Chapter Twelve
Rage boiled inside Payton, and she whirled to face Dailey.
“What the hell gives you the right?” she demanded. “I already told you no.”
“Look, you may not trust me to have your best interests at heart, and that’s fine. But I’m still the police chief of this town, and my removing you from the scene was twofold.”
He paused, giving her a chance to respond.
She merely lifted her brows, waiting.
With a deep sigh, he continued. “Okay, one, the situation was becoming threatening without an immediate solution. Two, you were in danger, and your safety, more than anything, prompted me to act. I won’t have you hurt. Full stop.”
“But you missed an important point.”
Dailey frowned. “Which was?”
“You’re as affected by whatever this mass hypnosis is as the people at the bar were.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Dailey, can you honestly tell me you don’t want to rip my clothes off right now?”
“No, I can’t.” When she would’ve pressed for the win, he cut her off.
“Of course, I want to, Wildfire,” he said huskily.
“I always have. Nothing has changed for me. Even when I was at my angriest, I was obsessed with you. I had plans to bring you back here, drive you mad with want, and make you beg me to make love to you.”
“You’re not making me feel any better.” And he wasn’t.
Obsession, in any form, was cause for concern.
Although she couldn’t honestly say she wasn’t just as crazy about him.
But the truth needed to be laid bare. “In addition to wondering if you’re lusting after me because of these fucking boots, I’ll be questioning whether your motives are underhanded or not. ”
“I told you outside the bar, we’ll take it one step at a time, Pay. And if it means we keep this platonic until you’re ready to trust in us and give me a second chance, then we will.”
“You want to try again?” Her heart moved to her throat, and swallowing was difficult around a mound of regret.
Goddess, please don’t let it be the boots influencing him!
“I don’t know. Maybe.” He brushed his thumb over her lower lip. “Will you think less of me if I told you I was afraid?”
She shook her head. “What are you afraid of? Me?”
“Yes. What if I give you my whole heart and soul again, only to have you run? I won’t survive it a second time,” he admitted.
“I’m not sure I would either.” But her words were drowned out by the commotion outside.
He cast a frowning glance over his shoulder, but didn’t immediately respond.
“Go see, Lee. We can pick this up again.”
Banging on the door interrupted whatever he intended to say, and he growled his frustration as he headed to answer his visitor’s summons.
“Where in the fire and brimstone is my sister?”
“Elara?” Payton rushed forward, hugging her. “What are you doing here?”
“Tripp got to the bar, and it was pure chaos. With his help, we put them all to sleep.”
“All of them?” Dailey asked, shrugging back into the coat he’d removed upon arrival. “For fuck’s sake, Elara. Don’t you know when to leave well enough alone?”
Payton bristled. “Don’t speak to her that—”
An explosion rocked the cabin, and windows shattered, showering glass in every direction.
She dropped to the floor, dragging Elara with her and covering her sister’s body with her own. Dailey piled on, attempting to shield them both. Three-inch shards, along with hundreds of smaller fragments, hung in midair as if frozen in time.
“Get. Off!” Elara ground out as she struggled to escape their impromptu huddle. Her cheeks were flushed, but her eyes, typically sparkling with light and happiness, were dark with annoyance. “I almost couldn’t construct the protective bubble with you two smothering me.”
“Bubble?” she and Dailey echoed.
Her sister waved an arm to indicate the space around them. A rolling shimmer highlighted various areas of the dome.
“How badass!” Payton breathed in wonder as she touched a finger to the inside wall. Other than a light zing, she felt nothing. “When did you learn to do this?”
“Tripp taught me. You could’ve joined our lessons if you’d have stuck around.”
Her tone wasn’t condemning, and her wording was very matter-of-fact. Yet Payton felt the sting. Perhaps it was the tightening of Dailey’s mouth and the way he glanced down as he fought not to weigh in.
“What do you suppose was the source of the explosion?” she asked, redirecting everyone away from her.
Tripp stepped through the door on the tail end of her question. With a single encompassing glance, he waved a hand, collecting all the glass, and restored the windows to their original state.
“A meteor. Much larger this time,” he replied. With a pointed look for Dailey, he said, “I took care of it, but you must numb your feelings or get a handle on your emotions.”
“Yeah, I’m trying.” Dailey smiled his regret at Elara. “I’m sorry. Payton was right. I should’ve tempered my aggravation and worry. Please accept my apology.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I cursed you,” she replied. “You have to know it was all my fault, and Payton had nothing to do with it.”
“And none of it was intentional,” Tripp added with a loving smile for Elara followed by a glare at Payton’s boots. “When we finally get those blasted things off your feet, I’m going to burn them.”
“Not if our resident chaos gremlin, Hermes, has anything to say about it,” Dailey said in disgust. “Rest assured, whenever I see him, I’m going to inform Cory of his whereabouts. He strikes me as a man with a score to settle.”
“How did you know where to find us?” Dailey didn’t mind their unannounced arrival, but he wasn’t necessarily thrilled his conversation with Payton had been cut short. It seemed whenever they were making headway, they were interrupted. “And why are you here?”
“Hermes,” Tripp replied.
“Goddess, I’m beginning to despise that man’s name,” he said feelingly. “Please continue.”
“Apparently, when he was forced to flee the bar, his hold over Cory’s customers broke. He was worried about Payton possibly being inundated with “amorous beaus” and sent us to subdue the crowd.”
Elara nodded. “When we got to the bar, you’d just left. Tripp figured you’d come here first, since it was the farthest from town.”
Dailey only recently obtained this place through a private holding company. After the purchase, he warded the entire property so his mother couldn’t track him when he needed a respite from her managing behavior. Perhaps part of him viewed it as a potential oasis for Payton and him.
“How did you know about this cabin?” he asked Tripp.
“Oh, he knows everything,” Elara declared with a proud-as-punch grin for her new fiancé.
“But my newest purchase was kept private on purpose, so the residents of Witchmere couldn’t find me.”
With no outward expression of guilt, the demigod shrugged. “I keep a dossier on all of Witchmere.”
“Did you know Cory was a dragon?” Payton asked.
Her curiosity matched Dailey’s. But the bigger question was why Tripp was keeping tabs on everyone.
“Yes. Corvack. He moved here from Drakoryth to start over.”
“From?” he asked.
“Death,” Tripp said succinctly. “I won’t reveal any more of his reasons, but they seemed valid at the time he told me.”
“Why spy on your neighbors?”
“An old habit derived from years of dodging my mother and trying to determine who she might use to find me.” Pink dusted his cheekbones, and he cast a sheepish glance around as if suddenly uncomfortable with the topic.
“But none of that matters, Cobb. We have a serious problem on our hands. Payton is a beacon in those blasted boots. If there’s a person within a hundred yards of us, they’ll come calling. ”
“Why is this happening?” she cried. “And how do I make it stop?”
Surprisingly, it was Elara who answered. “The boots amplify your feelings and magic, sister. From what I can tell, they use your worst insecurity, reverse it, and throw it out into the world.”
“Reverse it,” Dailey said softly. He considered what he knew about Payton and how it could be used against her. “You never feel good enough,” he concluded aloud. “You believe no one could possibly want you for who you are.”
She paled. “So now everyone wants me.”
“That about sums it up,” Tripp replied grimly. “You need protectors until we can clear this up.”
“But who? If everyone I come in contact with wants to boink me, who do I trust?” She frowned. “And why haven’t you made a pass at me yet?”
“Having already been subjected to Hermes’s special brand of magical shit, Elara and I are immune.”
“So I am, too.” Dailey winked at Payton. “I told you my desire to rip your clothes off was all me.”
He chuckled as she flushed a becoming berry shade.
“I’m afraid you aren’t,” Tripp said. “You’re still under the influence of the original curse.”
“No, I’m not. I feel things again.” He met Payton’s hopeful gaze. “Love, protective, optimistic.”
Regret welled in Elara’s wide blue eyes. “It’s not real, Dailey. That’s also what we came to tell you.”
Fear. Yeah, another emotion he hadn’t felt in forever was coursing through him, prepared to override his ability to reason. He inhaled, attempting to shove it aside.
“Explain,” he barked, wincing at the harshness of his demand. They didn’t notice or, if they did, didn’t care to call him on it.
Tripp kissed Elara’s temple and urged her farther into the room. “Have a seat, flitter mouse. I’ll conjure coffee for everyone.” To Payton, he said, “Why don’t you join her, while Dailey helps me?”
She looked like she was about to drop at any moment, and Dailey reached for her, only to have her wince and dodge him.
Crushed, he stepped back. He understood her reticence; how could he not? She believed he was under some stupid spell and not truly committed to her this time around. But she was wrong.
“We’ll return in a moment,” Tripp assured them, gesturing Dailey to follow him.
Walking away from Payton with her devastated expression felt impossible. The pull of her—Oh, Christ! He met Tripp’s concerned gaze.
“You’re right, aren’t you? I’m still cursed, and like Payton, the spell has morphed, making me feel everything but amplified.”
“Yes.”
He glanced at her to see her reaction. The sight was gutting. Her eyes were filled with disappointment, and her pain was made evident by the shimmering tears she valiantly held at bay.
“It’s okay, Dailey,” she said, offering a tragic smile. “We’ll find a way to break it.”
But what did that mean? Would his re-emerging feelings for her go away again? Would they be back to square one, with him despising her and her fleeing from his condemnation?
“Payton—”
“Rein it in, okay? For now, don’t think long term.” Her smile, though shaky, widened. “We don’t need an asteroid taking out Witchmere.”
And wasn’t that the crux of the matter? He alone had the ability to destroy the town, or quite possibly the entire planet if his rage got away from him again.
As mildly as he could, he said, “I’m going to kill Hermes.”
Tripp shot him a commiserating look. “That’s why he sent us.”