CHAPTER EIGHT

His kiss was the kind of kiss dreams were made of: hot, intense and deep.

Tim lifted his mouth from mine and captured my hands. He placed them over my head, shifted his grip, and pinned my hands in place with one of his own. All I could do was writhe happily beneath him.

"Tell me that you love me," he said, withdrawing almost completely. "Say it again."

"Tim!" I pleaded.

He ran his free hand slowly down my body causing me to shiver in reaction. "Say it, Cordelia."

"I love you," I whispered.

Slowly he pushed slightly forward, and the stretch was exquisite. "Tell me again."

"I love you!" I whispered, tilting my hips up trying to capture all of him.

"I love you, too," he said, and he thrust deep, going all the way in to the hilt.

That was it. I tumbled right into an incredible orgasm.

I was still coming down from the peak when he withdrew. To my surprise Tim rolled me over, and before I could blink, he pulled my hips up high.

"Oh gods," I said. " Yes ."

Tim wrapped his fist in my long hair and warned me to hold still. Then he was pushing inside me, sliding deep inside my core again.

"You're so wet," he said, thrusting harder and faster than before.

His strokes were powerful as he covered me. Tim pressed his chest tightly to my back and dropped his mouth to the nape of my neck. When he reached around to pluck and tease at that key bundle of nerves, a second orgasm washed over me, more intense than the last. I surrendered to it, and the waves of pleasure went on and on…

Tim reached completion with a hoarse shout and dropped heavily down on me. I didn't mind one bit, because he was holding me tightly to him, and I felt safe and cherished in his arms.

A moment later, he rolled over on his back and tugged me with him. I snuggled up against his chest, my head resting on his shoulder.

"Us together," I said softly. "This is my favorite kind of magick."

He dropped a kiss on my head. "Mine too."

We spent the rest of the day together. It was amazing, this new level of intimacy we now had. It was more than the sex—it was us being open with each other in a way we never had before. We talked about the case, about our future; and we also talked about magick. We talked openly with each other, and I had to admit, it was an incredible relief to not be so on guard with him.

Tim seemed more relaxed and happier too. In fact, during lunch, and over some hastily thrown-together ham sandwiches, I caught him ogling me from across the small kitchen table.

"Problem, Deputy?" I asked him as I sat at the table wearing only an oversized T-shirt.

"You're so beautiful," he said, his voice low and gravelly.

My eyes slid over him. He sat there in his briefs, but from my vantage point he appeared to be naked. My feet were resting on top of his, and deliberately I ran the inside of my foot up his leg.

His eyes changed. "If you keep that up, you're going to find yourself hauled right back to bed."

"That's an awfully long way to travel," I complained. "What if I can't wait that long to have you inside of me again?"

"What did you have in mind?" he asked, his voice going deeper.

"Well, since you asked..."

His eyebrows rose as I began to tell him exactly what I fantasized about.

I patted his thigh. "But that's probably expecting too much from a nice boy like you."

"Do you think so?" he asked.

I merely smiled.

To my shock, Tim shoved the remains of our lunch right off the table. The paper plates went flying as he rose to his feet and yanked me out of my chair.

The look on his face was intense as he dropped me on the now clear surface.

"How sturdy do you think this table is?" he growled.

"I hope that we're about to find out," I said breathlessly.

"Let's," he said. Stepping between my legs, he nudged them farther apart.

I yanked his briefs aside. He shoved my t-shirt out of the way, and then he pushed his way inside of me.

" Yes !" I cried. After all of our earlier exertions my core was hyper-sensitive. Gripping his arms for balance, I held on for dear life.

***

Turns out that the table was plenty sturdy. It only wobbled once.

"You wild man," I said in wonder, a while later as we clung to each other.

"Are you all right?" he asked, looking down at me in concern. "Was it too much?"

I kissed him. "It was perfect."

"Let's go take a shower," Tim said, and before I could guess what he was about, he grabbed my arm, ducked under it and tossed me over his shoulder. Giving my butt a playful smack, he carted me down the hall.

I laughed all the way to the bathroom.

Afterward, we got dressed, tidied up the kitchen, and went for a walk hand-in-hand around the gardens and grounds together.

I was feeling very mellow as we went traipsing through the woods. It was an area I was familiar with—a spot where an old pond had been filled in. There was no lingering negativity, I was relieved to discover. It felt peaceful, clean and quiet, the way a woodland should feel. I also noticed new trees had been planted, and as we walked the area, there were signs of animals making their home here.

"Wildlife is returning to the area," I said to Tim, pointing out deer tracks.

"It wasn't here before?"

"According to Gabriella, this part of the property was dying off. The pond was stagnant—"

"That's right," he said, turning to take in the whole woods. " This is where they drained that pond...after the near drowning."

"Yes," I said. "It was Alex. Drusilla Midnight-Rivers' boy."

Tim nodded. "I remember now. That's why they drained the pond. A few weeks later, when they did, the crew found the human remains. I hadn't been on the scene, but I recall the sheriff talking about how he had Arianna asses the remains, after the ME said the bones were at least a hundred years old." He shook his head.

"And using DNA," I said, "they ended up identifying them as belonging to the missing Victorian era bride of Pierre-Michel Marquette."

"That was a huge story when it broke," Tim said. "And if the pond wouldn't have been drained, the mystery of what happened to Bridgette Ames would have never been solved. I mean we'll never know how she died, but at least—"

"Tim." I gave his hand a squeeze. "We do know how she died. Bridgette Ames had an accident while she was riding. A stable hand didn't fasten her sidesaddle correctly and she fell. He dumped her body in the pond and weighed it down with rocks to cover up his culpability. That was one of the reasons her ghost was so angry."

"How do you know that ?"

"I know because two years ago, me, my sisters and grandmother, we all participated in a ritual along with the daughters of Midnight. We formed a Grand Coven and banished the spirit of the bride. We sent her to the other side, so she would stop haunting the grounds, and more importantly so she'd be unable to lure anymore children into danger."

"Lured?" Tim frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"The spirit was very angry and wanted revenge," I explained. "Bridgette didn't care who she entrapped. It wasn't an easy thing to banish her. I've never seen a spirit fight so hard."

"Wow." He stopped walking and stared at me. "I thought it was only Skye who was into ghosts and the paranormal investigations."

"I'm not into ghosts," I said patiently.

"Sorry," he said quickly. "That came out wrong."

Laying my hand on his arm, I tried to explain. "The truth is that my family was called to assist in the removal of a malevolent spirit. As it was important and a child had nearly lost his life, I went to lend my help."

He gave my hand a squeeze. "Of course you did. I can totally see that. You and your sisters would be all in."

His declaration had me blinking back tears.

"So..." He tucked my hand in the crook of his arm, and we started walking again. "You are part of a coven."

"Not formally, no," I said. "But I participated in a Grand Coven on that night."

"Meaning?"

"In a serious situation sometimes Witches from various circles, or covens, will band together—creating a Grand Coven—in order to defeat a common enemy."

"You know," he began, "I read somewhere that a Grand Coven was rumored to have been formed in England to keep Hitler's army from invading during World War II."

"On Lammas night." I nodded my head in agreement. "It wasn't a rumor. Their magick worked."

"And the more Witches, the bigger the magick?" he asked.

"Correct." I smiled, pleased that he was understanding the concept. "Also, by working in a larger group, no single member does the heavy lifting, magickally. The load is shared and usually no one individual is weakened by it."

"That makes sense," he said. "Arianna was knocked for a loop after she banished the ghost of Emile Francois by herself. The energy she let loose was wild. It broke windows, and when she threw that ghost out, it made an incredibly loud sort of boom . The morning after, she was so shaky and weak that I thought I was going to have to take her to the hospital."

I nodded. "Which is why it's smart to work in a group for something so serious."

"Not unlike different law enforcement agencies working together during a natural disaster," he said.

"Exactly," I said and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Above us there was a piercing cry, and I looked up to see a pair of hawks circling above. "It makes me very happy to see how the wood's energy has shifted back to a positive one. Nature is reclaiming this area."

"It does feel good out here," he said. "Whatever you and your family did with the daughters of Midnight worked beautifully."

By the time we walked out of the woods the sun was starting to set, and I spotted people out in the gardens. It was Gabriella and her sister Drusilla. Dru was currently cutting fall flowers and tucking the stems into a bucket of water.

"Hi," I said as Tim and I strolled over.

Gabriella took one look at us and grinned. "Hey you two. It's nice to see you together again."

"Gabriella." Tim nodded to her and her sister. "Hi Dru."

"Hi Tim. Hey Cordelia." Drusilla Midnight-Rivers smiled. "I promised Brynn I'd have some additional fresh flowers and fall foliage from the hotel's gardens for her to work into her floral arrangements and centerpieces."

I nodded. "She'll like that. Be sure to keep them in a cool location."

"I will," Dru said, snipping some Autumn Joy Sedum.

Gabriella snipped a few branches from a dogwood tree. It was filled with scarlet leaves, and I knew Brynn would enjoy working with them for her arrangements for the event.

"Be sure and smash the bottom of those dogwood stems, so they can pull up more water," I told Gabriella. "It's a trick Brynn taught me to preserve woodier stems and blooming branches."

"Cool." Gabriella worked the stems into another bucket of water. "Would a hammer work?"

"Yup," I said. "It's what Brynn typically uses."

"Will we see you both at the masquerade tomorrow night?" Gabriella asked, picking up her full bucket.

Before I could respond, Tim did. "Yes," he said, giving my hand a supportive squeeze. "We'll be there together."

"Wonderful," Gabriella said. "You two deserve to have some fun. Plus, we have security in place. If it would make you more comfortable, Tim, you and Cordelia can speak to Charlie. He's the head of the security at the hotel."

"We will," Tim said. "Thank you, Gabriella."

We said our goodbyes to Dru and Gabriella and started back toward the carriage house. Once we were far enough away to be private, I asked, "I'd love to go with you tomorrow as we originally planned; but considering everything, is it a good idea?"

Tim squeezed my hand. "I'll never leave your side. You'll be safe."

"Tim," I began.

"Then again…" He wiggled his eyebrows at me. "You will have your sisters and the daughters of Midnight...the old coven gang will be back together. That creep wouldn't stand a chance."

His cheerful words caught me off guard and I stumbled a bit.

"Problem?" he asked.

"Your acceptance of magick...well, you keep on surprising me," I said.

He patted my hand. "Hey, a guy can have layers. I may not be a practitioner, but I grew up in Ames Crossing. I suppose that's why I never asked you any questions about your magick. I already knew it was there."

"I thought you didn't want to know."

His lips twisted in a wry smile. "Seems like we both assumed a lot about each other."

"Yeah," I admitted. "I suppose that we did."

"Anyway," he said. "In Ames Crossing, we have all sorts of paranormal occurrences. Remind me to tell you about the ghost that trashed the antique store. Or the guy who pretended to be a cryptozoologist. He was trying to convince the sheriff that his unregistered semi-automatic was to protect himself from the Piasa Bird."

I slanted him a look. "I can't wait to hear about that."

He smiled at me. "What do you say we order a pizza for supper, and we can swap ghost stories?"

I went up on my toes to kiss him. "You've got yourself a date."

We had our pizza for dinner, and afterward we cuddled on the couch to watch Halloween movies. With a contented sigh, I leaned my head back against his shoulder.

We were maybe a half-hour into our movie when his cell phone rang.

"Ignore it," I said.

"Can't." He dropped a quick kiss on my mouth. "I can tell by the ring tone that it's Austin."

With regret I moved back so he could tug his phone from his pocket and take the call.

"Hi Austin…" Tim began. " What ?" he asked loudly and jumped to his feet.

My heart slammed against my ribs. Reaching for the remote, I quickly clicked off the television.

"Okay," Tim said after a moment. "Alton General. Got it. I'll bring her. We'll be there as soon as possible. I understand. Right. Bye."

"What's happened?" I asked him.

"It's Kenna," he said. "Someone ran her off the road. Fire and rescue have taken her to the hospital."

"Ran her off the road?" I blinked at that. "You mean on purpose?"

"Yeah," he said and shoved his feet into his shoes. "There were witnesses."

"That doesn't make any sense," I said, grabbing my keys and purse. "Why on earth would someone do that?"

Tim reached for my hand. "Because she was driving your car."

***

Once again, I found myself in the hospital waiting room. The police presence was heavy. Detective Williams was there, as were Austin and several uniformed officers. Brynn and Skye sat together. My Aunt Portia and Grandmother Althea were there, as were my cousins: Soleil, Luna, Astrid and Orion.

At the moment my grandmother was speaking to my parents on her cell phone. Tim was across the room in a huddle with Austin and Detective Williams, and I stood alone, on the far side of the room, staring out the windows.

Which was just as well. I was trying to come to terms with everything Austin and Detective Williams had told me after I'd arrived. A dark SUV had rear-ended Kenna as she'd been driving home. She had only begun the assent up the hill in our historic neighborhood when the other car rammed her and then forced my VW Bug off the road and down a steep ravine.

By some gracious whim of fate, a couple had been taking a walk with their dogs and had witnessed the whole thing. Once again, the driver was described as having dark hair, and the witnesses couldn't tell if it had been male or female.

The Bug had slid down the embankment toward the creek and had flipped over. It had taken the crews a while to get her safely out of the car. My stomach churned as I imagined the car flipping while my sister had been inside.

"Hey," a familiar voice said.

I glanced over to see my blonde cousin Soleil walking up to stand beside me.

"Don't," she said, slipping an arm around my shoulders. "Don't take this on. It's not your fault."

"You know it is," I whispered back. "Kenna was driving my car."

"You are not to blame for someone else's actions," Soleil said firmly.

I rubbed at my forehead. "Why the hell was she even driving the Bug?"

"Because hers was in the shop getting new tires," Skye said, appearing on my opposite side. "If it's anyone's fault—then it's mine. She had an appointment to go look at retail spaces for her bakery, and I'm the one who told her to take your car."

Hearing that, I shut my eyes.

"You couldn't have known," Soleil said to Skye.

" I should have," Skye said miserably. "Why my intuition decided to take the day off, I'll never understand."

"Just because we're Witches," Soleil said softly. "It doesn't mean we're omnipotent."

"Speak for yourself, dear," Grandma Althea said as she joined our group.

I knew that she'd done that trying to lighten the mood, but at the moment I was too scared to laugh.

"Ah, at last," Grandma Althea said, and she pointed to a doctor who had entered the waiting room.

"Family of Kenna Golden?"

"Yes," we all said in unison.

The doctor smiled. "Ms. Golden is a very lucky young woman. She has a concussion, a sprained wrist, bruised ribs, and some other bumps and bruises. We are going to admit her for observation, but if all goes well, she'll probably be released tomorrow afternoon."

"Is she awake?" I asked him.

"She is, and she's asking for her sister."

As one, Brynn, Skye, and myself all stepped forward.

The doctor did a double take. "She's asking for Cordelia specifically."

"That's me," I said.

"Come with me," the doctor said. "I'll take you back to her."

"Doctor." Austin approached with his badge in plain sight. "I would like to speak to Miss Golden as soon as possible. We need to get her statement."

The doctor nodded. "Two people at a time in the ER rooms, Detective."

Austin took my arm. "Then Cordelia and I will go."

I looked over my shoulder for Tim.

"Go on," he said, giving me a nod.

Austin spoke to Brynn. "As soon as we're done, you and Skye can go in."

Brynn leaned over and kissed Austin's cheek. "Deal."

Austin and I followed the doctor through the ER department. As we walked back, I worked on building up my psychic shields higher to protect myself from being overwhelmed from the injuries and illness that were all around me. When we reached the treatment room, I was surprised to see a uniformed officer posted outside of Kenna's room.

"Detective Callahan," he said, nodding to Austin as we passed.

Austin greeted him and slid open the frosted glass door of the treatment room for us to enter.

Kenna was sitting upright. At a glance I saw that she had an IV in her left arm, and that her right wrist was wrapped in an elastic bandage. Another bandage was taped on her forehead where a large bruise was forming.

"Hi!" she said brightly.

Without hesitation, I rushed to Kenna's side. I wanted to hug her but was afraid that I'd hurt her. Instead, I reached for my sister's uninjured hand. "I'm so sorry," I told her.

"I'll be fine," she insisted, giving my hand a squeeze.

"Kenna?" Austin said. "Did you get a look at the other driver?"

"I sure the hell did," Kenna told him. "Short dark hair, late twenties—early thirties, and definitely a female."

That had my jaw dropping in shock. "A woman ran you off the road?"

"I didn't recognize her," Kenna said to Austin before he could ask. "But when she rammed the back of the car, I got a good look at her in my review. I could identify her if I saw her again."

Sitting in the chair beside the bed I sat and held her hand while Austin asked her more questions. My stomach gave a hard lurch when Kenna told Austin after the initial hit, the other driver kept going. Pushing the VW until she was forced off the road and headed down the ravine.

Once he finished with his questions, he reached down and patted Kenna's foot. "I'm very relieved that you're okay," Austin told Kenna. "We're going to be keeping an officer stationed outside your door for the remainder of your stay in the hospital."

"That's not necessary," Kenna said.

"Yes, it is," Austin replied.

Kenna took a deep breath and began to argue with him.

Ruthlessly, I cut her off. "If you prefer, we could have Grandma Althea sit with you," I said. "She'd hover over you all night long."

Kenna blanched. "You wouldn't."

"Try me," I said, crossing my arms. "I'm not taking any more chances with my family."

Austin's lips twitched. "Let me go get your grandmother..." He started to reach for the door.

"Fine!" Kenna said. "Way to gang up on the injured."

Austin chuckled. "I'm going to send Brynn back." With that he slipped out, leaving me alone with Kenna.

Kenna sighed and dropped her head back against a pillow. "Can't believe they're keeping me overnight."

"For observation," I reminded her. "The car flipped, and you have a concussion. You absolutely should stay put."

"They already did all the X-rays and scans." She blew out a long breath. "Besides being bruised and sore, I'm fine."

I rested my hand on her knee, and her color fluctuated. "No. You're not fine," I countered. "Even shielded, I can tell."

"Don't drop your shields in here," Kenna said. "It'll be too much with your empathy."

"Shut up, Kenna," I said firmly. "Now let me see." I tugged the blanket aside and winced when I saw that her knee was dark purple and swollen.

"They were going to bring me some ice," Kenna said through her teeth. "It's only bruised. I hit my knee on the dashboard when the car flipped."

"Did they give you anything for pain?" I wanted to know and stood to press the call button.

"They offered it," Kenna gritted out. "I told them no."

I shook my head at her stubbornness. "Hard ass."

A nurse arrived, and she was carrying an ice pack and pain medication. "I'll bet you want that pain medication now," she said, noting Kenna's pallor.

"Probably," my sister said through her teeth. "Pain meds would be a good idea."

By the time Brynn walked in with Skye, the nurse had Kenna's knee propped up with a pillow, an ice pack in place, and had administered the pain meds into my sister's IV.

"You look like hell, Kenna," Skye said cheerfully. "Tried to go without pain meds, did you?"

The nurse smirked at that. "She did. But she's feeling better now."

Brynn rolled her eyes at the news. "Thank you," she said to the nurse.

Kenna focused on Brynn. "Hi Brynn," she said with a slight slur. "What are you doing here?"

Brynn smiled. "We came to check on you."

Kenna squinted at Skye. "Oh. Hey, Skye."

Skye walked over and dropped a gentle kiss on Kenna's head. "The family is all here. Mom and Dad are catching a flight. They'll be here in the morning."

"There's no need," Kenna said drunkenly. "I'll be outta here in an hour. I'm absolutely fine. I'll still be able to help load up the flowers for the masquerade ball."

Brynn shook her head. "Don't you worry about that. Rest, Kenna."

Reaching over, I rested my hand on Kenna's arm. "Take a snooze, sweetie," I told her and pushed some healing energy her way.

"That's nice," she said to me. "I can feel your magick, Cordy. It's better than the drugs."

"It's the least I can do," I said. "Close your eyes and relax now."

Kenna's eyes fluttered once. "Maybe I will take a nap."

"You do that," I said.

Two seconds later, she was snoring.

The sound had me smiling and tearing up at the same time. I brushed my sister's auburn hair back from her face. "They thought they were running me off the road," I said to Brynn and Skye.

"Austin told us," Brynn said, taking my hand.

"I know it's unethical to curse someone with magick," I said softly as not to be overheard by a passing nurse or doctor. "But I'm done. First Ryder, and now Kenna. Enough is enough."

"I understand your need for retribution," Brynn said, squeezing my fingers in warning. "But revenge magick? Those particular waters are dark and dangerous, Cordelia."

"Not revenge," I said. "Justice."

"Well, color me intrigued." Skye stepped closer. "What'd you have in mind?"

"I'm going to lure them out and cast for justice," I said. "And make that stalking bitch fall by her own hand—before the weekend is over."

"Hell yes." Skye's smile was a tad wicked. "I'm all in."

"Me too," Brynn said, looking from where Kenna lay all battered and bruised, and back to me. "Tell us what you need."