Hocus My Pocus (The Night Realm: Halloween Marked #2)

Chapter 1

ONE

WILLEM

‘So, can a vampire get a sunburn? Asking for a friend.’

‘Twin, you burn on a regular day. When it’s barely sunny.’

‘ Yes, Connor, HENCE my question. ’ Caleb sent an eye roll emoji. ‘ I’m asking if I can STILL get a sunburn. Duh.’

‘ Why is this a question you’re pestering us with right now?’

‘Ignore Jethro, he doesn’t understand the ginger struggle,’ Archer said followed by a gif of a red-haired ginger like ourselves slathered in sunblock on a beach.

‘ There are perks to being adopted,’ Jethro replied with winking faces. ‘ But I was actually questioning why he’s asking us this from his bedroom . . . at night. I have questions and concerns.’

I chuckled as I watched the texts in my family group chat pop up on my Apple watch one after another. Responding would have to wait as my phone was tucked in my cargo pocket and my hands were carefully holding my very fancy, very expensive camera. I sat in the middle of a log bridge, perfectly positioned in the narrow valley between mountains and taking pictures of the river rushing down below.

‘ I demand an answer to MY question and concern FIRST, Jetty.’

‘I don’t know, Caleb, but my skin is so pretty and dark now.’

‘brIAN, YOU GOT A HEAD START, THAT’S CHEATING.’

‘Perks to being adopted, like Jetty said?’

Caleb sent the red-faced emoji. ‘ I don’t appreciate no one taking my question seriously.’

‘Hey, that emoji is gonna be you after your sunburn.’

‘ARCHER.’

‘How are we twins?’ Connor sent a gif of Prince, or the artist formerly known as, shaking his head. ‘ First of all, you’re asking the wrong people. Aside from our brothers who won both the genetic lottery and the adoption lottery, we are all gingers. We don’t play stupid games with the sun, so we won’t win stupid prizes. Put sunblock on.’

‘There should be perks to being a fanger, Twinothy.’

I snort-laughed. Caleb hadn’t called Connor Twinothy in years. I missed the nickname, but judging by the gifs Connor was sending back, I’d say he didn’t. With another chuckle, I snapped the last few pictures I needed for this trip, then put the cap back on. It was still daylight here, but I’d let myself get deeper into Olympic National Park than I’d intended, so I had quite the hike back to my campsite. If I wanted to actually make my flight tonight, I needed to get moving. Even with my new vampire speed, it would take some time. Especially as I was always nervous I’d be seen by humans or startle an animal into attacking me.

Something rustled in the trees behind me, so I glanced over my shoulder. There was definitely a large critter of some kind back there, but I couldn’t see what. I only saw the moving of the branches. It was getting closer though, so I watched. I pulled the cap back off the camera lens and snapped a few more pictures of the view behind me—or off to my left a bit. It was early October, so the leaves up here were breathtaking in shades of red, orange, and yellow. It was a spectacular view. I couldn’t wait to see all the pictures I’d taken here over the last week. I let out a happy little sigh and recapped the camera lens before securing the camera straps around my neck and waist so I wouldn’t drop or break it.

My watch vibrated as yet another text from the family chat came in, this one from Connor. ‘ You’re immortal now, succubus. Here I thought you’d be happy to have matching fangs with your boyfriend.’

‘TREVOR IS A WOLF, Twinothy. His fangs are MUCH bigger.’

‘So you should be used to that?’

‘TWINOTHY.’

‘Also, he’s a boy, so that makes him an incubus.’

‘That’s debatable, Jethro. Have you seen his closet?’

‘Archer makes fair points.’

I reached into my cargo pocket and pulled out my phone just as the trees at the end of the log bridge to my left swayed—and a massive brown bear sauntered out onto the trail. My eyes widened. This was hardly the first bear I’d ever come across on my adventures, being a travel writer kind of came with that territory, at least for the kind who ventured into nature, though this was the first bear I’d seen since Prince Riven changed me into a vampire on New Year’s Eve. It was October, but somehow I was still adjusting to my new reality, so I probably missed the warnings my vampire senses were trying to tell me as I was still learning them.

‘Okay, but . . . I have more pressing concerns . . .’ I snapped a selfie of me smiling with the predator in the background and sent it to the chat. ‘ Can a vampire outrun a bear?’

‘Willem, I can outrun a bear,’ Bash sent back immediately, joining the discussion for the first time. ‘I’m not even a vampire.’

‘Were you actually running, Bash? Or were you cheating by using your wings?’ Archer said.

Bash replied with an eye-rolling emoji—he was getting quite good at using gifs and emojis now. ‘ It’s not a race when one of us is flying.’

‘BASTIEN BOW WHY WERE YOU RACING A BEAR?’ Mom sent back, and although it was in written form, I could hear her screaming it in my mind. It reminded me of that scene in Harry Potter when Ron got the mail from his mother that yelled at him.

‘I didn’t have siblings to play with?’

We shouldn’t have all laughed, yet the entire family chat was instantly filled with laughing emojis and gifs. Bash was the newest adopted sibling of the Bow family, and he was decades older than all of us. He was also fae, more specifically a royal fae born in Third Realm, so he was basically the second strongest fae in all of the realms combined. With only his soulmate, the fae Stonekeeper, outranking him on power. We all low-key adored him and weren’t the least bit surprised or upset that Mother chose to add him to our family. We also got his soulmate, Collins, in that adoption, which meant mom now had two daughters in the family. And Ivy didn’t have to suffer the wrath of Mother’s attention on her own.

‘I love that Mom is more worried about Bash racing bears in the past than Will currently sitting fifteen feet in front of one right now.’ Jethro sent a gif of Bernie Mac shaking his head.

‘ Okay, I just spoke to Nash,’ Dad said, suddenly appearing in the group chat. ‘ Short answer is yes, you can still get sunburnt just not as easily. He recommends you wear sunblock . . . and maybe test your sun limits on ONE hand first.’

‘SEE, these are the kinds of answers I needed. Thank you, Father.’

The bear was moving closer. He had his nose in the air and was sniffing like he was trying to decide if I was dinner or not. My pulse quickened. If this was a black bear, I would’ve just made a bunch of noise to scare it away. But this was a brown bear, so the game was definitely different. They weren’t usually in this area either, so that was even more cause for concern.

‘ Okay, but . . . this bear?” I sent them another picture to show how close it had gotten. ‘ Does Nash have suggestions for me here?’

‘Willem, just growl at it.’

I scowled. ‘ That doesn’t feel helpful, Bastien.’

‘Always worked for me.’

At that moment, my phone rang—vibrating in my hand. But when I looked down, I found it was a FaceTime call from Nash Vauntero. The bear was only five feet away now. I slid the bar on the screen to answer the call, letting Nash get a perfect view of my new furry friend.

I licked my lips and watched the bear. “Bastien said to growl at it.”

Nash chuckled. “Well, yeah. You ARE a predator now. You actually outrank bears as a vampire, so growl at it.”

I frowned. “I’ve never growled before?—”

“Just give it a go.”

I shrugged and let out a growl, or my best attempt at one, but even to my ears it was soft and weak and even broke a little. “That sucked.”

“Yeah, it really did.” Nash laughed. “Hey, Connie!”

A second later, Constantine’s face filled the screen. At first he was scowling at the mere audacity we had in bothering him, but then he saw the bear still approaching me. He sighed and then let out the most vicious, gnarly sounding growl I’d ever heard. It made the hair on my arms stand tall, and I wasn’t even his target.

The bear flinched and then spun and sprinted away from me, disappearing out of sight within seconds.

“Huh. Thanks, Constantine.”

He grumbled, then handed the phone back to Nash.

Nash chuckled again. “That just made his whole year. You have no idea.”

I threw my head back and laughed. “Well, happy to be of service. Thanks for the assist.”

“No problem. That’s what we Vaunteros are here for. Especially for our new baby vampires.” Nash grinned but then his face sobered. “But really, Willem, you should come home and learn how to be one of us?—”

“Hey, I’m doing pretty good?—”

“I was standing next to your father when you called at three in the morning to ask how you can tell when a person is anemic?—”

“Now, wait, that’s a good question.”

“So is how do you know if you’ve taken too much? Isn’t that what you asked Archer three days ago?”

“It’s not like I needed to know in that moment?—”

“Those being your shower thoughts aren’t as reassuring as you mean them to be.” He arched one black eyebrow at me. “My parents and Constantine would demand your return if they knew.”

I groaned. “Look, look, look?—”

“No, you look, Willem. While Second and Third Realms may be at peace and ruled by our friends, I assure you that Fourth Realm is very much not safe. And you being turned by Prince Riven himself?” Nash whistled and shook his head. “That’s a trouble you have no idea of, and do not think he isn’t watching you. Dude is ancient and not one to make an enemy out of?—”

“Right. I understand.”

“Do you?”

I glared at him. Royal or not, I didn’t like being lectured. “I didn’t ask for this life. Riven didn’t exactly give me or my family a choice. I’m not mad about it, but I have a job and needed to wrap up some loose ends.”

“Come home, Willem, before you accidentally hurt someone and we have to deport you.” I knew his words were a command rather than a suggestion. Before I could respond, his lips pulled up into a grin and he waved. “Don’t get eaten by a bear. Too-da-loo.”

The screen filled with my apps again and I cursed. It’d been nine months since Riven turned me into a vampire, and I hadn’t hurt anybody yet. Nine months of feeding and living this new life of mine without major hiccups. Sure, I had some questions, and okay . . . yeah, maybe I was a little nervous on the whole drinking blood from a living person without hurting them thing, but so far everyone walked away from those meetings on their own. I sighed. My family had been telling Nash about me, which meant they were either worried about me . . . or scheming to get me home, knowing a threat from a Vauntero would do the trick.

Who am I kidding? It’s definitely both.

My phone vibrated in my hand with a text from Archer. ‘ Shit, Willy, did you get eaten?’

‘Whichever one of you just tattled on me to Nash . . .” I sent back with a gif threatening to hurt them. “Constantine just growled so loud through FaceTime he scared the bear away. You’re lucky that was entertaining to watch, or I might be mad right now .’

They all sent laughing emojis.

I tapped on the picture I sent of the bear approaching me, surrounded by gorgeous foliage, and smiled. There was someone else who’d love to see it. With a smile, I opened up my Facebook Messenger app and clicked on the thread at the top between me and my best friend Andi. With a few quick taps, I sent the bear picture to her along with a few others I had in my phone. My finger hovered over the selfie with me and the bear. I wanted to send it to her. It was funny and she’d probably get a kick out of it . . . but I resisted the urge, nervous it would send an underlying message.

Andi had been my best friend for five years. We met in a Facebook group about traveling where we were commenting on a thread about backpacking through Europe. Somehow that turned into private messages, and five years later she was my closest friend next to my family. And I’d never met her in person. I didn’t even know what she looked like, aside from the lone profile picture where she wore a big hat, huge dark sunglasses, and a scarf covering the bottom half of her face. She was an archaeologist, so that was her work gear. I knew everything else about her, except what she looked like. And she knew everything about me, except what I looked like. The first few years we tried to meet up in person, but every time something horrible happened in one of our lives that prevented it. Eventually we joked about meeting being bad luck and neither one of us had mentioned it since.

So, sending her a selfie with my actual face felt like a bad idea when I was already almost bear dinner.

Those three bubbles popped up, then she replied in all caps, ‘ LIAM ARROW MOVE AWAY FROM THAT BEAR RIGHT NOW!’

My stomach tightened into knots. Some days I felt more guilty than others that she didn’t know my real name. Liam Arrow was my pseudonym for my career. It was a law among supernaturals that if we worked alongside humans, we could not use our real names. But that was the only secret I kept from Andi. She couldn’t know I wasn’t human. She couldn’t know there was a hidden magical island for supernaturals that that held a population of vampires, mages, fae, werewolves, sirens, and a single jinn. That wasn’t my secret to keep, it was the law.

I tapped the button to create a video, then recorded a video all the way around me to show there were no bears ready to pounce on me. ‘ It’s gone, Andi Jones. Scared it away.’

‘Dammit, Liam. You need to be more careful. How’d you get rid of it?’

‘ The same way I scared off all my ex-girlfriends . . . with too much love and affection.’

‘Shut up, butthead.’ But she sent laughing emojis with it. ‘ Where are you? ’

‘ Olympic National Park, finishing up a job.’

‘Those pics are stunning.’

‘Wanna see more? I have a ton, esp on my real camera.’

‘Yeah, I’d love to see more . . . in printed form, sitting on my coffee table every morning.’

I sent a gif of a girl rolling her eyes. ‘ As if you have a coffee table. ’

‘ Deflection. I know that tactic.’

I grinned. ‘ My publisher wants to see a pretty presentation before they’ll publish it. So you’re seeing step one.’

‘FINE. But I will continue to pester until it’s published.’

‘ Shocking .’ I laughed. ‘ Where are you? What are you doing? You’ve been quiet the last few days.’

‘We’ve talked every day, Mr. Arrow—ohh I see, THIS is how you scare away your exes?’

‘I am so needy, it’s a fault.’

‘Matthew says we’re too codependent.’

I scowled. ‘ Matthew? As in your ex?’

‘That’s the one—no, we’re not back together. Don’t yell at me.’

I laughed. I was about to yell at her. That guy was a real prick. ‘ I’m waiting for more reassurance.’

‘We wound up on a dig together. Long story. But I stayed out of his bed.’

‘Did he stay out of yours?’

‘. . . mostly.’

‘ANDI JONES.’

‘Whatever. I’m an independent woman. I can use him for a little action, then release him to the wild. He owes me that much.’

‘That’s my favorite little sadist.’ I grinned, then realized she hadn’t answered my question. ‘ Wait, you didn’t say. Where are you?’

‘Believe it or not . . . I’m on the last leg of my trip home.’

‘Home? As in home-home?’

‘About an hour away from seeing my little sister.’

I whistled. ‘ Finally. What’s it been, two years?’

‘Since I was home, yeah. But I have talked to her on FaceTime?’

‘That doesn’t count.’

‘I know. I’m changing that today.’

‘You nervous?’

‘Maybe a little? It hit me real hard that I’d dropped the ball on how long it’s been. I feel so guilty.’

‘Torrey will understand. You raised her. She wanted you to go live your life.’

‘I know, I know. I just miss her. I didn’t realize just how much I missed her until I was already on my way.’

‘So you going home to stay this time?’

She sent me back a gif of Jerry Seinfeld cringing. ‘ IDK how to stay—GOD, DON’T SAY IT. I KNOW I SOUND LIKE MY MOTHER.’

I sent her a gif of Tina Fey pretending to zip her lips shut. ‘ You don’t have to stay home forever, you can just stay for longer trips. A few weeks at a time maybe?’

‘Pot calling the kettle black, eh? When are you going home?’

I smiled. ‘ Tomorrow, actually. It’s my brother’s birthday Monday, so Mom is throwing a huge party. I have to be there. Threats were made.’

She sent a smiley face. ‘ I’ll linger in one place when you do .’

I took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. It’d be easier to stay home if I had someone waiting for me. All joking aside, I missed Megelle Island. I missed my family. That was the whole reason I’d gone home for Christmas in the first place, and how I wound up in Beverly Hills on New Year’s Eve at my brother’s soulmate’s hotel. It was how I wound up getting turned into a vampire along with the rest of them. In all honesty, being turned into a vampire had brought us even closer together. The promise of eternity had that effect, I supposed. But it also made connecting with humans that much harder.

For the first time in my adult life, I found myself unsure how to act around humans. Immortality was difficult to adjust to. It made me want to go home and stay there for a little while until I got comfortable in my own skin again.

‘ You’re gonna regret saying that.’

‘I’ll believe it when I see it,’ she sent with a winking emoji. ‘ Okay, boarding now. brB.’

I sighed and closed the app, then opened up my American Airlines app to check on my red-eye flight. It was still on time. I’d be home tomorrow, where my mother would smother me in the best way and I’d have an endless supply of Connor and Caleb’s cooking. Bash’s birthday was a big deal, and I genuinely didn’t want to miss it.

My stomach rolled and my fangs throbbed. I cursed. I needed to feed. With my phone still out, I opened the app for Prescott Tech. They had a special tab just for vampires like me out in First Realm to help us find our way to one of their registered blood banks. It was quite something. All I had to do was tell the app where I was and it would direct me to the nearest location, which luckily for me was in Seattle right near the airport I was flying out of. Lexington Prescott, a nearly five-hundred-year-old vampire himself, had stationed vampires at different blood banks all around the world just for us. All we had to do was go in and pretend we were there to donate, and one of our own kind would escort us to a private room where we could feed. One hell of a set up. Without the banks, I would’ve starved to death by February.

Not that I was going to admit that to my family, since evidently, they couldn’t keep their mouths shut.