Page 19 of Curses & Cold Brew (Maple Hollow #2)

RAMONA

I was leaning against my kitchen island, staring mindlessly into space, when a loud banging sounded at my door. I rolled my eyes and pushed off and went to answer it. People banged on my door for all sorts of reasons. Hopefully, it was another wayward human looking to make a foolish deal.

I straightened my collar, grinning as I prowled closer. But when I opened it, Wyatt stood there, gasping for breath.

“What did you do?” he growled, pushing past me and stumbling into my house.

“What the hell happened to you?” I asked, taking in the state of him. “You look like you fell face-first into a dozen witches’ brooms.”

He staggered into the living room and knocked into the wall hard enough to cause my prized Rembrandt to drop to the floor, frame shattering.

He had no idea what I’d gone through to get my hands on that.

The piece had once hung in the Montreal Museum of Fine Art, but it had been in my possession for over fifty years.

That might have been my thieving chickens coming back to roost.

“Could you please refrain from destroying every priceless artifact in my home, wolf boy?” I followed him into the room as my frown deepened. “Heists aren’t as easy to conduct as they used to be.”

“You—” Before he could get the words out, he doubled over, gnashing his teeth.

“If you wolf out all over my furniture, I will be invoicing you,” I warned. “And I don’t take payment in the form of scones—or even your sister’s famous donuts.”

Wyatt groaned in either frustration or pain—I didn’t know and didn’t care—but as he turned around, I got a full view of the situation we were dealing with.

He was shirtless, the tattered remnants of his flannel hanging from his wrists.

His canines were elongated, his blond hair even shaggier than usual, and his voice was even deeper than normal, rough and rasping.

His true animal nature was nearly bursting from his skin, the change almost taking him in my fucking living room.

The realization hit me like a rogue wave. He shouldn’t be in this state at all.

“What the hell happened?” I asked again, but my question was answered when my eyes dropped to his collarbone.

His sigil— my sigil —was missing.

“Shit.”

“Yeah, shit,” he growled. “You said your magic was binding . You promised she—I would be safe.” He took a long, thick pause. All of his visible muscles bulged, readying themselves for the change. But there was a twinge of mourning in his voice when he finally said, “If anything happened to her.”

“To whom?”

He hung his head, swiping his disheveled hair out of his eyes. “Willow.”

“Fuck.” My eyes darted to the door as if I could see all the way to the café. “Is she hurt?”

“No,” he gritted out like it pained him. “Not physically, at least.”

I glared up at the ceiling. “It’s the full moon, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” He sucked in sharp breaths in a seeming attempt to battle the shift.

“The fact you’ve controlled it this long is a fucking miracle. You need to get out of here,” I pushed. “Besides, I just reupholstered my furniture, and the last thing I need is a werewolf humping it.”

His luminescent eyes flared, and I was fairly certain he was about two seconds away from attacking me. What a terrible time to have a snarky sense of humor as a coping mechanism.

“Go. Shift,” I added more evenly. “You won’t survive like this. You need to change. Resisting it could kill you.”

“I won’t give in to them.” His whole body shook like he was lifting an incredible weight, every muscle straining to keep him from losing control. “I won’t give them what they want.”

“Did you catch sight of who it was who broke the sigil?” I asked, teetering on the edge of the realization.

“Woman. Not human,” he gritted out. “Supernatural. I tried to chase her, but she evaded me. Jumped me on the way to Willow’s.

Tried to fucking stab me. Thought it was a rogue ghoul, but that thing didn’t know who it was trying to kill.

It ran when I fought back. I didn’t realize she’d broken the sigil until it was too late. ”

“Esme.”

“Who?”

“A former friend,” I replied tightly. “And current annoyance.”

He let out a bellowing growl. “This isn’t over, Ramona,” he snarled. “You need to fix this. Or I will end you , demon. Don’t take that threat lightly.”

“I don’t,” I bit out.

Wyatt was next in line to be the alpha, unless he halted his ability to shift. And as much as he wanted to delay that reality, I didn’t want to be on the wrong end of a would-be alpha and his pack. The werewolves would run me out of town if I didn’t make this right.

And if I was out of town, I wouldn’t be near Iris.

That shouldn’t have been my first thought. That shouldn’t have been any thought. But that fucking little redheaded witch was the first thing that flashed in my mind.

A sudden and terrible realization dawned on me: Esme wasn’t just stealing my souls.

She wouldn’t have attacked Wyatt if she just wanted to break my sigil.

No. She was killing my marks. Why else would she attack Wyatt instead of finding a more cunning way to break my sigil?

I thought whoever was targeting my souls was toying with me, but this went beyond stealing debts.

I should’ve known Esme would be more ruthless than that.

And if she went after Wyatt, it would only be a matter of time before she went after?—

“Iris.” My cold, black heart sank into my stomach.

“What?” Wyatt sounded more animal than man.

His skin pulled tighter on his back as he turned tail and headed back down the hallway.

Lucky for him, I lived on the edge of the haunted woods where he could change in peace, away from the eyes of his pack.

I followed Wyatt to the front door, ready to charge into the night and find Iris.

I already knew there was no way that little witch had heeded my warnings.

As he stumbled to the door, Wyatt’s fingernails grew into claws and raked marks into my wallpaper. I didn’t voice my objections, not with an almost-werewolf in my house, and instead ushered him to the door.

“You better catch the bitch who did this.”

“Oh, believe me, I will,” I said, giving him an assured nod. “Get to the deepest parts of the woods as fast as you can. It’ll be safe for everyone if you get lost for a few hours.”

He ran down the path from my entryway to the gate, practically barreling into none other than a wide-eyed Iris.

Relief coursed through me like a living thing.

She’s here. She’s safe.

The two of us watched as a shirtless Wyatt stormed to the end of the street and then disappeared into the shadows of the forest.

I folded my arms and leaned against the doorway, trying to mask the terror that was still heating my chest. “Just the witch I was looking for.”

Iris had venom in her gaze, and all my feigned nonchalance evaporated. I straightened, wondering if she’d had a run-in with Esme too.

Iris flung her hand in the direction of the woods. “What was he doing here?”

“Huh?”

“Wyatt!” Her voice rose an octave. “Are you sleeping with him? Is that why Willow was upset the other night?—”

“That’s not?—”

“I can’t believe you fucked my best friend’s girlfriend’s sister’s boyfriend!”

“One more degree and you’ll get to Kevin Bacon.” I winked, which only incensed her further.

“Why is Willow’s boyfriend leaving your house half naked?”

“I didn’t realize they’d made it official,” I taunted. “I guess I missed that piece of town gossip.”

She clenched her hands into fists. “I can’t believe you.”

A surprised smile stretched my lips. She was furious at me. A mix of satisfaction and glee mingled with the relief that she was here in front of me and not cornered somewhere by Esme. I normally liked getting this rise out of her, but this time, it was particularly savory.

“Jealousy looks so good on you, red,” I purred.

“I’m not jealous,” she spat.

“Of course not.” I leaned back against the door, opening it farther. “But why don’t you come in and lecture me more about it?”

Please , I thought. I need you to be here, where you’re safe and far, far away from whatever mess is happening with my other marks.

“Are you kidding me?” She turned to leave, and my stomach dropped. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Iris!” I called, stalling her. The sigil on Iris’s collarbone was putting her in danger, and I wasn’t about to let her out of my sight. “I would never sleep with Wyatt. Wolf boys are really not my type.”

You’re my type , I wanted to say, as if that weren’t obvious.

“Then why was he half dressed and running out of your house?”

“It was Esme.”

Her face was skeptical. “She’s sleeping with Wyatt?”

“No. No one is sleeping with Wyatt.” That I know of.

I stalked down the path from my house. “Esme is out there hunting my marks. Which is why I need you to come inside and stay there until I’ve dealt with her.

” I closed the distance, brushing my fingertips to the V of her neckline and tracing over the raised brand on her skin.

“Why?” Iris asked breathlessly.

My eyes filled with heat as they met hers. “Because you’re mine.”

Even as she shuddered at my touch, she stepped away, shaking her head. She was stronger than I was in that regard. When it came to Iris, I knew I could lure her in but questioned whether I could keep her hooked. A flare of a challenge rose in me.

“I’ll just keep the door locked at the apothecary,” she said, clearing her throat.

I shook my head. “That welcome sign is invitation enough for a vampire. Who’s to say she wasn’t invited into the building long before you were even born.”

“And she’s never entered your house?”

“Never.”

She stubbornly stuck out her lip. “I’ll go stay with my family then.”

“No.”

“No?” she echoed in a mocking huff. “You don’t get a say in what I do.”

My pulse ratcheted up, the fear of her heading into danger so great that I panicked. I had to keep her here, by whatever means necessary.

She managed three more steps before I grabbed her by the elbow and spun her around.

My hand bracketed her jaw as I pulled her lips to mine and kissed her.

She let out a little surprised sound that was so damn satisfying, but she didn’t budge when my lips enveloped hers.

Or when my tongue swept across her bottom lip, urging her to open for me.

“Stay here with me,” I pleaded against her lips. “I promise to keep you deliciously occupied.”

When she pulled away, there were tears in her eyes. “Pretending that you want me just to keep me here is low, even for you. Manipulating my feelings just so you don’t lose another deal to your old rival—” She shook her head and staggered back a step.

Was that what she thought? Panic flared anew.

“That’s not?—”

What? What was I going to say? What was I willing to admit to her in that moment?

Nothing.

Nothing came out of my mouth.

I could promise her nothing. She and I had been doomed before we’d even begun. I wasn’t made for someone as perfectly world changing as she was. And I certainly wasn’t worthy of the way she looked at me. I was impossible to love, and I couldn’t bear to see the moment when Iris realized that.

So instead of giving her a reason to stay, I just rocked back on my heels and watched as she whipped around and stormed into the night.

As soon as she trailed out of sight, I took out my phone to call in a favor from Naphula. Someone needed to guard the witch while I was hunting Esme. The phone rang and rang, neither going to voicemail nor picking up.

“Shit,” I snarled. “Fucking useless.”

I dialed the next number I could think of and was utterly relieved when a voice answered on the first ring. “Witch’s Brew Café, this is Harlow.”