag in hand, he flicked his parents a brief glance and then focused on Emberlyn. ‘Brought you something.’
She smiled. ‘I’m intrigued.’ She fell silent, giving his parents a chance to say something; hoping they’d make some overture toward him. Instead, they turned without a word and made their way to their car, the assholes.
Kage only rolled his eyes, but she wasn’t so sure he was all that blasé about it.
‘Let’s go inside,’ she urged as she walked up the path.
Following her, he said, ‘I heard from my cousin that my parents were heading to see you, so I hauled ass here.’
Ah, bless him. ‘While I appreciate you being protective, you didn’t need to drag yourself here – it wasn’t a big deal.’ As she reached the porch, the front door opened for her in welcome. ‘It’s not like they would have hurt me.’
‘Not with actions, no, but they’re good at lacerating people with words.’
The dude wasn’t wrong there.
‘My cousin told me they were hoping they could push you into convincing Paisley not to take the Change,’ he said as they strolled into the manor, the door closing behind them.
‘They gave it their best shot.’
He exhaled heavily. ‘They’re stubborn, I’ll give them that.’
Emberlyn walked down the hall and into the kitchen, where she set her purse on the counter. ‘Want anything? Coffee? Tea? Beer?’
Waving away her offer, Kage placed the carrier bag on the table. ‘I brought you this.’
She hummed. ‘What is it?’
‘Your grandmother’s Ouija board. I ain’t gonna use it, so . . .’
She snickered. ‘Can’t say I’m surprised that you’re giving it away.
’ Removing it from the bag, she ran her gaze over it, nostalgia heavy on her shoulders.
Wooden and classic in design, it featured letters of the Latin alphabet, several numbers and a small selection of various words – hello, goodbye, yes, no.
Emberlyn placed it on the table. ‘I can’t count the times Millicent had me use this, hoping we could communicate with my mother.’ Emberlyn took the planchette from the bag and rested it on the board. ‘Avery never came through.’
He sank onto a chair. ‘Don’t take it personally, Em. Not all spirits are strong enough to reach out like that.’
‘I know. I’m not upset with her, just disappointed that we couldn’t connect at all.’
‘She might have moved on straight away. It would explain why I never saw her near you. Some spirits cross over fast, others . . .’ Trailing off, he shook his head. ‘Let’s not talk about ghosts – I’m done with that. Tell me more about what my parents said to you.’
Emberlyn claimed the seat across from him.
‘In sum, they’re totally against Paisley taking the Change.
They’ve convinced themselves that this is a new ‘interest’ for her; that she hasn’t thought it through.
They truly believe that she’d regret doing it; talked as if she doesn’t know her own mind.
Annoyed by that, I gave them a reality check. ’
His nose wrinkled. ‘Oh, they don’t like those.’
Emberlyn snorted. ‘I noticed.’ She reached over and gave his hand a little squeeze. ‘I’m sorry that they’re being shits to you.’
He shrugged. ‘It’s nothing I didn’t expect when I decided to let the Change take me rather than use antivenom. They don’t have anything against werewolves, they just feel that witches are superior to them.’
‘It’s more than that. They feel rejected by you and Paisley.’
His brow pinched. ‘The only people round here rejecting anyone is them. They’ve shut me out, and they’ll do the same to her if she doesn’t dance to their tune.’
The planchette began to rattle and then slid across the board to hover over the word ‘Hello’. Then it moved to K, A, G, and finally E.
Emberlyn stifled a smile. ‘Seems like someone wants to talk to you.’
Kage wouldn’t even look at the board. ‘No. No, they don’t.’
‘The planchette just spelled your name.’
‘No, it didn’t.’
A snicker popped out of her, and then a knock came at the front door. ‘That’s probably Ripper,’ she said, her pulse kicking up as a thread of anticipation wove through her blood.
Kage’s mouth curved into a wicked smile. ‘I’ll head off, then.’ He pushed out of his chair. ‘Wouldn’t want to be a cockblocker.’
‘And you want to get away from the board.’
He looked appropriately confused. ‘What board? I don’t see no board.’
Rolling her eyes, she walked out of the kitchen and through the manor until she reached the front door. As she opened it wide, her hormones went wild at the delicious sight of the werewolf on her porch.
‘Ripper,’ Kage greeted as he shrugged past her.
The Alpha gave him a chin-tip.
‘Later, Em,’ Kage called out as he jogged down the steps.
‘Later,’ she said before switching her attention to Ripper. ‘I didn’t expect to see you until later.’
‘I was supposed to hold a clan meeting, but it had to be canceled,’ he explained as he walked inside. He flicked a look at a departing Kage. ‘Everything all right?’
Emberlyn closed the door. ‘His parents came here to ask me to pressure Paisley into not taking the Change. Kage’s cousin had given him a heads-up about their intentions, so he came to be sure they didn’t upset me. Which they didn’t.’
He let out a Good grunt.
‘So, what can I do for you?’ It was more of a tease than a question.
Ripper edged closer to her, his eyes heating. ‘The same thing you did for me last night.’ He swooped down and took her mouth like he owned it, the bold bastard.
Her magick rose up and turned the air static, drawn as ever to this werewolf who hummed with his own power.
She took a shaky breath when he drew back. ‘Do you think we’ll make it upstairs this time?’
‘No. No, I don’t.’
It turned out that he was right.