Page 29 of Curses & Cold Brew (Maple Hollow #2)

IRIS

I knelt between the graves, hands tied behind my back.

I was wearing a pair of leggings that Ramona had pulled from some void realm for me.

I was still barefoot though. Apparently, shoes weren’t in her pocket realm’s purview.

But I couldn’t even feel the autumnal chill with the rush of adrenaline that pulsed through me with each sound of crunching leaves that hit my ears.

The rogue vampire would arrive any minute now.

Naphula stood over me, working her jaw as she scanned the misty graveyard.

Finally, a voice cut through the eerie silence. “You caught the little bitch,” a lilting feminine voice called. “Good. I was worried for a second there that you couldn’t handle it, demon.”

Naphula glared in the direction of the voice. “After this, we’re done, Esme. I’ve made good on my end of the deal.”

Esme’s sharp cackle echoed through the early dawn. “You still think it’s a deal that binds you to me? You demons are so simple.” She tsked. “No, no. I own you now, Naphula.”

Naphula stiffened. “I agreed to let you erase certain . . . things from my mind in exchange for four favors. I’ve broken three sigils for you and collected the witch. Four. The deal has ended.”

“I love the way you demons think in such black and white,” Esme mused.

“Your wording is so careful, your deals so precise. But my magic is messy. I didn’t just make a deal with you, simple demon.

We aren’t playing on your turf. I cursed you.

You opened the door of your mind to me and I walked through.

” A wicked laugh cut through the night air. “Your mind is mine forever.”

With that menacing omission, her figure emerged from the mist. Pale skin, flowing brunette waves, a black turtleneck, and a navy peacoat. Esme was an odd mishmash of styles, as if having collected them over many centuries.

Her eyes landed on me and held. “So you’re the thing that’s keeping her here.” She cocked her head as she considered me. “I thought she’d be more formidable, Ramona,” Esme called louder, turning in a circle. “Oh, come on, I know you’re here somewhere. Don’t be shy. Show your face.”

“Enough of this, Esme.” Ramona darted out from behind a gnarled elm tree. “Let them go. Both of them.”

“Are you going to come with me?”

“No.”

Esme pursed her lips. “I’m disappointed in you, Ramona. You used to be fearsome.”

Ramona balled her fists. “Let me show you how fearsome I am still.”

“We could rule this town and a dozen others like it, old friend. Why can’t you see how powerful we could be?” She shook her head. “I don’t want to do this without you.” Her eyes darkened. “But I will if I have to.”

“I know you will never understand this, Esme,” Ramona said.

“But this constant quest for more will always leave you hungry.” Her eyes flitted to me for the barest second, as if she couldn’t help herself.

“I’ve found true happiness here. I’ve found meaning.

And I won’t sacrifice it for any quest for power or hollow bloodlust.”

“Your happiness is fleeting, Ramona.” Esme let out an incredulous laugh. “You’ve tied your meaning to a mortal.”

“And I do it gladly,” Ramona shouted as my breath became frantic at her declaration. “Every second her heart beats is beautiful, and I want to be a part of all she is willing to give to me.”

“ Every second her heart beats . . . Fine then. Have it your way.” Esme flashed her teeth as she looked at me and snapped her fingers. “Naphula, kill her.”

My heart lurched into my throat as I ducked just in time to miss the blow from the demon.

I didn’t even have a moment to process Ramona’s words as I somersaulted forward.

The command seemed to take Naphula and I both by surprise.

What a terrible moment to assume Esme’s grasp on the demon’s mind had ended along with their deal.

I brought my bound hands to the front and leaped to my feet.

Bringing all my magic to the fore, I blocked each of Naphula’s attacks, but she wasn’t dissuaded.

The proximity to her puppet master must’ve made the commands that much harder to disobey.

Each of my surges of magic ricocheted off Naphula and she still kept charging.

Meanwhile, Esme had taken the distraction as the perfect time to pounce. In half a second, Esme had Ramona flat on her back. The vampire moved with breathtaking speed, faster even than most of the supernatural creatures that dwelled in the town.

“You always were a loner, Esme,” Ramona said, unbothered by the hand squeezing her throat. “You can’t bear that I’ve found belonging. I know why you’re really here. Your coven kicked you out, didn’t they?”

“They were growing soft,” Esme seethed. “I need someone stronger. You can be my coven now.”

“Your selfishness is what’s going to get you killed,” Ramona rasped, gripping the wrist of the hand that choked her.

Esme threw her head back and laughed. The madness in her voice sent a surge of energy into Naphula, who snatched my ankle, toppling me to the ground.

Esme gripped Ramona’s chin, forcing her to look over at us. “Watch your so-called best friend kill your little witch, then herself. A grand finale to your last attachments, Ramona. Then you’ll finally be free.”

Naphula pulled me underneath her frame, shoving me into the soft dirt of a fresh grave while I shrieked.

“You forget one thing, Esme,” Ramona gritted out. “I don’t just have two friends. I have this whole fucking town. Now!”

At her signal, the resident of Maple Hollow shot up from behind the graves. An army of supernatural residents spread out, dotting the rolling hills of gravestones far in the distance.

“What the—” Esme’s words were drowned out by a mishmash of odd and zany war cries as the townspeople held up everything from pitchforks to rolling pins and began running to our aid.

“This town is a family,” Ramona snarled. She bucked off a distracted Esme and shot to her feet. “And we don’t let anyone mess with our family.”

Cheers—and a few howls—rang throughout the graveyard.

Everyone hidden in the distant halo, ringing the open space, closed in.

They’d kept their distance so as not to alert the rogue vampire of their presence, but I suspected she’d been so arrogant and single-minded, she hadn’t even been looking for those lurking in the periphery.

With Esme’s mind distracted, Naphula was finally susceptible to my magic. I sent a blast directly to her chest and scrambled to my feet, making a beeline toward Ramona. Naphula swiped the back of my sweater, but I evaded her and ran as fast as my legs could take me.

“Wyatt!” I called, and the werewolf leaped out from behind an elm tree, followed by three pack members holding nets and rope. “Get her, boys!” I bolted past them as they rushed Naphula, the werewolves easily restraining her in her stupefied state.

I kept running until I reached Ramona’s side, and then she looped her arm around my waist as she smiled at her cornered foe. Esme’s face fell as she whirled, turning in each direction only to find witches, monsters, and werewolves creeping closer and closer.

Agnes emerged at the head of the vampire coven. “We banished you from this town, Esme, for what your callous recklessness brought upon our kind and all other monsters who found safety here.”

“Just let Ramona and me go, and I promise I will never return,” Esme pleaded, holding up her hands in surrender.

“Ramona belongs with us. Here.” Agnes’s eyes darkened. “We claim her as her true family.”

Ramona’s hand on my side instinctively squeezed. It was such a subtle action, but I knew how badly she needed to hear those words and the hoots of agreement from the rest of the town.

“But banishment is clearly not enough, Esme.” Agnes advanced and lifted a sharpened stake. “For the destruction you’ve wrought on your unwelcome return, for breaking the codes set forth by the covens both witch and vampire, and for ignoring the warnings therein, we condemn you to death.”

Esme’s wide eyes frantically searched the crowd before they landed on an opening in the circle we’d formed around her, and she bolted toward the haunted woods.

“Shit!” I cursed as the vampire sprinted across the graveyard with preternatural speed. “Randy!”

“On it!” A bellow and galloping hooves sounded before Randy appeared astride his horse. They raced behind Esme as Randy lifted his glowing head in his hand.

“He’s not going to—” Ramona started.

“Of course he is,” I answered.

Randy lobbed his pumpkin head at Esme, and when it collided with the back of her skull, the force of it sent her sprawling into a headstone.

Jordyn and Harlow dashed toward her from a nearby grave.

“Broom!” Jordyn screeched, and then her broomstick was whizzing through the air and into Jordyn’s waiting hand. Immediately, she snapped it over her knee and drove the splintered end into Esme’s back.

With a wail, the vampire disintegrated into nothing but ash.

“Holy shit,” Harlow said, staring wide-eyed at the ground. “Did you just Buffy a freaking vampire?”

Jordyn dusted herself off before turning toward her girlfriend with a smug smile. Witchly pride bloomed in my chest.

Naphula collapsed to the ground, holding her head in her hands and I instinctively dove to her side, hands hovering over her to search for injury.

Her body was whole, but her mind fractured.

Naphula sat up with a groan, dropping her head in her hands like she was nursing the worst hangover of her life.

“Is she okay?” Ramona asked, breathlessly reaching my side and pulling me into a tight hug. There was such desperation in her hold, as if her very arms needed proof that I was alright.

I pulled her closer and buried my face in the crook of her neck, murmuring, “Nothing an apothecary witch can’t mend.”

“Impressive,” Ramona said, brushing a kiss to my temple.

“I told you. Don’t mess with witches.”

“I’m sorry I ever doubted you.” She pulled back to search my eyes.

Her brows were pinched together, and there was something in her stormy expression that I couldn’t name .

. . or maybe I was too afraid that I knew exactly what it was and that I felt it just as fiercely in return.

“I . . .” Her eyes fell to my lips, like she was warring with herself. “. . . need to go thank everyone.”

I cleared my throat, stepping out of her embrace. “Yeah, good idea.”

Sadness and relief mixed on her face as she turned and walked toward the group of celebrating townsfolk. Their cheers and excitement filled the graveyard.

Jordyn appeared by my side. “You’re looking none the worse for wear. Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

I gave her a weak smile. “A few scrapes but nothing serious.” I didn’t bother trying to hide the cauldron of mixed feelings bubbling inside of me.

She wrapped an arm around my shoulder and brought me in for a squeeze. “Nothing a hot cup of tea and a good sleep can’t fix, huh?”

I was exhausted, but I didn’t want to sleep.

My eyes drifted to Ramona, who was still milling through the crowd.

The sun started to peek through the dark clouds, and the sound of awkward clapping at the cemetery gate caught our attention.

A family of tourists stood there gawking, their cameras aloft.

They had no idea that they’d just witnessed an actual vampire staking by townies.

“We’re just rehearsing for the Halloween Festival,” Billy Bacchus called to them with a wave. “It’s going to be a real show. Make sure to get your tickets!”

A few of them waved back and began to move along.

“I’ll make sure Harlow slips them some forgetting potion in their morning coffees,” Jordyn whispered to me.

“Good plan,” I murmured back.