Chapter 6
Frenemies
Isaac
Istared at the peeling green paint on the back of the double wide, surprised by myself. I was surprising myself a lot lately, but this was extreme. My hand hovered over the knob on the back door of Celine’s shop.
I hadn’t decided if this was worth the risk yet.
The old witch was a tentative ally, only because our interests were the same. Saul insisted that we couldn’t trust her, and up until today, I was fine with that. Witches could be as vicious as wolves when they wanted to be. Witches could also be useful, and right about now, I needed her talents.
The trouble was that she would want something in exchange, and it wouldn’t be cash.
Celine wasn’t usually open during the slow season.
From time to time she flicked her lights on for the snowbirds that parked their RVs in the fancy lot near Pelican Bay, but I couldn’t imagine she was busy this early in the day.
Still, it wasn’t the best idea to barge through her back door without knowing she was alone.
I was about to come around front when the back door swung open and the choking scent of incense hit me. Celine stood in the narrow doorway, her dark eyes wrinkled in a wicked kind of amusement.
“I know you were raised in a barn, but you Barbeaux boys have had plenty of time to learn manners. Yet, here you are, breaking into my private space.”
I stooped to pick a handful of fuzzy dandelions growing out of a cracked cinderblock and offered them like a bouquet of roses, flashing my most dazzling smile. “I didn’t realize it was considered rude for an admirer to bring a lady flowers.”
Celine blew the seeds from the puffy flowers into my face. “Isaac, you are my favorite Barbeaux, but you still need to use the front door.” She turned and headed for the table in her reading room, flowery scarf floating behind her. I took the open door as an invitation and followed her inside.
As soon as I stepped through the doorway, I stiffened. Hairs danced at the base of my neck and my nostrils flared. For a heartbeat I almost caught a familiar scent. It was lost under incense and stale perfume before I could identify it.
Celine slid into her chair and said, “At least you came when the sun was up.”
I propped my hands on the table and loomed over her. Intimidation wasn’t my intent, but I needed her to know I didn’t trust her enough to sit.
Most witches had long abandoned solitary life to live among humans in big cities. It was easier for them to blend in and they were often very successful in whatever they did.
I couldn’t make sense of why Celine was still slumming it in a town like Port O’Henry. That was why Saul didn’t trust her, and he knew a lot more about witches than I did.
I chewed the inside of my cheek, trying to decide how to word my request so that I wasn’t giving too much away. Just as I opened my mouth, Celine said, “You’re not going to kill her.”
I frowned. “I wasn’t planning to kill anyone.”
“Ah, you already figured that part out.” She smirked. “You aren’t as clueless as your brother.”
“Who’s my brother killing?” I guess it really depended on which brother she meant. Saul would kill me if I caught him in a bad mood.
“No one. That’s the point.” She spread her hands out. “Would you like your reading or are you really here for my company?” She winked and I cringed internally.
“No reading. I need to find someone.”
“Don’t we all,” she sighed dramatically. “Have you considered looking online?”
“I’m looking for someone specific.”
“You’ll pay the same price as your brother.”
Alarm bells went off. She was playing the brother card on purpose, trying to rile me. “Which brother?”
“He hasn’t told you?” Celine looked genuinely surprised.
I slammed my palms on the table with a snarl, protectiveness surging inside me. “What did you do?”
“Elijah had a problem. I helped him.” She rose from the table and disappeared into her kitchen. A moment later she returned with an ornate knife and a small copper bowl. “One drop for one answer.”
“Nope.” I was dumb, but I wasn’t that dumb. I moved to leave.
“No? You don’t want to know where Tara is?”
I whipped around, the beast showing on my face. Celine’s eyes were beady and red. Sneaky, conniving witch.
Tara. Even hearing her name gave me chills.
The memory of her mouth on me was pure ecstasy.
I couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, could scarcely keep from shifting and roaming the whole town in search of her.
When I did manage to doze, it was on the couch in my office.
I didn’t dare go home and face my brothers in this state.
Only because she ran from me. It felt like unfinished business. I was the one who was supposed to walk away.
My beast took it as a challenge.
“What do you want it for?” I took the knife, with a resigned growl.
“To take control of your mind and use you to destroy my enemies.” Her face was flat and serious, her eyes returned to their usual dark color. When I gaped at her, she cackled. “I’m not as evil as you think, Isaac. Your father knew that.”
Yes, but my father never told me or Eli anything about our world and those who shared it with us. He was as secretive as Saul and colder than a northeastern wind in the dead of winter.
Celine steepled her fingers and blew out a breath. “I need it to right a wrong. Now get to it. She’ll be gone soon.”
Urgency prickled at my skin and my hands began to shake. The slit across my finger was clumsy and too deep. I ended up giving her much more than a drop.
Celine snatched the bowl off the table and disappeared into her kitchen. I was about to snap when she popped her head out with a grin. “Check the parking lot.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I stormed out her back door and around the trailer just in time to collide with a panting Tara.
She screamed when I caught her, shoving away from me and stumbling backward. I leaped forward, wrapping my arms around her waist and lifting her out of the way before she stepped right in front of a moving truck.
“Hey, Tara, hey.” I set her down, giving her space so she didn’t panic and bolt again. “It’s just me.”
“Get your hands off—Isaac?” She pressed a palm to her heaving chest.
The scent of her fear hit me, sharp and wrong, and I felt my vision shift as the beast peered from my eyes. The only coherent word I managed to speak was, “Who?”
“W-what?”
“Who the fuck has you running like that?” The muscles in her face tightened and she tensed like she was going to run again. Now I was the one scaring her.
I took her hand, gentling my voice and asking, “Are you okay?” Even so, my attention was all over the parking lot, scanning for a threat. I couldn’t smell anything over her fear. The faint scent of diesel and brine was layered under wilted flowers.
Tara glanced over her shoulder with wide eyes, shaking her head. “It was nothing. I need to get out of here.” When I didn’t move she added, “Now.”
I didn’t need anymore invitation than that. My bike was parked behind Celine’s shop and I tugged her in that direction. “Your chariot awaits.”
Tara stopped when she saw the motorcycle next to a dumpster. Okay, it wasn’t the most glamorous chariot. I bought the Honda from some old guy at a garage sale. It wasn’t pretty, but it was fast, and I was happy with anything that kicked my adrenaline up a notch.
The wind was brutal this time of year. I glanced at Tara’s perfect thighs and realized she was wearing a skirt that hugged every inch of her legs from hips to ankles.
Who walked around a boat launch in a skirt?
Now I couldn’t stop thinking about the last time we were together and the way her skirt slid up over her hips. My lust must have shown on my face, because she scowled at me and crossed her arms.
“I can’t ride a motorcycle.” But even as she said it, she was glancing over her shoulder again.
What’re you running from?
“Sure you can. It’s like riding a bike. Just hold on tighter.” I waved her over with a confident smile.
Tara moved closer, grabbing handfuls of her blonde hair as she did. With deft fingers she wove it into a tight braid. I couldn’t help but picture myself wrapping that braid around my fist as I—
Not the time.
“What about helmets?” Her expression was still skeptical as she straddled the bike.
“Shit.” I rubbed my chin. Technically it was illegal to ride without a helmet, but no one in Port O’Henry cared enough to enforce that. “Next time.”
I was a little shocked when she climbed on the motorcycle with a quick nod. Two days of losing my mind over this woman and suddenly she was here, practically begging to climb on my bike with me.
She fumbled for a second with where to put her hands so I helped her, taking her forearms and wrapping them tightly around my waist. Her cheeks flamed with color and my body went rigid.
“Stay just like that, darlin’. You’ll be fine.”
She shrieked into the back of my shirt when we zoomed away from the boat launch. I had no idea where Tara was staying or if that was where she wanted to go so I made a zigzagging path through some of the ritzier neighborhoods.
As we rode, her body grew tenser and tighter. After her rush to get away from the waterway I thought the opposite would be the case.
I decided on a destination and took us there, pulling the bike to a stop near a small stretch of beach not far from the jetty.
Only locals knew this spot, for now, and I came here when I wanted to watch the sunrise without company.
Today the wind wasn’t great for fishing and we were blessedly alone.
Only when I stopped did I hear the rapid beat of her pulse.
Tara’s scent, now sweet and heady, curled around me.
She quickly pulled her arms away from me and tried to dismount.
I twisted, gripping her hips and lifting her so she was half straddling the bike and half straddling my lap.
Her skirt rode up her thighs, and I trailed my hand lower.
“Can I touch you?”