CHAPTER ELEVEN #2
“Excellent.” I nodded. Turning my back on her, I snagged Dex’s arm and walked away. The trio of dogs stayed with us as a sort of escort.
I didn’t bother to look back at Jolene. The greenhouse doors swung open on their own, and we walked out and into the main retail space as if nothing unusual had happened.
The dogs scattered and were off happily running around the nursery lot once more. “I’m glad that’s over with,” I said as we walked outside.
“That was so hot,” Dex murmured in my ear.
Fighting back a very inappropriate laugh, I simply nodded my head. “Why thank you, honey.”
“Watching you call down your namesake and control all that power was one hell of a turn on.” Dex sent me a long simmering look. “Can I ask what sort of powder you hit her with?
“It was dried mint, angelica and cinquefoil—five finger grass,” I said as he opened the car door for me. “They’re herbs that I sell in my store. Two are regularly employed in hex-breaking spells. The mint repels spiders.”
“Nice!” Dex said as he closed my car door. A moment later when he was sitting in the driver’s seat, he grinned over at me. “That was a slick move.”
“They’re non-toxic herbs, in case you wondered. So all the seedlings and plants in the greenhouse won’t be affected.” I waited a beat. “Nor will she. Physically that is.”
“You messed with her head,” Dex said approvingly.
Now, I smiled. “I sure as hell did.”
“Woman,” he said. “If I didn’t already love you, I’d be head over heels after seeing that.”
I blinked at his cheerful declaration. “You love me?”
“Yes, I do,” Dex said. “And the minute were alone I’m going to show you exactly how much.”
My breath huffed out. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
***
“You are such a bad-ass queen!” Circe squealed and jumped to her feet to give me a hug, after listening to Dex recount what had happened with Jolene at the greenhouses.
The stores were now all closed and we had gathered at my apartment. Circe, Lorna and I were all having a glass of wine, Dex was having a ginger ale.
Lorna smiled. “I would have loved to have seen you draw down the goddess like that.”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve done so,” I admitted.
Circe dropped back into one of my club chairs. “I told you, you would be able to keep control. It’s not like back when you were a teenager and sent the hounds of Hekate after—”
“Circe.” I shook my head at her. “Let’s not get into that.”
Lorna grinned. “Our even-tempered Kate lost her temper? This I gotta hear!”
From next to me on the sofa, Dex took my hand. “You asked me not to look, and I haven’t. So why don’t you just tell us.”
“I was fifteen, and at a summer camp.” I sighed. “A mundane camp.”
“Whispering Pines,” Circe told the group. “Me, Kate and my sisters all went that year. We were the only Witches in the camp. But our parents were determined that we would all do normal things. Like any other kid.”
I grimaced. “And look how that turned out.”
“What happened?” Dex asked.
“Long story short?” I said. “There was a boy that I liked. He was cute, popular and had talked me into meeting him down at the lake after lights out. So, I snuck out to go meet him, hoping to get my first kiss….”
I paused and took a sip of wine, before continuing.
“I was so thrilled that he’d noticed me.
We held hands and walked for a while, and I was too naive to realize that what Derek was truly doing was moving us farther away from the camp proper.
The next thing I knew, my first kiss twisted into something more.
More than I was ready for or even wanted. ”
“Oh, Kate,” Lorna said.
“I tried to fight him off,” I told them. “I begged him to stop, but he shoved me down and I landed on my back, sprawled on that rocky beach. Then he was tearing at my clothes. I managed to scream once before he clamped a hand down over my mouth.”
“Oh my goddess,” Lorna whispered.
“He was cutting off my air, and in my mind, I called out to Hekate, begging for her help. I was so scared and angry, and I felt my magick lash out...and the next thing I knew, a pack of wild dogs came out of nowhere and attacked him.”
Dex said nothing. He simply lifted my hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it.
“It was pretty awful,” I said. “The dogs left me completely alone—all but one. A huge black dog who sat by my side—as if he was protecting me.”
“A black dog.” Dex smiled. “Like today.”
I nodded. “I managed to sit up, tried to breathe again, and watched as the pack tore into him. Derek’s screams were loud and high-pitched and the camp counselors came running and found us. The pack of dogs ran off, and...” My throat closed up, and I was struggling to stay calm.
Circe took up the story. “The camp decided to spin it that the dogs were the cause of Kate’s bruises and torn clothes, but she wasn’t a priority.
After all, in their mind, a boy had sustained serious injuries from a wild dog attack, and so they shut the camp down for the rest of the summer and sent all of the kids home. ”
Taking a fortifying breath, I continued.
“A few weeks later, Derek’s parents sent a lawyer to come and interview me.
They had concocted a wild idea that I had lured their son away from the camp, leaving him defenseless and vulnerable to a dog attack.
My parents were there of course— and when the lawyer realized what Derek had tried to do—”
“Attempted rape!” Lorna interjected angrily.
I nodded. “Well, let’s just say they suddenly stopped pressuring me and left me alone.”
“I’m so sorry, Kate,” Dex said.
“I’d been so scared, thinking I was going to get in trouble,” I said, “and my Dad and the lawyer exchanged a few words as he left. Then later, in an interesting turn of events, my Mama heard that the lawyer suffered a dog bite while he was out jogging the very next day. From a very large black dog. The lawyer had to have stitches. They never found the dog.”
“Yet another black dog?” Dex gave my hand an approving squeeze. “That’s my girl.”
I fought back a very inappropriate laugh, but I did pull his hand over to my lap and held it there.
“Basically,” Circe explained, “Hekate sends her hounds to Kate whenever she’s truly frightened or calls for help. The hounds dispense justice.”
“Which is why,” I said quickly, “I work very hard to keep my emotions under control and not to lose my temper as an adult. Today wasn’t easy for me. I had to walk a fine line of calling on the divine help to me but not allowing the dogs to attack.”
“I think you did a beautiful job.” Lorna raised her glass in a toast. “And I will have a colleague of mine pay a visit to Jolene on Friday, to reinforce the warning and the order to no longer practice magick in the area.”
“Friday?” I blinked at that. “Why not tomorrow?”
“Because tomorrow is Thanksgiving,” Lorna reminded me.
“Oh well bless it!” I laughed and rubbed a hand over my forehead. “I totally forgot.”
Circe rolled her eyes. “It’s not like you were busy fighting off a hex or something...and having a show down with an evil practitioner. Oh wait, yes you were.”
That made everyone laugh.
“I’m supposed to bake apple pies to take to Mama and Daddy’s tomorrow,” I suddenly remembered.
Circe stood. “Yeah, I need to go back to my place and put together a pumpkin pie too.”
Lorna stood as well. “That’s my cue to leave so you two can get your baking done.”
“Lorna?” I asked before she could leave. “Why don’t you and Dex join us and our family tomorrow for dinner?”
Lorna smiled. “I’d like that. Can I bring anything?”
“Any sort of dessert would be good,” Circe said. “Our family is huge.”
Circe and Lorna began discussing options as they left. I overheard Circe tell Lorna we’d be leaving around eleven and how she and Dex could ride with us, as they let themselves out.
“And you?” I asked Dex. “Would you like to have Thanksgiving dinner with me and my family? There’ll be plenty of sides, so you can stick to your vegetarian diet—”
My words were cut off as he leaned over and kissed me. “Yes,” he said, lifting his lips from mine. “Yes, I would.”
“Good.” I kissed him again. “I think it’s important for you to meet my family.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” he said as we sat there on the couch smiling at each other.
“Well,” I said, scooching forward so I could more easily stand. “I suppose we better get started making—”
Dex jumped to his feet, dropped his hands to my hips, and began to steer me toward my bedroom. “Gods, I love you.”
“Dex.” I chuckled. “I meant that I needed to get started with the baking. I still have to put a couple of apple pies together.”
He swooped down and planted one on me. My mind went blank for a few moments until I felt the back of my knees bump against the mattress.
“Er...Dex?” I said. “I’m not saying, no. But I’m still covered in bruises. I don’t look so good.”
“You’re absolutely beautiful,” he said, nudging me back to sit on my bed.
“Well, I—”
Don’t worry, Kate,” he said, his voice rumbling low. “I’ll be gentle.”
Hearing that, I shivered.
Dex dropped his hands on either side of my hips as he bent over me. “We can set the alarm and get up early tomorrow. I’ll be happy to help you bake those pies—” He kissed me long and hard before lifting his mouth from mine. “—in the morning.”
I smiled up at him. “Aren’t you sweet?”
He eased me down to the mattress. “When I get done with you, I promise that you’re going to think I’m a hell of a lot more than sweet.”
And with a burst of laughter, we happily lost ourselves in each other.